It had been about 10 years since I had to board any of my pets. We have always been lucky enough to…read morehave a family friend come take care of them if we were gone overnight, but since we were going to be gone longer than usual this time, I had to find somewhere I actually felt comfortable leaving them.
I spent a couple of weeks researching places around us, reading Google reviews, looking at websites, etc. This facility is a little pricier than some of the others I looked at, but price wasn't my main deciding factor. I wanted somewhere I genuinely felt comfortable leaving my dogs and felt confident they would be well taken care of, kept busy, comfortable, and hopefully not stressed the entire time we were gone. After our experience, the little bit of extra cost was absolutely worth it.
After I finally decided on Pawparazzi, I created an account and started getting everything set up. I emailed them with a few questions, and not even an hour later, on a Sunday, they had responded and gotten both dogs scheduled for their assessment that following Tuesday. I was honestly impressed with how quickly they responded, especially on a weekend, and everyone I spoke with was friendly and helpful.
The day I brought them in for their assessment made me feel even better about my decision. It wasn't just a quick "okay, we'll take them from here" type of thing. They took the time to talk to me and get to know them, then took each dog back individually. What really surprised me was that neither one hesitated to go with them. I work from home, so these two are with me all day and normally think they need to know where I am at all times.
While we were gone, I received the evening updates I had signed up for with pictures and little report cards about what they had done that day. I loved getting to see them enjoying their activities and getting some one-on-one attention. I also messaged a few times while we were away and always received a response pretty quickly.
We picked them up at 8:30 Labor Day morning. Their baths had been done the night before, and I was honestly impressed that they didn't come home smelling like they had been at a kennel. They were clean and smelled great.
I had also asked for their nails to be Dremeled and buffed really well. My father-in-law has very thin skin and is on blood thinners, so a dog paw to the arm can cause some serious battle wounds.
They understood the assignment. Their nails were short and SO smooth. I've had their nails done at other grooming places, and they've never gotten them this smooth. Hopefully my father-in-law won't be rocking hot pink tie-dyed Band-Aids on his arms the next time he visits.
Pickup was also really easy. We didn't wait long for them to come out, and all of their stuff was already together and ready to go.
One of the biggest things I noticed was their behavior afterward. They were obviously excited to see us, but they weren't completely wound up or acting crazy.
They're normally rambunctious in the car, but even the ride home was pretty calm. Once we walked through the door, they got comfortable, curled up on the couch with us, and were perfectly happy spending the day being lazy and getting snuggles.
I really think all of the activities and attention helped keep them busy while we were gone and wore them out before we picked them up.
I couldn't be happier with where I chose to leave my fur babies. They were happy to see us, but they didn't seem stressed or desperate to get out of there. After being so nervous about boarding them for the first time in about 10 years, that alone told me I had made the right choice.
We will definitely be back!
