I hate to be a voice in the wilderness here, but reading all of these glowing reviews, which are at odds with my own experience, and finding no echo of the troubles I have had, I feel that I need to be that voice, if only so that people who have experiences like mine can know that they are not imagining it and they are not alone!
Lupita was recommended to me by a local dog professional whose opinion I value. The first time I left my dog here, however, i had a problem. I had left a specific instruction regarding my dog's care that Lupita did not follow. This resulted in a trip to the vet that cost over $100 as well as significant discomfort to my dog, caused both by the condition itself and by the treatment of it. Obvioiously I was not pleased.
I have had a hard time, however, finding quality boarding in my area. After my first bad experience, I searched Upscale Puppy's online reviews. I was looking to see if anyone had had a similar negative experience. I found nothing but praise and love. So I figured it was a one-off fluke and/ or just me. I decided to try Lupita again.
Before leaving my dog with Lupita the second time, I purchased a protective garment for my pup. This garment, when used properly, can prevent or minimize the sort of problem that happened when I left him with Lupita the first time.
I should note here that my dog has been boarded many times,once for nearly two weeks. He has also been boarded, throughout his life, at 4 different facilities. But never has he been returned to me as disgusting as he was on this second occasion at Lupita's. He had been with her 4 nights and smelled as if he had slept in a puddle of pee the whole time. Even my husband, whose nose is not nearly as sensitive as mine, had a gag moment when our dog got in the car.
When we got home we removed the garment that i mentioned. A good deal of the reek seemed to be coming from this, although even after removing it our pup was still very stinky and was rushed up to the bath. The garment itself had to be soaked twice @ 24 hours per soak then rinsed multiple times in hot water to get it stink-free.
Even if Lupita were not the most expensive place in town, I would find this totally unacceptable. This is not even a regular level of care, let alone the particular attention that I was led to believe my extra dollars were purchasing.
My guess is that Lupita is overwhelmed. Both times she had my dog, she sent me a photo of him in the yard. Each time there were about 10 total dogs. Who can attentively care for 10 dogs? The first time my pup stayed with her she mentioned that her assistant was temporarily not around. I don't know if this was the case for the second stay, but if her helper was there she didn't seem to help much.
Anyway, it's not my job to hypothesize why my dog received substandard care both times he stayed with her. Needless to say I won't be back, and I felt like I should share my experience so that if in the future someone has an experience like mine, they can read this and get some validation that they're not imagining things, it's not just them, and they're not wrong to look elsewhere for attentive care for their pup. read more