There are a lot of great things about Tiki's playhouse...they have an extra large outdoor (rare) yard, the facility does not smell, and inside and out appear fairly sanitary. There are a lot of rules, which overall I understand are necessary because some people abuse the system, and that's why they were put in place. Pricing is consistent with similar businesses and they offer discounts if you buy more than one day of daycare in advance. However, if you have a large dog, say over 70 pounds, or a dog that doesn't run to strangers, I would not recommend this place. Oh, and don't go if your dog is a barker. Mine's not so that wasn't an issue. Most dogs are medium or small in size.
As far as the staff's training, I don't know what their qualifications are. I don't believe any of them are behaviorists. I did notice that when introducing the dogs, one by one during their evaluation, both dogs were pulling, on tight leashes, and able to meet face to face right off the bat. With the rescue work I've done over the years, this is not recommended. Loose leashes, walking around at a distance gradually getting closer and closer, and then the rear end up close sniff helps avoid any leash aggression. Luckily there weren't any issues.
My dog has been through training and knows many commands, including the basic ones. He also knows his name. At Tiki's they expected him to come to them the first time they met him. Here he is in a huge yard, running free with lots of other dogs and smells, and they want him to stop what he's doing and come to them, a stranger. I understand that the dogs need to come when called, but unless a person lets everybody and their brother pet their dog when they are out (I don't) I think that it is unrealistic for the dog to come to them the first 15 minutes they are with them. It is sensory overload. I do not think that the staff gives enough time for your dog to get comfortable with them and the routine before they start charging an extra $15 per day to "train" your dog. The training fee started the first day of care for us. The "training" is done with no food because they are worried about dog fights and allergies. Other doggie daycares do training daily with the dogs, with food, no problems. Families with allergies just bring treats to be used for their dogs. I don't think Tiki's wants to bother with the extra effort. Afterall, dogs can't have any resource guarding issues to come there, they all drink out of the same water dishes, they chase the same tennis balls, so why would handing out a few treats be a problem?
On the 3rd visit when I went to pick up my dog he had a cut on his neck. The staff was sure to mention that he had a cut and "probably got it from my leash", implying that it did not happen there. Well, he didn't have the cut when I dropped him off, I am 100% sure of this. After looking closely at the cut when I got home I noticed it was a slice...like what would happen if a leash cut into his neck, without a collar. I can not prove that Tiki's did this but I can tell you that I do not put a leash on my dog's neck without a collar, and very rarely do I use the collar with a leash, I use a gentle leader because my dog is 135 lbs, and he will pull otherwise. Tiki's does put leashes on the dogs without collars. Part of the "training" includes them using a long leash to help the dogs learn their names. I can only speculate that my dog got pulled too hard with only a nylon leash around his neck and got injured as a result...which has turned into a scar, it was that bad....and I paid an extra $15 for this to happen! They know what happened and I wish they would have just been upfront with me. I stopped going back as a result of this incident. I don't think that the "training" accomplished anything and feel like they'd charge me an extra $15 for as long as they could. I know accidents can happen but I think that this was unnecessary and could have been avoided, and their fault. read more