Pampered Pooch Playground

Doesn't Recommend

Charles K.

Joined 1 year ago

Don't expose your dog to this place or it's owner. Simply put, this is the worst daycare/boarding facility I have ever used, or for that matter, ever heard of. Reading this page I am forced to wonder how much time the owner spends writing his own reviews. After paying nearly three times the quoted price for my dog’s “evaluation”, I proceeded to make a reservation to board him while I had to be away on business. After dropping him off, it took three days for them to call me and inform me of an issue with Elwood regarding his health. That was and is completely unacceptable. Upon the advice of my vet and the daycare/boarding facility that I used before I moved to Minneapolis, I came to believe that such a severe and sudden change in behavior could only be attributable to one of three issues, that he was sick, injured or being mistreated. To be clear, I am not saying they abused my him. But at least, they were incompetent enough to not notice that he was having a problem, and to not call me in time to try and sort it out. Instead, they waited until I had no choice but to fly back to the cities at great expense and pick up Elwood and bring him to a vet myself. When I got my him back (after being threatened by the owner, Keith, that Elwood would not be returned to me over a dispute about the amount I was being charged), he was jumpy, skittish and visibly upset. He had lost almost 5 pounds in less than four days and he only weighed 28 pounds to begin with. He was also dirty, and smelled like urine. This place and it’s owner are unprofessional, irresponsible and, in my opinion, unsafe. Save yourself the headache, and please save your dog the trauma and don’t use this facility.

Doesn't Recommend

H R.

Joined 1 year ago

WebCams don't show everything.. I would be very careful bringing your dog here.

I started bringing my puppy to Pampered Pooch when she was about 4 months old. We would bring her 3-4 times a week. After about 7-8 months our dog was afraid of her leash, would cower to it. We then found out that she was being kenneled for atleast half of the time she was there for the last 2 months! Nothing was ever communicated to us that this was happening, until we received a call on a saturday that our dog had snapped at another dog. The handler was leary of her so she kenneled her. Surprised and concerned we tried to meet with the Owner, but his choice of communicating to us that this may not be the best place for our dog was through an EMAIL. Nice..... He never would meet. The whole experience was unprofessional, the staff lacked any type of understanding of what communication is, and quite frankly feel we put our dog in a harmful place. We now take our dog to a different day care... and she is doing incredibly well. Not a single issue. My opinion is Pampered Pooch takes in too many dogs. If you think your dog is more than just a number there... think again.

Doesn't Recommend

AFQ

Joined 2 years ago

Poor Communication!. We decided to cancel our boarding/ day care. Arrived as scheduled for her evaluation only to be told it was the next day. I had emails indicating the right day, the day we arrived. Our dog ended up contracting conjunctivitis (pink eye) from being there for only 2 hours. We're on our second dose of antibiotics now. Was emailed by management 4 days prior to her stay and was told we never completed an evaluation and now they could not accommodate her as they had no "space" left to do an evaluation. Had to email them back saying we already did one! Was then emailed back saying can you please reconfirm her dates and was quoted a price for the wrong size kennel (we reserved in advance a "room.") The kennels that we saw were right next to each other and were tiny! We have a long 70lb dog. Basically metal kennels right next to each other. If there was a fight they would have no space to move out of range. At that point I canceled. Very bad communication and management issues. Didn't trust the location for my dog to spend time there. They would probably give her to another person! :P Also wanted to find out how much grooming is but was told only the "groomer" could tell us. Huh? Don't they employ them? shouldn't there be rates openly available?? Would not use again. Planning on using Stone Mountain Pet lodge in Blaine.

Doesn't Recommend

Chopoatic

Joined 2 years ago

$8.10 and a no compete clause for employment? Sounds fascist. The Star Tribune article pointed out these people are enforcing a non-compete clause for an $8.10 an hour former employee that they fired! Reason enough not to trust your pet with these unethical greedy people! The absurdity of their of attempting to vindictively control former employees boggles the mind! It would be similar to a burger flipper getting fired from MacDonalds, and having his manager contacting Pizza Hut, Burger King, Subway ect. to enforce their clause. The Millers need to get a life.

Recommends

kimmers750

Joined 4 years ago

Dog Paradise. My pup is only 7 months old, but she already perks up and starts wagging her tail like crazy as soon as we pull up to the PPP parking lot. She loves it there. We do puppy playgroup, training classes, and starting to use the daycare services. Heather the trainer is great and really knows her stuff! Overall, I think this place is run really well. The owners and staff seem to truly love dogs. I'll be a long-time customer!

Recommends

thora47

Joined 6 years ago

Would Never Go Anywhere Else. Before bringing our dog to Pampered Pooch Playground I watched the webcams excessively; you will never see a potty-accident go unattended.

The staff clearly loves dogs.

We get a little report on Emily's favorite playmates of the day.

We can watch her on the web (with low- or hi-speed connections) and on our mobile phones.

All the services can be booked online.

I've never thought of putting a dog in daycare until our trainer recommended it. Now it just makes sense. Dogs play with other dogs in a way humans can't. Emily is more well-behaved and LOVES going for car rides now, hoping Pampered Pooch is the destination.

I love that they have Facebook and twitter accounts and they take photos of the dogs there.

It's a great place.

Recommends

Colepolie

Joined 4 years ago

Amazingly reliable and honest owners. I have to say that PPP really knows what they are doing and they do it well. I am disheartened by the two reviews of PPP. Jeter my black lab/shepard dog loves it there and they treat him like one of their own. He is highly spirited and they have a great way of calming him down.

I do appreciate the evaluations because I would not want a dog that would not interact with Jeter in a positive way. At every dog event I have been to PPP is on hand to help out and is knowledgeable about how to train your dog.

The owners Keith and Trycia are passionate about what they do and give a 150%. That is why we love taking Jeter there.

Recommends

JennaP

Joined 4 years ago

Wonderful place. It is hard to find a trustworthy place for boarding and this is our daycare of choice now. After trying several other local dog daycares I can honestly say that PPP is clearly the best. I have been bringing my rescue dog (that was abused and has many trust issues) here since they opened and I could not be happier. I really like that my dog has the ability to play/exercise all day under supervision both indoor and outdoor unlike other daycares. Also the fact that I can watch her on the webcam while I am at work is a huge plus.

The one thing that sets PPP apart from other places is that they strive to do everything they can to make the experience fun for both the dogs and the owners. Little things like holiday cookies, birthday celebrations and Halloween costume photos for the dogs, makes their time there special. The owners Keith and Trycia as well as their friendly/attentive staff go above and beyond to keeping the daycare clean & tidy and making sure the dogs get enough exercise and plenty of belly rubs! I am comforted knowing that someone is caring my dog with just as much love as I.

Doesn't Recommend

barb20R

Joined 4 years ago

Awful. When I picked up my dog, I was greeted very warmly and told that she did great. However, once I brought her home, I noticed bloody teeth marks on the underside of her throat. I was not told that she had been hurt during her stay. (Had I been told the truth, I would have not felt the need to address it) Rather, I was greeted with by a fake smile and obnoxious man who assured me that everything went well and that she played so much during the day. When every time I saw her on the webcam, she was laying on the floor and barely got any attention at all.

I've been to PPP a couple times and have had other instances that have made me question their professionalism; ie. once they told me what all she had done during the day, playing and etc. and then proceeded to call her by another name and confuse her with someone else's dog. seems the owners don't know what the heck goes on in their own daycare.

Recommends

Kellyp2233

Joined 4 years ago

Outstanding. We have been to other doggy daycares that were located in downtown Minneapolis and this is a breath of fresh air! They limit the number of dogs, have lots of webcams and our dog LOVES to run in the front door and they always greet him with his name! I can't say enough GREAT things about this place!