An honest review. We began taking our 8 month old lab to the Delafield location; staff was friendly, easy to book, and she loved to go! After taking her there for 1-2 days a week regularly, at pick up, we were told it was not a good fit for our dog, as she is relentless with play, and will not stay away from the other dogs, and they are very afraid she will get bit, as there are "bigger more aggressive" guys in there who could "really hurt her". The worker was very nice, but stated how concerned he was that she might get hurt. Understandable. Our dog will play play play; if a dog is around, she wants them to be her best friend. Upon returning home, I noticed that our girl had a gash near her eye- she had clearly been bit or, at a minimum, was on the end of an act of aggression. It seems the worker was not transparent, as she clearly did get hurt. I ultimately ended up emailing the manager, asking if it was typical policy to effectively kick out the dog who was injured, as it seems counterintuitive to kick her out, stating she is a liability as she won't leave dogs alone, and some get sick of her. It feels as though the dog who is the concern for the act of aggression would be the greater liability. At any rate, the owner responded that she probably incurred the "cut" because she was "annoying another dog". I would have appreciated communication if this was the issue, as nothing was ever brought to our attention prior to this. Just an honest review that if you have an active younger dog, you may want to consider sending them somewhere else where the dogs are divided by age/size/temperment. read more

I'm writing this review in response to the prior 1 star review. No way they take in 100 dogs at one time. At most, I think I've seen maybe 20-25. It's a dog daycare...not a one on one play session. Ben is a great owner and loves dogs. My lab loves coming here when we need to board him. There is no separation of dog size, but why is it needed if all dogs get along? Ben checks for dogs behaviors. If your dog is aggressive you don't stay. We've left our dog up to 10 nights here. Our pup enjoyed his vacation as much as we did read more

Recently dropped our two toy poodles off for a two night stay at Barkin' Up Hickory. Ben, the owner, is friendly, knowledgeable and runs a well-organized business. Our shier dog was quick to warm up to him within a few minutes of arrival. The facility is clean and the decorations are adorable (western themed room, princess room, etc)! The dogs have a nice, spacious place to sleep, as well as a fenced in area outside for some fresh air. Webcams are available, but were not compatible with Mac computers (maybe if you run IE). When we went to pick up the dogs, Ben showed us some pictures of our dogs sleeping in the sun on patio furniture, with other dogs chilling near them. I can tell that my dogs were socialized, exercised, and well cared for during their stay at the doggy hotel. I think we will be bringing them back for doggy daycare, so they can get more social interaction with other dogs. And we will totally use the overnight care when away again. Aside from the great staff and facility, we really appreciated the hours that are available for pick-up and drop-off, especially the fact that they are open on Sunday's. read more

I find Ben easy to work with. He cares about the details. The other staff I have met are also really engaged. Our English setter has no problems when we drop her off. So very happy to have found Barkin' Up Hickory. read more

Wanted to update that 6 years later we still use and love Barkin Up Hickory! Thank you Ben for running such a wonderful doggy daycare and boarding facility. I rest easy knowing our dogs are in great hands when we board them. read more

i don't want to call this place horrible, but it's horrible. they put up to 100 dogs in a giant room, and there is no separation of size or behavior. giant saint bernards and tiny chihuahuas in the same room. there is typically only one-two people working back there at a time and therefore your dog is definitely not getting adequate attention. please stay away from this place. read more

My dog seemed to really enjoy coming here the first few visits, but I'm curious about what's been going lately because he gets nervous to even go inside now. My past few experiences have also been frustrating due to rude employees, one of whom told me while I was saying goodbye to my dog that "you can go now." ?? Weird. read more

Our dog had a very negative experience at Barkin Up. We usually go to another boarder but they were booked for the spring break week. This place had availability. I wonder why? Just be very cautious. read more

I have been taking my 4 year old lab to Barking Up Hickory two times a week since she was old enough to go (8 months-ish). The owner Ben is fantastic and treats all dogs like they are his own. My dog gets so excited the minute I even mention Ben's name that sometimes I think she likes him more than me! The love, care and professionalism at Barking Up Hickory is exemplary. My dog Tundra is one of the most important things in my life, so when it came to choosing a place to take her, I truly did my research and from what I have found there is not a better place in Southeastern WI. Thanks for all you and your staff does to keep our best friends safe and happy! read more

Our 2 mini dachshunds love Barkin' Up Hickory! We love the staff....we always feel comfortable dropping of our "furry babies"! We use the doggie daycare and the kennel....It's awesome to have a great place that offers both options! And more importantly it's great to leave them with a staff that is going to take great care of them! read more

Not happy. Picked up my dog who was limping and could not get into the car. Asked owner if he noticed anything and was told the my dog played hard and might have sore paws.Upon return to home, discovered Dog had RAW patches on both front paws. One paw had flap of paw hanging. These were beyond "sore". My pup is in misery and will need considerable rest time to heal up. It is unacceptable that this was missed at the facility and obviously the condition of the dogs is not monitored. I called the owner who accepted no responsibility and claimed he did not notice my dog was injured. He admitted that there was ball play and the surface is hard. My dog is a Lab and I clearly stated in the initial registration form that she is ball obsessed. Obviously there was no monitoring of the level of play or common sense. I asked the owner for a refund for the day and he said "that isn't going to happen." I like to support local small business and do not write bad reviews.......but with that type of attitude????? I will NOT take my dogs there again would not recommend this place to anyone. read more

This is as good as it gets for a doggie daycare. The owner Ben and his dad treat the dogs like family. Our dog will literally sit in front of the door and won't let us leave when she wants to go to Barkin' Up Hickory. Ben and his dad try to get all the dogs our for walks when they can (at no additional cost!), they keep an eye on the dogs to make sure they are safe and that there are no aggressive dogs. But as can happen, a new dog bit our dog. Ben called us to see what the vet said, dropped off home made dog treats and continued to follow up with us to make sure she was ok. That is someone that cares about the dogs! And he gave us free doggie day care days on top of it. He LOVES the dogs and treats them like family. You just mention Ben's name and our dog goes crazy wagging her tail and excited to go. We've used 4 different day cares with our dog and by far this one is the best. Can't say enough good things about Ben and his team. read more

The first week we took our dog to Barkin' Up Hickory we had a good experience and our dog came back exhausted. As we continued to go there he was coming home very hyper and we asked what was going on and they said they needed to separate him because he was too hyper. Every time I would pick up I would ask how he was and they would say good/fine. Today I get a phone call saying that we needed to come get him and to not bring him back ever again. They said he is "aggressive" when I went in there to discuss what was going on with our dog I was told he "Nit Picks" other dogs, when I asked what that meant I was told well he was nit picking. I am not sure how a dog can nit pick another dog but okay. The owner Ben then asked me why I was coming at him, I told him I am not coming at you I just want to know what exactly my dog is doing. The only thing he kept saying was nit picking other dogs and he's going to get bit. Mind you my dog is a 1 year old lab mix, so yes he can be hyper sometimes he just needs a reminder to calm down, I understand that. I also had asked several times if we needed to get a trainer involved to help with this behavior and he said well I am not a trainer so I would't know what you need for him. I am very confused and would not recommend this place to anyone. The reason we send our dog to doggie daycare is to burn off some energy he has and this was a terrible experience. And mean while we have been sending him to another place while he was going there and they said he has been nothing but great. Weird that he is fine at the other place and not here. Sounds like pure laziness to me. I am also concerned about the non communication that we received from everyone there. read more

My boyfriend and I were quite excited to find a Doggy Daycare that was really close to home and to my work. After meeting the owner who also operates the facility and learning the steps to get our puppy in (filling out some forms and sending in the shot history from the vet) we were ready to get our puppy playing.... Which is also when things started to get a bit strange. After providing the vet information I attempted to get my pup in for a play date - only to be told then that he had to be 5 months old before admittance (this information was not provided on the initial meet). Since our pup turned 5 months a few days later we shrugged this off and set him up to go after he became of age. Everything seemed to be going well. We had to stop going while he was recovering from being neutered and after that is when things started to go down hill. **I should note that at home we noticed no significant changes in his behavior after being neutered. Our pup has also socialized with other dogs outside of puppy care and that he is an 8# dog**. At pickups I would get reports that pup was an "instigator" lunging at the other dogs, etc. Other than that there were not any other problems. One day I received an email stating that Pups was "by himself for the rest of the day". "keeps instigating, lunging and nipping at the others." "I can't afford to take the chance of him or another getting hurt because of this.". I fully support the decision to remove my dog from the others. I would hate for another dog to get hurt or for another dog to hurt mine for being annoying. I knew there was a location in the play area that was separated off where dogs are there to be introduced on their first day and this is where I thought my dog was being put - so he could still be around the others but in a safe environment for the others and for himself. When I went to collect him that afternoon; I walked into the building and could hear a dog yipping and crying. The owner recognized me and went to get my pup. He went to one of the boarding rooms, opened the door, turned on the light and brought my dog from one of the cages. I was a bit enraged. Here I am paying for the service of my dog being watched and as far as I can tell he is shut in a dark room, in a cage and howling loud enough for me to hear from the entrance. He was so excited to be out of the room that he ran around my feet. The owner said that some dogs just want to be the alpha male and mentioned that he also had a dog that couldn't be brought there because he wanted to be the alpha. I took pups home and noticed that he was not putting pressure on his right leg. He would lift it up as he walked / jogged (which he was not doing that morning and has been doing for the last 3-4 days). I emailed the owner asking if something had happened to initiate the email I received and removal of my dog from the group. He replied back stating that no he would have told me if something had happened. I feel like the communication from the beginning - as far as the age limitation and more information on his behavior and then the poor treatment (caged in a dark closed room) of my dog shows that this isn't a place for everyone (or every dog). It seems like there is a lack of experience or greater knowledge of dogs (as far as traits, standards of breeds and personalities). I would not recommend this place to any of my friends. I love my dog (maybe to the point of too much) and he will never set paw back in this place. read more