Alpha Dog Training Center

I have waited a while to write this review but I felt that I must do so out of caution for the other pet owners. I take no joy in leaving this review but after the truly horrific experience our family experienced, I think it should be shared. I cannot recommend that anyone ever board their dogs with Alpha Dog Training Center. This past Christmas (2024) we needed to board our two dogs for 4 days and picked Alpha Dog. We had boarded them there in the past, with our boys always staying in a private kennel run by themselves. On the morning of December 24th, 2024, I got a call from the owner of Alpha Dog. She informed me that one of my dogs was not feeling/looking well. She told me that he was lethargic and had diarrhea in his bed. She asked if it was alright for her to take him to the vet, which we immediately agreed to and said we would meet her there. A few minutes later I received another call from her saying that my dog was dead. He died in that kennel with only his brother by his side. We will never truly know why it happened or how. We didn't get to say goodbye. He was only seven years old, and as healthy as any dog could be. The owner brought him to the vet, and I will say she genuinely seemed heartbroken. After saying goodbyes at the vet, we immediately went to Alpha Dog so we could get our other dog. We met the owner in the front training room, where she was greeting other customers and taking their dogs in for boarding before the holiday. Eventually they brought our other dog out to us. At this point the owner asked us for payment and charged us the full four day amount for both dogs. Reminder that this was only two days in and we were leaving with just one dog. We paid the full amount, feeling very uneasy and left. Now I will give Alpha Dog credit, they eventually reimbursed us the extra two days our dogs were not there. But this was only after one of my family members had reached out and told them it was not right that they charged us like that. I did not know they reached out to Alpha Dog until after I told them the business was sending us a reimbursement check. While I understand Alpha Dog is a business, I feel it was wrong of them to charge us at all, even for the two days our dogs were there. It is not the money that makes it upsetting but the principal of the matter. We paid them to watch over and take care of our boys. Instead, one of them died while at their facility. I looked over the dogs boarding items/supplies once we got home. I had given Alpha Dog 6 days worth of food for BOTH dogs, 12 days worth of food total. Each dog was supposed to get one measured cup of food twice a day. I wrote it on both their food bags, told Alpha Dog employees including the owner multiple times, and included the single cup scoop to use. When I checked the food that was left after only two days of boarding, there was about 3 cups left. That means Alpha Dog fed our dogs roughly 10.5 days worth of food in a two day period. While I obviously will never know what truly killed my dog, the overfeeding by Alpha Dog staff will always stick out in my mind. If you are thinking of boarding your dog at Alpha Dog I beg you to please reconsider. If there are any other safe options, even if they're more inconvenient or costly, I believe you should go with those instead. To the Alpha Dog staff, I understand this was a horrible experience for us all and I do appreciate the owner bringing our dog to the vet. You obviously did not do anything maliciously or on purpose. But please talk with all your staff about proper dog care, feeding regiments and portion control even if you have already done so. I’d also ask in extreme cases like this one that you put business to the side entirely and just be there for your customer. Again, it is not the money that made me upset in this regard, but instead how dirty it made me feel having to pay you after my dog died in your care. I never want someone else to experience the same pain we had to endure so please, for the wellbeing of all the other dogs out there, please do better.