I called every day to check on my dog. In all the pics she was wet. I got a call @ wk. one morning and was told she had a little cold and should see a vet. I asked if she would be ok if I took her when I got off work. She said yes. Just before I got off, she called again and said her breathing was labored and needs to see a vet immediately. I got her to the vet and he said she may not make it through the night. Two weeks later and nearly 3K dollars later we took her home. In the yard a few days later, my husband got the water hose and our dog freaked out! She ran away from the hose and ran straight toward me. She didn't do well around the hose or loud noises like music. I know Paula has an airconditioned area where they kennel and I wonder if they wet my dog and then put her in an airconditioned kennel. When dropping her off for the first time, the man in the back yard, had a water hose with an adjustable sprayer in his hand. I wonder if they shoot the dogs with water when they want them to do something. Glad we took her out. read more

We took our little beagle here as a puppy to be trained. It cost us around $1000 and she had to stay with Paula for 2 weeks with no visitation allowed in between. Upon pickup Paula showed us all of the tricks that she taught our dog and some of them weren't working while she showed us which was fine because we only cared about the potty training for the most part. We took her home and after a few days we realized she's just not potty trained at all. We took her back to be trained for an extra week and a half free of charge. The potty training seemed much better after that but definitely not perfect. Our end result was that we had a dog who was halfway potty trained (pooping inside) and that she could walk on a leash. She could also sit and stay on command. I'm not sure how she got along with the other dogs there but she had a huge fear of big dogs afterwards and we're still working to get her passed that. If you do go to get your dog trained, she offers cheaper boarding for you and first dibs on boarding. So basically she gives you the VIP treatment. read more

My first review was filtered, unfortunately I made this place sound too great--too great in that they think I own it. However, you can still read my filtered review under "filtered" if you look closely. I give Paula's 5 stars for her boarding set-up, friendliness, helpfulness, and above all the satisfaction I feel my pup gets from it! One slight negative thing I can think of is that your pup will more than likely get VERY dirty on their visit here. However, you can request that they be bathed before your pick-up, and one time my pup was even bathed without me requesting! read more

Doggie Heaven I have been using Paula and her kennel for over 10 years. I saw one negative review of Paula's services but noticed the reviewer never actually used her services. Kinda odd. I've got three dogs and I won't say that things are perfect. Paula lets all of the dogs run around together in a very large fenced in yard. She has three fenced off sections. Once is for the larger dogs. One is for smaller dogs and a third area for the occasional problem child. Can your dog get bitten in this situation, yup. But those things happen when dogs play. My dogs seem to love it. Be sure to tell Paula about any problems your dog has. She tries to keep the older dogs segregated for their protection. My oldest dog, Jazz, slept in the house when boarded there in her final years. Also, make sure your dog's shots are up to date. Of course, you should be doing that anyways.. read more

Before moving to Dallas, we were never comfortable with leaving our dog Darby with anyone other than friends and family. He's highly prone to anxiety problems and typically would return from daycare or boarding more stressed out and unhappy. Paula has been such a wonderful and positive relief for us, and we trust her to look after Darby and his specific needs as if he was one of her own dogs. He truly seems to enjoy his visits with her and always comes home tired but happy. And at $15/night, there is no one that beats her prices (that includes a bath folks!). She also looked after special medications, and was always willing to respond to an email when we checked in. The entire outdoor facility is fantastic and I love the idea of not leaving our pet locked up in a cellblock of kennels and concrete like typical boarding centers. Well worth the drive (for us it was almost an hour) She is experienced, and there's no doubt that she just loves dogs. When we caught her in between drop off times, she was always in the back playing with all the pups or just hanging out by their dog pool. We can't thank you enough Paula for always being available (usually at the last minute) and taking such great care of our boy. read more

Unfortunately I am very unhappy about my dogs stay at Paula's. Her prices were great and so were her reviews so I was looking forward to dropping off my dog there. However, I was very upset to see my dog. He first came up and ran to me as usual seeming happy. He smelled a little and she said he may need a bath because he was a little dirty, which obviously is to be expected after running around and playing with other dogs for 4 days. When I put him into the car however he still smelled pretty bad, b read more

We love Paula ! Our dog Remi stays with Paula a few times a month and absolutely loves being at her house . Paula not only trained Remi but takes care of him every time we board him. We are so happy and lucky we found her. I would recommend her to anyone! She is affordable, reliable and dependable. She never turns down our requests for dates even at peak times of the year. We will be a long term customer. Remi even gets extremely excited when we ask him if he wants to go to Paula's read more

Our dog stayed with them back in February. That was our dog's third and last stay there. The main reason I used Paula's boarding services was because I was told that they did not kennel the dogs. My dog does not do good in kennels and gets bad kennel nose.. she will keep digging until it's bleeding... so that makes boarding very difficult. I originally was relieved when I found Paula... the first two stays went very well! In her last stay, my husband picked her up and noticed a bloody/crusted nose. Paula wasn't there at time of pick up, and he spoke with the guy that works there, and he said he didn't know. He then said it must've been the cages. He didn't seem to know.. and wasn't apologetic about it. I sent an email to Paula... never got a response. Just disappointed at them.. and now my dog's nose is has a raw spot. Definitely cannot trust them with my dog again. read more

I took my dog to Paula for a trial day. I had never borded her and I wanted to see how it was going to go before I left town. My shy girl came home exhausted with a smile on her face! Paula is awesome, I felt like I could stand in her living room chatting all day. I am taking my girl back this weekend for a 3 day trip. Only negative is you don't get to actually see where they sleep, but a friend of mine who is a good dog mom, toured the sleeping quarters and ashured me that it is safe, and comfortable for the dogs in both hot and cold weather. read more

I have been taking my dog here since we moved to the area in late 2016. I like that my dog can play outside with other dogs and not be locked in a kennel all day. You can't beat the overnight stay price and she keeps the different sizes/types of dogs in different areas. read more

They told me I could email or text for a status update anytime while I was away. I emailed and texted, but never received a reply. When we returned to pick up our very social, normally very happy dog, we were told they wouldn't be able to host him anymore because he wouldn't come to her when she came into the outdoor play area (and they, therefore, kept a leash on him the whole time, which is very dangerous!) I watched as she went into the dog area to retrieve him. He didn't rush up to her like the other dogs, but when she sat down, he came right over to her. My dog is normally very friendly and I'm cautious when he won't approach someone immediately. This is THE cheapest place to board your dogs, but I don't think I'll board our other pups there based on this poor experience. read more

Paula is very enthusiastic about taking care of these dogs. The concept behind her business is fascinating and fits any dog-lovers ideals of how they should be boarded. They get to run free all day and play with other dogs which is wonderful. But, here is what isn't clear on the website until you take your dog... First, obvious to some, "breed restrictions" on the website means NO PITS. I took my lab mix and the moment she saw his face had a little pit in him, she refused to take him. No greeting, no hello, just greeted with "no pits"... however, she was gracious enough to try him for just one day after I explained my situation and needed a place for my dog for one day. Reluctantly, she discovered he was a great dog and welcomed him for future visits. Second, it's not on the site as of today, but you have to bring your own food with you. I believe that is standard practice so, cool. But when I got there, Paula explained that she mixes all of the different dog foods into one container and the dogs eat a mix of every other dog food that is there. I would have preferred that not to happen, but beggars can't be choosers. So, now that my dog is done having diarrhea and vomiting his guts out, I figured it would be nice to warn a few people about that if their dog has a sensitive gut. That was my particular experience. It is the cheapest in the Denton area, but i think I will pay an extra $5 at Petsmart per day to avoid cleaning up butterscotch pudding pouring from his butthole for the next 2 days. read more

I went to view the facility today. This business raised my suspicions for multiple reasons. I met with Paula herself and asked to have a tour I was allowed to view the outdoor dog area from the gravel road but not allowed to enter to see the entire area. I was not allowed to enter the inside area where the dogs sleep, which is the biggest reason for the UNTRUSTWORTHY feeling I got from her. Paula said that I could not enter it for liability reasons. While having cheap insurance or inadequate/unsafe conditions for humans might be good enough for her, it is not for me. I thought it was appropriate for me to view the entire facility that my dog would be using as to determine the safety, comfort, and security for my dog, however, Paula does not allow this. Additionally, she boards about 15 Shelties of her own in the same area. She also stated that she usually boards 20-30 client's dogs at one time. The sleeping facility does not appear to be large enough to accomodate all these dogs comfortably. Approximating the dimensions of the building with the amount of dogs she claims to board daily would only give each dog about 2x2 feet of space, or possibly less. I was concerned that they would all be boarded in one room together because the limited space available could lead to fights for territory and an uncomfortable situation all around. She stated that it is airconditioned and is "10-20 degrees cooler than outside." This is a wide range of temperature considering that it is presently 105 degrees outside and she was not even sure what the temp inside actually is! How is this safe? Of course, she didn't allow me to enter and determine anything for myself for whatever her reasons are. She stated that if dogs misbehave, they are put in an unairconditioned dog run. I read the previous reviews about dogs having fleas/worms etc after boarding and this could possibly be caused by the tight quarters that the dogs are subjected to. Or it could be due to the well water they are given. I think it is also unsanitary that the dogs are allowed to sit in the wading pools but are also required to drink out of them. This situation might not be so bad at home if it is only your dog jumping in the kiddie pool and drinking it, but with about 20-30 dogs doing so can't be good! I don't understand how people can entrust their dogs to a facility that is only partially open to viewing. I have been to many various dog boarding facilities and have always been able to view 100% of the facility without hesitation. I am not boarding my dog here and hope that Paula takes measures to improve safety, sanitation, and trustworthiness. read more

I talked to Paula today about boarding my two lovely very sweet dogs, and was told that my dogs could not stay because they are not part of "the breeds" they accept. Not one question about actual personality. I cannot stand it when people put labels on dogs before they even know anything about them. Ridiculous! This place deserves no business. read more

Paula is the best. Takes really good care of dogs. Dogs are free to roam in a big yard behind her house. I have tried so many dog boardings but ended up at Paula's and am never going anywhere else. I have to drive 40 miles from my house to drop off Max (my dog) but the ride is worth it. You can see how much Paula loves pets as her house is full of dogs, cats, birds fishes. You can just see it in her eyes that she doesn't do this to only make money.. she does it because she is passionate about animals. You rock !!! read more

I began taking my dog to Paula's about two years ago when he was still a puppy and even after moving from Denton to Dallas, I still drive to take him there whenever he needs to be boarded. Paula's is a great environment for dogs of any age and breed and I feel safe leaving my otherwise dominant dog there when I'm out of town. (He has never had any issues with fights or disciplinary issues while at Paula's). She has three fenced in areas for small dogs, large dogs and ones that need to be separated. There was actually a time for awhile when Paula would move my large dog to the small dog section when she felt he was being picked on (something she didn't have to do) to ensure his safety. I will say, however, make sure that your dog has had a recent dose of flea and tick medicine before they are boarded. Otherwise, they will likely come back with a few bites due to the environment. The few times that my dog has come back with bites, it was definitely my fault for not keeping up with the medicine. Also, your dog will be filthy when you pick them up so you'll need to bathe them! But that comes with the territory: they're playing all day long. It is literally like they are living at the dog park. Which is awesome, because who wants to leave their dog boarded up in a kennel while they're out of town? Paula has even medicated my dog for free when he was on his last day of a medicine which overlapped with him being boarded. I just wrote down the instructions and she was willing to do it without hesitation. Another time, my dog got diarrhea while he was there and she called and notified me that she'd be keeping a close eye on him. She then called me to let me know it had cleared up a few hours later. Tip: make sure you call several weeks in advance if possible to let her know you're dropping your dog off (especially during holidays). And just keep calling until she answers. She is usually out tending to the dogs and doesn't always answer her phone. My dog also runs to the door to go play whenever we get there! He loves it. I'll continue to recommend her to friends and family! read more

Hmm, my first review has now been mysteriously deleted. This seems to be a trend if you look at the other "filtered" reviews. Long story short: Our dog was attacked while at Paula's Canine Academy and DIED from her injuries the day I picked her up. I was NEVER notified that anything had happened until I came to pick my dog up. Paula made the executive decision to "treat" our dog's injuries herself with no veterinary care whatsoever and without notifying me. She had our phone number, and we were in town -- just getting renovations done on our home -- so we would have immediately come to get our dog. The emergency vet we took her to that night said she died because the injuries were not properly treated sooner. She otherwise would have lived. This is our full story ... In 2013, Lucy was staying at Paula's Canine Academy while we had work done on our home. Around the 2nd or 3rd day of her stay, she was attacked by another dog in the presence of the facility owner. I was not notified, and she was not taken to a vet. Her wounds became infected, and many days later when the facility owner noticed this, she again did not call me or take Lucy to a vet, but instead took it upon herself to administer antibiotics to Lucy. Paula is not a physician or a veterinarian and had no idea what Lucy needed for her injuries. She cannot legally administer medicine without a license, but that didn't stop her. When I picked Lucy up 9 days later, I was only then told what had happened. Lucy was acting strangely and started wailing and drooling when we got her home. We rushed her to the Denton Animal ER right away, as she was becoming limp in my arms. She had become septic, her blood sugar was too low to even read, she had lost a tremendous amount of weight, and she was severely dehydrated - all according to her medical records from the ER. They worked for 6 hours to save her life, including intubating her, putting her on a ventilator and reviving her after she went into cardiac arrest 3 times. In the end, she succumbed to the infection, which had swollen her brain and was shutting her kidneys down. She had no pre-existing conditions, and was a perfectly healthy, normal dog. Both the ER vet and our regular vet are completely appalled at the behavior of the boarding facility and encouraged me to pursue this case so that this never happens again. (In fact, we discovered that one of my vet's other customers had a similar experience with Paula, and it was reported several years ago by WFAA-Channel 8. The story has since been archived on WFAA's site, but another dog website still has it up here: http://www.pitbulltalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=18167. So this is NOT an isolated incident.) This boarding facility's negligence occurred over and over again during my dogs' stay - and Lucy paid the ultimate price. I was not told one time during her stay what was happening, and Lucy was never taken to a vet. The ER doctor told us that, if we had picked up Lucy a day later, she would have already been dead. However, if she would have been treated by a vet, she would have LIVED. Not only did this facility's gross negligence result in our dog being taken from our family, but they took away our opportunity to even make the decision for Lucy to see a vet, by the fact that they never called once to let us know what was happening. BEWARE of Paula's Canine Academy and any place like it where your dog is allowed to interact with other dogs. It is more "fun and outdoorsy," but they are just not safe. What makes matters worse is that our other dog, Stella, was also attacked and had multiple puncture wounds all over her face and body, but the boarding facility never even noticed and had no idea about her injuries when they gave her back to me. Thankfully, Stella is going to be OK because her wounds did not become infected and she has now received proper veterinary care. If her wounds had also become infected, I would now have 2 dead dogs because I was never notified of Stella's injuries and she was never given any medical care. It is my hope that this will never happen to anyone else. The pain of losing a dog in this way is unimaginable. It is truly a dog owner's worst nightmare when they board their pet, and it could have easily been prevented. read more

First time we have had to board my beagle. She loves to explore, pretty much all the time, and Paula's open run style boarding really put me at ease. She came back exhausted because of all the fun she had, not anxious because of being stuck in some small kennel space. Will continue to use Paula's. read more

Paula is the dog whisperer. We have two "fur babies" who I don't trust just anyone to care for them. Our dogs know where they're headed as soon as we pull onto the gravel driveway and whine excitedly until we let them out of the car. Every single time, they run to Paula and try to cover her in kisses/licks. She's also incredibly sensitive and patient with our Border Collie mix, who was abused before we took her in. Reilly sometimes needs extra attention and Paula knows that. My husband, me, and our dogs all love Paula and her business. If you want someone who will care as deeply for your animals as you do, visit this place! And in regards to the previous reviews about calling her for drop-odd/pick-up times for the dogs, she states the hours very specifically on her website. If you don't reach her, it's almost always because she's attending to the dogs. She's very responsive, professional, and has a heart of gold. read more

Paula's Canine Academy lost my family's dog within an hour of dropping her off at the facility. She has still not been recovered. The experience has been devastating for my family. read more

I brought my border collie, Lucy to Paula's over Thanksgiving, and no issues. The prices were fair and I liked having her out with room to run. She loves being around other dogs so this works great for me. read more

Paula was so kind and welcoming! We came from out of town and she kept our dog Tucker for a few hours while we visited family! Definitely recommend her to anyone! read more

I've been using Paula's for years and so has my girlfriend. The dogs love it there and they always seem happy and like they've had a lot of fun when we go to pick them up. A place where you can drop your four-legged friends off and actually enjoy your time away without worrying about their care. Very reasonably priced also! read more

We took our baby to Paula's last month for training. When we picked her up it was very impressive. Our lil' girl had learned so much in two weeks and was amazing. As far as walking around with a lead as the previous reviewer was talking about, that is used for training and is safe we have carried it over at home. We can say stay when someone rings our doorbell and our baby stays and doesn't rush out the door not even if there was a doggie on the other side. Paula does not only train or board but her facility is also utilized for rescue doggies. She has a very kind heart and does have animals best interest at heart. We also met her daughter and she was also a kind sweet person who also is very good with the doggies. We are having to go out of town and we are entrusting our sweet baby with Paula and her family once again. I hope this review puts anyone's mind and heart at ease. -Cheryl L read more

My boyfriend and I went out of town this last weekend and left our dog at Paula's Canine Academy after doing quite a bit of research. I wish I would have read the "filtered" reviews on this website before agreeing to board our dog with her. Based on the great reviews, the openness of the boarding area, and the price, we thought we were making a great choice going with Paula's Canine Academy. I guess I should have realized this was a mistake because the problems started right away. We called a left several voicemails with Paula to see if we could reserve a time slot for our dog. We never heard back from her so we drove out to her business. There wasn't anyone at the house when we arrived and just as we were leaving, Paula showed up. Though she was helpful and let us reserve a time for our dog, everything felt unorganized and slightly off because she only asked for our dogs name and a phone number. She didn't even want to know when we would pick our dog up. So, the date arrives for when we are leaving and we take our dog out to Paula's Canine Academy. We arrive and say we are dropping off Riggs for the next four days and she asks if we have a reservation and if Riggs had ever stayed there before (remember, we just met her a few days before). It was at this point that she took down all of our information and then offered us business cards and magnets. When we told her we already had them, she asked how and we informed her we had been there before. I guess that should have been a red flag considering she can't even remember two people from two days before. When we returned home from our trip, my boyfriend picked up our dog. He informed me that our dog got aggressive with a golden retriever. Our dog has never, ever attacked another dog. We take him to the dog park and he rarely shows interest in other animals. Paula informed my boyfriend that our dog had to be separated because of this and remained in the "bad dog" fenced in area for most of his stay. Upon looking him over today, I have found 5 open cuts on his body which are still bleeding. Now, I understand that dogs can play rough and get hurt but how my non-aggressive dog received so many cuts on his body is beyond me. Perhaps it is because Paula doesn't have any employees and only guarantees that she will be at the property from 8a to 10a and 4p to 6p (4 hours in total) so how could they possibly know if your dog is being bullied. I truly am not one to complain but when I am trusting my pet to be cared for when I am out of town and he comes home beat up, I have an issue with it. I will never use her again and if you are debating using her to save some money, please do not do it. You'll feel bad when your dog comes home injured. Lastly, she asks to see your dogs vaccination record but does not keep a file on copy and when we showed it to her, she just handed it back to us and said "oh you just keep that, I don't need it." So, who's to say if the dogs in this place even have their vaccinations. read more

I can't believe my review is gone from this summer 7/11. As mentioned before, I had my dog here for a week and when I picked him up he was covered in fleas that were crawling all over his belly. Also, he had kennel cough. He was bitten so bad by them he had sores. Also, the negative review is right. You aren't allowed to view the back side of this place. It's hard to say what kind of conditions they have. read more

Talked to Paula today about boarding our dog. I wasn't allowed to see the area where they sleep-red flag number 1. Her excuse was liability- but perhaps there is some other reason she doesn't want anyone to see that building. Also, She just throws all the dogs' food together for feeding-Red flag number 2. So if your dog has a special diet, forget it. If someone else feeds their dog Dollar Store generic nasty food, that's what your dog will eat while she's at Paula's. Our dog is on a grain free diet due to auto-immune issues, not to mention that it is terribly unhealthy for dogs to change food suddenly like that. She wouldn't hear of it-said she's never had a problem. Well, that's not what other reviewers have said. She never asked about my dog's temperament or whether she was updated on shots-red flag number 3. If she didn't ask me-then she probably didn't ask anyone else. If something were to happen, I'd want to know that all the dogs there were properly immunized. I was very disappointed. She is close to home and cheaper than most. But our dog is family-I can't risk her health for a few bucks a day. read more

We sent our dog Sarai to Paula for the two week boot camp. Sarai came back a differnt dog. She is still as fun and loving as she used to be (and how we love her to be) but she doesn't jump, bite, bark, and we are able to walk her off-leash, instead of being pulled through the neighborhood. Sarai is only 9 months old (german shephard/boxer mix) and we are glad that we took care of her bad habbits young. Paula has a love for the dogs that you can see. We went out and met with her and saw her location (beautiful) before we brought Sarai out, and we were greeted by another dog that she was training, and he just hung out by us, and wanted to be part of our conversation. We are so happy with the results and knowing that Sarai was taken well care of, we are going to be sending our new puppy Urijah when she is old enough too (full bread boxer, 12 weeks.) read more

This place is great! I have taken my two small dogs (20lbs and under) for a few years now for day care and for boarding. Dogs are separated by size and basically live at a huge dog park for however long. It reminds me of a summer camp for dogs -- real outdoor environment in Paula's huge yard (no astroturf) and climate controlled kennels, which are important in intense weather. Paula is warm and obviously loves dogs. Be aware that the dogs will have basically constant contact with others so behavioral problems or very sensitive dogs might need a different type of environment. The prices are excellent, too. read more

I called Paula as I was at wits end with our Cocker Spaniel puppy Buddy. I have owned Cocker Spaniels over the past 30 years but this little guy was completely out of control (barking, biting, chewing, 24/7 attention) - I had tried everything I could but it was getting to the point where I could not work (I work from home). Buddy spent 2 weeks with Paula at Boot Camp and all I can say is WOW. He is still our sweet boy but he is a very well behaved sweet boy. The difference is night and day. Paula even went out of her way when Buddy got Cherry Eye - taking him to her vet to confirm what she thought was wrong and getting him the medication needed on her own dime. On top of everything else - her facility is clean, the dogs have air conditioned/heated facilities and they get lots of attention. I would recommend Paula to anyone who is looking for training and she is now our go to anytime we need to board Buddy. read more