None of the 20 pet groomers we read had answered any of their recent reviews. Not one reply, across the whole trade as we measured it. The three most-reviewed grooming listings in the set carry 1320, 1118 and 336 Google reviews, and the median across the 20 is 75. The median rating is 4.7, which is a single figure for the trade and does not tell you which listing is which.
The boarding businesses answering the most of their recent reviews are these. PetSuites Eagan answered 9 of its last 10, and its listing holds 313 reviews. Hound Around Resort answered 3 of its last 10, with 287 on the listing. Dog Days Daycare & Boarding answered 1 of its last 10, with 159. Those three came out of the 20 boarding businesses we read; about the rest we did not name, we can't say either way. The boarding median is 79 reviews and 4.7 stars, close to grooming on both.
Veterinary files are on another scale. The median review count among the 20 veterinarians we read is 425, against 79 for boarding and 75 for grooming, and the three biggest vet listings hold 1981, 1320 and 1180. Skadron Animal Hospital answered 5 of its last 10 and has 519 reviews. Southview Animal Hospital answered 1 of its last 10 and has 1981.
Among the 50 businesses we measured for someone searching in Inver Grove Heights, the typical one had answered 63% of its recent reviews. Two different windows sit behind all of this, and they are worth keeping apart: the reply counts are drawn from each business's most recent reviews, while the review counts are the whole listing.
What to do about it
For a practice sitting on a file the size of the vet listings here — 425 at the median, 1981 on the largest — catching up on everything is not the job and never will be. The reply counts on this page come from each business's most recent reviews, and that is also a workable unit: the last ten. Skadron Animal Hospital is at 5 of its last 10. Ten short replies, the plain good ones included, is a week of small tasks rather than a project.
Groomers start from somewhere else. None of the 20 we read had answered any of their recent reviews, so there is no pattern to keep up with, only one to begin. Whatever you write, write it yourself and name the specific thing the customer mentioned. A reply that would sit equally well under any review of any business is the one worth rewriting before you send it.
Pet grooming
We read 20 pet grooming businesses here and not one had answered a single one of its ten most recent reviews. The first owner here who replies is the only one doing it.
Pet boarding
| # | Business | Answered | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PetSuites Eagan | 9 of 10 | 313 | 4.5 |
| 2 | Hound Around Resort | 3 of 10 | 287 | 4.5 |
| 3 | Dog Days Daycare & Boarding | 1 of 10 | 159 | 4.8 |
Veterinarians
| # | Business | Answered | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Skadron Animal Hospital | 5 of 10 | 519 | 4.9 |
| 2 | Southview Animal Hospital | 1 of 10 | 1981 | 4.7 |
| 3 | Park Grove Pet Hospital | 1 of 10 | 536 | 4.9 |