IADL
For many years,…read moreI took my dogs Cheech & Chong, and later- Preston, to IADL. They loved it there. I loved taking them.
Whether it was boarding or doggy daycare, you could sense the enjoyment they had going there. It wasn't traumatic in the least for them. As soon as we pulled up, they were excited. Always. Especially Preston.
Management and staffing changes came, promising some changes- for the better.
But here's where things changed for the worse..
See- we liked the old staff. They were friendly and always remembered Preston and the other dogs. They were attentive and you could sense the passion for animals that they all had.
The new staffers seemed friendly, but we missed the personal touch and attention to care and detail the older staff had for our dogs.
We took him for boarding in summer of 2015 and he came back with what looked like a bump and a cut on his head- a sore they said happened by accident. Yet no one told us of this until we called to ask. Whenever you call, you're usually met with voicemail, despite cordless phones being a thing many businesses equip. We understood that these things happen, but the fact that no one told us about it or appeared to be apologetic: this was our cause for concern. Kennel cough happened months later. Again- something my dogs have had that I understand can be difficult to police in such an environment.
The Birthday program was introduced and as regulars, we requested a photo of Preston with a pup cake. So- one day we brought him in for a play and a groom. No photos were taken. We groomed him special for the photos. Also, during grooming: we know that on more than one occasion, where we had Preston at daycare for the day, we would book him in for the last spot of the day. so that we could get him freshly cleaned at the end of the day. We knew he had been placed in the holding area for several hours because the groomer wanted to leave early. We want him to interact with other dogs during his stay, not spend that much time in a holding area.
After incessantly asking for the Birthday photos, finally they took them for us. For us, it wasn't about receiving compensation, but rather to preserve a memory of our beloved dog.
The final straw for us came in December, days before Christmas holidays. One evening, after a daycare stay, we saw him scratching before his evening walk. Little dots appeared to surface by the dozen, covering his body, ears, head, neck.... our veterinarian saw him that evening (at a premium fee, of course) and treated Preston for lice. His infestation was so bad, that it required not one treatment, but 3 treatments!
A permanent scar on his forehead from his stay last year is a reminder of why we would not only never bring our animals back to IADL, but also- we would never endorse this business to any of our family, friends or colleagues.