I've held off on leaving this review in hopes that the owner of Camp Bow Wow would reach out to me…read moreas promised. He never did -- which says everything you need to know about how this place is run and how little they truly care about the dogs in their care.
On May 10th, I dropped off my 4-month-old golden retriever puppy, Doug, for daycare. Around 4 PM, I got a call from a staff member named Anna saying Doug had been injured while playing and was bleeding. She said I "may want to take him to the vet" but left it up to me. Naturally, I was shocked and immediately asked, "Is he okay? What happened?"
They said his gum was punctured while playing with another puppy. Okay -- accidents happen. But here's the kicker: this happened at NOON. They waited FOUR HOURS to tell me my puppy was injured and bleeding. That is completely unacceptable and irresponsible.
I asked why there was such a delay in notifying me. Anna -- who had just gotten into work -- apologized and said her manager was present when it happened but chose not to contact me. Let me be clear: I am trusting you with the care of my young puppy, and when he gets hurt and bleeds, you don't even have the decency to call me immediately? I was livid.
Not only was this dangerous for Doug, but it also put me in a horrible situation because my regular vet closes at 2 PM on Saturdays. Instead of having the option of taking him to our trusted vet, I was left with the much more expensive and time consuming (who wants to make their nervous pup wait hours at a vet?) option of an emergency vet -- all because they didn't pick up the phone. I told them I'd be right there (I live 5 minutes away), and as soon as the manager found out I was coming, she left. No accountability whatsoever.
Anna was amazing -- the only bright spot in this disaster. She was sincerely apologetic and even admitted they've had ongoing management issues. She told me the owner, Nick, would call me on Monday and even offered to cover vet bills if I took Doug to their preferred vet. That call never came.
The next day, I got a call from Sienna (I believe that's her name), who apologized for not calling sooner and for leaving before I arrived. She claimed the delay was due to her "reviewing the footage" -- which is a terrible excuse. I made it clear I didn't care how it happened, just that someone should have told me IMMEDIATELY. She agreed she had no excuse but still managed to shift blame by saying Doug was playing more roughly than the other dog. He's a puppy. They play rough. That's expected. Don't try to blame a puppy for your negligence.
Again -- this isn't about the injury. Accidents happen. I completely understand that. What I don't understand -- and won't accept -- is the complete lack of urgency, transparency, and responsibility.
I spent the weekend flushing Doug's mouth, cleaning up blood, and watching him like a hawk because you failed to do your job. Luckily, Doug is okay -- his regular vet advised us to monitor him closely, as antibiotics are not ideal for such a young puppy.
But the real issue? Not only did Nick, the owner, never call me -- even after being told I was expecting it -- but I haven't heard anything from him to this day. I did get an email from another staff member asking how Doug was doing, and I responded that he was better but never heard back. No accountability. No follow-up. No professionalism.
It's heartbreaking because Doug loved daycare. He had so much fun and would get excited every time we pulled into the parking lot. But thanks to this experience, we can no longer trust anyone else with his care. You've completely ruined that for us.
And you've also lost what would've been regular business -- we had planned to use your grooming services and board Doug for an upcoming trip. Not anymore.
To top it all off, if you watch the live cameras, you'll notice that most of the time, the staff is just sitting around chatting -- not watching the dogs like they should be.
Extremely disappointed, furious, and heartbroken. Do NOT bring your dog here if you expect them to be well cared for. Because if something goes wrong, you may never even find out -- until it's too late.