On the surface, Camp Bow Wow looks like a friendly and promising place to leave your dogs here for hours and hours when you're busy. Right when you go in, the front desk is fashioned as a homely cabin setting; it just reminds you of those times when you sat by a warm campfire out in the forest, roasting Smores. Your trust is deepened as you can watch your dogs 24/7 on the cam wherever you are. As busy as we dog owners could be, this might just be the only place to entrust your dogs here, but in life, we all know nothing is as it seems.
Among other reviewers, it seems as though I may be the one, unhappy apple in the tree. I know how it works on Yelp. (Yelp, playing a large role in moving my decision to try this place out) A sweet five star screams YES to you as it did for me. Of all the many great reviews you see, why must you adhere to this pesky review?
Because this is what happened:
I needed someone to take care of my puppy. Fast. I was going out of town, but people around me were busy or untrustworthy. After surfing through the web, I found Camp Bow Wow. Many people seemed to leave their dogs here, and above all things, their dogs were happy. I fell into that idea of this place being all cute and nice for my puppy with the cabin theme around it, and hearing all the praises on Yelp about this place.
So, I took my puppy for their first visit. I got myself in the fuss of filling out the forms and getting him vaccinated. When I first when in, I was greeted by the front desk lady, Gabri. (I think that's her name) And, that's when everything goes wrong. I went to have a tour and a interview still a little unsure if or if not I should enroll him, but right then, she got me registered. I was in a whirlwind.
I kept on asking if I can go in with him, but she kept on denying. HE WASN'T ABLE TO MEET WITH OTHER DOGS BEFORE. IT WAS HIS FIRST TIME. After much throwing of irrelevant information or defending her cause of taking him away so quickly, she pulled my dog away to the indoor yard with over 20 other dogs after much negotiations with me, insisting that she wasn't ready. Adult, big dogs were roaming around that yard. Once again, she was being all pushy about putting MY PUPPY along with the big dogs instead of the yard with small dogs just because she went a little over the minimum of 30 pounds. She instead blamed me being to attached to her, which is bogus, since is there such thing as loving your dogs too much?
And apparently, this worker loves being in control, since kept on insisting leaving him there for 3 hours. As subtle it may seem, from my baby going in to " socialize" to " not letting me see the back", she was a impolite, forceful marketer, who loves enrolling dogs in their camp than the well-being of them.
I was then glued to the Cam, watching how he was doing on his first day. The anxiety and the frustration of leaving their owner as well as being crowded with dogs over 30 pounds was written all over my puppy's body language. The whole time, he was in a corner by himself, waiting to be out.
Afterwards, I died inside.
At home, after his first day, HE STARTED GRINDING HIS TEETH. AND THEN BLOOD CAME OUT. HIS TOOTH AND HIS GUM FELL OUT! I know puppies get more teeth, but he kept on grinding 2 days straight after due to excessive stress. When I go to pet him, he runs away when before we were so close. For a week after that, he became very distant only playing by himself. He became more sensitive when I just thought I won his heart. It took him awhile when I first got him, because he was mistreated by his previous owner. After 5 months of getting him potty trained, he peed on the carpet again like when he was younger. Til' to this day he is still peeing on the carpet after two weeks. When I get his collar out for a walk, he scurries away as if it brought painful memories. This is abuse.
A real respectful worker would have acknowledged the customer's request, but most importantly, the dog's, my dog! He was a puppy. Puppies especially first timers should have not went in the ghastly, grey yard, considering he was also the smallest. Every other dog was fully grown and over a year old! read more