First, I will say much of the support staff tries to take care of the dogs, but given the lack of training and support from the management, it's difficult. A recent conversations with the owner (Barbara), she told us:
1. Barbara (owner) says she doesn't trust the staff and has a camera on the desk to watch them, but does not have cameras to watch the dog or situations with the dogs.
2. There are two sizes, little and big-sized dogs. If your dog is roughly 50lbs, they will be put up with dogs well over 100lbs.
3. There are no procedure guides for the staff on how to deal with different situations. They have an initial evaluation, but there is no guide to this - it's a gut check.
4. In the situation described below, they have no problems keeping the dogs together.
5. She was not sorry dogs were hurt under their protection, dogs are dogs.
I called several dog daycares and asked them their practice for the above items and all of the other businesses have cameras, hire staff they trust, provide routine training, and have procedures.
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The situation -- Recently we had an incident where we were called by the owner, Barbara, saying that our dog and another dog had been playing rough and our dog had a bite mark under is front leg and she wanted to take him to the vet. (I saved the voice mail)
We pick up our dog in the afternoon and he has 15 staples covering two parts in his leg, and the vet wrote on the invoice that they had to do a reconstructive procedure to repair the damage.
I calmly called the daycare and we hear a ghostly story that our dog didn't want to play with a bigger dog and was attacked. I am not mad because like kids, dogs will be dogs, but request that Barbara call me the next day so I can better understand the situation and the plan moving forward. No calls come.
However the next day, the others dog owner calls me and feels horrible. It did irritate me that the daycare gave out my personal information without my permission. It is at this point I find out that this other dog is a rottweiler and over 100+ pounds. My dog is 55 pounds hound/lab mix. The other owner and I have a great call and neither are mad, but we both here different stories and now we are both concerned because it feels like a cover-up. She is told that our dog was the aggressor. I truly appreciate the other owner calling me - it means the world to me.
Both me and the other dog owner want to understand what the plan is for the dog daycare to reintroduce the dogs to daycare. We both want the same outcome - no dogs getting injured but to have a safe, fun time.
After two days, the daycare owner, Barbara calls me. What surprises me is she doesn't even say she feels bad that our dog is injured, instead says, "I'm apologize that you feel upset that your dog was hurt."
This is when Barbara explains the above points to me, and says the only plan to reintroduce our dog back to the daycare is to give him another evaluation. By this time I have talked with another daycare and they explain that anytime that there is a wound, that dog cannot come back till they are healed for their own protection. Then they make sure that those two dogs are not in the same room again for their own protection. Next, they have a written plan to reintroduce the wounded dog back into daycare which can take several visits but with constant supervision and care.
I called Barbara back and asked for a refund of the unused days and to cover the vet bills and she is not interested and will not respond as she promised she would. I'm saddened by this whole situation because we trust and like the staff, but they do not have the support that they need. read more
