Petco vs Petsmart 2024: Comparing Prices, Training, Grooming & More

August 03, 2024

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Both PetSmart and Petco are huge pet store chains that you can find almost anywhere in the United States. They have a large selection of goods to suit various pets, including cats, dogs, rabbits, reptiles, fish, and more. You can find everything from food to water treatment chemicals, and most stores deliver. Both also offer training and grooming programs. So if you are looking for a pet store and find it difficult to choose between these two outlets, you’ve come to the right place. We are about to take a close look at both PetSmart and Petco and discuss price, popularity, selection, availability, and more to help you make an informed decision.

At a Glance

Let’s look at the key points of each product.

Petco

Offers comprehensive breed-specific haircuts that include gland expression and nail trimming.
Offers bathing services that include gland expression and nail trimming
Walk-in services that don’t require an appointment, including breath freshening, teeth cleaning, ear cleaning, nail trimming, and more
Several training classes cover everything from puppy basics to dealing with separation anxiety
You can purchase training classes online or in person
Large selection

PetSmart

Discounts on large bathing packages
Payment plans for grooming packages
Highly trained groomers
Walk-in services include nail trimming, anal gland expression, teeth brushing, ear cleaning, and more
Multiple training workshops, including a smart start course and a brain games course designed to increase intelligence
Virtual and in-person training courses
Large selection

Overview of Petco:

Grooming

Petco offers several grooming packages tailored specifically to your dog’s breed. Haircuts include a deep cleaning shampoo, styling, brush out, gland expression, and scented spritz. A seven-point care checklist ends in a report card stating what groomers did. Baths also include a deep cleaning shampoo, blow dry, brush out, gland expression, and nail clipping. You can get many of these services individually without an appointment in many stores.

Grooming Cost

Baths typically start at about $22 for smaller breeds and go up to $39 for larger dogs, while grooming typically starts at $38 and can increase to about $68.

Training

Petco also offers several training options for your pet, including multiple puppy level courses, puppy essentials, puppy complete, adult essentials, adult complete, and the separation anxiety course. In addition, you can take the training courses in person or online.

Training Cost

There are multiple training sessions you can purchase, and they cost between $99 and $379 each. In addition, some courses have multiple stages, so you need to purchase more than one course to train your dog completely, making some of these courses quite expensive.

Merchandise

Petco is a huge store with plenty of merchandise for any pet, and what you can’t find in stock, you can purchase it online and have it delivered to your home. Most items ship within one or two days.

Multiple training courses
Bathing and grooming packages include nail trimming and gland expression
Teeth cleaning services
No appointment for small services

Overview of PetSmart:

Grooming

To work as a groomer in PetSmart, you must have over 800 hours of hands-on grooming training. Before grooming customers’ pets, each person must bathe, groom, and style over 200 dogs of different breeds and sizes. Employees also have an annual health certification that they must pass. Several grooming packages include nail clipping, bathing, shampooing, brushing, trimming, teeth brushing, ear cleaning, and more.

Grooming Cost

Many grooming packages are available that can increase or decrease in cost depending on the services required. For example, a basic package for puppies that intends to clean the dog and get it used to the grooming process can cost as little as $15, while larger breeds requiring a FURminator to reduce shedding can cost as much as $100 or more.

Training

PetSmart has several training courses that can help your pet behave. For example, they offer beginner, intermediate, and advanced training for all dog breeds and anxiety training that can help dogs with separation anxiety and those feeling stressed. There’s also a therapy and brain game training course and a short introductory course to get you started.

Training Cost

Their small introductory course is only $25, and the anxiety course is $75. Most other courses are $139, and there are no packages that require you to buy more than one to complete the course. The only downside is that there are fewer total training hours required through PetSmart than what is required in the multiple courses offered by Petco.

Merchandise

Like Petco, PetSmart has more than 1,000 stores across the United States, ensuring you don’t have to travel far to get the supplies you need. They’re large stores containing an extensive collection of supplies for any pet, and you can also purchase what you need using their online website and have it delivered directly to your home within a few days.

Less expensive
Highly trained groomers
Employees need to pass annual certifications
Several grooming and training packages
Packages include brushing, shampoo, nail clipping, teeth brushing, and ear cleaning

Fewer total training hours

What Are the Differences Between Them? How Do They Compare?

Grooming

Edge: PetSmart

Both Petco and PetSmart offer plenty of comprehensive packages to keep your pet looking its best, but the extensive training and certification required by PetSmart is much more likely to result in a positive experience for you and your pet every time you use their service.

Training

Edge: PetSmart

Again, we have to give the advantage to PetSmart where training is concerned. While Petco offers more total training hours, the PetSmart plans are easy to navigate, and there are no two-parters that require a second purchase.

Price

Edge: PetSmart

PetSmart is the clear winner where the price is concerned. Both the training and grooming packages cost less, and training especially can result in significant discounts by selecting PetSmart over Petco.

Merchandise

Both PetSmart and Petco have an extensive selection of merchandise that you can choose from to feed and house almost any pet. Both have a huge number of stores, so there is likely one close to your home, and they also offer home delivery with their online websites.

What the Customers Say

We’ve gone ahead and researched what other users have to say about Petco and PetSmart, and these are some of the things we found.

Most people give Petco a five-star review.
Petco has many one-star reviews.
Many people feel that online is the best way to shop at Petco.
Many people complain about customer service at Petco.
A few people complain about Petco’s grooming practices.
Most people give PetSmart a four-star review.
PetSmart has very few one-star reviews.
Many PetSmart complaints had to do with product delivery.
There are a few complaints about PetSmart grooming.
More people prefer PetSmart because of the lower cost.

Conclusion

PetSmart wins our look into these two amazing pet stores, but not by much. Both stores offer everything a pet owner needs in one place, and you can have it delivered to your home if there isn’t one nearby. So if you are not grooming or training your cat or dog, it’s unlikely that you will have a preference between the two outlets. If you need to groom or train your pet, PetSmart is likely the better option because it costs less, offers about the same basic packages, and the groomers are highly trained and required to take yearly certification tests.

We hope you have enjoyed reading over this guide and found the answers to your questions. If we have helped you pick your next groomer, please share our comparison of Petco and PetSmart on Facebook and Twitter.

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