The facility looks great and the staff were kind, but our experience was deeply disappointing. Our dog Keiko returned from a trial stay with a painful paw injury that went completely unnoticed by staff. Despite this, she was approved for future boarding, even though she came home clearly traumatized - shut down, not going outside, and not peeing or pooping for nearly 24 hours. They called me repeatedly during work hours to discuss after I flagged the injury, and though I responded promptly via email and text, I was accused of being unresponsive. After requesting a refund for the vet bill, they stopped replying entirely. While they did refund the stay itself, their lack of accountability and care makes me question how much attention dogs truly receive at this facility. This review is meant to caution other dog owners - our dog deserved better. read more

I'm honestly disappointed to be here writing this review as I was very excited about this facility, but I feel like people need to know. My dog went for a board and train to work on loose leash walking, basic manners, impulse control, things like that. I filled out a survey with my training goals and was told I'd have a call with the trainers prior to the start of camp so we could better define the goals. That call never happened, and my emails with additional questions were ignored. I was also promised regular communications throughout the week: two training updates and daily photos. My second update came over 24 hours late and my dog was rarely in any of the photos taken during play time. Upon returning home, my dog had not gained much in the way of new skills but had developed a severe increase in leash-related human reactivity, which has not historically been a problem for him. I can't definitively say that FFA and their training methods caused this directly, but it's pretty hard for me to think of another likely explanation. Especially since it has now begun to subside as more time elapses from his stay at FFA. I was told that FFA believes in only using positive reinforcement training, but looking at videos of what transpired at camp tells me that their definition of R+ is a bit creative. I saw them using leash pressure (a form of negative feedback, and NOT R+) in multiple different training scenarios, something I specifically asked about on the phone prior to booking and a staff member assured me that was not something my dog would encounter. Overall, I'm incredibly frustrated to have spent so much money on what could have been a great experience for my sweet dog, only to learn I unintentionally traumatized him. I'm now spending more money with my local trainer who is truly R+ to reverse the damage done at FFA and we are making great progress, but we should never have had to work on this in the first place. read more

We live in NYC and have been sending our golden retriever here when we go on long trips for the past 3 years. Far Fetched Acres offers an unbelieveable and secluded camp setting (we had the opportunity to visit in person last summer). I have been incredibly impressed by the FFA staff and feel like my pup is in great hands while away. I love the additional services you can add on to your resume - such as dedicated dog days out, kibble puzzles, kong of the day and TLC. Wonderful to have transporation to and from the city as well as a full bath included in the basic reservation price. read more

Far Fetched Acres - Pet Sitting Near Me

We did a board and train with our toy Aussie pup, Lily. We picked this place because for general boarding, they had a great balance of outdoor activities and ample space for the pups to run, but also had designated nap times for the pups. This was important to me because our dog doesn't like to stop and rest unless she's in a comfortable space and we encourage her to. She will continue playing for hours, even if she's super tired, and that is not healthy for her! We also loved that they used positive reinforcement. In terms of results, there was a noticeable difference and improvement in what we requested that they work on. During our lesson after she came home, Lily was very tired, but we still got the run down of what to do and how to continue on her training. It was very informative and we felt that the board and train was worth it for us! From the beginning of our boarding experience, they were responsive over email and answered all of my questions (and I had a lot!). Coordinating pick up and drop off was easier than expected! We live in Jersey City and opted for the free pick up/drop on Mondays and Thursdays in Manhattan so we were worried that it would be difficult to coordinate. Lily also came back to us clean, which was a nice touch! We already put in a request for another week and half of boarding and hope to use FFA as our go-to boarding place moving forward! Shout out to the FFA team for taking such great care of our girl! read more

I took my dog here years ago twice. My dog hated it. He came back the second time completely sad and downtrodden for a good couple of weeks. The guys who picked him up and dropped him off seemed like jerks as well. I don't know what happened to my dog, but it's been years and I still regret allowing them to pick up my dog. The second visit was over christmas and they made it difficult to get him early so he did the full 8 days and my normally very energetic dog was barely moving when I got him. read more

Trying to keep it a well kept secret but can't stand anybody bad mouthing them. My Theo has been going since he was a pup and I trust them till the ends of the earth. And I am very protective of my boy but he always comes home happy well vacationed and I wish all my vacations were as wonderful. Only good things to say about FFA read more

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We just got our girl back from 10 days at Sleep Away Camp. The photos of her and the feed back that we got told us that we made the right choice for her. She ran incessantly and played from morning till night. The appearance of a hot spot on her got a phone call to us and we went over what to do while we were almost a thousand miles away. Lilly came back to us happy and exhausted from playing. Their pick up and delivery was without a hitch. Shockingly Lilly has come to us when we have called her today. She's never done that before. Hoping this sticks!! Thanks again. read more

My Doodle has been vacationing at Far Fetched Acres on and off for about four years and clearly loves her stays. However, it pains me to say that the quality of customer service provided to owners has taken a bit of a nose-dive since the new, larger facility opened. I appreciate than Coleen and John cannot offer the same hands-on, personal touch that they did when FFA was smaller and I am delighted by their success but I find dealing with some of the newer, client-facing staff to be difficult. Communications can be very terse and clients are increasingly dealt with as just a number, with no familiarity and little or no follow-up when I have had billing queries or indeed questions about a small injury my dog appeared to have had at camp. Let me be clear, FFA is still a great boarding location but perhaps they want to work on revisiting customer care procedures and try to capture the 'family' atmosphere which made the camp so magical for dogs and humans alike. read more

Our 3-year-old English Springer Spaniel, Lilly was boarded for ten days at FFA. We were apprehensive about leaving her for so long for a first boarding, but the pictures say it all--she had a blast! I have never seen her so happy and I'm sure she'll sleep for days. Every aspect of the boarding was terrific, from the pick-up and delivery to NY, wonderful daily photos to reassure a worried dog-dad, and every employee that we met and talked with was lovely, caring, and competent. A great experience for us and especially for our pal Lilly! Will definitely board her at Far Fetched Acres again. read more

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Hands down the best home away home for your dog(s) anywhere. The services offered are varied and include training, TLC , deluxe boarding, Day Out, hiking, swimming, learning tricks, etc., and a staff of dedicated counselors and management. As I always say, I wish they accepted humans as guests at their "resort". read more

We have been using far fetched acres to board our husky, stoli for a year and a half now and I cannot say enough good things about our experience! Colleen and John are amazing! Everytime stoli sees us packing up her things to go there she goes nuts with excitment. When they come to pick her up she is so impatient about getting into the truck and get going - she also greets John who picks up with such enthusiasm it really makes me relieved to know she loooves going there. They really take care of your dog and it shows in how excited your dog will be to go back. I also love that they post pictures of their stay while they are there, so you can be involved in the action. Trust me when i say that your dogs will be extremely happy and so will you! A big thanks to Colleen & John! You are truly amazing and have made stoli's life while we are away fun, relaxing, and comfortable. It really makes it easy for us to know that when we cant be with her she is having the time of her life! Thanks again for that! read more

I agree with the other reviewer about not wanting to post a good review in case they get swarmed with new clients and get booked!! But the team here definitely deserves credit for being AMAZING! Our dog stayed at Far Fetched for a week while I was on vacation. It was her first time there and she can be shy at first but the team there helped her open up and gain confidence and I could tell in the photos she made some lifelong friends. They updated me regularly which I appreciated a lot considering my dog is like my daughter. I'm one of the crazy pet parents that would sooner cancel a vacation than leave my dog with someone I'm not sure about, so I'm glad I found Far Fetched Acres!! I can be on vacation and not worry a bit about my little bear. :) Absolutely recommend this place, I wouldn't send my dog anywhere else. Special shout out to staff member Becky who my dog adopted as a big sis. :) read more

My little guy has vacationed at Far Fetched Acres since he was six months old and it has become his home away from home. You have no idea how excited he gets when he realizes he is off to the country to stay with Colleen, John and team. Prior to his last visit we waited outside for his transport to arrive, it took a few minutes longer than expected due to traffic congestion around my building and, after dragging me to his usual pick-up spot, Bailey sat on the sidewalk and cried until his wheels arrived! As soon as the van appeared he hopped inside, chose a crate and curled up in preparation for the journey. I have chosen not to be offended by his enthusiasm for leaving but rather see it as confirmation he loves his FFA family! In addition to looking after Bailey's lodging requirements, Colleen and John have been amazing when problems arise. On one occasion Bailey suffered a re-occurrence of a problem he occasionally has with eye infections. He was immediately taken for treatment at a highly reputable animal hospital, prescribed the required medication and I was advised immediately of the problem. Colleen was kind enough to call and reassure me that everything was fine. I travel extensively for work and Far Fetched Acres has been invaluable. Recently I was delayed returning to New York and John immediately agreed to take care of Bailey, at very short notice, for another day and reschedule his return. Some of the best photographs I have of Bailey were taken at Far Fetched Acres, it is a delight to view the albums posted online each day and see how happy he is with his new friends. Each time Bailey returns home he is bouncing with health, freshly groomed and has clearly had a great time. I rarely recommend dog services but have no hesitation in doing so with Far Fetched Acres. read more

We sent our dog (a 3yo pittie mix) to FFA acres for three nights. While it seemed like she had a good time, the human experience was less than stellar. We were given some feedback about our dog via email but did not get any helpful details in spite of requesting additional information. We are not the kind of dog owners that think our dog is perfect. That is why we also asked if we can jump on a call with them to understand their feedback better, and get information that would actually be actionable. It has been more than a week and we still haven't heard back via email or phone. Their shoddy communications, and the fact that they noted "breed" in their email signals breed-bias. If you follow their IG account, it is not hard to see that a pittie mix is not their target clientele. Zoe goes dog parks in the city every day and when I shared my experience, some of the dog parents weren't surprised based on what they had heard about FFA. Luckily, there are other similar camps that cater to NYC. Two stars because I do think they have nice facilities and convenient pick up and drop off. read more

I almost don't want to leave a great review for fear others will continue to hit up this wonderful dog vacay! I went out of town for a few days and they took excellent care of my great dane Ryan! The pickup/dropoff option was lovely although they did not have a cage his size in the car -- he never rides in a kennel in my vehicles. I received a few phone calls on status and loved that they post daily pictures so I can keep tabs on how my dude is doing. Book early for holidays or other -- they fill up quick! read more

My dog comes home happy and tired when she stays at Far Fetched. I love viewing the daily photos.

i could not be more frustrated and disappointed after spending thousands of dollars. i sent my puppy there to deal with separation anxiety and potty training. i got my dog back after 3 weeks later. i am well aware puppies are not perfect and don't expect that but when you spend weeks and three thousand dollars you expect to see something. neither issue has improved AT ALL. i have had many dogs and my last puppy was trained in LA and had an incredible trainer. honest upfront and results . when i called them they said well "well she was good for us don't know what to tell you". additionally i was told the city is different then the farm up there and it "doesn't translate" i asked then why would you train a dog and not prepare it for the city (which the told me they did by bringing her to town) they were then supposedly going to call me for a follow up and have ignored me since. lost 3 weeks with my puppy and thousands of dollars. never had such a poor experience with a business let alone one that has to do with living beings. beware of this place. read more

Whenever my husband and I go on vacation, we are always lucky enough to have family who can watch our dogs. But our last vacation, we weren't so lucky and had to look for a boarding place asap. I posted an inquiry on facebook and a friend mentioned FFA and how great they were. I'd already contacted a few other places at this point, but they were all kind of 'meh'. One daycare even told me they don't "board dogs they don't know"....what the? Anyway, at this point I expected to be disappointed once more, but was pleasantly surprised after filling out my paperwork and being told my dogs were "approved" for boarding. So we quickly scheduled a visit with John and Colleen (who are super responsive, by the way, and were always more than happy to answer my multitude of questions) and were truly impressed with their beautiful grounds and incredibly knowledgeable staff. I knew we found our boarding facility and couldn't wait to bring the dogs there! After the first day of being away from them, like most dog owners, I had a serious case of separation anxiety....that is until I checked the album they posted on snapfish, which is something they do daily. It's filled with amazing pictures of their guests running around and having an overall great time. My dogs looked like they were having a blast and I was a little jealous I couldn't join them in all that fluffy white snow! And I gotta say, one of my dogs is super nervous and is always very shy at the dog park, never wanting to play with other dogs or say hi to people. After we brought her home, she's like a different dog! The last several days, she's been greeting everyone at the dog park and playing with any and every dog that comes through the gates. We can't believe the complete 180 she's done! I don't know if it was just a week in the country or what, but she's a changed dog, in a good way. In summary, John, Colleen, and their staff are amazing, compassionate, and very responsive (great for people like me who had a panic attack after leaving my dogs). We couldn't be more thrilled we found FFA and are really grateful for the awesome facility John and Colleen run. I can't recommend this place enough! read more

We live in the West Village and we send our dog here for boarding. Colleen and John, the owners are amazing, and super caring about the dogs. They are so professional and take such great care of our dog. I couldn't recommend them any higher - I wish there were 10 stars on yelp because that is what they deserve. read more

My little dog Doug won a raffle for a weekend in Far Fetched Acres through my vet and he had a wonderful time. They picked him up in Manhattan on Thursday and brought him back on Monday after giving him a bath. I was able to see pictures of him on SnapFish having fun in the sun. Colleen and John were wonderful explaining the process beforehand and I felt very reassured about his getting good care there. I have recommended Far Fetched to my friends and will definitely send him there again. read more

We sent our dog to Far Fetched Acres this summer and were very pleased! Our dog is very active and we usually have someone stay with him at our apartment when we are away but it's a big deal to ask someone to stay at our place and watch him -- he's very energetic! We looked all over the city for places to board our dog but most of them act as indoor dog runs where the dogs pee and poop indoors which would cause confusion for our house trained dog. We found Far Fetched Acres through a write up online in New York Magazine in their "Best Of" issue. We checked out Far Fetched's web site and e-mailed them and I got a nice e-mail from John with more information. I then spoke with Colleen who is very professional and is a dog trainer. I could tell she shares my same philosopy about dogs - she groups more by temperament than size, etc. She was also very understanding when I explained to her our dog's tendency to eat anything in sight. Pick up was very easy -- they give you a time frame of pick up time a day or two before and then call you when they are close. A very nice woman named Laura called to say she was on the way. All we had to send him with was his leash, harness and food! When our dog was returned, he was in their air conditioned van, quietly sleeping in a crate with other dogs crated in the van. We met John who was very friendly and gave us an update about what our dog did while he was there and that he didn't get sick in the car and had a little to eat that morning. Our dog smelled delicious! They gave him a nice bath with something that smelled great! It was nice to come home from vacation and know our dog had a blast and was nice and clean! We will definitely be sending our dog back next time we go away. I am definitely a neurotic dog person, my dog is my life and I felt very comfortable knowing he was in the care of Colleen and John at Far Fetched Acres! I have already recommended Far Fetched to other dog owner friends of mine! read more