Camp Bow Wow Portland

Love this place! I have been a happy customer there for nearly 5 years now. I will give two examples of very positive interactions I’ve had within the past year. When our first child was born, Jill and Gary went out of their way to send our DOG a card in the mail to congratulate him on his new «sibling.» The card acknowledged that new babies can be a difficult transition for pets, and it was clear they were thinking about our dog’s well-​being during that time. I was very touched by this thoughtful gesture and I will never forget it. Another example happened today, actually: I quickly dropped my dog at camp, and headed to work. Shortly after, I was made aware that his vaccination paperwork was out of date. They notified me of the situation and kept him separate from the other dogs until I could pick him up. This showed a great deal of concern not only for my dog’s health, but especially for the health of all the other dogs at camp. Instead of just turning a blind eye, they did the right thing and acted completely by the book, keeping him separated until the appropriate paperwork could be provided. He still gots lots of love and walks today by the caring, attentive, and responsible staff. Camp Bow Wow is one of my favorite service providers in Southern Maine – of any kind – including doctors, mechanics, salons, etc.

Long review, but please take the time to read it – it could save your dog’s life.
My boyfriend & I dropped off our dog here on a Saturday for an overnight stay. We picked him up the following night and were told that he did well. On the car ride home, I noticed that our dog was panting heavily, shaking, & trembling. We thought these symptoms were due to exhaustion. The next day, along with heavy panting, shaking, & trembling, he showed weakness – unable to jump on furniture & unwilling to go up the stairs. The following morning, he was dragging his hind legs & we quickly realized that he was paralyzed, so I rushed him to the animal ER in Scarborough. I find out that he has two ruptured discs & hemorrhaging around his spine, & this required emergency surgery, or he will never be able to walk again. I had to make a choice – surgery or euthanasia, & without hesitation, I chose surgery. I was later informed by veterinary neurologist that the hemorrhaging around my dog’s spine suggests that whatever caused this injury, it was a very, very hard impact. I asked the neurologist if this injury could have happened at Camp Bow Wow – she said it most likely happened there. She said symptoms, such as weakness, trembling, & heavy panting (due to being in so much pain) will come first, but paralysis does not usually show until 24 – 48 hours after injury, & the time frame of when I picked up my dog at Camp Bow Wow to when he became paralyzed fits this perfectly. The entire surgery ended up costing over $ 5,000.
We called Camp Bow Wow and spoke with owner: Jill Mansir. We explained the entire incident pertaining to our dog & asked if there were any accidents that involved him, considering they use webcams. Jill denied any responsibility, saying that this injury did not happen at her place of business. However, she did offer to review the footage to see if she could find anything & would get back to us. When she called back, she said she could not find anything. She refused to help with our dog’s medical bills & even our dog’s overnight stay of $ 40, & she also added the fact that if she had to pay for every pet that had an injury there, then she would not have a business. We brought up the possibility of her filing an insurance claim – Jill claimed she did not have liability insurance, only insurance for her employees. Jill then lead us to Camp Bow Wow’s corporate, who she said might be able to help us. This process took at least two weeks, as she she said they were on vacation. We were finally able to get in touch with Glen (corporate). We had to explain the entire incident to him, which we thought Jill had already relayed. Glen said he was not able help us, as each Camp Bow Wow is individually owned & operated, so if there was any kind of resolution, it would need to come from the owner. He also said that each Camp Bow Wow automatically deletes webcam footage after two weeks, which Jill had neglected to tell us, & this felt very deceitful. After talking to Glen, we called Jill multiple times, but have not heard from her since. I filed a small claims lawsuit against the owner: Jill Mansir & unfortunately, the court was unable to rule in my favor due to lack of hard evidence. I feel that the webcam footage could have possibly changed this outcome, & it is unfortunate to know that these were possibly hidden from me by owner: Jill Mansir, which she did not deny.
I trusted this place of business & brought my dog here for over three years. It is very sad to be treated dishonestly & to not be treated as a valued customer. I was under the assumption that Jill & staff knew what they were doing & knew what was involved in taking care of my dog. I understand that they are not responsible for «reasonable» injuries, such as a nip from another dog or if he came home with a rash. However, I would never expect to leave my dog in a professional dog business & pick him up with life-​threatening injuries that require emergency surgery. All customers at Camp Bow Wow are required to sign a liability waiver, but I feel it is completely unreasonable to expect that this waiver is going to protect them against life-​threatening injuries, especially when I pay them to care for my dog & keep him safe. I feel this injury is a result of negligence & I do not think the waiver I signed protects them from this. Fortunately, my dog has gained some of his mobility back after a long & difficult recovery, but he will never be the same. He is limited when it comes to what he is able to do on a day-​to-​day basis & because of this injury, there is a 15−25% chance he could rupture another disc at the same site.
Overall, I am not writing this to tell you whether or not you should leave your dog at the care of Camp Bow Wow. I am spreading this message to make others aware of what I have gone through with my dog at this place, & to give others something to consider before going here, as from my perspective, I wish that I would have known then what I know now.

Camp Bow Wow has been wonderful to our dog, Scarlett. They got to know her right away, always take great care of her and show enthusiasm whenever they see her. We’ve trusted them with daycare twice a week and boarding for at least a full week and they have always shown great care. I’d highly recommend them to anyone in the Portland area.

I had a good experience here until I found out that my Giant Schnauzer puppy was eating rocks, and I did not receive a refund for 6.5 pre-​paid sessions. My puppy had been attending for two days and seemed to love it, so I pre-​paid for 10 sessions. This was a mistake! On day three, Camp Bow Wow called and said that my puppy had been eating rocks and throwing them up. They said that it was odd and that they would keep a close eye on him. We thought maybe it was just a fluke. On day four, I only planned to take him for a few hours just to see if he’d eat them again. It turned out that he had in fact been eating them, so I decided he wouldn’t be going back. The next day, he was still quite sick, and I had to take him to the vet (i.e. $$$ for me) to make sure nothing was seriously wrong. It turned out that he was fine, which is great, but obviously he couldn’t keep eating rocks!
I don’t blame Camp Bow Wow for my puppy eating the rocks. It is probably unusual for dogs to exhibit this behavior, and I can’t expect the staff to keep an eye on my dog alone 100% of the time. He is just 7 months old and is very into eating… everything…which is something we are working on. That being said, the fact that I could not use 6.5÷10 of my pre-​paid daycare sessions and did not receive a refund is outrageous. I called three times to speak to the owner about getting my money back, and she never returned my call.

I’m a Camp Bow Wow junkie. We’ve stayed at the one in Tampa, FL, Jacksonville, FL and now our new home… Portland. I’ve never been disappointed. Friendly staff, my dog adores them and I feel confident living him with such a great team.

Excellent business! The staff and facilities are awesome. My dog had her interview yesterday and after 20 minutes playing with other dogs she was accepted as a camper. We were able to watch her on the tv in the lobby. The services they offer are impressive. Bonnie will be a regular weekly camper.

Wow is all I can say! This place has got it figured out!
Brought our pup in today for his interview and received a warm welcome from the staff, and was surprised with the size of the facility and how nice it was. The lobby is large with a separate check-​in and check-​out pens (which I loved) and large screens so that you can see your pup playing while you wait.
They offer three different sized play areas, depending on the size of your dog, and have both indoor and outdoor play pens with plenty of room for running around. I especially like the outdoor areas with plenty of play house type equipment for the dogs to climb and play on.
When we picked our pup up we got a full report of his day, a certificate of passing his interview (with his adorable photo) and some coupons for our next visits.
Doesn’t get much better! Plus the staff is incredibly friendly and they are truly dog people.
As we speak our dog is passed out on the couch so I say job well done!