Sniffers Doggie Depot

This was NOT a safe place for my dogMy dog returned from experience of boarding and day care at Sniffers and now he is limpingHe struggles to put weight on his legs, making him unable to walk more than a few steps at a timeI spoke to the owner about my concerns and she viewed the videos I took of my dog limping and struggling to walk shortly after pickup from SniffersThe owner stated that other customers have complained that their dogs had a limp after staying at Sniffers and it may be due to the rubber floors irritating their paw padsClearly this is not a new concernThe owner offered no solutions and stated that they will not unless I can prove intentional gross negligenceI expect that I pick my dog up in the same condition as when I drop him offI’m shocked that my dog returned home from Sniffers in such horrible condition

This was NOT a safe place for my dog. My dog returned from 1 experience of boarding and day care at Sniffers and now he is limping. He struggles to put weight on his legs, making him unable to walk more than a few steps at a time. I spoke to the owner about my concerns and she viewed the videos I took of my dog limping and struggling to walk shortly after pickup from Sniffers. The owner stated that other customers have complained that their dogs had a limp after staying at Sniffers and it may be due to the rubber floors irritating their paw pads. Clearly this is not a new concern. The owner offered no solutions and stated that they will not unless I can prove intentional gross negligence. I expect that I pick my dog up in the same condition as when I drop him off. I’m shocked that my dog returned home from Sniffers in such horrible condition.

Review: Here is a letter I wrote to Sniffer's Doggie Depot. This is a verbatim explanation of my complaint.

Dear Sniffers,

I took a few days to reconsider and review my thoughts before writing this letter. I have finally found what I would like to say hence this email.

I am very upset and hurt. I first boarded my puppy [redacted] ([redacted]) with you all back in July of 2012. He stayed with you for two weeks. We were elated when we could see him play on the webcam, as we missed him terribly as two weeks is a long time. [redacted] had a great experience, came back home happy, and we were very pleased with your service. It soon came time again where we needed your boarding services, and we were delighted to bring [redacted] back to you. When I made the reservation, I placed a deposit, sent in all of [redacted]'s health information, and was very excited knowing [redacted] would be in capable hands while we were away. When we dropped off [redacted] early Monday morning (July 1st), we were greeted by a very nice lady who took his things, to whom I gave his food, toys, and bed. I also asked her about the bathing services. She indicated it would be $25 to bathe [redacted] before we picked him up. I said "great, we will be around to pick him up around 5:30." She indicated the bath would be completed by then. Everything was great. We went on our trip, and we overly excited to see [redacted] on Friday. When we came home, we had a ride pick us up from the metro and drive us to pick up [redacted] from Sniffers. My excitement turned to upset and hurt very quickly. First and foremost, the lady who was checking us out gave us the receipt and I saw that no bath had been charged. So I told her that she forgot to charge me for the bath. She told me [redacted] didn't get a bath and she can do it now if I wanted to wait. That obviously wasn't an option since we had a ride waiting. So fine, we let it go. Then, she opened the bag closet, and asked which bag was ours. We picked out our bag, and I found all of [redacted]'s toys in the bag. I asked her "did he not get his toys?" she said "they must have put them back this morning." Even if this was true, why would you leave my dog in a crate all day without toys? I don't believe he even got his toys, when I looked at them, they were brand new, it didn't even look like he touched the toys at all. They smelled like fresh rubber and had no markings. My dog is known to destroy his toys, and for me to see them in pristine condition, indicates to me that he didn't even have his toys at all...and I can confirm, based on what the lady sad, that he for sure didn't have his toys all day on Friday. How could you leave a dog without his toys for a whole day? Then...when [redacted] came out, HE WAS FILTHY. My dog had a $65 cut and groom, the Saturday before we dropped him off. Tell me, how does a dog who is completely white, look completely black after 4 days? I felt not only angry that the bath wasn't given, but now that you allowed [redacted] to become filthy and feel no responsibility for that. Also, I took him to the vet, after seeing all of the mucus in his eyes and [redacted] has conjunctivitis. He was a perfectly healthy dog, and we had him examined only a few weeks before we left. Now, we have to pay for Bacitracin and eye wash for him, because you couldn't even keep his eyes and ears sanitary. The icing on the cake was this: when she brought out [redacted], she asked if we provided a bed for [redacted]. I said yes, which was already shady, and she went back in to get the bed we provided for him. She came back out and asked AGAIN "what did the bed look like?" What I don't understand is, how in the heck could you not know which bed is his if he was laying on the bed in his crate?! Where was the bed? Why wasn't he sleeping on it? His toys weren't with him, his bed wasn't with him, he was sitting in his own filth, with conjunctivitis...and this is the superior care you claim to provide? I am beyond angry and hurt, and plan on advising folks to stay away from your facility. This was very sad, as [redacted] is such a sweet dog and deserves the best. I hope you sincerely reform your ways of handling other pets and reconsider your management. I will not EVER bring [redacted] to stay with you again, and will not give a good recommendation to others. Oh and by the way, don't think about telling me about the package that I purchased for his boarding, and use it as a reason to defend this behavior. Other boarding facilities offer way better services and treatment for very similar cost. Please look out for my yelp review and every other review I can possibly give as well. [redacted], is my family, my son...and NO ONE hurts my family, and gets away with it.

They called me to respond to this email to tell me that my dog peed in his crate a lot. My dog [redacted] has NEVER peed in his crate like that in the passed 1.5 years let alone as many times as they say he did, and he has stayed with other places and other dogs. She acknowledged her oversight to note the bath, saying that they were too busy and one day had 80 dogs, so she forgot. But she claims [redacted] peed a lot...isn't that more of reason to have had him bathed? He now has conjunctivitis and I may have to take off of work to care for my dog. She acknowledged this oversight...I wonder how many other oversights there were for my dog, maybe they didn't even take him out to pee, which is why he peed in the crate? She also claimed that he urinated on his toys, and that they cleaned the toys...so they cleaned the toys and then took them away from him? How did they know he would do it again? This is absolutely crazy, and her explanation has so many holes in it. The facts are, he didn't have toys, didn't have a bed, and wasn't given his bath, which was what I requested and was given the impression was going to be granted when I left him there. What were they expecting my dog to do for 4 days in the crate with no toys? I WOULD HAVE PEED IN THE CRATE TOO if I was in exile like that.Desired Settlement: I cannot justify paying this bill. They abused my dog, and I have spent another $60 in medications for him. I need a refund or I will dispute this with my credit card company as well.

Business

Response:

I would like to respond to this complaint regarding **. [redacted]'s dog. Her

dog stayed with us for 5 days and 4 nights over the 4th of July

holiday. She had requested that her dog be boarded in a crate with 2

partial days of doggie daycare. This means that her dog spent 4 hours on

2 different days out in our daycare room playing with other dogs. The

remainder of the stay, and the majority of the time, her dog was in his

crate with the exception of potty breaks, which we do 5 times per day.

The type of boarding and amount of playtime her dog had was what was

requested by **. [redacted]. We do have options that would allow her dog to

have more space or more playtime at an additional cost and may address

her concern of her dog not having the stimulation she feels he needs. It

is SNIFFERS

policy that if a dog urinates in it's room or crate & on it's bed

and/or toys, that we pull them out for the remainder of the stay, as we

feel that it is better for the dog to be in a clean crate than to lay on

a urine soaked bed. Had her dog sat in a dirty crate or bed for 5 days,

he would have likely developed skin issues as well. As a boarding and

daycare facility, we are very used to dogs having accidents while

staying with us. It is sometimes hard for owners to understand why their

normally potty trained dog would have accidents but the boarding

environment is quite different than being in a home. They are around

other dogs and their smell and in a new environment. This is typically

more stressful than being at home. In addition to dogs having accidents

in their room or crate, some dogs may not eat, destroy beds they have

had for years, not touch treats or toys that they would normally eat or play with, etc. In general, unless a dog stays at our boarding

facility regularly, there will be changes in "normal" behavior, just as

humans do in an unfamiliar environment. I have spoken with many

veterinarians over the years and they will also advise clients that

these behavior changes are normal in a unfamiliar environment.

I am

one of the owners, and

the person who checked [redacted]'s dog in on July 1st. I have to take

responsibility for the bath over sight. [redacted] was at SNIFFERS before

we opened that day at 7am. Instead of making her wait for our computers

to load, I checked her in. Once the computer had loaded, I mistakenly

forgot to enter the bath. It was an honest mistake. In addition, upon

checking him into our computer, there was a flag on his account stating

that he needed to stay in one of our wire-bottom crates because he had

frequent accidents. I explained this to **. [redacted] when talking with her

on the phone after receiving her email. She did not believe that it

could be possible that [redacted] would have that problem and said she was not

told that after his stay the previous year. As I stated before, having

accidents while boarding is very common and not something that typically

needs to be reported. Unfortunately, even without the accidents in his

crate, just being around other dogs and playing the group play room is

enough to create a smelly dog. The social environment can also lead to

contagious ailments being passed from one dog to another much like kids

at school. **.[redacted]'s dog stayed at our facility over a few of our

busiest days of the year, with many dogs coming and going. We do our

best to keep our facility clean and disinfected and visibly sick dogs

out of contact with other dogs but things such as conjunctivitis can be

passed from dog to dog.

In general, I regret that **. [redacted] was

unhappy

after picking her dog up and understand that taking home a dirty dog is

less than desirable. We pride ourselves in

providing dogs in our care a safe, fun and clean environment and **.

[redacted]'s complaint is not a regular one for us to receive nor in line with

the reputation we earned over the years. We have received many accolades for quality care. This is our first Revdex.com

complaint in over 5 years of business. We understand how important the

dogs in our care are to their owners and we are dog owners ourselves. In

hindsight, I wish there had not been an oversight in giving [redacted] the

requested bath. Outside of the missed bath, which our staff offered to

do while she waited, our staff provided [redacted] with the same care that is always provided, in line with our policies. Although we don't feel as SNIFFERS was neglectful in any manner, we would like to resolve this issue and move forward.

Thank you,

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because: I am unsure what you mean by "resolve" this matter. What is your exact proposal for resolving this? I will consider it resolved when my entire monies are refunded...then at least I can justify that I didn't pay to torture my dog. Once my money is refunded in the amount of $123.00 I will consider this matter closed.

Regards,

Business

Response:

According to the initial complaint, the desired result was a refund of the amount paid for the dogs stay. As stated, we would like to resolve this matter and move forward. Please contact us for a refund in the amount of $123.00 to your [redacted].

Thank you.

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,