This is a long awaited review for Dogtopia in the Overlake area of Bellevue. I had my little Rocco…read morein their care for a few weeks. Generally I had been satisfied with their care. However there came a day when their care didn't meet my standards. Rocco is a toy Yorkie; he's very small. In fact, was the smallest dog in their small dog area. On the particular day in question, I noticed via their webcam that at least one, maybe two other dogs, were bullying him. I did not care for the lack of quick resolve for this, and I had communicated it. I believe it was the same day or nearly the same day, I observed the same in person. Upon giving their staff my concerns, he was shortly thereafter dismissed from daycare. After receiving a barrage of cancellation emails from Dogtopia, their owner had the audacity of emailing me instead of just calling. She provided a very passive aggressive letter, cc'ing different people as well. Rather than taking responsibility, she decided to kick him out of daycare. This was unacceptable, and I had responded a few days following the receipt of her email. You can find her email in full below:
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Dear Mr. Marker:
Rocco is a wonderful dog, and we have truly loved having him in our playrooms. It troubles me to hear, however, that you are unhappy with our services.
Given your dissatisfaction with our open-play design, with our approach to safety, and with our staff, we believe that another care environment may be a better match for you.
We emphatically want every family to feel confident and comfortable in their daycare choice. As your clearly displayed displeasure demonstrates, we are evidently not the right fit for you and thus we are unlikely to meet your expectations in the long term.
We will miss Rocco, but we genuinely hope you find a daycare or care arrangement that aligns with what you're wanting. We wish you both the very best.
Wishing you joy,
Allison Christian Rau, owner
Dogtopia of Redmond and Dogtopia of Bellevue
Phone: Redmond (425) 201-7373, Bellevue (425) 516-7676
Website: Redmond | Bellevue
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All that had to be done was an acknowledgment of my concerns, in the moment, and a greater level of attentiveness. This business clearly doesn't respond well to criticism. They opted for the easy way out instead of just working through the issues. I had no issues with their "open-play design"; it was their level of attentiveness. Rocco was not the aggressor here, rather it was the slightly larger dogs in their care.
Unfortunately, I must advise you, the reader, that if you have a small dog, I would not recommend this daycare as a result of my experience.