Not a good place for every dog ...
I was so excited at first with the facility thinking it would be a wonderful fit for my puppy. After buying a whole package with them and attending a handful of day care days there, I found out it was NOT the place for my dog. Not to say this place might not be right for other dogs, but the set up, structure and employees ended up negatively affecting all the hard work and training I had been doing outside of day care, with a personal dog trainer.
Characteristics and behavior my dog has NEVER exhibited before at ANY other day care, boarding facility or with other dogs started to develop ... but ONLY when he was at this specific day care. That in itself is a clear indicator to me that the problem was Dogtopia itself rather than my dog. The crates are all set up in a circle in the play room along the wall, which from some dogs might be comforting but for my puppy, this caused him anxiety and really aggravated him when everyone else was playing and he was the only one in his crate getting a 'puppy break'. It doesn't seem logical to me to crate a dog in a room filled with other dogs playing, making him feel left out and jealous.
Also, it became clear to me when watching the video footage from daycare on their website, that the workers in the room (which should always establish dominance and control of the room), corrected only certain bad behaviors, not ALL bad behaviors. Say for example, rather than correcting the behavior of other dogs annoying or bullying my dog, they corrected only when my dog was fed up and tried to make clear to the bigger dogs, he no longer enjoyed being stepped on and pushed around. If you know how dogs play and how they communicate with each other, its obvious this is standard dog behavior and a totally fair response from my dog.
That being said, while the owner and workers at Dogtopia claimed to have tried to work with my dog who seemed to be struggling to feel comfortable and SAFE while at day care (otherwise, why would he feel the need to stand up and defend himself?), they really did not put forth much effort and did not seem like they could be bothered with a change in routine to accommodate my dog, that is still just a puppy! They suggested at one point to have my puppy on a leash while the others dogs are playing, which is absolutely absurd since they weren't even considering how this might cause leash aggression in my puppy that is still learning how to socialize.
They claim to be trained and educated in this matter but both me and my personal trainer (who is well known in the whole state of Michigan for having successfully trained thousands of dogs) think this is a terrible facility for all young puppies that are learning how to socialize with other dogs, and more nervous or sensitive dogs. I work with my dog in personal training 3-4 times a week helping my sensitive rescue puppy adjust and learn how to act. I explained to the owner, that his socialization issues only started at Dogtopia because of his negative experiences their and she did not consider to give me a full refund of my day care package. Instead, one of her employees, told me the other day my dog is "not welcome back because he shows true aggression" ...
Not sure where they get off calling a dog that they know nothing about 'aggressive', but I guess that's a good representation of how they run their business. They have no clue what my dog has been through and how hard both my dog and I work every single day ... yet they can go around calling other people's dogs aggressive when they don't want more work. Seems professional. My trainer and I will tell everyone looking for a daycare facility to never go here, because I can tell you for a fact there are PLENTY of other day cares that put more effort into their work and express more understanding for 'difficult' dogs that are still learning how to socialize.
*** EDIT: If Dogtopia is truly concerned with the safety of their guests, they should take into consideration not having the dogs share one water bowl at Dogtopia... I just got home from the vet today and my puppy now has oral papilloma ALL over his mouth, on top of everything else. He has not been around any other dogs besides while at Dogtopia day care leading me to believe this is where he was exposed to the virus. Having a communal water bowl seems negligent and unsafe, seeing it has led to health issue for my poor dog.
Good riddance Dogtopia! read more
