I dropped my puppy off for a free trial day to see how he liked it. The facility is not really what I expected - almost all concrete and other hard surfaces, very loud with several large dogs barking non-stop, and it REEKS of dog piss. Like, my dog still smells strongly of other dogs' piss 2 days later.
I think my puppy had a fine time, although John mentioned in his email that he wasn't really playing with other dogs, so I picked him up early. His paws were covered in what I hope was mud, which is now all over my passenger seat.
This is my first experience with doggy daycare, and based on the number of dogs there, plenty of people seem to think that it's fine, but I'll be looking elsewhere. Other places I've looked at mention that they clean their indoor space multiple times per day, which seems like it would cut down on the smell.
Communication from John was good, but the ratio of dogs to people (combined with how big some of the dogs were) and the facility's cleanliness were big concerns. read more