A WOMAN picked up her pooch from the groomers only to realise later in the day that she had been given the wrong dog.
Emma Horgan picked up her Bichon Frise, Honey, from the groomers in Dublin, Ireland on Friday and noticed that the pup’s hair and legs looked a little different.
Shrugging it off as a result of the haircut, Emma took the dog home and sent snaps to husband Conor as she took the pup for a walk with her other dog Bob – who seemed unusually wary of his pal.
It was only when business owner Emma later received a call from the groomers that she realised that she had in fact taken the wrong dog – and that the imposter pooch belonged to another customer.
A series of clips show the saga unfolding as an image of Emma accompanies on-screen text reading: “Come pick up the wrong dog from the groomers with me.”
The clip cuts to Bob and Honey on the way to the groomers. where the latter is dropped off before Bob sits in the back of the car, where text reads: “Bob missing his sister.”
Emma and Bob then take a walk together as they kill time during Honey’s haircut before heading back to the groomers, where they pick up the imposter.
The clip then cuts to the unknown dog looking up at the camera in confusion as she walks out with apparent new owner Emma.
The text reads: “They gave me ‘Honey.’ I was thinking, ‘God, she looked very different’ but checked her collar and lead they were hers.”
Emma then walks the bewildered dog back to her car, explaining: “Her legs seemed further apart, and her fur looked really different.
“But, Honey always looks drastically different when I pick her up from the groomers to be honest, so I kept saying ‘No, no, it’s her’.”
The camera then cuts again to the pup posing for the camera before Emma sends them to her none-the-wiser hubby.
The text then reads: “Took loads of pics of her to send [to] my husband and he was just like, ‘She looks great.'”
The new pooch is then shown in the front seat of Emma’s car, where it is engaged in a stare-down with Bob, who has given the unfamiliar dog a cold welcome.
The trio then go for a walk before a snap of sheepish Emma appears on-screen with an explanation reading: “The groomers rang and said they gave me the wrong dog. This was my reaction.
“It all made sense.”
Thankfully, Emma returned the dog to the groomers, where her and Bob were reunited with the real Honey, although admits the woman who owned the other dog “was not ecstatic”.
Emma took to social media to share the hilarious blunder on Friday, writing: “Call me Emma O‘Driscoll.”
The post received over 6,750 likes and more than 240 comments from users left chuckling at the slip-up.
One person wrote: “As a dog groomer, this is my worst fear. I’d absolutely die if I gave someone the wrong dog.”
Another said: “That’s so bad because [what] if that other dog wasn’t dog friendly?”
A third commented: “I have two Cavachons I take to the groomers and after, I can’t tell them apart instantly. Easily done.”
A fourth added: “Your other dog was like, ‘Who the heck are you?’”
Speaking today, Emma said: “She had only been to this particular groomer once before and they all kind of have different styles of grooming
“I went to pick her up. I brought my other dog but left him in the car while I went in to pay etc, they gave me ‘Honey’ and I was thinking her eyes look really different, also how did they manage to get the tear stains off that we’ve tried everything to remove?
“It crossed my mind that it wasn’t her, there in the shop at first, but I checked her collar, and it was hers.
“I paid and brought her back to my other dog. He sniffed her but neither of them seemed excited to see each other like they normally would.
“I sent a photo of her to my husband, and he was like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe they did such a good job getting the staining off her eyes.’
“This other dog had yellow under her eye, so I was like, ‘Maybe they used something yellow to remove them?’
“It all felt a bit weird and almost like I was in a dream. I brought the dogs for a walk around the block to do a wee before I brought them home in the car and I kept thinking she was walking differently.
“Her legs seemed further apart but I was only really seeing her from behind at this point so nothing else seemed that different. My dog wasn’t fussed that she was here, they were walking side by side.
“She seemed more like my parent’s dog than Honey. The groomers rang while I was walking around the corner and said they had given me the wrong dog.
“They rang again within two minutes. The owner of the dog I had taken was there and she was frantic.
“When I got back to the groomers, the owner whipped the dog up and didn’t give me the time of day. She was like, ‘Oh my baby, my baby.’
“I then got my Honey and as soon as I saw her, I was like, how did I not know that other dog wasn’t her?
“Honey was half the size she was when I dropped her off, she has so much less fur. She’s definitely different to that other dog, she has curlier hair, she’s a bit smaller and she has staining under her eyes.
“She’s a similar temperament and has the same colour fur. If I saw the two of them beside each other I would have known straight away but because I was handed this dog, didn’t see any of the other dogs while I was there and she had her collar on etc, I was second guessing it when I was questioning it.
“I had also heard about ex-rugby player Brian O’Driscoll bringing the wrong dog home a few weeks ago and that was in my mind.
“I kept thinking, ‘No. You’re being paranoid.’
“As soon as they rang me it made sense. I felt so guilty and embarrassed afterwards. It replayed in my mind for days after.”
