My negative review was removed from Yelp again. Undoubtedly due to Babette's lobbying. Reposting it below because there is no reason this story shouldn't be forever associated with this business. Dog owners thinking about using this service should hear these stories. And clearly, there are many like it judging by the reviews. This isn't inconsequential griping about a pizza order getting messed up, this is about people's animals that mean an immense amount to them. I implore yelp to allow this to stand. Anyway, editors please take note, I am removing all of the "second hand" information and speaking to my "first hand experience" Bottom line, Babette did not notice that our dog had been suffering from a broken back for over a day. Do you really want to allow her to watch your dog? *** Edited Review: So here's the bare bones story - we picked up our dog Chili from Babette and something wasn't right. She could not walk. Babette claimed that Chili was brought to her like this and noticed Chili was walking funny for two days but never called us to let us know something was wrong. We brought Chili to the Vet immediately found out that she in fact had a herniated disk and needed very expensive surgery. Babette took zero accountability. It is shocking to me that she could not perceive a dog in suffering for over 2 days if she was actually closely watching her. We are thankful Chili regained her ability to walk but it could have turned out differently given the amount of time she was under Babette's care suffering from this injury read more

Beach City Bow Wow - Picture of Chili Dog recovering from surgery. 1 day after she was picked up with a broken back from beach city bow wow - Pet Sitting Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Our 6-year old mini Aussie Tasha has been staying with Babette since she was a puppy. How do I know she receives excellent care? By the way Tasha squeals every time we get within a block of Babette's home! She is simply ecstatic to be there. Tasha is not easy to please. She outright refuses to go to her old doggie kindergarten and also runs the other way when we go to the groomer. I don't believe dogs are capable of lying, and Tasha clearly loves stating with Babette. read more

Beach City Bow Wow - Tasha LOVES Beach City Bow Wow! - Pet Sitting Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

I used Babette's services back in November over Thanksgiving weekend, and have been hesitant to post this review... I searched high and low for open boarding for my very energetic min pin, but most places had been booked for weeks. I was excited to find Beach City Bow Wow, I found her home to be warm, inviting, and a good place to leave my puppy. I did get a little miffed because last minute I was told about an extra charge for the holiday weekend... but by the time I found this out it was much too late to find somewhere else. It was only like $20 bucks or something but I really should have known about it up front. When I picked up my girl, things did not seem right. Most people tell me "your puppy will come home exausted after open boarding" but she was absolutlely EXPLODING with engery. This is not at all what I expected after being under the impression that my pup was running free with other dogs for 8+ hours a day. I also had to pull over because my doggie was crying to use the bathroom (our ride home is only 15 minutes!) -- I let Babette know what time I was coming and even called when I was on my way -- she couldn't have let my dog outside to potty before? Although again you are told that the dogs are running free in her beautiful yard during the day! I understood that the dogs would be put in crates for the evening, and I even brought my own to ensure my puppy was as comfortable as possible. This is the thing that really got me upset: A very strong odor made it 100% clear to me that my puppy was allowed to urinate in her cage! SHE IS CRATE TRAINED, and is easily able to hold it overnight. I am under the impression that my dog was left here for much longer periods of time. There is a chance she had an accident due to nerves of being in a new environment, but I would hope that a self-proclaimed dog lover, let alone a professional would take the time to throw her bedding into the wash! While there is nothing wrong with boarding in a kennel (I do this ocassionally if I will only be gone for a single night), it should come with the appropriate price. If I am paying open boarding prices, that is what I expect my pet to recieve. read more

I had a terrible experience with Beach City Bow Wow- I left my 2 dogs at this facility for 3 nights. During that time I sent several text to Babette to see how my dogs were doing- her response was everything is fine. When I went to pick up my dogs she told me that she noticed that my dog had been walking funny all weekend- what I dont understand is why she didnt call or text me-when I asked her why I wasnt informed she said i just didnt think much of it as I thought this was normal for her. Turns out my dog had a herniated disc in her back- I ended up paying $5900 for her MRI, Surgery, and physical therapy because my dog had to be taught how to walk again. I would not recommend this facility to anyone-and I will not be coming back read more

I had a terrible experience at Beach City Bow Wow and I would strongly caution anyone looking at the reviews against leaving their dog in Babette's care. We needed somewhere for our puppy Jackon to stay while we flew home for a wedding. While calling ahead to book, we were told that we need to pre-pay for the 5 days of boarding, plus there was an additional fee since our puppy would be there on NYE. The morning of our trip, we pulled up to Beach City Bow Wow and were greeted very unpleasantly by the owner, Babette. There apparently was some miscommunication when we booked Jackson's stay, as she accused us of being late. She then said that she wasn't ready for us and had to go get a spot ready for Jackson. If we were late, then shouldn't that have been taken care of already? All of this was conducted with us standing on her front porch while she stood in her front door. We were never invited to come inside. It was almost like she didn't want us to come inside and see the set up. I've boarded my dog at multiple locations around the country and have always been encouraged to come and see the facilities in which I am paying for. It felt almost as she was hiding something. After leaving us on the porch for some time, she came back to get Jackson and asked for his paperwork. I had his vet paperwork with me, but forgot to print off the form from her website. When I said I'm sorry but that I didn't have it with me, she rolled her eyes and said "wow." She then said that she needed to be somewhere and didn't have time to wait for us, so she left us on her front porch to fill out the form. At this point, we felt super uneasy about leaving Jackson with her, but our flight was leaving soon and we didn't have a choice at that point. We ended up going back to retrieve Jackson at noon that day because our flight was cancelled. We tried contacting Babette to pick him up, but she said that she was out running errands and we would have to come by later. This left us wondering who was with the dogs and whether they were unsupervised. We were finally told that we were able to get him around 3pm. Since we had pre-paid for the 5 days of boarding, I reached out to Babette to get a refund for the 4 days that we did not use. She flatly refused saying that she only gave credit to future boardings. I have honestly never been treated so poorly as a first-time customer at a business, and I would never be able to leave our dog there again at a place ran so unprofessionally. read more

I came by here to check out the facilities for an overnight stay for my 9 year old dog. It doesn't look like it does in the pictures, the large dogs especially did not seem supervised (they were in the back, on the side of the house alone) while she seemed to be in her house watching TV. Not a professional set up at all, she was the only one there. i asked what she did with them when she left the house, she basically said she puts them in crates in her garage, and hinted that she does it in the early evening so she can get on with her social life. I saw the crates and am pretty sure they're all around 10 years old and aren't cleaned often. I didn't leave my dog here, I went to My Doggies Day Care in Santa Margarita, and I felt SO MUCH more comfortable leaving him there. I feel bad giving the low rating even though I didn't use their services, put the facility was pretty gross, poorly maintained, dogs unsupervised, and I just don't want people to waste their time going there like I did. I almost think this other review on here might be from a friend of hers.... read more

We are the proud parents of year and a half old boxer siblings. There do come times when you need to find just the right person to take care of your pets. Sometimes it's a friend or relative, sometimes it's the local Pet Smart. With us, we wanted to find someone that would treat our pets as though they were their own and give them an environment that is similar to their own household. We found Beach City Bow Wow and owner Babette on Craigslist after searching for our "right place" to house our dogs while we went on our honeymoon for two weeks. We couldn't have been happier to have found her. She did absolutely everything and then some that we would have hoped for. She fed them, loved them and let them play. She gave them the attention that they need. She watched out for our male boxer diet. She sent us messages letting us know how they were doing. She let them sleep in her home (which was a complete deal killer for every single kennel out there - no way was I going to leave my pups in a cage for 15 hours unattended) - I could go on and on about how wonderful she is, but let me give the highlights of how she is set up: 1) Flexible hours 2) Amazing Rates (about 30-40% less for two dogs than other places) 3) Clean and comfortable environment. 4) Awesome playground for the pups 5) Great socialized dogs of her own that play well with other dogs 6) Really super nice and professional (Babette is such a sweetheart that we actually missed her too!) 7) She listens to you.... really listens... and she has great knowledge on behavior and illness. 8) She is not some 18 year old part time employee just there because it's a job. She cares about her clientele!!! Goodness, there is so much to say about Beach City Bow Wow. We will be back, and we will recommend them to everyone we know. read more

Beach City Bow Wow - Happy Clients Laila and Riddick Shannon - Pet Sitting Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

My boyfriend and I have been taking our red standard poodle puppy (now 9 months old) here for two months, one to two days a week. I love this place!!! My dog has a lot of energy and it is nice to know I can drop him off before work and pick him up tired and just wanting to cuddle in the afternoon. We had some initial worries about dropping him off because he was attacked at a dog park a few weeks before, but we have had no problems here! The dogs are properly supervised and only a maximum of 6 large dogs are allowed in the play area at one time, unlike most dog day cares where they stick over 10 dogs in one area, have high school kids supervise, and charge more $. In the morning when I drop him off he whines half of the way there because he is so excited and can't get through the door quick enough. He even learned Babette's name and gets super excited when I say it!! For $20 or less per day (depending on how many days per week you bring your dog) it is totally worth it knowing your puppy is not sitting at home lonely, either crated or possibly eating your furniture. Babette is also great and very knowledgeable about dogs. Since my dog does not know his limits yet, she suggested that she crate him for a few hours a day to calm him down, give him a chance to rest, and give him a chance to eat a snack. When he plays he runs around NON STOP which is not good for dogs under 1 year to do all day long, especially with an empty belly. I checked with my vet and he agreed with her 100%. If you want to have some piece of mind during the day knowing your dog is having fun and in good hands, this is the place to go with. read more

Our puppy Stella LOVES coming to Babette for doggie daycare!! We have tried a couple of other venues in the area and were disappointed with how they operated and finally I came across Babette. I thought that the fact she ran it from her own home showed the signs of someone who really cares and not just someone who does it as a day job. And here are some other reasons why I am so happy I found Beach City Bow Wow: 1) Stella is very excited to see Babette every morning when I leave her for work, and Babette seems almost as pleased to see her! 2) When I pick Stella up she is very happy and sometimes a little torn about whether she wants to leave or not!! But if she's happy, then I'm happy. 3) She gets in the car and immediately falls asleep because she's played so hard all day! 4) She even then sleeps the whole night through! 5) Babette understands the importance of training which my boyfriend and I appreciate because our hard work is continued when Stella is being looked after by someone who is not us! Stella is made to sit when I pick her up and isn't released to come to me until she is calm...which as a 7 month old puppy takes a lot of concentration! Not to mention patience, from Babette. 6) At one doggie daycare we took her to, we were told that she was too big for the small dogs and too small for the big dogs because she got scared. Stella is a Lab mix on the small side but very playful and can handle her own with bigger dogs. At Babette's she is happy with the few bigger dogs she is left to play with instead of being scared of the 10 or so huge dogs that she is left to fend for herself against at larger doggie day care operations. 7) The pricing very reasonable for the level of care given. Regarding the reviews commenting on the dogs being placed in crates at times, we are fine with Babette putting Stella in a crate every now and then. We do this at home when we go out for dinner or a movie at night. Also, if you ask me, she could probably do with a little alone time and a chance to nap with all the energy she seems to burn through in a day there! My boyfriend and I are going to a wedding next month and are excited that we have someone like Babette to look after our pup whilst we are away, giving us total piece of mind! read more

My dog Sal LOVES going to Beach City Bow Wow. We've been going there for about 10 months and I have left him there for the day up to a week. Every time we get there he can't wait until the door opens and runs right in. He is always in a happy mood when I pick him up too. Definitely recommend Beach City Bow Wow. Babette is great! read more

To add to my previous review, when I called Babette again to go over everything she agreed that their prong collars should not be left on 24/7 yet she had done it anyways. At first she said they were on a couple days but tried to back track and say 1 day which I called her out on. When I asked why we had two full days of food for one of our dogs she said that she had to bribe him with wet food she had at home.. #1 - Why would you feed a dog food that the owner doesn't know about or approve first? For all she knows my dog has allergies. #2 - There were 2 FULL days of meals, if she just mixed in a little bit of wet as she said she did we would not have full bags of food. She said he skipped breakfast a couple times, again why you would you not call to let us know or ask for suggestions on getting him to eat? Please please please do not take your dogs to this woman. She clearly does not know what she is doing. read more

Beach City Bow Wow - The infected wound on our dogs neck. - Pet Sitting Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Awesome place for dog sitting and boarding! With traveling a lot I can always count on Babette to do great with my pups. She builds a connection and I feel like my dogs like her more than me! read more

Brought my two small dogs here for boarding for the weekend and Babette was great with them! She let me come check out the grounds with my dogs before I left them there. That way The dogs could get a feel for the place. She seems to have a pretty good system with her boarding and her method allows the dogs to roam free for a bit in the backyard so they can have playtime together (with her supervision). She also keeps the small dogs separate from the big dogs, which is good. Her prices seem pretty standard. It's nice to know that there is somewhere with a homey environment that I can safely leave my dogs for a few days! read more

UNSAFE PLACE!! NO SUPERVISION!! Left our Border Collie, Bueller, with Beach City for Thanksgiving weekend and just before we left for the airport (two hours after we dropped him off) we got a call from the police department that our dog was just caught running down the street in Costa Mesa. We called Babette and asked her what was going on and she didn't even know our dog was gone. Luckily he wasn't hit by a car. This place is horrible!!!!! read more

I've been taking my mini aussie to Babette since he was 2 months old. She has always taken excellent care of him and he LOVES going, runs to the door when I pull up. Per Ryan B's comment, I think Babette has an awesome set up for the pups to play in..tho sometimes she has to leave the house to do errands, but its piece of mind for me to know she puts them in a crate VS the dogs running around getting into trouble. I will cont to take my pup here and I recommend you do too! read more

I can't praise this family-run business enough! My dog, a very skittish rescue, has looked forward to going to Beach City Bow Wow from the beginning. The owner, Babette, is very knowledgeable, kind and reliable. My dog has benefitted from the opportunity to play with other dogs and the loving family environment, and has become much more social as a result. When I left my dog with Beach City Bow Wow for a trip to Chicago, I come home to find her happy and well cared for. Beach City Bow Wow didn't even mind when I called to talk to my dear little dog on the phone! These are seriously dog people, and I highly recommend this clean, affordable and efficiently run home business. If you are looking for an intimate, individualized, loving environment for your pet, you can't do any better than Beach City Bow Wow! read more

My 9 month old German Shepard puppy loves this place! He has sooooo much energy and comes home tired and sleepy at the end of each day. My dog also seems to be learning some great manners with Babette. The price for this doggy day care is very reasonable and Babette is very kind in nature. I recommend this daycare! read more

Word to the wise....if you don't oppose SHOCK Bark collars then maybe this is the place for you. When I picked my lab up after a stay I brought him home and discovered a shock collar on him! There was never any disclosure about the use of the shock collar even though I had to fill in several pages of information about me AND my dog and that was the most disturbing to me. Is this the age old forgiveness over permission? What else is happening there that I am not being told? Yes, her home is clean and Babette seemed like a nice person but now it makes perfect sense to me why I NEVER hear dogs barking and I'm around her house alot (I live in the neighborhood). So be careful my dog loving friends. ASK her the question - you may not approve of the answer. I felt deceived. Suffice to say my dog doesn't go there anymore. read more

I have been bringing my dog to Beach City Bow Wow for about one year now, both for doggy daycare and for a handfull of vacation boardings as well. He really loves it here and gets excited every time he heads into Babette's house. My dog is a chihuahua-poodle mix, is 7 years old, and has always tended to be moody and nervous, but since coming to doggy daycare with Babette, members of my family and I have both noticed a change in him to a more calm, balanced demeanor. He seems truly more relaxed and content when I take him home. Babette's prices are the best I have seen in the area, and she is great with all the dogs I have seen come and go to her house - embracing their different personalities and needs. I see lots of repeat customers dropping their dogs off each day. I highly recommend her services. Thanks as always, Babette! read more

I admit this review is a little late and I was hoping things had improved since then but after looking at the recent review that might not be the case. We used this boarder I think at least a couple times during 2011 for our 2 mini aussies. Once was for at least a week and once was for a long weekend. The dogs always seemed fine when we picked them up. However, at the time my main concern was she would not let us look at where dogs stayed (she said in crates in the garage). Also, I got a sense that she would leave them in there for a while. Once was during a holiday weekend and she said she put them away early so that she could have a bbq and people over. In general she was pleasant but I felt that she didn't always give direct answers. Fortunately my dogs were ok and did not get injured while there. The purpose of using an at home boarder was I hoped they would be given a loving home type environment where they could roam freely but I didn't get the sense that was always the case. read more

We use Babette to watch our small Shih Tzu/Yorkie mix every time we go out of a town, whether it's overnight or for more than a week. There are a number of reasons why we love Beach City Bow Wow: 1. Babette runs the business right out of her house. The dogs are allowed to freely roam during the day (indoors and out) and put away for the night. You aren't just dumping your dog off at some random, huge facility with dozens of other dogs where they'll likely spend 16 hours in a crate. 2. Her rates are extremely competitive; Beach City Bow Wow was actually cheaper than most of the other boarding facilities we looked at - and provided better service too! 3. Our pup isn't very social and is very uneasy around other dogs. Babette does a great job of taking care of him and working with him to dispel some of his social issues. Since we've been taking him here, we've definitely noticed he's become less anxious around other dogs. 4. One time our dog had just gotten his vaccines the day before we dropped him off. He was clearly not feeling well - he was lethargic and didn't want to be touched. I was anxious about leaving him for a week and half but Babette helped ease my worries and would send us updates while we were gone on how he was doing. 5. This is clearly more than just a job for Babette. To reiterate a previous review, she really does care about her clientele and loves being around animals, which translates to excellent service. The previous negative reviews befuddle me because we've never had a negative experience with Beach City Bow Wow and the facility/house is clean and well-maintained. Like many dog owners, I consider my dog to be my baby and I wouldn't entrust his care to anyone but Babette! read more

My dog has a blast!! Babette is a super honest and reliable dog lover. My pooch comes home happy and healthy each day, and I know we have someone we can really trust to look after our baby when we go out of town. Thank you so much Babette. We love you and so does Bowser. read more