We left our dog there for the first time and she was very nervous at drop off. At pick up she was confident and happy. No complains here! We will go back again for her boarding and will stay on for grooming as well. read more

I went to the barking dog for an interview and was unimpressed with how some of the staff treated / spoke to certain dogs. calling them "bastards" and "assholes". Some of them seemed very uneducated when it came to dogs - and even their own pets. I wouldn't bring my dogs there - hell I wouldn't recommend anyone to bring their dogs there. read more

The like the Barking Dog because my dog loves it, it's convenient to the highway and they offer flexible services. The groomers are awesome to my dog as well. This is the second dog that I've sent there and she loves it. Marie W. P.S. Thomas P, you're dog maybe getting too old for daycare. There does come a time as they age when they just want to chill out. All dogs have minor battles as well! I've been going to The Barking Dog since they opened and never had an issue. read more

Called to get some info about training at BD and to see if 4 months was too young to get our pup started in daycare. Was assured by the staff they could help in training and 4 months was not too young to send him to daycare. After he completed the training he'd be welcome in daycare. Scheduled the training with trainer and took the pup to all the classes. Trainer was good with the dogs but her methods were different from any previous training we'd had with our older boy (now 5). We thought there are different methods to train and probably not just one right way to do it. Our pup was good, but easily distracted. He loved to try and play with the other dogs in class. Being an Aussie he of course is very intelligent so after a while he caught on and his manners improved to the point where he could start attending daycare. We brought him to daycare and after a few weeks I noticed a change in both dogs. First our oldest just did not seem excited to attend. At his previous daycare he would start barking and howling as we approached the location to drop him off. At the BD...........none of that. Seemed somewhat apprehensive about going in. I also noticed on the video feeds they display on their website he did not seem to be playing. If you know my oldest all he does is want to play. He's very outgoing and excitable but at BD I did not see any of that enthusiasm. This however is not my big gripe with BD. That gripe involves what happened to our youngest. Our youngest is a sweet sweet boy. He was very excitable and could be distracted but he got along great with his brother and a couple of other dogs in the neighborhood. We took him to BD and I noticed after just a few weeks a change in his demeanor. He no longer got along with the dogs in the neighborhood and he seemed to be more afraid on walks. He started to display leash aggressiveness by barking and growling at just about every person and dog he came across, with the exception of his brother. Spoke to the head trainer and she persuaded us to enter into private training classes for the young pup. He's now about 6 months old when those classes started. I must say that I was shocked at how the Trainer approached the training of trying to get my pup out of the leash aggressive behavior. Not only did she yell at him but she would physically yank him by his leash in order to get him to listen to her. I was very uncomfortable with this type of training but I was not the expert, Trainer was, so my wife and I decided to try and ride it out. We took the pup to 6 lessons and it did not appear to be working at all. I grew increasingly uncomfortable with the Trainer methods of trying to physically intimidate the pup into behaving. As stated earlier I'm not an expert but I do not believe in trying to scare or intimidate my dog into behaving is the correct way to train or prepare him to live a fulfilling life. My wife and I decided we were going to stop attending the BD. We had a lesson scheduled for a weekend and had a few days left on the pre-paid daycare packages so we decided we'd use them up before trying to find a new daycare location. When we showed up for what was to be our last lesson we were informed our pup was no longer welcome at BD because his behavior had gone from leash aggressive to outright bullying. We were also informed he nipped at a lady who tried to pet him on his way out of daycare the night before. We were able to get a refund for the balance of the pre-paid but that was of little consolation for what they did to emotionally change my pup. So here are my biggest gripes with TBD: 1. Entering and exiting the facility. There is no isolated way to get in or out. Both doors are right next to each other and the lobby is not that large to accommodate more that 3-4 dogs at a time. If you've ever been there you know what I mean. 2. It would sometimes take 10-15 minutes to drop your dog off for daycare. At 6 in the morning on top of that. They employ teenagers or 20 somethings that did not always show up on time for work so that left one person trying to take in 10-20 dogs and that's just going to take time to do it. 3. Too many dogs for daycare. The idea is to bring your dog to play and socialize with other animals. It is not to play for 15min then get locked in a cage for an hour then play another 15min and so on throughout the day. 4. The trainer......her methods border on cruel. The way she physically treated my pup will never be forgiven. I'm convinced her methods did more harm that anything to my pup. As stated earlier it's my opinion to train your dog to be social it's best not to intimidate or scare them into behaving. 5. I'm 100% convinced the staff is responsible for the change in my boy. From sweet and playful to bullying and leash aggressive. It has been 18 months since the BD and our pup (now 2) attends daycare at the place that originally had no room for him. He's flourishing and making friends to the point he's attending a few times a week. read more

Awesome. I call it the Puppy Hotel. My dog wags her tail the minute I pull into the driveway and she doesn't look back. When I pick her up she is waggly and smells freshly bathed. She even gets her nails clipped. This place is a lifesaver and worth every nickel. My dog is the best barometer for the 5-star rating. read more

I was not happy with my experience (or more my dogs experience) here. I signed him up for two nights of boarding and everything seemed fine until I called on the second day just to check in and make sure he was happy and having fun with the other dogs. Her response was "Well he is not with other dogs. He is just here for boarding, not daycare." WHAT? So he was kept all by himself except for a few potty walks. I had not been made aware of this when I made the reservation AND, it was going to cost me a whole lot more to have him both boarded and in daycare. I ended up going back to pick him up early. The girl at the desk apologized, but I was really unhappy with the overall experience and would not bring my dog here again. read more

Brought our dog here for 4 weeks of in house training in 2014 because we were told the new trainer was very familiar with our breed of dog. We paid upfront $1500. We were unhappy by the end of the first week because our dog would be there all day and at pick up time we would get absolutely no feed back on her day or progress. We brought it to the managers attention and she too agreed that we should be getting feedback and were assured we would get feedback for the remainder of her training... Again nothing the 2nd week. We mentioned it again, nothing... If we did not have a contract we would have discontinued and sought out another training facility. We had also brought it to there attention that she got Guardia, kennel cough and a bladder infection. We are aware that dogs get kennel cough and Guardia even with vaccines but the bladder infection was due to them leaving here in a kennel for too long. Once I realized this is what was happening I would rush to leave work early so I could pick her up so she would not be left in a kennel. One day during the fourth week I picked her up and it took quite a long time for the attendant to bring her out and when she did finally come out she had been washed down because she had defecated in her kennel and it was all over her and she smelled of it terribly and they still did not get it all off and in turn it was all over the back seat of my car. She had never done this in her kennel at our home EVER.... Again it was because after training they would put her in a kennel for the rest of the day. It just seem like one thing after another. It's a very nice looking facility and we were hopeful it would be a place that we would continue to bring her after training. However, we have since found another facility to use as doggy daycare and she loves it and we love it there... They give us a nice progress report of her day everytime without being asked for it. I want to be fair and add that the end result of the training was successful. Just the treatment and total lack of communication was totally unexceptable. For $1500 for four weeks we expected to be informed throughout the process. I don't think that's too much to ask? read more

Terrible place, gone way down hill. My dog came back with Kennel cough and many wounds from dog bites. Her bed had other dogs hair on it. Think she was crated with other dogs. This place should be shut down. Never go there. I wont again. read more

Three strikes, you're out. Three unexplainable injuries to my three dogs- I am DONE with the Barking Dog. The first incident happened about a year ago when my parents' dog was being groomed. The groomers hand with the clippers in it "slipped" and sliced the poor dog's ear IN HALF. She had a huge cut lengthwise from the top to bottom of her ear. The groomer just slapped some liquid band-aid on it and carried on. They then had the nerve to charge my parents the astronomical amount of $50 (on a dog that weighs just 10 pounds) instead of comping it, like they should have. She whimpered and cried every time someone or something touched her ear for two months afterwards. Mind you, my parents should have said something, or refused to pay, or even stopped going there, but they didn't. I'm going to make sure they do now. STRIKE ONE. The second incident happened this past summer when my dog went in for a wash- just a wash- simple, right? Apparently not. I picked her up, paid, got in the car to leave, leaned over to give her a kiss and suddenly realized there was blood all over my hands, the seat of the car, and all down the freshly washed fur on her chest and front paws. At some point during the simple hour long appointment, she had gotten bit in the ear by another dog. If there's another dog in the grooming area that doesn't get along with other dogs, then you KEEP THEM SEPARATE. I don't think it's that difficult. And how did the groomers not notice that she was dripping blood from her ear? They put a handkerchief on her neck, also covered in blood; they must have gotten it on their hands. Where do you think the blood came from?! She doesn't excrete red liquid from her body; it had to have come from THAT DOG BITE YOU DID NOTHING TO PREVENT. How did they not notice the TRAIL OF BLOOD DROPS from the grooming area to the exit? I made sure the Barking Dog staff knew I was pissed and so they credited my account the cost of the wash. That's when I gave up on grooming services there. Silly me, I thought that daycare was the only safe option. I was wrong. STRIKE TWO. The third and final incident was just two days ago, when I brought my other dog to daycare, who goes to daycare a couple times a month and seems to love it, and she came home to me with a sizeable cut on her face. She was there for 8 hours while my boyfriend and I were at work, she was to play in daycare and get her nails grinded. I thought for sure, nothing horrible could happen during just a simple nail grind, pfft. When my boyfriend picked her up that evening the girl who brought her out informed him of the cut by saying "Just want to let you know, the groomer noticed she has a cut on her face. We're not sure where it came from. She must have scratcher herself." She did not scratch herself. I know for a FACT that she did not have it when I dropped her off that morning. It's hard to miss, and it's on the left side of her face, the side that was closest to me when she was sitting in my front seat that morning. No, she didn't scratch herself; she got injured in YOUR CARE. Whether it was the groomer, maybe her hand "slipped" like it did with my parents' dog, or maybe she got in a fight with another dog in her play group, whatever happened, IT'S NOT ACCEPTABLE. It's a good thing I was not the one who picked her up that evening, I don't know what I would have done. I'd probably be there still screaming at them. STRIKE THREE, YOU'RE OUT. I will never take my dogs to the Barking Dog ever again, and will make sure that my friends and family don't either. And if you're reading this, please don't put your dogs' lives in danger by taking them to the Barking Dog. There are many other facilities that actually take precautions and are mindful about the health and safety of the dogs in their care instead of making as much money as possible and opening a whole chain of other locations that probably have the same amount of ignorance working for them. read more

I had high hopes for the Barking Dog, the building is huge and it looks state of the art in the website pictures. I brought my 14 week old terrier puppy in for daycare and the first time was great. The staff was very friendly, they were telling me how great my dog did for her first day. I got a report card and a picture of her playing with her new friends. The second time she went when I picked her up the attendant told me my puppy vomited all morning so she didn't have a great day. When I asked more questions as to why, or why no one called to tell me so I could pick her up the attendant shrugged her shoulders. The third and final time she went she apparently fell into the indoor pool they have and had to be fished out. After that she literally itched for 3 days from whatever they use for chemicals in their pool. I was pretty disappointed in the experience overall and will not be back. read more

Who wants to come home from vacation and see there dog withered away to nothing? Went on vaca 8/7-8/14 and had no choice but to kennel my dog. We arrived to drop him off to have an attendant just grab him without even offering a tour of the facilities. After asking for a tour they stated that no one was available at the moment to grant that wish. Right then and there i should have know this place was no good. We came home and went to pick him up. He looked neglected, upset, and hadn't eaten probably the whole week. Given that this place was built to care for pets you would think they were good at it. DO NOT bring your pet here if you love them because the barking dog just cares about the check coming from your hand to theirs. DISGUSTING establishment DISGUSTING people. read more

A friend of mine brought her dogs to The Barking Dog in Exeter NH. When she picked them up one of her dog's eye was swollen and the dog was not behaving the same. She took him to the vet and the dog's retina is detached. The people from the facility are not claiming any responsibility. DON'T BRING YOUR DOG TO THIS PLACE!!!!!! read more

Sorry but I would NOT take my dog here again, the manager is very rude when asked about daily activities on the center. My dog likes daycare normally and was not happy when I picked him up, then I discovered they are in crates for a great part of the day...never again. read more

I was bringing my two dogs there, one for about a year, and another for a few months. (just got him in the summer) One of them started getting VERY fearful of other dogs on leashes and of other humans. Not thinking anything of it, she seemed to like going there. Then my second dog started being afraid of people, I asked the manager how he was in daycare, her reply "I'm up front all day I wont know." Umm... so who's watching the people watching my dog??? Not even a week later I asked the trainer there what I could do to help him, the MANAGER BUTTS IN and tells the trainer that he hasn't been playing that much the last few months!!! SO YOUR NOT GOING TO TELL ME THIS!!!! Then I really got to thinking, if they have full time boarding, why is no one there at night, what if a tree falls on the building and it catches fire? and your dog is already there, why do you have to pay MORE for him/her to have daycare too? and if you don't PAY for at least some one on one time with your dog, ask to see where they go to the bathroom! even dogs at the SPCA get more outdoor time then your dog in just boarding does! AND the owner may want to show up sometime at 6, no one else does!! You know almost EVERYTIME I went to drop them off at 6, I had to wait a few minuets for someone to show up! Now if one person comes in at 6:03 and another at 6:07 who's watching the dogs if that one person is up front! I wish I realized this earlier and did not give them so much of my money! that's ALL they seem to be about! read more

I had a "working interview" with them and had to leave two hours into it because a dog knocked my knee out of place from behind. Not the pups fault but some of the staff were very helpful. Here's where I ran into my issue, I needed paperwork saying that I received pay from them for that two hours for my food stamps to continue, I e mailed about four times before getting a reply, and while on the phone with one of them I had said I can no longer work due to my illness of Cystic fibrosis. And they told me that if I was able to work then I can now... Very rudly and said I should just get ssi if I can't work, I very nicely said I have been trying but it's a process and that the reason I need something from them for food stamps is going to help, very rudly the person replied with" if you can work you can pay for food, you don't need food stamps" I will admit that at this point I was mad and just asked if they could please write up all that I'm asking for and they again replied with " I'm sorry we can't help you because you were not an actually employee and can't give me what I asked for, then in the middle of my reply of all I need is the paperwork I signed she had hung up on me. I would like to talk with HR of this company because no one should have been told what she had said to me. read more

I had preregistered my dog with the expectation of providing him daycare during the winter months. Dropped my dog off, and a few hours later received a frantic call that the rabies certificate on file had expired. Gave them the information they needed to check with my vet that he was up to date. Somehow, they couldn't confirm this, and I received another frantic call (while I was 1 hour away at my workplace) saying I had to come pick up my dog IMMEDIATELY because they couldn't confirm the rabies was up to date. I told them it was impossible as I was unable to leave work, his tag showed them he was current, no worries. Got another call, this time mean and aggressive saying I had to come pick up my dog NOW. I repeated that this was impossible, and that his tags showed he was current on his shots. Then the woman on the phone became belligerent. Rude. Screaming. Unbelievable! I had to hang up the phone on her to make her stop! I arrived at the Barking Dog (in Exeter) after work. They had kept my dog in a crate the entire day - not daycare - and insisted I pay them a daycare rate before they'd give me my dog back! I refused. Eventually, the woman relented after consulting with management. I will NEVER go back there again! I had a good impression of the place on my first visit, and I suspect as long as you don't run into any difficulties with them this place would be fine. But, be prepared for absolutely abusive and disrespectful treatment if an issue does crop up. read more

This place is by far the worst, your dog would have equal care if you left it in the park unattended. The staff seems to be for the most part clueless, if they know what they are supposed to be doing they sure dont show it. The first experience I had there my dog was boarded for the week while we went camping, she was supposed to have been groomed while she was there, which we payed for on top of having her there for a week. Due to weather we returned early and picked up the dog. The dog hadnt been groomed at all because we were told they arnt groomed until the day they are to be picked up, so it was supposed to be put in the system that she is due for a free grooming, and had two days already credited for day care. Fast forward a few months to next time we drop her off, I called the night before, spoke with an employee and booked her appointment for the next day, also was told that they found her in the system and yes she did have a free grooming because she didnt receive one when she was there last time. So I show up the next morning and attempt to drop her off, I was told that I never called there and that my dog had never been to that facility, so after 20 mins of them calling everyone over and going through the whole system I was told that there was nothing they could do, I was late to work and my dog had to spend a half hr in the back of my car before my wife could come and take the dog home. After I got to work I called and spoke with a person who claimed they were in charge, I was told that they switched over computer systems and for some reason our dogs records werent in there, also told that there was no record of her having a free grooming or that we had two days worth of daycare already paid for. When they found the old record they were able to look up exactly what I had said and see that they were mistaken, all they could offer for their mistake was a complimentary two days of free daycare. When I told them that I no longer wish to do business with them and would like the money I had put down returned I was told they dont offer refunds. I work with a person who use to manage the place and was told that the place and gone off a cliff as far as being managed, which seems to be true given the fact that the manager was apparently out of the office and no one could say when they would be back or how to get in contact with them. read more