Pets and Company

I would think very carefully before boarding your animal at Pets & Company. My experience was extremely negative. They are either very poor at communicating or outright liars.

I brought my dog to their daycare before boarding him to check the place out. The yard is all dirt which is not an issue for me personally. What concerned me however, is that “due to our insurance” they do not allow anyone to see where the dogs are kept for boarding. This is unusual but if you use their restroom and the door to the kennel area is open you can see some of the kennels.

When I asked about boarding I was told that the dogs are put in the kennel at approx. 7 pm and stay there until 7 am, and that the rest of the day they are outside in the yard. I was worried about my dog not being able to potty for 12 hours but he’s only 3 years old and sleeps hard at night after playing all day.

When I picked my dog up, I was told that boarding does NOT include daycare i.e. playtime with other dogs. The dogs are only taken out of their kennel 3x daily for 4 HOURS TOTAL OUT OF A 24 HOUR DAY. The rest of the time they are in an area approximately 4’x5’. I was furious since, between my partner and I, we spoke to them at least 3 times about this, stressing every time that our dog needs to be with other dogs or people. I also called twice over a 3 day stay to check on him and was always told that he was outside playing.

When I picked my dog up his was noticeable thinner (after a 3 day stay). When we questioned this we were told he didn’t eat well and that their “policy for all dogs boarding to help digestion” is to soak their dry food in water, let it sit for a while, drain the excess water and give the food to the dogs. If the dogs don’t eat pretty quickly, the food is thrown away before it gets “slimy and attracts ants”. Again, we had discussed how our dog was supposed to be fed and this was never mentioned.

These are living animals being taken care of and no consideration of their individual needs is being taken into account. I should have trusted my gut. I will never board an animal at Pets & Company again.