I really wanted to like this place, I really did. I first came here when we were going on vacation and thinking of boarding our newly adopted dog. The place seemed nice enough, I was told we'd have to bring our dog in so that he could get temperament tested but I got my quote and planned on coming back. Upon reading the quote and going over their paperwork, I realized that my dog wouldn't actually get daycare on Sundays and that they quoted me for daycare on Sundays even though their website info specifically says that they don't have daycare on Sundays and you won't be charged for it. I called them and someone confirmed that the quote I received was wrong and she failed to mention that my dog wouldn't be getting daycare on Sunday. I didn't like that no one mentioned that since she made it sound like he'd be playing all day everyday. We decided in the end that we weren't going to use them for boarding, we used a place that was further away but my family knew and trusted. They told me how everything worked upfront and I had no surprises.
We did decide we would use them for daycare when we got back from our trip since our dog did so well at the daycare we boarded him at. He loved it, he got along with the dogs and all the handlers loved him. What could go wrong at Paws In Time? Apparently multiple things. When I dropped him off and they introduced him to the group, I was told all was good and he fit right in. I asked if he could stay the day then and was told that was part of his evaluation day which again, the girl I spoke to on the phone didn't tell me. She told me the evaluation was 15 minutes, she didn't mention he was able to play for the day. During that day we didn't hear from Paws In Time, once. I figured all was good. Nope. My husband went to pick him up and our dog was in a kennel, not playing. They said he had an issue with one dog but gave us no real information and just said someone would call because they have no managers there at the time. I finally spoke to someone on Monday who really didn't mention him having an issue with one dog. She said based on what her handlers told her that he was alpha and he was bullying multiple dogs (she will say she didn't say this but I responded, "wait, I thought he had an issue with one dog and now you're saying he bullied multiple?") The whole thing was very confusing to me because he did so well in the other daycare and I watched him play so nicely with the other dogs.
I continued to ask questions trying to understand what happened but all I was given were stats on how these dogs work. I'm not new to dogs or this breed, thanks. She finally ended up saying we could bring him back and she would watch him and evaluate him. He went back the next day and we received a phone call saying he was doing great and he wasn't showing any of the signs that her handlers said he was showing a few days prior. She said that he could come back again based on what she was seeing. Not one issue that day. Fast forward a few days and he's back in daycare with this one particular dog that they mentioned the week earlier. Again, we received no phone call from Paws In Time and when my husband picked our dog up, he had a puncture wound in his head. The woman at the desk said that she had just gotten there and didn't know what happened but she'd have someone call us.
I received a phone call this morning advising that my dog wouldn't be allowed back and that he and this other dog got in a fight. I asked why I wasn't called immediately and she said they didn't notice the puncture wound on my dog. Then she turns around and says that the other dog had a puncture wound and a handler got bit while trying to break up the fight. All this happened and a handler got bit and you didn't notice the puncture wound on my dog's white head? None of this stuff makes sense. I would love to see footage of what's actually going on in that place. The 2nd time my husband went to pick him up (the day a manager was there and we were told he did great) there was screaming and a lot of commotion in the back. He said it sounded like a fight had broken out but he couldn't tell. He just said there was barking, people screaming and what appeared to just be chaos. Luckily, our dog wasn't part of it so I don't know what the issue was.
My dog loves other dogs and loves daycare so I really wanted this to work. I'm not saying my dog isn't at fault, dogs are unpredictable and we've only had him a few months so anything is possible. What doesn't add up are all their stories and how they're all different and how no one seems to see anything. That place appears to be pure chaos, especially when the managers aren't there. It's also probably in part that they don't separate any of the groups. They can have 50 plus dogs running together all at once. That's a recipe for disaster in doggy daycare because there are going to be some dogs that just don't like others. It happens. read more