7th Attempt - AFFECTIONATE PET CARE, Fairfax Station VA

So on our seventh...yes seventh attempt of looking for dog boarding we found AFFECTIONATE PET CARE in Fairfax Station Virginia. On the phone they were very polite and informative but I wasn't holding my breath. As soon as we walked in the door our big goof was so excited to go into his evaluation. He couldn't wait! The girls working were talking to him and just letting him run around acting silly while we got to watch their standard evaluation procedure. After introducing our mutt to about a handful of dogs over time they brought our dog out with no incidents. Of course he passed... now it was their turn to see if they passed our evaluation! The girl doing the eval had been working there for over 3 yrs and seemed extremely knowledgeable about large dogs and their need for structure and manners. Even after the 100 questions we asked they were still more then willing to accommodate us. Clearly they are customer service oriented and were very interactive with our dog. While we were being told more about their services, our dog got very excited and 'talked' in his high pitched voice. While this habit is hard to break we work very hard on minimizing his annoying chatter. An employee of Affectionate Pet Care walked up and instead of allowing our loud-mouth to keep talking to her, she told him that he needs to be quiet and then she would give him some luvvin'.....Silence... and then a thud. We looked over and sure enough, he was on his back, legs in their air and not a peep coming out of his big open mouth. The girls working there expected manners from our dog and this impressed us more then anything! 

6 out of 7 places asked nothing of our dog... AFFECTIONATE PET CARE in Fairfax Station, VA, on the other hand, expected manners and their expectations were met! Our dog will definitely be visiting there for short term boarding and day care. They gave us the impression that they are more then capable of not only handling but reminding dogs of all sizes that there are manners and rules to be followed with tons of fun in between!

OTHER PLUSES: 

Affectionate Pet Care not only encourages the dogs to use the out doors for potty-breaks they have 3 out door areas for the different groups of dogs, including 3 indoor play rooms. Though toys aren't allowed, on weather permitting days, they bring out the kiddy-pools and sprinklers for the water lovers. Affectionate Pet Care focuses on cageless boarding and non-naptime days filled with play and fun. Though crates are available for special needs. 

The only downside, Affectionate Pet Care is very expensive for boarding. Though they do offer packages, it still averages out to be 48-50$ per 24 hours. YIKES!

 

6th Try - ALWAYS THERE PET CARE, Falls Church

So Saturday was stormy and raining and we decided to try out ALWAYS THERE PET CARE in Falls Church. The manager who I spoke with on the phone was there and was very informative. They took my big mutt back and did their evaluation of introducing him to other dogs and seeing how things go. I wasn't able to watch because I had to fill out the required paperwork, but my dog had passed so they took him on back for a few hours of play time. We decided to tour the facility and found there were only 3 staff on site. There were 3 rooms with a handful of dogs in each + the geriatrics room with 3 dogs, and customers coming and going while we were there. While on the tour, we looked in the room that our dog was in.... drum roll please.... Always There Pet Care WASN'T THERE!!!  No supervision in a room with a handful of dogs + a new dog!!!! Apparently they had some kind of miscommunication. Thank goodness nothing happened! I double checked and double checked and the manager told me that during the week there is always suitable staff numbers to supervise. After seeing a tour of the place, we thought it was ok but because the runs where the dogs are fed were really damaged with lose wire and holes in the thick wire fencing and with wire actually peeling back I could see an excited dog getting hurt very easily, or small dogs escaping. So my husband and I decided that for 50$/24 hrs or 35$/full day of play, we might only use them for day care (so our dog can be fed at home) only in the case of rare emergencies. 

SUMMERY: On a scale of 1-10, 6 is the rating that Always There Pet Care gets because they aren't ALWAYS THERE!

Still searching ....

 

So after 5 tries we are still looking for dog boarding + play care. WHERE ARE ALL THE NORMAL BUSINESS PEOPLE OUT THERE???

This weekends next stop ....  Always There Pet Care, Falls Church, Virginia. 

I'll keep you updated! 

5th Try - LITTLE RASCALS, DC.

TIME CRUNCH! We had about a month left to look for dog boarding before we were going away for my husband's business trip. Still looking for dog boarding I contacted LITTLE RASCALS in Washington, DC. Not only did they have an indoor dog park in their building, they did day care, dog boarding, and you could choose your packages which included daily walks. How great is this! More then I ever expected. At last I thought everything would work out. The owner seemed extremely knowledgeable, flexible, and very easy to talk to. My dog was well behaved and very comfortable there. He had a blast and I enjoyed myself. Finally a safe, normal, relaxing place to leave my big goof. We went through the evaluation  and half a day of play care and they wanted him back (I was welcome to come to!) YAY! Finally relief. I could plan for my trip, look forward to going and be relaxed about leaving my dog behind. He wasn't going to miss me, he wouldn't even have time to miss me. He would get to play play play and sleep, eat, and play play play! I couldn't be happier. I even recommended other dog owners to Little Rascals. 

Drop off day: Everything went great. The business owner and I clarified when I would be back to pick up my pal and what my time frame was for that day of pickup, normal pickup was 11am but because of my unknown flight delays our window was 11am - 1pm.  Understandably every hour past 11am was an extra charge. We clarified all the times, contact and emergency info and left for our trip. We were away for 2 weeks and I didn't worry at all, I missed my dog but that was about it. 

(note: an employee was there during this whole exchange and overheard all the details which were double checked) 

Pick up day: After a 20+ hour flight and 12 hour time change, we finally make it home. After a few hours of sleep, we jumped in our truck and legged it down to DC to pick up our pet. We made it there at 12 noon on the dot. With all the gates locked, we waited and after 15mins decided to give the owner a call. They were expecting us after all right? After speaking with the owner's rude partner, he informed me they were 15minutes away and they were closed for that day. WHAT? closed? No one told me. He then told me they were 15mins away. .... 35minutes later no show.  I made another call, this time asking for the owner. I told her we had been there waiting at their locked gates. We would like to pick up our dog! (understandable right? I've just flown 2 days and had barely any sleep- I was to tired to fight) So the owner yelled at me, told me that they were closed, I was supposed to pick up my dog at 11am, (she obviously took back her time frame she originally gave me without letting me know) She then yelled at me informing me that I could either wait for her until she could get there, or I could come back another day to pick up my dog. Then she hung up on me. I hadn't eaten, slept, or even had energy to deal with this. I was on the verge of tears and was just shaking. A little while later an employee walks up to the gate. He couldn't believe we had been waiting outside to pick up our dog for nearly 1hr. Staff was inside the building and they could have just given us our dog without any of this hassle. So we go inside, one of the staff members then calls the owner, stating we are there to pick up our dog. Guess what the owner does... she instructs her staff to make us (paying customers) to wait OUTSIDE THE BUILDING till she gets there. We weren't even allowed inside the air conditioned building. The same staff member who was their on our drop off day, mentioned to me that he remembered what our drop off times were. I wasn't crazy, he confirmed we had a window of pick up between 11am-1pm. When I suggested he mention it to his boss, simply to clarify the situation he said *' What she says go, if she thinks she's right, she's right!' Our bill was nearly 500 dollars and thats how we were treated. I was floored, what happened to this professional, friendly business owner? I guess she has an evil twin. To exhausted and tired to fight, we paid our bill, gathered up our dog (1 hr after we got there) and left. She said all of 2 words to me and didn't mention a single thing about her unprofessional completely uncalled for yelling fit and then hanging up on me. After 2 days of sleep, I realized she had neither called to apologize or cared to bridge our business relationship. 

I guess she didn't want our business. I would have thought she could have just called to say sorry and she can't wait to have our dog back. After all we have a trip coming up in a few months! 

But on second thought - who wants to walk on egg shells with a crazy business owner. I had to wait 1 hr to pick up my dog... what if next time she doesn't even let me have him? If she could just freak out like that... who knows what is possible... 

* direct quote. 

Please note: I am in no way perfect, I always try to tell both sides of the story honestly and accurately. 

4th Try - A DOGS DAY, Chantilly

So I'm almost at my wits end.... We still need a place to board our dog. How great would it be, if there was a place 10 minutes away from where we live. Our search took us to A DOGS DAY in Chantilly. They do boarding, bathing, and day care. The first time I went in, my dog was not himself. The girl who had us fill out the information was passive and soft spoken and allowed him to jump on her. She simply had no presence. Definitely not a pack-leader. But whatever right, no one is perfect. When the owner came back to take my dog to his evaluation my dog wasn't really comfortable with her. He is normally a social butterfly and for some reason he just didn't seem like himself. He wasn't listening well and I just wasn't comfortable with the owner or her employee who I had met either. But I was still wanting to give them a chance. Sometimes things just take time, right?  After all I needed to find a place that fit our basic needs, playing, sleeping, and feeding. After pressing them, I was able to watch the evaluation on camera. My dog just wasn't himself. At one point he lifted his leg and peed on the owners dog while she was laying down. When the owner brought him back out, she was livid. The camera was lagging and so I never saw him actually lift his leg on her dog so the owner informed me what he had done. I had no idea what to think. He had never lifted his leg on any dog (we are regulars at dog parks, and before we moved he regularly went to day care and did boarding) or ever even had a problem with that sort of thing. After the owner had cooled down, she told me that if I would like to come back another day she was willing to reconsider and allow him back to see how things go. 

A few days later ... 

My husband accompanied me this time and we went back and dropped our dog off for a few hours of play. We wanted to see how things would go this time. Perhaps our first visit was just a bad day? My husband and I both watched him play for about 30mins on camera and watched the staff interact with him. So far things seemed good. A boxer who was there instantly took to him and they both played and played. My dog was the youngest dog there and seemed to be doing fine. A few hours later we went back to A Dogs Day to pick our goof up and see how things went. I was feeling hopeful. The owner came out and told us that he just simply plays to much. They didn't like that... He was the youngest there and encouraged the other dogs to be goofy and play. That wouldn't work for them. 

The owner of A Dogs Day in Chantilly informed us that she just didn't think it would work having our dog there. There didn't seem to be any  personality or social problems to speak of .  Yet he still wasn't welcome there??? 

Translation : If your dog has energy or plays, he won't be welcome at A DOGS DAY in Chantilly, Virginia. 

3rd Try- WOOFS, Arlington VA

3rd time a charm, right? I wish!  

Next our search took us to 'WOOFS' located in Arlington, Northern Virginia. With our trip a few months away we were still looking for a place that has all day play and then boarding at night for dogs. Woofs seemed great. The facility in Sherlington only does dog-day care whereas the Arlington facility does day-care and boarding, owned and operated by the same person. By now your probably thinking I'm a freak, I can't find a place that works, I mean he's just a dog. I honestly didn't think it was this hard either. I wasn't looking for a place that would give him any special attention or for someone to have to make an extra effort. For starters, I have worked extremely hard with my pure bred 80lb Olde English Bulldogge in all areas of socialization, training, manners, and tricks. What we want: a place he gets to burn energy and sleep and be fed. Easy enough right? Apparently not! 

This time my husband had to work. So just me and my pal went during the day to our WOOFS evaluation appointment. The girl ( I forget her name) who worked there and seemed to be the boss while the owner was away, certainly knew her job. She was young and small but had a great presence about her. She gave my dog commands and expected my goofs compliance. He passed with flying colors and so did she! I thought the staff was great. The dogs play area was small but the group of dogs was great and there was no barking. Every dog was playing great and if there was a small problem the staff had squirt bottles to use. Now before my dog got to go in the play area, he had already passed his eval the owner came in to see us. I was sitting down and had just told my dog to sit, he was beside me. He was wearing his usual basic nylon collar and his pronged collar (which I believe benefits some owners and works great for certain dogs, mine included) The owner came up to us and automatically seemed defensive. Right off the bat, she was upset with me because I had told my dog to sit (before he was able to say hello to her, he was excited, those are my rules-so what!) and she told me very loudly that prong collars are not allowed in her establishment. Ya... I took a few sputtering breaths too. I didn't know what to say. I mentioned to her that he is a big boy and his prong collar is very loose when he isn't pulling. If he is pulling its simply a reminder that he needs to ease up. He is my dog after all. Right? Right!  So after  that she wanted to see his social skills and she had him out in the play area. Now let me first mention, my dog is allergic to nearly everything. He has to have special food for his digestive system and we also have special treats at home. I don't encourage anyone giving him treats because that isn't a reward system that works for us. So he is out in the play area everything is going great. One of the employees gets out a bag of treats for the dogs. He just starts throwing treats into the group of dogs.... OH MY GOSH! First off, who knows what the history of some of those dogs is. What if they are possessive and chew off another dogs face in the process of going for the treat. Fortunately that didn't happen. But what if some of the dogs are allergic...LIKE MINE??? well the owner said he has to be able to have treats. I said sorry that won't work. He doesn't need any extra training and he listens great. It's all about play right? Well the owner had a problem with... not my dog... but with me!  She informed me that and I quote 'What you do with your dog in your home is your business, but what I do with your dog here is MY business!' Again, more sputtering breaths. On my part. After catching my breath I told her that I didn't have a problem with her but she clearly had a problem with me. I was here for my dog after all, I had no idea how all of this even started. She then loudly told me that my dog passed the evaluation and was welcome there any time but I was not. 

 I would be the one paying, but I'm not welcome ? ... go figure! 

So after apologizing to the wonderful employee who took the time to show us around I left. And ya, I cried. I was so shocked to be treated this way, I even had to pay for the evaluation. This time there was no problem with how they treated dogs, the supposed business woman and owner just didn't like me! 

If you don't want to walk on egg shells, be treated horribly and don't believe that  *' What you do with your dog in your home is your business, but what I do with your dog here is MY business!' then stay away from WOOFS in Arlington, Virginia. 

* This is a direct quote.  

2nd Try - A DOGS DAY OUT - Alexandria VA

2nd try.... 

So not wanting to send our dog to a place that abuses animals (understandably right?)  my husband and I went looking for a dog playcare/ dog boarding business that had reasonable standards. Our search took us to A DOGS DAY OUT in Alexandria, Northern Va. After speaking with the owner, the manager took us on a tour. I was elated. This place was amazing... so far. It had large play areas and they definitely seemed to know dogs. We let our dog go into the evaluation and we watched through an upstairs window. Things seemed great, but I was a little bothered how the employees didn't seem to be allowing my dog, who was in the large dog area, to actually play with the other dogs. When ever he started to get a little goofy and go into 'play time' mode they would just grab him and smother him with 'love'. To me it seemed that they just didn't know him and that would take time. I was more then willing to watch the process unfold. I waited... and waited. It didn't happen. Instead of giving him some space and watching him play (supervised of course) they wouldn't let him near the other dogs. I mean the whole point is to let them get to know each other, they are there to play, right? Wrong! Instead the staff kept yanking on my goofs collar and keeping him separated. After quite some time of this, one of the staff members decided to tease him. The employee pretended to have a treat in his hand and held it up encouraging my dog to jump 6ft in the air. Now not only do I have a problem with teasing, but when you have a 80 lb dog jumping, that is encouraging bad manners (we have all had big dogs jump on us, who likes that???) and on top of things, this breed tends to have its biggest problem with hip displacia. I just didn't understand what these employees who work with dogs day in and day out were thinking... perhaps they weren't?!? When I asked the owner (I tried to be polite even though I was pissed) what-on-earth his employee might have been thinking and why would they encourage this type of behavior??? 

His response.... sometimes my employees get bored, they have to keep entertained somehow. HA! NOT AT THE EXPENSE OF: My time training my dog NOT to jump! The health of my dog and problems that could happen with encouragement to reach such a height! And teasing a dog is completely inappropriate! 

So for a second time, my lovable companion passed the evaluation with flying colors, A DOGS DAY OUT in ALEXANDRIA FAILED. MISERABLY! 

REVIEWS: DOGTOPIA- Chantilly, VA

My husband and I had just moved to Northern VA and we were looking for a place that did dog day care and boarding. To make myself clear, I was only looking for a place to take my big, 18 month, 80lb, boy where he could just play, play, play, eat, sleep, and play play play! Nothing special. DOGTOPIA in Chantilly seemed great for us because of the location... until I went there. When I first walked in, a lady walked in from the back and just took the leash from me. She didn't introduce herself or anything. Then when I said I wanted to watch the evaluation they wouldn't allow that. But once I pushed for it, they allowed me to watch on camera from a separate room. As I was watching, the front desk girl told me about the owners. Apparently the lady who had just taken my dog was the owner. She and her business partner (the man in the evaluation room who I hadn't yet met) had not worked with dogs or animals before becoming owners and this just opened franchise. Supposedly their careers were at AOL until this summer of 2008. To make a long story short, as I was watching the evaluation a puppy was let into the room. My big dog loves all things with legs and has never had any problem in any of the day cares, boarding, pet stores, dog parks, or obedience classes he has belonged to. I watched as my big goof got excited and sniffed and pawed the puppy. The puppy was wiggling and squirming and appeared to be equally goofy and excited. Instead of giving any commands of  'Gentle', 'Nice' or 'Easy', the male business owner kicked my dog in the side. Now it wasn't a violent kick, but it was a kick non the less. My dog was fine but I on the other hand was livid! I certainly wasn't imaging things and when the male business partner came out, I asked him what on earth he was doing. He softly said that he was trying to get my dog to go 'easy' with his new friend ... All it takes is a simple command to reminded my big dog that he had to be gentle. 

People like this shouldn't be allowed to be around animals. Don't give DOGTOPIA in Chantilly a chance to give your dog a kickin'.