I drive 40 minutes from Cary to take my dog to Dr. Bauer. She used to practice in Cary and, when she moved to Carolina Ranch in Garner, I tried three other vets before finally admitting that there was not an acceptable replacement for her. She is professional yet kind and caring, thoughtful in her diagnoses and recommended treatment options and doesn't just prescribe a pill as a fix like many other vets unless, of course, it's the best option. I think that she treats my dog just as she would her own. Dr. Bauer is one of a kind. The support staff at Carolina Ranch is just as wonderful as Dr. Bauer. And today my dog was sick and Dr. Bauer wasn't in so we saw Dr. Oliver. She was wonderful as well. read more

I was very disappointed in the boarding services provided my Maltese during a 10 day stay recently. He lost a pound and a half from a nine pound weight and came home with a bad cold. My daughter visited and sent me pictures showing a bad sore on his nose. I called and insisted he see the vet. She was great, which is the only reason I upped the rating to 2 stars. She prescribed antibiotic ointment and had them block his access to the portion of the run that caused the injury. I doubt they would have helped him had I not insisted. Definitely not worth the high price. read more

The Vets and technicians seemed ok and the boarding facilities are nice, but not as satisfied with the training. My dog has some anxiety and aggression when he's away from home and the trainer seemed intimidated by him (80 pound German Shepherd) He never even actually worked with my dog, just showed me with his dog, so basically I payed him to train me which was helpful but not what I expected. I have found a new trainer, although he's not as close by and convenient, and will probably take my dog back to our original veterinarian. read more

I'd give it a minus 25 if possible. We are moving out of state, and my wife wanted a written prescription of blood pressure pills to be able to order when applicable for my dying cat. They refused to give her one. We were not going to use it early, or anything of that nature. All we wanted was to be safe and insure that our cat doesn't run out of pills. Since they refused, they obviously don't care about my cat. I'm sure that they don't care if my cat dies now, since they won't be able to cash in on multiple unnecessary visits. The diagnosis has been given, and the cat will not get better. This is nothing less than animal abuse. So if you want your animal to be abused, be sure to go to Carolina Ranch. By reading the other reviews of abuse, and denial by ownership, it a wonder they are still in business. I now have to go tend to my wife, who is in tears about this situation. I'm very pleased that she cursed the place on her way out. Next letter will be to PETA. Furthermore, We have been loyal customers since this place opened. If we were fly by night customers, that would be one thing. So current customers should re-evaluate Carolina Ranch, because they don't care about your pets, or how loyal you are. UPDATE: PETA told me that if Carolina Ranch cared about their animals, they would have prescribed these pills. At a minimum, 1 weeks worth, to insure that the pet gets the proper care until a new Vet was found. Just so everyone knows, if a re-evaluation was so necessary, why was it not offered??? read more

I was quite disappointed with the condition of my Maltese after boarding at Carolina Ranch for 10 days. He had lost a pound and a half of a nine pound body yet they told me he was eating just fine. My daughter visited him and sent me pictures of his nose, which was very red. I called and insisted he see the vet, who was great. She prescribed an antibiotic ointment and his nose was completely healed when I got home. But he was injured there rubbing on the bottom of their run and she had to get the ranch hands to block his access to that area. And he had barked so much he had no voice at all. I'm sure he would have received just as much attention in a cage at my local vet for a whole lot less money. Vets are great, front desk people are great, just not worth the money for the expensive boarding. read more

Our babies LOVE Carolina Ranch! The facilities are wonderful- clean and plenty of play areas. The vets and staff are so good with our very difficult Chow Chow, Sugar. And our Lab, Jake, loves this place. Doesn't even look back when he gets there! We wouldn't leave our babies anywhere else - and we love the photos we get while we're away! read more

Rip off. They NICkle and DIme EVERYTHING...not flexible if you are running even 2 min late.

Animal owners beware. Don't let their shiny exterior fool you. Bait and switch for sure happening here. They are happy to discuss all required vaccines over the phone but also require a fecal which was never mentioned and quite a surprise when we picked up our dog. I certainly did not think it would be a big deal to have the charge reversed as that is a really bad customer service practice. When I stated my case they were not willing to budge. This test is covered by our vet at 100% so I would have had it done there. It is in the fine print but if it is a requirement it needs to be told over the phone with as with everything else. Certainly disappointed and they have lost a customer over $34. read more

DO NOT TAKE YOUR ANIMALS HERE!!! I boarded two of my dogs there for a little over a week. I chose this place based on the super nice facility and reviews I saw/heard about as well as the many amenities you could choose from. We drove 45 minutes out of our way just to take our dogs here before we went off on our vacation. I chose for my big dog to do doggy day care and for my little dog to just have one on one snuggle time as he had some health issues at the time. I got updates the first two days then heard nothing, which was fine. I had also arranged for them to be groomed on the day we got back. We picked them up and they both looked and smelled great and seemed happy. That night I was petting my little dog and noticed he had fleas, not a ton but enough to warrant going out and getting flea treatment on top of their preventative stuff for them and for the house. The big dog also had some on her. We have a third dog that went with us on vacation but also needed treatment for it since he had been around them for a couple hours before we saw them. I don't understand how the grooming people didn't see them on the two I had boarded! I called as soon as I saw the fleas to notify them and they said they have astroturf so fleas can't spread. I mentioned that maybe my big dog played with a dog in doggy day care that gave her fleas. They said it was impossible since they check all the dogs first. Okay... so then the next day I notice my big dog is limping. She had a small scab (looked like a small puncture had occurred there) on the top of her foot and it was swollen. We took her to the vet and it ended up being an abscess. Long story short, she got injured in some way at boarding (which nobody was able to tell me anything about because apparently nobody was watching my dog) and the infection got introduced through that wound and spread. She ended up needing three surgeries to wash out the infection, a toe amputation, and bandage changes every couple of days for a couple months to fix what happened. This place essentially disfigured my dog. When I call to talk to them about this, they tell me it's one person in particular I need to talk to and this person is almost never available. The one time I did talk to her I was at work (I'm a nurse in an icu) and couldn't have an in depth conversation, but she basically told me that from the pictures my vet sent her it looked like she had cancer in her toe. She must be the best vet in the world if she can diagnose by photo what 6 vets at my vets office and 2 vets at a specialty hospital (where my dog had her first surgery) missed in seeing and caring for my dogs foot in person. I have gotten the run around from them and it seems clear they aren't paying for any of my dogs bills for her foot even though the initial injury happened there and they did nothing about it. Vet bills are well over $5000. Unless you want your animals to get fleas or get disfigured with them owning zero responsibility for it, I'd go elsewhere! read more

The entire staff is absolutely wonderful, loving and will go out of their way to take care of your pet. They took such good are of me and my 11 year old rescue, Liam. He never had a problem with a visit there and loved Dr. Oliver. He had to be put down yesterday and they took such loving care of him and me. Thanks to all! read more

I first checked into the Ranch because our dog isn't comfortable with strangers. I figured that since they have everything (Vet, grooming, boarding, training, etc.) that she would only have to be accustomed to one place and staff. We are all so very happy with the Ranch! When we walk in the door, she is generally greeted by name as the staff remembers her. They have to ask my name! LOL I honestly feel like they treat her as if she were theirs. When she was very young, she was terrified of being on the table during Vet visits. The Dr got on the floor with her to examine her! They offer many extras ("ice cream" treat while at Doggie Daycare and playtime when boarding so you can pick and choose how pampered your pet is. They give her a bath shortly before we pick her up from boarding so she associates that with us arriving shortly. I'd love it if they offered evening "babysitting" for dates. Our dog has severe separation anxiety so we never leave her home alone. We are left with either leaving her all night or hiring a teenager to come to the house when we want to go out in the evenings. Other than that, I can't think of a thing I'd want to change about this wonderful place. Thank you! read more

My dog loves going to doggie daycare at Carolina Ranch. It has been a pleasant experience for the past 2 years. BUT the COST IS GETTING RIDICULOUS!!! So now, they've gone from having a full day of daycare on Saturdays to just 3 hours, but they still charge you a full days price!!! Each year the cost for doggie daycare has increased. It's unfortunate how management has reduced the Saturday daycare to 3 hours but charge you for a full day's price. And there is NEVER any doggie daycare on any holidays --I'm still trying to figure that one out. I do give 5 stars to the staff and positive experience, but I have to speak out about the decisions being made by Management. I want to be able to take advantages of pet services without feeling that 'I'm being ripped off. read more

I had a friend who dropped off a stray kitten because she couldn't keep her because of allergies. She was told that the kitten would not be euthenized and would be taken care of (the kitten seemed to be getting sick) until she was healed and then she would be adopted out. This was last Thursday or Friday. When my friend checked in over the weekend, she was informed that they could not give her any information about the kitten except that she did have a respiratory infection. Yesterday (Monday, June 27), she was informed that the kitten had been euthenized over the weekend. read more

I went in today for a job interview, after completing an online interview. I had pretty high hopes in getting this job. Traffic was bad, so I arrived a few minutes late, around 4:03. (Interview was at 4). I didn't think being 3 MINUTES. Emphasis on "minutes", would be an issue, but apparently it was. I go in, and one of the ladies at the front desk, (there was quite a few), called in Rhonda, which I'm assuming is the manager. I sat down and a few minutes later, she walks in all happy-like. Then she tells me something along the lines of "I'm not going to waste your time giving you an interview, and I wouldn't want to hire you anyway, because you were 5 minutes late. Have a good day." I was shook, to say the least. Not knowing what to say, I just walked out. After I got in the car, I thought "Wow I should have cussed her out-this and that". Number 1, I was 3-5 MINUTES late, due to traffic. Not 20 minutes, not 30 minutes. Something could have been worked out. Number 2, she didn't have to humiliate me in front of the people who were in there. That was just fucked up. I'm not bitching and moaning because I didn't get hired. Shoot, I'm glad I didn't, 'cause otherwise I would have had to deal with working for her. I don't think she could have come across as more of a bitch. So to Carolina Ranch, fuck you, and your overpriced shit. One thing for sure is they won't be getting any of my money. read more

the past two times i have been there to get my mastiff a bath ,they keep on charging me for a diffrent test. when dose it end? they just dont seem to know what they are doing . back to pet smart read more