Whole Dogz

I must say I am very impressed with Whole Dogz! This is a place that genuinely loves dogs and they understand how special my furbaby is to me! My pup has been coming to whole dogz for almost 8 months now twice a week. His tail starts to wag as soon as we turn in! We introduced him to whole dogz around 4 months old so of course I was worried at first but he absolutely loves it! We also board him here and he is always happy to stay and have a sleepover! I love the camera that never goes off during play hours so I can always see him. I also like that they don’t have mandatory nap time. The staff knows my pup by name and I can tell not only does he love them but he also has established some great friends! From the time he started until now he has been in the small, medium, and now large group which he has adapted wonderfully. We get grooming done and when the groomer has a question they are always willing to call you to clarify. I called today because my pup recently got a small cut on his paw pad and I wanted to check how he was doing. I spoke with Patrick who went to find my pup (in grooming) and checked on his paw to give me an update. I really appreciated it and that type of service goes a long way! Not to mention a full groom gets free daycare! Can’t beat that!

Our GSP is not able to be left home alone due to his extreme anxiety that we are not comfortable putting him on medication for, so daycare was our best option. He is an amazing dog who is very friendly with everyone just can’t stay home alone. I did a great deal of research of different daycares in the area. Whole Dogz won me over. They have live cameras, give full tours of the whole facility and offer many other services like grooming and boarding. They also provide lunch to your dog if needed. Their prices were very competitive and with all the services they offer was great. Our Remi goes to Whole Dogz 4 – 5 days a week and has boarded there multiple times. I recomend Whole Dogz to any new puppy parent or anyone who doesn’t have a daycare established. The previous negative comments sound like rare occasions or miscommunications. We have brought Remi to Whole Dogz for the last year and half with no issues what so ever.

I used Whole Dogz for boarding during the Summer of 2015 and they were great. I used them again during the Fall of 2015 and they got my dog mixed up with another during pick up, it was a lit disturbing. I was going to give them another try during Winter of 2015 – 2016 number one answers the phone, once they did I was placed on enteral hold and eventually I was hung up on, only to call back and find the line busy for the rest of the day. When I was finally able to get through The next day after delaying with the same no answers, long holds I was told everything was booked. I completely understand but why did it take so long to get the information to me, or to be transferred around from person to person. I have a friend who also uses Whole Dogz and we both agree, they were once a great place to take your dog but have unfortunately become too big for themselves.

I started taking my dog here about a month ago and I love it so far! He comes home tired and happy. They’re always friendly and the pick up/​drop off process is simple and straightforward. The camera quality isn’t great but honestly, I don’t need to watch very much at all because I can trust that Finn is well taken care of! Sometimes they even wipe him down before bringing him out so he doesn’t have that «just got drooled on by other dogs» smell. Love that occasional pleasant surprise!

I’ve been back since — twice actually. They’ve done a great job. Was just much more thorough in what we wanted, and they were spot on. Will continue to bring our dogs here — EVERYONE DESERVES A SECOND CHANCE is the moral of this story. Thanks Mary.

About a year ago we moved over to Alexandria from Shirlington. We were searching for our «new» doggie daycare that would be a bit closer to our house. Mind you there was nothing wrong with our previous one, we just like to have one that is close by to drop off and pick up for our schedule. After doing a trial at a near by daycare who rejected my older dog and attending the Shirlington Wags N Whiskers dog event we decided to try out Whole Dogz. It’s been about three months since we started bringing them here, and we typically drop them off 1 or 2 x a week to get them some exercise and stimulation. Weather permitting the dogs get to rotate at least 2 x per day, so they aren’t cooped up inside all day. This is a plus in my book, as some daycares don’t let your dog outside at all unless you pay extra…
Both of our pups are rescue dogs, and were evaluated and accepted. You have the option to leave your dog there for the evaluation, or wait to see if your dog passed. I decided to take a chance and leave, fortunately our older dog was on her best behavior. The first day if you have rescue doggies is free. They have a webcam so you can watch your dogs, which if your dog is not black is great. Our dogs are black and white and black and brown and there are a lot of other pups who fall into the same coloring, that and the floor being black makes it hard to see the doggies. It’s nice to know though that you always know what’s going on with your dog, and if you’re boarding them and you miss them you can catch a glimpse of them running by the camera
The owners are friendly and genuine dog lovers. They care about their business, and want to make their customers happy. Additionally the staff is personable and very tolerant. One suggestion I would make to the owners would be to incorporate a report card and/​or fun holiday photo sessions. My significant other and I are crazy about our puppies and we know that they are safe and sound at whole dogz. We’re boarding our dogs here for thanksgiving, and we look forward to being able to watch the babies on the camera and have them come home tired! If you’re looking for a place for your pups you won’t be disappointed.

We’ve taken our 1 year old Wheaten Terrier to whole dogz twice to be groomed, both of which were terrible experiences. About 3 months ago we first took him in to get his very first hair cut. We knew he was tangled in several places but hoped they could get some of it out and leave some length. To make sure we got what we wanted we sent in pictures of several shorter wheaten cuts we liked. They called and AMIDTS GIGGLING said they had no choice but to shave him. I was taken aback that they thought getting news like that was comical. We were upset but assumed it was our fault– maybe we didn’t know how badly knotted he had become? So we were careful to consistently brush him while it grew out and took him in a second time for a small trim, giving clear instructions what we wanted. Again, he comes home shaved. Whole dogs obviously only knows 1 cut, so avoid this spot if you have a pup with longer hair. So disappointed!
*UPDATE*: The way they responded to my review (and others) is reason enough to never go back.

I’ve been taking my goldendoodle to Whole Dogz for boarding for four weeks and I love the place. The place is VERY CLEAN, smells nice and is inviting. The staff is friendly and knowledgable of the business. My dog loves going to Whole Dogz also. When I park outside and tell him «We’re here!» he looks around and starts wagging his tail. Then, he’s in a mad rush to get out of the vehicle and get inside. The staff always greets him by his name, which he loves and they take him back to play with the other dogs. I love that I can check in on him during the day by watching him on the webcam; he’s always running around and playing with the other dogs.

We boarded our dog here for a week. It was the first extended period of time we have ever left our puppy. She came back tired from all the playtime and happy. Talking with the owner and staff makes us feel like they genuinely care about the dogs who stay here. I love the vibe of Whole Dogz, and trust them with our puppy! The facilities are great and I like how they have outdoor time for the dogs several times a day. They board the dogs in their own rooms, with their own bed and toys from home. Prices are very reasonable for the area.

My handsome Cocker Spaniel, Chico Rico, LOVES it at Whole Dogz! They treat him like family. I can mention the name Whole Dogz and he starts whining and running to the door. When we get to the traffic signal on Eisenhower Ave he starts jumping and scratching the car door; can’t wait to go inside.
I love it more than he does because he gets to play all day instead of being in the house all day. But the best part is, when I get him home he sleeps through the night. YES! Now I can sleep through the night without having to get up and play with him in the middle of the night.

I needed to find a reputable place to board my 1 ½ yr old golden retriever who I had never been away from. We needed someplace while we drove to Houston, TX to find a place to live before bringing her down. Ugh — so many places with bad reviews or places that had wonderful reviews but too expensive. I mean charging to let my dog out to play with others for 1hr as an extra? Come on! Then my husband found out about Whole Dogz from a coworker. We went in for the free evaluation and they gave us a tour of the entire place except for the play areas which currently had dogs in it– understandable. I got to see where she would sleep and the outside area. We were really impressed with the facility and they sold the same products we have for our dog. They have a camera for each of the play areas and outside that you can watch online for free or download the app and pay $ 4.99 for a year subscription. The entire idea of leaving my baby with strangers for so long was hard. But being able to watch her the entire time she was there — not only see her playing with other dogs but actual human love and affection was wonderful. I called in and no matter who I talked to they instantly were able to tell me how she was doing — they really communicate well with each other. I was worried because she hadn’t eaten for the first two days and when I jokingly said give her a cheeseburger I promise she will eat it — they asked from where and seemed to notate it incase they needed to resort to that. My dog enjoyed her stay there — never did I see any aggressive acts from other dogs, I always saw a person in the room with her, and all she has done since she got home was sleep. I really cannot say enough great things — well this is really long so maybe I can! My only suggestion for obsessive pet owners like me is to have a camera in the room that they sleep in — but yeah that’s excessive! Thank you Whole Dogz for taking care of my baby.

I’m so happy to have found Whole Dogz. My dog KiKi loves it there, and the staff is really great with her! It’s a bit out of the way for us to go from NW DC, but this is the best dog day care in all of metro DC (we have tried virtually all of them).
I was really happy that the trial day was free because we paid all kinds of money for all kinds of evaluations and locations that were sub par. When we arrived, we were very happy to find that there was a lot of play space. Also, there were a few dogs in the lobby that welcomed us. My dog is sometimes iffy about greeting people and dogs, but she warmed right up to whole dogz.
The staff warmed right up to KiKi, too! When we last picked her up from a boarding stay, we were told she won the award for «best hugs» (she likes to stand on her back legs and wrap her front legs around a human). Also, if KiKi is ever anxious or unsure of something or someone, the guy at the front desk has the perfect energy to calm her down. As far as the boarding space goes, it’s super nice! The dogs have their own dens upstairs, and Whole Dogz lets you bring your dog’s bed and an item from home so they don’t feel so disconnected during the experience.
Each time we take my dog to Whole Dogz, she wags her whole body. She seems to love all the space to run around, and we love how reasonably priced this place is compared to other facilities. You really get the most bang for your buck here. I was almost hesitant to write this review because I’d rather keep this place a secret, but the dog daycare facilities in DC are so bad, I had to speak up for Whole Dogz.

Best place ever!
I bring my precious gem of a pup here for all my pet needs.
We bring our little labradoodle Duke here for daycare/​leave him for boarding/​and groom him here.
When my fiancé took Duke in to be groomed the groomer had an entire discussion with him about how he wanted Duke to look and answered all of his questions. We were thrilled with how it turned out. Also if you do a full groom the daycare for the day is free.
Amazing staff they always know who Duke is and he’s super excited to see them.
We love whole dogz and you will too!

Wonderful humans with dogs in their souls. I can’t say enough good things. They took wonderful care of my VERY elderly dog. Patrick is truly an angel.

I have NEVER done a review before, but i cannot help myself with WHOLE DOGZ. My 5 month old pup Bruno LOVES LOVES LOVES whole dogz, he is running out the car when he sees we are pulling up. I love how clean the facility is, it is so affordable and the part that absolutely gives me a piece of mind is the webcam. I can watch Bruno whenever I’m missing him and every time i’m watching i’m never anything less than satisfied. I went out of the county for 6 days and received an email from whole dogz with pictures of Bruno, he was so happy… it was amazing! They stay with the dogs overnight as well & they can play for 12 hours non stop fun.
It’s dog heaven
I couldn’t recommend a better place to take your puppy for daycare/​boarding. It’s wonderful and the staff is so friendly and all love dogs so much. Patrick and his mom are doing a wonderful thing.
You will not regret anything about taking your puppy to whole dogz except that you didn’t go sooner
Thank you Whole Dogz
April and Bruno :)

I was going to another doggie daycare-​Dogtopia, it was just ok n expensive! My neighbor recommended I take my 11month old Akita-​Kodiak to Whole Dogz.
I can not say enough good things about Whole Dogz! Patrick, one of the owners was awesome n you can just tell he’s a dog person – my Kodi bear loves him! N the facilities are super clean n adorably decorated… it’s so homey n chic.
They actually have some adorable shirts n dog swag you can buy for u n ur Furbaby, as well.
I say with no hesitation, this is the most reasonable, well-​kept dog facility in Alexandria!!!

I wasn’t going to bother reviewing this place, since my husband already did, but I just read the owner’s response to his review and now I’m annoyed. Backstory is, we were quoted $ 130 by phone for two miniature schnauzers (which is more than anyone else we’ve gone to in the area, mind you, but we figured lets give them a try, because our regular groomer no longer works at the place we usually go). When we got the dogs back, they tried to charge us $ 5 extra per dog because they said a schnauzer cut costs extra (even though we told them when we called to get the quote that we had two schnauzers), and then they charged an additional $ 10 per dog for 30 minutes each of de-​matting, which is mainly where my issue lies.
First of all, I don’t believe that my dogs required an extra half hour per dog for de-​matting. I know their hair had some tangles, but there is no way it took an hour between the two of them to get the tangles out. There’s just no way. They were last groomed less than a month ago, and they were still in pretty good shape. They also tried to tell my husband that they don’t think our dogs are used to being groomed. My dogs are both nine and have gone to the groomers once a month for the past nine years (which should have been obvious based on the fact that they already had schnauzer haircuts when they came in) — so give or take a few months at birth, that’s, over 100 haircuts per dog. I’m pretty sure they know the drill by now.
Then there’s the part about schnauzer cuts being ‘custom’. If you want to call it custom, fine. But tell your customers up front (or post it somewhere on your site or in your salon) and train your customer service staff to quote accurate prices so the customer knows what to expect. People have budgets, and trying to slide an extra 30 dollars in at checkout is really shady.
Bottom line, they should have asked our permission before racking up a bunch of extra charges at our expense. If they felt our dogs needed an excessive amount of de-​matting they should have called and explained the situation and our options before continuing. If you consider your grooming a «premium service,» why not act like it is? Offer an initial consultation with the groomer. Communicate with your clients. We could have agreed to the charge up front, or disagreed and come up with a plan B. A quick ‘hey, your dog has some extra tangles, and it will cost _​_​_​to fix it’ would have gone a long way and saved a lot of confusion.
Furthermore, If they were that badly tangled and the de-​matting was as uncomfortable for the dogs as the groomer claims it was, why not call us and say it was too tangled to fix and you recommend just cutting the underskirt off to spare the dogs any extra discomfort? My husband’s only stipulation was that they not cut the dogs’ beards off– we weren’t particularly attached to the underskirt, because it does grow quicker than the rest of their hair, and can easily grow back by their next grooming.
The cuts did come out nice, but the customer service is unforgivable.
***To the owner’s point (in the owner response below, because arguing with the customer is awesome) our total was not merely 5 dollars more than we were quoted– it was 30 dollars more than we were quoted. I’m not sure where you’re from, but where I’m from 30 extra dollars is a lot of money.

The groomer I usually use for my dogs recently quit so I had to find a new groomer. My old groomer charged $ 55 for the miniature schnauzer cut. I called to ask how much they charge and I was told it would be $ 65. I was not thrilled to be paying $ 10 more than the prior groomer, and I have two dogs so that would be an additional $ 20, but I was in a hurry to find a groomer so I decided to give them a try.
Their facility is really nice and the staff seemed friendly and gave me a nice tour.
When I went to pick my dogs up, they told me the charge would be $ 160. I was shocked since this is more than any other groomer has ever charged me. My dogs are almost 10 years old and have had many haircuts from different groomers over the years, so I know what it SHOULD cost.
They told me that the price for the haircut is $ 70, not $ 65, and said both of my dogs were extremely matted so they charged me extra for dematting. I informed them that they told me over the phone that it would be $ 65. They told me that they didn’t know what kind of haircut I wanted so that’s why they quoted me the lower price. I informed them that I said over the phone it was for miniature schnauzer so they should have known what kind of haircut I wanted. They then told me that they didn’t know I wanted a miniature schnauzer haircut which costs extra. I was really surprised they would say something so stupid and ridiculous to me. It was offensive.
After more arguing, they agreed to drop $ 10 off the price to give me the $ 65 that they originally quoted me.
As for the matting, I told them that my dogs were only slightly matted and their hair is ALWAYS matted by the time I get them to the groomer, and only once in their lives has a groomer ever charged me extra for dematting and this was because one of my dogs’ hair was tangled and knotted. I don’t expect to be charged a fee for very slight matting.
The groomer continued to argue with me and I told them that I would pay their fee but would not be coming back since I don’t agree to their excessive charges. They didn’t seem to care and still refused to budge on their prices.
I think the haircuts looked good but they certainly are not worth the $ 160 they tried to charge or even the $ 150 they eventually agreed on. For two small dogs, anything over $ 100 is really getting excessive and $ 150 is just totally outrageous. I doubt I will return here.
I’m really annoyed because their facility is nice and close to my house and I planned on being a regular customer, but I know I can never trust them again since they tried to rip me off two different ways on the price of just a single haircut. It’s mind boggling that they would do this to a new customer, especially when they’re a new business and should be glad to have new customers.
*** Update ***
In response to the owner’s comment, I’d like to add a few things:
1) A schnauzer cut IS NOT A CUSTOM CUT. If I say I have a miniature schnauzer, that means I want a schnauzer cut. I would expect $ 65, being more than other groomers charge, to be plenty to cover a normal schnauzer cut. I don’t even know what would be considered a custom cut. Your attitude in this regard is inexcusable. I’m lowering the review to 1 star just because of this.
2) Yes, matted coats take more time. My dogs coats were not matted or only very slightly matted. They needed to be brushed out and that’s all. If your groomer took a half hour more than usual to brush my dogs, your groomer doesn’t know what she’s doing and should be replaced. You don’t get to charge me extra to brush my dogs, that’s part of the base grooming fee.
3) You are not offering premium services. Pretty much all groomers should be able to do a schnauzer cut. My dogs aren’t show dogs in some kind of competition, I just want them to look like schnauzers!
4) You tried to charge me $ 70 after agreeing to charge me $ 65.
5) I don’t know who Sydney is. Who cares?

I love this place. I used my Unilocal app to find a doggie daycare for my little man with big time sep anx and found Whole Dogz was exactly what I was looking for in a facility. The front reception area is nicely layed out with various products to purchase ranging from magnets to dog food.
They only use all natural products to clean the place so honestly. there is absolutely none of that smell that sometimes happens when you combine hardcore cleaning product and lots-​o-​dogs.
Big. and I mean HUGE bonus is they have a webcam. I used to take my dog to daycare in NYC and Hawaii and loved that I could peek in on him during the day. He wasn’t doing much, mind you. Usually just laying down in the middle of the floor or ontop of the play piece in the middle of the room but he looked perfectly comfortable.
I live in Hampton Roads and have a daycare that Dante goes to in Norfolk. But whenever I’m in the area I will definitely be taking him to Whole Dogz.
Also. I nabbed an awesome Unilocal deal for Whole Dogz. $ 75 for $ 90. This has really worked for me these last 2 weeks of being up in Northern Virginia.
Great place. Nice staff. Beautiful facility. Highly recommend bringing your pup here for some playtime/​socialization or if you have a kid with major sep anx like me. it’s just a life saver.

We had been looking for a place to take our dog for daycare for a while and hadn’t found anything we were really happy with yet.
Then I received a Unilocal message from one of the owners indicating that there was a new facility in the area that I should check out for boarding/​day care; so we did just that.
Whole Dogz is a great space! You walk in and are greeted with smiles (from people and office dog alike) and a warm inviting space. On his first visit our pup was given an evaluation and put into the appropriate play group. Apparently he enjoyed himself so much that he didn’t sit still all day! Each subsequent visit has yielded the same results and I have a very pooped pup at the end of the day! I love it.
Typically my husband will drop him off and pick him up as the facility is closer to his office than mine, but I was finally able to take a tour this weekend. It’s a really wonderful space. They have multiple sized open air rooms for boarding. There are also multiple rooms for daycare so dogs of a similar size and disposition can play freely together. There is even a large outdoor area and they are building a pool. So there are lots of great amenities.
Other things worth mentioning is our first visit was free – which is awesome. Packages are cheaper than I expected, and Sundays count as a half day. I am also very happy with their groomers. Rusty doesn’t like baths, but they did a great job and he came home happy.
I really can’t say enough great things about the place!