The Happy Retriever

Oh my goodness, what a great establishment. The trainers and staff are amazing - great customer service and very friendly. My bernedoodle, Bergy, has been coming here for months now (bump up days), and he LOVES it. THR offers so many different training classes, and they are accommodating. I'm considering on signing up for one of their 5 day training sessions in the near future, and I wouldn't hesitate on the boarding option either! Definitely a repeat customer, for sure.

We recently had an unfortunate boarding experience with our dog. To be fair, he has IBD and on special diet and meds, but by no means is it complicated. His training experience was going well, but his boarding experience was not as we expected. My current instructions were outlined in his box of portioned food/treats/meds and were not followed on the first day and our dog became quite ill. I also verbally reminded the trainer of his condition at drop off to which she responded, “I know, we love *dog name* here.” I asked the employee at pick up what i could have done differently to avoid this and she stated, “You did all of the right things I just think we need to get better on our side”. The owner will no doubt refute my statements (however I truly have nothing to gain by misrepresenting the experience) as well as bring up a profanity I said, which I indicated I regret, after a very frustrating conversation filled with constant defensive and dismissive comments from her regarding the experience. I had to ask the owner to please stop being defensive which became increasingly frustrating. I entered the conversation truly wanting to know what happened to my dog. It was clear from the start she intended to have an argument. I was told that diarrhea from dogs while boarding is “normal", regardless of the presence of significant blood. I was told after the visit that there is limited forms of communication on the weekend with the facility. I was told that email was checked on weekends (by the staff onsite), but ultimately by the owner, after the visit, that the only form of communication that was acceptable was to call during certain times only as voicemails are not responded to, nor are emails, or use Facebook messenger. I’m confused as to why a business would use social media for business communications, especially as many people do not have Facebook. My point of view is that if you dog is 100% healthy and you do not care to get updates on their condition while you are away, this place may be sufficient. If your dog has a medical condition, you expect updates on your dog, and/or to be alerted if they become ill, this is probably not the place for you/your dog. It’s disappointing that the situation was handled this way because we were finding the training sessions useful. It’s also most disappointing that no one showed any sympathy for my dog's condition, nor did the owner ask how he was doing after the fact when we spoke.