Let me be specific about the situation in which I think everyone should know and BE AWARE OF DONNA and HER BOARDING SERVICES.
Before Thanksgiving, we looked for a dog boarder, and figured with all these wonderful reviews, that it shouldn't be so bad. I was a little apprehensive though because most of the reviews are about dog walking and not boarding. There were very few options left that had openings over the holiday weekend. Anyone who knows our Bernese knows he's the sweetest dog in the world, even though he's 90lbs. He's pretty lazy and the biggest goofball, but he loves to eat. He always gets so excited about treats. Donna called to say she actually won't board the dog herself and she preferred cash or check paid up front.
So my boyfriend dropped off our Bernese at this guy's house, who has another dog (medium size dog, probably around 30-40lbs) and the guy also has kids (our dog loves kids, he would just lay on the ground so the kids won't feel threatened so he can be pet). The guy seemed a little clueless and indifferent, but we figured how hard can it be to take care of our dog. He's not very active at all,extremely easy going, and prefers to sleep most of the day. Regardless of how much you think your dog is low maintenance, in the care of someone completely incompetent, it will turn into a nightmare as this experience has shown us.
My boyfriend leaves to fly all the way to Virginia for Thanksgiving, only to have her call us the very next day in the morning and tell us that her pet sitter got "bitten" because our dog is "aggressive" and probably has a "kennel cough." I put all this is quotes because of the absurdity of the situation. Her tone was extremely accusatory and she demanded we pick up our dog from across the country. Completely surprised by the situation, I couldn't believe her story. He was healthy and fine when we left him, but now he's developed a kennel cough overnight and has had a COMPLETE personality change?!
So I told my boyfriend about the phone call, and he called the guy to ask him what had happened and Donna totally embellished the story. The guy had a treat in his hand and London reached for it, but the guy felt that my dog was lunging at him (probably because he knows absolutely NOTHING on how to handle a large dog) and pulled away, which then caused a SCRATCH on his hand (the guy's own words). The guy was so worried and paranoid, my dog clears his throat after he eats because he just gobbles up food, that he called Donna and told her he couldn't take care of our dog anymore.
Why are you hiring incompetent people to look after other people's dogs that they obviously have no experience or ability to? Just because they happen to have a dog themselves does not make them experts or good dog caretakers. I have two dogs and I've dog sat plenty of other people's dog, and I know it's extremely difficult because every dog is different, especially if they're of different breeds than your own. Dog sitting is an extremely complex thing, and you shouldn't hire someone who doesn't KNOW HOW to dog sit or handle anyone else's dog but his OWN. Then call me and accuse my dog of being hostile and give me all this crap about how the guy has kids. WELLS MAYBE HE SHOULDN'T BE DOG SITTING IN GENERAL IF HE HAS KIDS AND DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO HANDLE OTHER PEOPLE'S DOGS.
So here we are on the other side of the country trying to figure out find a safe place for our dog. Luckily my boyfriend's friend was still there for another day before he flew out, so he went to pick up our dog. He was completely taken aback by the story, and everyone we've told it to that knows our dog thinks it's the most ridiculous thing ever. My boyfriend then had to find a flight back the very next day, two days before Thanksgiving. We were extremely angry and irritated about their incompetence. We figured what is done is done. Our dog is safe, and we'll just forget this drama filled company behind us. But I felt I needed to leave a review so other people wouldn't be suckered in to their boarding services.
After I left my initial review and after more than two weeks past the ordeal, we got an email from the guy demanding we send him vaccination records because he was going to go to the doctors for his scratch because he was concerned our dog had kennel cough. Our dog did not have kennel cough and the timing is extremely suspicious. First of all, any experienced dog boarder knows to insist on having vaccination records BEFORE you board a dog. We thought it was absurd for him to ask it now, AFTER the fact. He went on to say he would call animal control to take our dog away if we did not do as he asked. HARASSING AND THREATENING US? Are you serious? In my opinion, you aren't running a business, you're running a SCAM. I've never been so disgusted in my life.
This is stuff of nightmares. BEWARE. read more