Barkingham Palace

I’ve been taking my dogs there for about a year and have had a great experience so far. The owners are really nice and accommodating, even staying a little while after closing one day so I could pick up by pup. My Pomeranian is the most neurotic and high-​strung of dogs – but I never worried about leaving her as she always seemed happy and chilled out when I picked her up.

Update… So, filed a complaint with the BBB… and Barkingham’s response was… a bunch of lies about how they DID take my dog to a vet. Which I know is a lie. Please, Please do NOT take your animal here

WARNING!!!
DO NOT TAKE YOUR PETS TO BARKINGHAM PALACE IN MARBLE FALLS, TX!
I took my 3 miniature schnauzers to be boarded from noon on Friday ¹⁄₂₃ to mid-​afternoon on Sunday, ¹⁰⁄₂₅. While dropping them off, I double checked that they each had their correct collars with their name on them, and showed the name tags to the attendant. I also told her that if for some reason their collars came off, that they could be identified by their microchips. She and the woman entering information on the computer verbally acknowledged the ways to identify each dog. Rita, my 7 year old female, is DIABETIC and takes 8 units of Insulin twice a day, as well as a human antidepressant to prevent urine leakage. Belle, my 12 year old female is EPILEPTIC and has liver cysts. She has been on Phenobarbital twice a day for 10 years to prevent seizures. She also takes 2 prescriptions to keep her bile thin to prevent liver failure. Rita’s diabetes and Belle’s Epilepsy were completely under control when I took them to Barkingham Palace.
Since my dogs are on prescription food, I did as Barkingham’s website suggested, and pre-​packaged each meal for each dog, very clearly labeled. I also gave specific verbal and handwritten instructions to the 2 attendants. Each dog was to be fed twice a day — 1 pre-​packaged and clearly labeled ziplock of dry food mixed with ¹⁄₃ can of the RX food.
All medications were clearly labeled with specific instructions. I also gave clear, specific instructions verbally, as well as handwritten, to both attendants. They were also provided with 3 telephone numbers where I could be reached with any problems or questions.
When I picked my dogs up on Sunday afternoon, I asked how everything went. They said «Rita» would not eat, so they finally gave her a couple spoonfuls of canned food before giving her insulin each time. Rita always eats well, but I had verbally and in writing told them that BELLE might not eat well. ALARM! I asked them which dog they gave the insulin to, and they said «the small dark on». Belle is the small dark one! Upon further questioning, I found that they had taken their identifying collars off as soon as the put them in the kennel and never wrote down any identifying descriptions of the dogs. Both females were listed as «salt and pepper females». They gave Rita, my diabetic dog, 4 doses of Phenobarbital and 4 doses of liver medication, but NO INSULIN! They gave Belle, the epileptic, 8 units of Insulin twice a day, with very little food, and NO PHENOBARBITAL or liver medications! They did NOT mix the canned food with the dry food at any meal, so at best, each dog received only HALF as much food as they needed. The unopened cans were returned to me!
When they brought my dogs out to me, Rita was dripping from head to toe with urine! The guy behind the counter said «oh, that’s water». It was clearly urine and was flowing out of her urethra!
When we got the dogs home, Rita’s blood sugar registered «high» on the meter, which means it was over 600! She was trembling and clearly very ill. Belle’s blood sugar was 60, and she was weak and trembling. I have no way of knowing how many seizures she may have had while at Barkingham Palace, but she was most certainly in withdrawal — wobbly and lethargic. I can only imagine the torture my poor dogs were feeling.
We have stabilized Belle, and hopefully, she did not suffer damage from her blood sugar being too low to support her organs. Rita had to be taken in as an Emergency to the vet for IF fluids and Insulin. She remains in an unstable condition at the vet, receiving IV fluids and blood glucose monitoring. She has so much fat in her blood from trying to survive without insulin, that the equipment is unable to run her blood chemistry to see what other damage has been done to her little body. She is also at very high risk for Pancreatitis, which can be fatal, due to the high amount of fat in her blood. Both females lost weight.
All of this damage to my dogs happened in just over 50 hours at Barkingham Palace. If they had been there any longer, they likely would have died!