The Barking Dog

I love The Barking Dog! Our 3 year old golden just loves going to daycare and boarding here. When we moved to Scottsdale in October 2015, I visited quite a few dog daycare places around Scottsdale and took tours of them all. I didn’t have any problem getting a tour of The Barking Dog. The facilities are squeaky clean, very nice and new, and the staff is always very friendly and professional. The dogs were having a great time in the pool and in the indoor playrooms. It was my top pick out of all the places I visited. I am so glad I found this place!
Just watching my dog on their YouTube daycare video postings — it is evident he is having a blast!

This place is as good as it gets. I work here and board my dogs here. I can tell you that the place is topnotch. I have worked for other boarding/​day care facilities and none of them compare. The dogs get lots of exercise and special attention in day care. We rotate them from outdoor pool area to grass yard to indoor climate controlled play area. We play ball with them and give them a good work out. The dogs who are not in day care also get taken out for potty breaks on a regular basis and get special love and care. These dogs do not sit in kennels all day like in other facilities, they are treated like princes and princesses. We know all their names and make sure they get hugs and belly rubs. Love this place.

This is an extremely nice facility– if they would use it to let the dogs play. I have been here 3 times and have asked for a tour all 3 times. Something is very fishy here. There have never been more than 3 dogs out and actively playing while I have toured. When I asked «how many dogs do you have today?» the staff member said about 30. When I asked where they were, he said «resting». Problem number one– if I wanted my dog to rest I’d leave her at home. When I first asked to see where the dogs rested, I was told that that room was being cleaned. Same exact story the second time, and the third. When I finally asked when I should return to see the resting room I was told «I probably shouldn’t tell you this but it’s against our company policy to let customers see that room so you won’t be able to do that.» What??? What is going on in there that they need to keep customers from seeing? Disturbing and fishy.
When I asked what the resting room looked like, he told me it was a room with cages lined up. That must have been where my dog was kept on the occasions I brought her because when I came to pick her up and tour the grounds, she was not out playing.
Unless you want to pay $ 30 to put your dog in a cage and get fooled into thinking your dog had a great time splashing in a pool, stay away. This place is a scam.

I’m very grateful to the staff of The Barking Dog for taking great care of Luci. Luci and I adopted each other a few months ago and Luci has had some challenges in her behavior due to previous abuse. She’s very fearful of new people, especially men. The people at The Barking Dog have been so patient with Luci and have worked with her to help make her more comfortable each time she stays with them. Luci is making progress with her behavior on a daily basis and each time she stays at The Barking Dog, I see a bit more progress. I really appreciate you guys, your patience with her, and the fact that I can leave town knowing she’s being well cared for. Thank you.

With Tasia T back to work, we both hated the idea of leaving our rambunctious, 2 year old GoldenDoodle at home all day. I found the Barking Dog through some google searches and then read the Unilocal reviews. The website looked awesome, I loved the different play rooms and the reviews are great
The one bad review had me a bit sketched out, by I messaged a fellow Unilocaler Kristen N and was assured that her dog loves this place, and is eager to go back. That was enough for me, and I agree with other Unilocalers, a little quiet time is good for the dogs as they play hard, and it’s never good to feed dogs all at once in one area, so I toured the facility, and brought Bernie in for a test run.
They are so kind, and clearly realize our dogs are not pets, but an extension of the family. I called to check on him, and Alexis put me on hold for a while to see how he was doing. I loved this, because she ACTUALLY checked on him, she didn’t just give me some BS response.
Prices are totally competitive with other off leash doggy day cares, AND they provide food if you want (I brought my own, because Bernie has IBS like his dad) — but still appreciated if I ever need it. The hours are also very accomodating for business professionals with hours from 6am to 7pm.
They post videos everyday on their youtube channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UC3­NtFBoEf7ZYNhuLrpLOL-w
This will definitely be part of Bernies routine, and the location is perfect, off Via De Ventura and 101.
I kind of want to work here.

This place is very nice and clean. Super friendly staff and when I pick my dog up she is worn out from playing.

Absolutely love this place! This is the Mecca of doggy daycares! My Labrador cannot wait to hop in the car and get to daycare! When we pull up he goes nuts! A beautiful facility! It is so clean and the staff is wonderful. The pool and play areas are like no other place in the valley and though it’s a tad more expensive then some daycares what they offer is well worth the extra few dollars! The added touch of posting the daily videos on YouTube is awesome for those parents who love to know what their children have been up to all day! Cannot say enough positive things!

Something was fishy about this place… I was eager to go over to this place and take the tour. I was exclusively interested in doggie day care, as I have someone stay at my home with my pet when I am away. I am giving an honest review of my observations during the tour.
The facility itself is beautiful– it’s sparkling clean and has a large reception area for checking in. If you look to the left you can look out a window and see a lovely pool area for the dogs. When I was there, there were two dogs and one employee in the pool area. The dogs looked like they were having fun and the employee was jumping in here and there to throw them a ball, etc. as nice as this looked, I couldn’t help but think «why are there only two dogs out there?»
The tour guide showed us this pool area and we moved on to the next area, which was an indoor play room for the dogs. Again, it was nice and clean but oddly, there were no dogs in it.
The next area was an outdoor turf field area for the dogs. But again, NO DOGS were out there! Where are all the dogs?!? At this point I had only seen two dogs.
Next is where things got a little shady. We continued on towards the boarding area and passed a door. The door had a window, but there was paper covering it so you couldn’t not see in. It sounded like there were at least 20 dogs barking inside this secret room. So I ask, «what’s this?» The answers I got just left me scratching my head. I was told that this room was where the dogs «rest and eat lunch.» I asked how this room was different from the other indoor daycare area and was told that in this room «the dogs rest and eat, instead of play» and that they are «separated». After pressing what was meant by «separated» to no avail, I flat out said «do you mean they are in cages?» Then there was a 20 second awkward pause before the tour guide admitted that they were in cages. I asked to see in the room and was told I could not and that it was for emotes only. I asked to look through the window and was told I could not cb it would disturb the dogs. Disturb the dogs? They are all already barking! The tour guide also would not tell me how long they dogs would stay in this room, except that it was «not too long.»
This lack of transparency left me very disappointed. I will not send my dog to daycare at at a place that will not show the full picture. Even if the dogs need to be caged part of the he day, I might be OK with it so long as I can see the place they will be kept– are the cages size appropriate? How many dogs are in each? Are they stacked on top of each other? All questions I could not answer and therefore I will not take my dog there.
Lastly, I left completely baffled as to why there were only two dogs in the pool area, and all the others were in the secret room. Why not more out and about having fun I each of the areas?
One last thing, I was looking for only part day daycare and asked if dogs were allowed to skip the «rest/​lunch» room– if I take my dog there for 3 hours, he surely does not need a rest and lunch. I was told that all dogs need to go for a rest or else they get cranky. Umm thanks, but no thanks… Very disappointing. No transparency into the secret room or the schedule by which the dogs are rotated to the different area.

Yup — this is the ONE doggie daycare and boarding location that all others should be judged against (and will likely come up short). I can’t believe there are only two other reviews thus far on this awesome place! I can say enough positive things about this place. It’s huge! It’s clean! It’s affordable! It’s staffed 24 hours a day! There are so many different play areas for dogs! The staff are amazing and über-​friendly! They knew my dog’s name after one day, and everyone adored him and were genuinely excited to see him each day. We’ve never overnighted our pup there, not from lack of desire, but the need has just never come up.
If you live in Scottsdale, don’t waste your time elsewhere. The Barking Dog is the best!

Love this Dog Hotel!!! It is in a great location right off of the 101 which is incredibly convenient for me going to and from Sky Harbor Airport. I love it that when you pick your dog up they are bathed and ready to go. I love also having the option to have my dog have day care all day so that she can play and swim with other dogs. My neighbor told me about them opening. The facility is AMAZING. Absolutely lovely!

Finally, I found a facility that I feel comfortable leaving my dog at! I toured this building during their grand opening event on the 24^th and must say it is VERY impressive. The building was newly built so naturally everything was shiny and the design was thoughtfully laid out. I was not surprised to see on their website that this is actually their 4^th location. The fact that they have been in the business for many years along with having someone on site ²⁴⁄₇ makes me feel at ease. I made a point of asking questions of as many of the staff members as I could and I was reassured to get straightforward, honest answers. If I didn’t understand something they were very patient in explaining things and were quick to get an answer for me if they didn’t know the answer themselves. I am anxious to see how things go when we leave for the weekend in a few weeks. I hope the quality of care lives up to the facility and knowledge that I saw during the grand opening! I will write a follow up review once we have used their services a few times…