Horrified

[mom2dolls]

We take our dog Max to a doggie day camp in our area. He will often go on Saturdays to play for the day or we will board him when needed.
Today I heard that a dog has died at camp. I do not know all of the details as to exactly what happened yet.
What bothers me is how it was handled by the employees and the camp owner. The parents were not contacted until four hours after the incident. When they were called, they were lied to about what happened. They were told the dog woke in distress and died on the way to the vet. The parents were on vacation, yet the emergency contacts were not called. Once notified, the family sent people over to the vet's office and were told the truth. The dog had bite marks and was obviously attacked.
I am so upset for this family
I posted on the camp's facebook page asking what happened. As a loyal client that brings our dog regularly, what the hell happened and how are you handling it.
Our boy will not be going back. How would you handle it??

 

[TooPatient]

I would NEVER take one of ours there again. Ever. The lies and not contacting immediately are just wrong. I would not be able to trust they would handle other issues any better.

We have my brother come stay at our house if we are gone. If he isn't available, there are pet sitting services in the area or our vet and our pet food store do boarding.

 

[december-fire]

Wow!

This is shocking and first thing I'd want to do is get the facts.

The doggy camp should be contacting clients in writing to outline what happened, after clearing confidentiality concerns with the owners of the dog who passed away.

Clearly, at this point, there are discrepancies between what the vet and the doggy camp have supposedly said (assuming you didn't get first-hand information from the dog owners).

But I would never use a facility if I didn't have complete faith in their ability to provide a safe and loving environment for my pet.

Fortunately, I never required such services for any of my pets.

I can only imagine how upsetting this must be for you.

I hope you're able to make other arrangements when needed for Max.

 

[kenny]

I'd never trust any business to take care of our dogs, because other dogs would be present.

No matter how 'good' the facility and the employees are the biggest risk is the other dogs owned by strangers.
Some people raise dogs to be dangerous and unpredictable.
These are the people who would lie to the facility about their dogs when they want to go on vacation.

I won't even take our dogs to a dog park or dog beach.
I am responsible for their safety.

 

[lovedogs]

Wow! I would be shocked and terrified by this so I completely understand your reaction! I think the lies are the most "damning" part of the entire thing.

FWIW we will only use doggy "camps" or 'daycares" that require temperament testing prior to allowing any dogs to stay--because that way we feel safer about the other dogs. We also make sure that they separate small vs. large dogs since we have little ones and obviously a larger dog could be trying to play nicely but accidentally be too rough for a smaller dog.


Of course that doesn't change anything about what you said--just my 2 cents on these places. I'm so sorry for the family of the pup this happened to, I cannot imagine how horrible this has been for them. And also scary for you and every other dog "parent" that trusts this place with their fur baby!

 

[CJ2008]

I'd never trust any business to take care of our dogs, because other dogs would be present.

No matter how 'good' the facility and the employees are the biggest risk is the other dogs owned by strangers.
Some people raise dogs to be dangerous and unpredictable.
These are the people who would lie to the facility about their dogs when they want to go on vacation.

I won't even take our dogs to a dog park or dog beach.
I am responsible for their safety.

If I had dogs this would be exactly how I would feel - so mom2dolls I could totally understand how you feel.

First, I am so sorry for the poor dog who died - I hope whatever happened he didn't suffer. And how sad for the dog owners. My goodness I can't even imagine this.

But I would never ever take my dog there again. Ever. No matter what they said. I just couldn't trust them and I would never be able to relax with my pets being in their care.

 

[Queenie60]

I'd never trust any business to take care of our dogs, because other dogs would be present.

No matter how 'good' the facility and the employees are the biggest risk is the other dogs owned by strangers.
Some people raise dogs to be dangerous and unpredictable.
These are the people who would lie to the facility about their dogs when they want to go on vacation.

I won't even take our dogs to a dog park or dog beach.
I am responsible for their safety.

I say this - when we leave town, I have a young man come to stay at our home, takes care of pets and the house. Do not trust boarding facilities.

 

[Arcadian]

When I leave town, I take my girl back to the place I adopted her. Its a haul but they love those dogs , are greyhound savvy facility and thats all they have there. when they let the dogs out to play, they are muzzled. (its an open muzzle) they can drink perfectly fine (some can even get food in there...lol but non grey facility wouldn't bother doing something like that. Greyhounds have extremely thin skin, and can play pretty darn rough, so its for their own protection that they're worn.

Her regular daycare that she goes once a week is not even a mile from me. I take her mostly for socialization but they're strict about the dogs they allow in the facility.

I would not take my baby back to a place that had lied about the reason a dog passed, especially since it seems to me they're trying to avoid some sort of liability. There's ways to handle stuff like that, and thats just not it.

 

[mom2dolls]

When we first found this facility, they had an amazing dog trainer running the show. She has become a dear friend and is the reason we still have our Max. He is a bit of a spit fire! He is a Patter Dale Terrier and full of P & V.
She left almost two years ago and the facility has gone to crap.
Last night I was looking on the dog mommy's FB page, she has given more information about how wrong all of this has gone. The owner stuffed $400 cash into the dog food bag of the deceased dog. No letter, no apology, no anything.
She has also posted a photo of her poor baby at the vet, very clearly showing this dog was attacked by a big dog.
Come to find out they had 30 big dogs on the little dog side that morning. This is not something that should ever happen. Dogs are usually separated by sides.
I agree lying and the attempted cover up is unforgivable! Maxi will not ever go back there.
Accidents can happen in any situation unfortunately. Dogs are unpredictable by nature. BUT these people trust the life of their dog in someone else's hands. I am no longer willing to take this chance.

ETA - They used to require temperament testing prior to coming to camp. Honestly, our little guy was asked to leave his first attempt because he was a jerk. He nipped our trainer's dog. We have worked with her since then to get him settled down. He now loves going to her house on occasion when we go away. The first time she took him for in house board and train, I cried because I thought there was no hope for my little rascal. I was sure after he was kicked out he would be an aggressive guy and not a dog we could keep. Within four hours of her having him, she sent us a picture with him running around playing with her pack. You could see his tail in motion, almost like the Matrix. The next picture we got was him snuggled up on the couch with a female pit bull taking a nap.

 

[Queenie60]

I suggest you find a reliable person to come to your home while you're away so that your fur baby can be in his own home and both of you will have a sense of security while you're away. I would also worry that my tiny little guys could escape and be in unfamiliar territory. If they escape from my yard or house, they know the layout of the neighborhood and could find their way home. My dogs are more like my children and I would not subject my children to a potentially unsafe environment. I hope you find what works best for you. Good luck and I am so sorry to hear about the dog that was mulled to death. Tragic.

 

[Arcadian]

When we first found this facility, they had an amazing dog trainer running the show. She has become a dear friend and is the reason we still have our Max. He is a bit of a spit fire! He is a Patter Dale Terrier and full of P & V.
She left almost two years ago and the facility has gone to crap.
Last night I was looking on the dog mommy's FB page, she has given more information about how wrong all of this has gone. The owner stuffed $400 cash into the dog food bag of the deceased dog. No letter, no apology, no anything.
She has also posted a photo of her poor baby at the vet, very clearly showing this dog was attacked by a big dog.
Come to find out they had 30 big dogs on the little dog side that morning. This is not something that should ever happen. Dogs are usually separated by sides.
I agree lying and the attempted cover up is unforgivable! Maxi will not ever go back there.
Accidents can happen in any situation unfortunately. Dogs are unpredictable by nature. BUT these people trust the life of their dog in someone else's hands. I am no longer willing to take this chance.

ETA - They used to require temperament testing prior to coming to camp. Honestly, our little guy was asked to leave his first attempt because he was a jerk. He nipped our trainer's dog. We have worked with her since then to get him settled down. He now loves going to her house on occasion when we go away. The first time she took him for in house board and train, I cried because I thought there was no hope for my little rascal. I was sure after he was kicked out he would be an aggressive guy and not a dog we could keep. Within four hours of her having him, she sent us a picture with him running around playing with her pack. You could see his tail in motion, almost like the Matrix. The next picture we got was him snuggled up on the couch with a female pit bull taking a nap.

Whoa, that right there is NOT good. Yes some bigger dogs have no issue with little dogs but they tested her very well before they put her in there with the smaller dogs.

And the 400 dollars? crass. I could say other things but this is a family type of board.

 

[december-fire]

Mom2dolls,

Your update is shocking and distressing!

What a horrible thing to happen to that poor dog. I was hoping that the facts would prove to be different.

I love animals, grew up with big dogs and later had my own large dog. The idea of 30 big dogs loose in one area is shocking to me and a recipe for disaster. Adding small dogs into the mix adds to the insanity. With such a large group of loose dogs, a fight will inevitably occur at some point. Separating a fight between two large, loose dogs is ill-advised, to say the least. But a dog fight in a huge group of dogs! We aren't even talking about a group of dogs raised and living together on a full-time basis, but rather a group that comes together from time-to-time and with a varying membership.

You're wise to never take your dog back.

My sincere condolences to the family of the deceased dog.

 

[mom2dolls]

Oh this just gets worse everyday. The puppy family have now spoken to four additional families that have suffered a loss of their pet at this camp. How has this gone unreported for so long?

I took a minute a little while ago to read some of the yelp reviews from the last few years. Most are glowing reviews of course. except those that aren't.
One specifically has me sick to my stomach. A lady posted in January of this year about an incident that happened last summer with her Rottie. She had boarded her dog for the weekend and also had her groomed prior to pick up. When her dog was picked up, in the car she tried to pet her multiple times. Yet the rot would cower when she put her hand towards the dog. The dog had never been spanked or physically disciplined ever. This made my heart sink. My Max cowers ALOT! We have never hit him. I often ask my husband why he does this. We rescued him at 8 weeks, so we know how he has been raised. To think that someone could have abused my dog makes me want to go nuclear.
I hope this place is shut down. I don't even know how that would happen. So many people are singing her praises. Yet more evidence comes out everyday how horrible they treat the animals.
I am an animal person. I generally love animals more than most people. My dream is to have acreage to rescue all of the senior dogs to let them live out their lives in freedom and lots of love. So I know I may be overboard, but damn this is too much.

 

[monarch64]

My god. I am so sorry to hear about a. the first dog killed and whose owners were subsequently treated so callously, and b. the other dogs that have died under this facility's care. That is just revolting, and beyond comprehension.

I've never had to board my dog and for that I am thankful after reading this. I don't think I could ever trust any type of facility where there is any chance my sweet Daisy might be hurt or killed.

M2D, I just want to say that you have done nothing wrong and don't EVER beat yourself up over this. You thought your dog was in good hands and had your dog's best interests and health in mind. This just really, really sucks. I hope that the owner of this place is penalized as much as possible according to whatever laws there are about this sort of thing. Big hugs. Glad your dog is safe and sound albeit he seems to have some issues now. Ugh. This is just awful awful awful. So sorry!

 

[partgypsy]

That sounds awful. Horrible how they tried to cover it up.
My brother and sister in law a number of years ago, dropped off their dog for vacation at a reputable kennel. When they returned a few days later to pick up the dog, the staff member went to get the dog, and came back empty-handed, and said their dog was missing, must have escaped. I don't understand how something like that happens. I think they offered them $100 for the loss, and seemed unconcerned. They posted flyers and visited all the usual places but no sign of their dog ever showed up. Who knows what really happened.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I am so sorry this happened but glad you found out! We have had someone come to our house for years to care for our pets when gone. But we always had two dogs if we were both working because they NEED a pack (human or another animal), and I would not leave a dog alone all week with just a couple of hours of company in the evening. It sounds like you were trying to give that to your dog through the day camp, but I really recommend getting a companion for your dog at home if there is no one home in the daytime.

 

[telephone89]

I hope you are sharing this story far and wide! I sincerely hope your little max wasn't hit while he stayed there. I can't bear to think about people treating animals that way.