DogServices (the Thalboro location) showed me a level of kindness I will never forget. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer and going through treatment, I was worried about how I would manage everything since I live alone, including caring for my dog, Franklin. The team stepped in to help make sure he could still get to daycare by arranging pickups and drop-offs. But what meant even more was their compassion. They checked in on me and even offered help with things that had nothing to do with daycare -- simply because they cared. They even sent Franklin home with a complimentary bath and made sure he got plenty of love and snuggles while he was there. Franklin absolutely loves going to daycare there, and I am deeply grateful for the support they showed during one of the hardest times in my life. If you are looking for a place that truly loves animals *and* the people who love them, this is it. read more

DogServices - Dog Services holiday photo - Pet Groomers Near Me - Richmond, Virginia

I used to take my dog to the small dog location of Dog Services for grooming, but the last time I had her groomed there, but when I got her home I noticed that she was bleeding. I called immediately and spoke with the manager, and she acted like it was no big deal. The straw that broke the camel's back was that the manager actually blamed my dog for the "accident." I understand that accidents happen, but my main issue was that they knew what had happened and didn't even bother to tell me about it. Additionally, the place reeked of urine, which made me feel like the place was extremely unsanitary! If you are looking for a place to have your dog groomed, I recommend Holiday Barn. The staff there is extremely friendly, they do excellent work, and the place was spotless. I also boarded my dogs there, and if you pay a little extra your dog is kept in it's own room with a television turned to Animal Planet, which was important to me because I hated the idea of my dogs being kept in a cage. read more

I have visited several daycares in the Richmond area. I have been very happy with Dog Services. The facility was clean, well kept, large play areas, organized, and best of all crawling with staffers. I have always been greeted by a friendly staffer- many of whom know my pup immediately. My pup comes home exhausted. I love that they have weekend daycare and boarding (when needed). Also, there is a staff member on site 24/7. read more

My dog stayed under 96 hours (4 days), but they charged me five days. I've been a customer for years. Unethical pricing.

Daycare day is my dog's favorite day of the week. He'll patiently wait by the door in the morning when I ask if he'd like to "go play with his friends." A couple things I love most about DogServices: (1) Your dog will not be put in a room with 60 other dogs. DogServices will assess every dog's personality and form smaller groups. Therefore, my exuberant pup gets to play in a group of other playful pals (without annoying or upsetting the more 'chill' guys). (2) The pups take breaks in separate kennels/crates. Rather than playing all day and maybe getting over-tired/heated - they give groups time to cool down and relax. This is much appreciated, as I know my guy won't stop until he drops. (3) DogServices customer service is top-notch! They have a very friendly and welcoming staff. Whether it's dropping off your best friend or calling to make a reservation, they make sure to note that they are/will be happy to see your pup. Thanks, DogServices! read more

Dog Services just moved to a bigger location about a mile away. This location is huge! They have a lot of outdoor play space, but what is great is the giant indoor playroom for when it is raining. I am sure my dog enjoys that since she hates going outside in the rain. They also have a big bathing/grooming room and a room especially senior dogs that is calm and quiet. My dog will probably hang out there in a few years. I see a very high ratio of staff to dogs and I really enjoy this. There is always someone in the play area watching them and they are right there to clean up after a dog uses the facilities outside. I know some facilities let all breeds play together, and this is not the best idea in my opinion. My 40 lb. dog should not be playing with a tiny dog or a mastiff. Dog Services groups them by size, and this makes me really happy also. This new location is also right off of I-64 so it is super easy for me to get off the interstate, drop her off, and get back on to go to work downtown. Will continue to rave about Dog Services! read more

We can't say enough good things about Dog Services. We have taken our dog for both day care and boarding for about a year now. Our dog Luna has seperation anxiety but when we drive up to Dog Services she pulls us in and seems so happy to be there. It always smells and looks clean and the staff is very friendly and genuinely seems happy to see Luna when she arrives. Luna is always a happy (tired) pup after going to Dog Services. read more

We recently rescued a small female Husky and wanted her to get used to everything in her new life with us, which included boarding and socializing with other dogs. As I was looking for places to board my dog, my vet suggested DogServices as many clients took their dogs there. Location is great for us as it is in between the Museum District and I-64/95. I was very impressed at how easy it was to talk to the DogServices staff; they answered all of my questions, and did not make me feel silly or stupid about asking. Dogs are required for a temperament test before boarding, and they come home with this cute report card. We have since utilized DogServices for daycare to get our dog socialized with other dogs, as well as the boarding. Prices are extremely reasonable! A great feature is that they organize based on temperament, play style, and age. They have multiple staff, at least one there 24/7, and multiple cameras. We took an official tour of the place this past Sunday 12/8/13, and were impressed by the large rooms and organization. It was also clean! For a dog facility, I expected much dirtier. They also use the same training commands that we use at home. We love the weekend daycare and holiday boarding. My dog is ALWAYS excited to go (mind you, when we rescued her the lady said that she did not play well with other dogs) and comes home exhausted. We love that the staff knows our dog right away and you can tell that they just love her. Love this place and will continue to use them!! read more

When our dog was a puppy, we would take him to dogservices a few times a month for boarding. The staff always seemed to love him and they fit us in on short notice when our AC was out and it was too hot for him to stay at home. However, we had two strange experiences which led us not to use them again. On one occasion, as soon as we got him, he started to cry and I thought he was excited to see me - the second we got outside, he immediately started to pee and it seemed like he had been holding it for a very long time. The next time we took him, he refused to go back with the staff. He was terrified and put on the brakes. He seemed so upset that I wouldn't take him back again. read more

I just got an 8 month old boxer less than a week ago and was very nervous leaving him somewhere without me today. For the past couple days that I've had him hes been slowly starting to come out of his shell and be more comfortable around me. I play with him pretty much all day everyday and I socialize him, but he has still been kind of shy for a boxer. But today after he went to doggie day care, I've never seen him so happy. He slept the whole car ride home then napped for an hour and when we went to my apartment dog park, he was SO playful and starting to act like a true boxer! He has come out of his shell so much after one day care visit. He's never even barked around me until tonight when we were playing tug of war. I truly think his day of fun at dog services made him so happy and more comfortable in his new city. Me and Norman will definitely be back for more doggie day care read more

DogServices - Pet Groomers Near Me - Richmond, Virginia

See all

My husband and I both travel for business and needed a safe place for our dogs' overnight stays. After visiting many kennels, we chose Dog Services for their 24/7 supervision and friendly staff. The friendly staff part was spot on. All of the staff that my dogs interacted with on a daily basis genuinely cared about and loved my dogs. If that was all that mattered, this would be a great review. However, safety has always been my #1 priority, and I simply don't believe that their executive management has put the right policies and procedures in place to ensure their furry guest's safety. We learned this the hard way when one of our dogs developed bloat overnight. By the time they found her in the morning and got her to the vet, it was too late to save her. While I recognize that bloat happens - and that even if they'd had every reasonable precaution in place, she still could have died from it - here are my concerns: 1. The day before she died, my dog vomited. They knew that she had acute pancreatitis the month before, yet no one called me. When I checked in on her and heard this, I begged to pick her up after hours (when my flight home landed). I was told the night manager would have to decide, but she never answered my calls. Are standard hours a higher priority than dog safety? 2. Bloat is one of the most common killers for dogs, and boarding stress is known to contribute to it. Does the kennel ensure that every staff member understands the risk and what to look for? It appears they did not. Otherwise, they should have known that her unproductive vomiting was an issue, or that playing with her until she was "exhausted" (as her report card stated) could be dangerous for a naturally deep-chested, stressed dog that loved to gulp down water. 3. While they claim "24/7 supervision" and your dog is "never, ever alone," that does not mean the dogs are monitored overnight. It simply means staff is on site (asleep, I believe). That's helpful if there is a fire, but not if an individual dog is in distress. When they do start the morning routine, it's done in stages, rather than checking on everyone first thing in the morning. From what they told me, dogs actually go completely unmonitored for 8-9 hours a night. 4. When they finally found my dog, her bloat was very obvious. Anyone who cares for dogs should recognize bloat as a time-critical emergency and take the fastest action possible. Yet, the procedure was to call in the day manager (who, to be fair, was lovely in the situation), have her check my dog, call me to see what to do, and then take her to emergency vet...all of which took about 30 minutes (far too long in a bloat case). I've used other kennels that confirm ahead of time whether to take your dog to the emergency vet if needed and even give you the option to pay for insurance to cover it. That would certainly help with this timing issue. 5. When I picked up my surviving dog (a mere 30 minutes after my dog's death), one of the friendly staff tried to comfort me and honestly answer my questions. Management loudly "shushed" her right in front of me! I recognize that it's a liability if staff members talk to me in these situations, but there are far more compassionate ways to handle it than that. 6. Most disturbing, though, was the flippant attitude of the executive director. When she called about the situation - nearly a week after my dog's death - she told me that "they'd only had one other dog die overnight, and she was elderly too." I was offended that a facility that claims to treat dogs "like family" would refer to any guest as "only one other dog." Her reference to them both being elderly seemed to be an attempt to justify that their deaths were expected or not their fault. Yes, my dog was older, but she was in excellent health, as confirmed by her vet just a few weeks earlier. And, if they'd previously had a dog die overnight, why hadn't she already put a procedure in place to check on the dogs first thing each morning? It pains me to post this, not just because my dog died, but because the day-to-day staff at Dog Services truly treats their guests like family. However, I felt compelled to post this because I believe that anyone who boards their dogs should know the facts, including whether the facility has the policies, procedures and training to properly recognize and respond to emergencies. Dog Services told me that they are now considering checking on all dogs first thing in the morning, but I do not know whether that has happened. I also hope that they would train all staff on bloat and other dire emergencies so they recognize potential emergency situations, then put the procedures in place to find and get pets in distress to the emergency vet more quickly. While doing this won't change my dog's death, I can only hope her death will motivate anyone who cares for our pets to go above and beyond to ensure all their furry guests get to go home safely. read more

I have been bringing my pet to dog services for both daycare and boarding at the main location for a couple of years. They are usually good and with it, and my dog, while anxious that I am leaving him, seems to enjoy his time there and comes home clean and somewhat pooped. The last time I took him there though was this past weekend (Labor Day weekend). I dropped him off kind of late in the day Friday, around 2 pm. It was busy over there, I'm sure, as this is a popular weekend for people to go out of town and board their dogs. They even had a sign up that said they were not taking any more reservations or walk ins for that weekend due to how booked they were. When I picked him up, he looked fine, so I paid and left. As soon as we got in the car I noticed a urine smell. My dog typically does not pee indoors or in a crate, but I honestly hope that's what happened, because I don't want to think about how he might have been lying in some other dog's pee in a dirty crate for 3 days. Then when we got home the dog got a bath, and I noticed he had some "worry spots" or "hot spots" on each of his legs in different locations. My dog is prone to these when he is stuck in an enclosed space for a long time, it's either from friction from being in a crate or he licks himself a lot, I don't know which. However, the fact that he had a few of them tells me one of two things, either he wasn't let out of the crate as much as usual there (possibly due to overbooking of dogs) or he was put in a much smaller crate than he needs (he weighs 60 lbs), which could lead to rubbing from the crate on his skin. I know that they take the dogs out and let them play (I've seen them doing it). But when they have a large number of dogs, for safety reasons they have to limit the amount of time and number of times they let them out to what is manageable. This means they spend longer in the crate between outside breaks. However, this always makes my dog sick and I booked way in advance (July!) so I am kind of mad that he got stuck with a crappy to small crate. I'm really mad that he smelled of urine and this might mean they didn't even clean out the crate before he was put in it (or if he peed in there, they didn't clean out his pee before putting him back in). In general, while in the past I've been happy with them, this trip was disappointing. I had already booked a second boarding visit with them for 2 weeks from now, when I will be out of town to be in a wedding. Now I have to decide what to do. I'm not sure I want to take him back again so soon,but I am not sure I can get a kennel booking elsewhere. Not such a great job this time, Dog Services. read more

Took my puppy ace here for the first time this past weekend! I will return! My puppy was exhausted when I brought him home! So lots of play time I suppose read more

Worst dog grooming services ever! Poor quality groom and poor dog handling! I have two PWD one is 3 and one is 19 mos. They have never had such an awful outcome. No resemblance to a PWD. Said she couldn't finish grooming the puppy because she was so distressed. They have been groomed there 3 times before but this was the worst possible outcome! They have been groomed else where and I have never had such an issue! read more

My dog is a regular at the Dog Services West location (off Pump Road). I have also boarded her here several times and have always been extremely happy! We have been taking her there for almost a year and never once had an issue. The staff is extremely nice, accommodating, and professional. My dog always runs up the door wagging when we get there and comes home tired after a busy day of playing. I love that they have the indoor play facility for rainy/ cold/ bad weather and that there are grooming options. I appreciate that they separate the dogs by size and "play-style" so I know that my pup is neither being bullied or trampling on a smaller dog. I was really skeptical of doggy daycare at first, but Dog Services has far exceed my expectations and I know that we will continue to be regulars for a long time. I have recommended them to friends and neighbors and will continue to do so! read more

This used to be a good company. I brought my lab here for years before he passed away. But recently things have seemed to change. They moved to a new location and so I dropped by to check it out. Instead of neo g greeted by a polite receptionist like before, I was standing in a corner waiting behind five people who were waiting on dogs or holding dogs and bags of food and such. I had to wait almost twenty minutes for the receptionist to even acknowledge my existence, then she was very short with me. And the smell of cigarettes coming from her clothes was over bearing. They are extremely under staffed and the staff they do have isn't knowledgeable about dogs. They couldn't answer simple questions. I took a tour and I saw dogs outside unsupervised, dogs stuffed into small crates, dogs with no water, dogs standing in pee, and when I came by the receptionist mentioned having over a hundred dogs there. A hundred dogs, and there was maybe three staff members. Tiny little girls who were being dragged around by regular sized dogs. I wouldn't trust them at all to handle my large lab mix. Needless to say I decided to try somewhere new this time. read more