Bark Avenue DayCamp

My last review was removed from Unilocal.I seriously wish that I could give this place a lower rating than one star. Not only will this place not allow you to view what is happening with your pet at any time during their stay, but reception was «nodding off» upon our arrival (sleep deprived, on drugs, or neither, this instilled zero confidence in consideration of leaving my dog in responsible hands). We observed no water available to the dogs to be seen! We asked to see what it looked like during a live play session, and we were told no. How can a place say no when you want to see what the services you’re paying for actually look like? We were directed to a prerecorded video on YouTube instead. Furthermore, every time someone comes through for a tour with their dog, all the dogs are put away behind caged sections. You are not getting what you pay for when you expect your animal to be out and running throughout the day, as I would imagine that these tour visits are quite common. Whoever had their animal there when we visited should know that they were all caged during a non-​rest period the entire time we visited. The dogs all go to the bathroom inside there as well, which means even less time for the dogs to play when they mop it up and wait for it to dry. The floor surface was slippery too, and our dog had a hard time not falling on it– seems like an injury waiting to happen. I would never have our dog there, for any reason. Thumbs down. Our next door neighbor also switched elsewhere after this.

Tigger loves it at Bark Ave. Plenty of friends, plenty of fun, GREAT STAFF, Very clean facility. No need to check up on my dog. I KNOW he is having a great time and is well cared for.

We’ve brought our puppy here a few times now. It is a great way to have her burn off some energy during the day while we are at work! She always comes home exhausted which is a bonus for us. I also love seeing the photos of her day on Facebook. Staff is always very friendly.

We primarily use this company for the stellar training given to our dog. Our trainer Mike is the ‘aggressive dog whisperer’ is phenomenal. Mike tends to get the bigger dogs (German Shepherds etc.) with various aggressive or overly boisterous issues. He’s equally enthusiastic with the smaller dogs as well. He as an excellent rapport not only with the dogs /​owner’s alike. Not only is he very good at his job, but you can tell he loves his work. Suburban K-​9 is the ‘training’ portion of Bark Avenue.
The entire staffs from the owners to all the handlers are extremely professional and courteous, and above all, friendly. Its well worth the long drive for such quality training and general socialization of your pet. They have flexible offerings for your pets stay. (Partial? /​half & full day.) They also offer a grooming service as well. This company sets the bar for pet services and goes well beyond! Highly recommended and your pet will love you even more for the experience!

Im a big fan of Bark Avenue! My two dogs come here every so often and Im usually pretty satisfied with their services. I have a «tempermental» Rat Terrier Mix that can be a bit challenging to handle but they do a EXCELLENT job with him! However I have had my Min Pin bathed here and I wasnt impressed with the bath or the nail trim, but its a small thumbs down in comparison to the big picture. And just a heads up to the people on here complaining about their dog getting «sick» or coming home limping etc etc. Im in the dog care industry myself and point blank if you dont have your pet vaccinated for Bordatella 7 – 10 days before they are boarded, groomed, or attend doggy daycare they are at risk for kennel cough. And just like humans who get the flu shot but yet still get sick, it works the same way! Also, dogs play rough, nothing can be changed about that. And if a dog is consistently being brought to daycare for 6 plus hours a day several days a week the risk for minor injuries are even higher. Also, puppies under 6 months of age should NOT go to daycare, they are still developing and dont need the rough play during that time. Doggy daycare is a risk in general, the owners assume that responsibility as soon as they drop them off for somebody else to take care of.

I brought my dog Sasha for a two week board and train… I can’t begin to tell you how impressed I was with the service and care she received. She was dog aggressive and I was very concerned about her being around other dogs. They assured me she would be fine…
After two days a video of her was posted (Suburban K9) showing her romping and playing with other dogs… amazing!
The staff was kind and patient with me… I called almost daily to check on her progress. They were polite and positive. They even made sure she was groomed before I picked her up.
The socialization that Bark Avenue DayCamp provides is excellent. I bring Sasha there once a week to continue her socialization and training. I trust them with her, and strongly recommend their services.

Unfortunately this facility does not deserve all the good reviews it has gotten. At first we really liked this place and were always bringing our 2 dogs here for daycare and boarding. It wasn’t until incident after incident kept occurring that we decided to pull our dogs. One of my dogs has came home limping not once, but twice after being in Bark Avenues care. After a night of boarding one has come home extremely lethargic and had the runs for two days. When he passed what was causing the issue it was a fleece colorful blanket. Since we do not own anything like that it was obvious it had happened in their care. My dogs have come home all scratched up with chunks of skin missing. Each time I called Bark Avenue reporting an incident they NEVER took responsibility for any of my concerns and left us always footing the ER bill. They blamed the limping on PANO (which my dog does not have) and everything else on the dog. Their lack of sympathy, concern, responsibility and communication is very alarming. I would not recommend taking your dogs here.

Scheduling over the phone can be a bit ruff, but phone manners aside, this place is great for active dogs! My Pointer mix pup comes home happy and sleepy. She gets excited when we drive up to the location (which is a bit off the beaten road) and cant contain her wiggling butt and tail when we walk through the doors!
I was a worried mommy at first because she was only 5 months when I started her here for daycare and very excitable which some older dogs at the dog park did not like and snapped at her often… but I mentioned it once to staff and they said they will work on socializing her and it worked! Now I feel very comfortable leaving her there even with the biggest dogs!

Great place for big dogs

Just wanted to respond to Tom’s review. I own a dog day care facility, but not Bark Avenue. Dog’s paws can get sore if they have soft paws. It is like walking on the beach barefoot when you are on vacation, when you accustom to wearing shoes. Your feet may be sore until they toughen up. Actually, I would recommend you bring your dog for play care there between boarding so his feet and muscles are in better shape for when you leave him next time. I bet he had a good time though. All the best to you and your buddy.

Highly recommend this place for daycamp and boarding! This is an hour north of our home, but we went here based on a friend’s recommendation.
The facility is very big and very clean. We were taken on a tour, and during the tour we were told that the dogs are out all day and allowed to run around and play in what is essentially a warehouse with a cement floor (easy clean-​up!). If the weather is nice, they open the large overhead garage door to a grassy, fenced area, so the dogs can play outside.
Our dog loved playing with, and sniffing, the dogs on the tour, so you can only imagine how exhausted he was from being there an entire week! I almost felt guilty taking him home to our townhome with an unfenced yard.
We dropped off our dog on a Monday morning, just prior to 6:30 a.m. when they open. I was relieved that they took him early without any hassle.
We paid the same price here for what we’d pay at PetSmart (a place I will only use in an emergency now). There’s also a 15% off coupon on their website, so for a 5-​night stay, we saved about $ 30. There’s an additional discount (10% I think) if you are referred by someone.
We had a little difficulty scheduling an appointment, the man on the phone was a bit gruff and somewhat inflexible with scheduling, but I won’t change my view on the place based on that.

I would like to respond to the management’s response to Bradley. I am the «other person» you refer to that was with Bradley. First of all, if you are going to respond, please get your facts straight. Thor is not a pitbull. He is a boxer/​lab mix. If your «manager» doesn’t know the difference, maybe she needs more training. Bradley never said your «manager» couldn’t correct Thor. He said she couldn’t hold him down, which is what she was doing. If she would have had him sit and stay, that would have been fine. And Thor has never been aggressive. The only problem we’ve had with him is that he wants to hump the other dogs. And just because this is a free service, doesn’t mean your «manager» can do whatever she wants. We also didn’t leave suddenly. Review your tape. We stayed another 10 minutes or so, but Thor continued to hump, so then we left. Don’t worry, we won’t be back. I was telling people how much I liked your facility. But, now, however, I will be stating the opposite.

This was a good experience and I will use Bark Avenue again, and would suggest that anyone looking for a professional, caring place to board your dogs check into Bark Avenue.
We recently took our 2 small dogs to Bark Avenue to be boarded for 6 days. Since we had never previously boarded them and I was very nervous to leave them anywhere we really investigated Bark Avenue. Prior to your dog being boarded at Bark Avenue, you are required to provide Vet records to ensure your dog is healthy and is up-​to-​date on their shots, flea and tick medication, as well as fecal testing for parasites. A second requirement by Bark Avenue is your dog must pass a socialization test. This felt very professional and matched what our Vet discussed with us to look for in a boarding facility. Additionally, we «dropped-​in» unannounced twice to check out Bark Avenue — they were as professional both when we had an appointment and when we came unannounced Our Vet was impressed with their requirements, and wanted our feed-​back if we utilized them for boarding. The only negative that she had ever heard about them is that they are expensive.
After leaving my two dogs with Bark Avenue, I appreciated receiving phone calls to let me know my dogs were doing well and playing with the other dogs and being «good». They also were very patient with my daily phone calls to check on my babies. When we picked them up, they were healthy, happy and well cared for. My only suggestion for improvement is that I would have liked the offer of them being bathed prior to pick-​up — after six days of boarding and playing with the dogs — they needed a shampoo.
The staff really seems to care and love dogs, its a fun place for the dogs to run and play all day and not be stuck in cages all day and night. We will use them again.

IF YOU WANT YOUR DOG TO GET SICK, AND GET HOSPITALIZED, GO TO BARK AVENUE!!! We boarded our very healthy, happy energetic lab for 4 days and the day she got home, she started incessant coughing, lost all appetite, her eyes filled with mucus, and developed a fever of 103.9. A week later, she had to be hospitalized with bacterial pneumonia. All of the vets who tended to her told me that she could have died. When I contacted Michelle at Bark Avenue, she told me that she was within the law, and she would not help with any vet bills. $ 2000 and 3 weeks later, our dog is starting to get better. IF YOU LOVE YOUR DOG, NEVER GO TO THIS IRRESPONSIBLE PLACE.
PS…since I posted a review, Bark Avenue’s attorneys are threatening to sue me. What do you think, should I retract this review???

I would highly recommend Bark Avenue for both training and boarding. Several months ago my husband and I adopted a shelter dog who is very sweet, but can be aggressive toward me. Without Bark Avenue and Matt’s help over the last few months we would not have been able to handle our dog. Matt critically assessed our dog’s behavior and my reactions. He has taught me to correct my dog’s behavior humanely and effectively. I can say, without doubt, that the staff at Bark Avenue has handled my dog appropriately.
My dog recently spent the weekend at Bark Avenue, and I feel completely comfortable leaving my baby there. My dog loves the play-​time he gets at Bark Avenue, and he always comes back to me a very happy and healthy dog. The staff at Bark Avenue Daycamp clearly cares a lot for the dogs they work with, and my dog loves everyone there. In fact, he happily wags his tail and can’t wait to greet them when we arrive at obedience training each week.