I recently took a virtual Manners 1 class with Kizz and Jess, and cannot recommend it highly…read moreenough. The class was small, so each pup got plenty of personal attention, and the class aspect meant that we could all learn from each other as well. Each class is recorded so you can reference them later, and their post-class emails also give you homework for the week and great resources to use if you want to learn more about topics discussed. I really like that the instructors have done tons of research on dog behavior and training and cite their sources--it's both fascinating (from an intellectual standpoint) and comforting (from a nervous dog mom standpoint) to hear the research and science behind their methods. They teach a positive reinforcement only method, which I really appreciate after previous experiences with other trainers who advocate things like prong collars. The emphasis is on building a relationship with your dog through understanding the way their brains work and how best to communicate with them. I look forward to taking our next class with PumpkinPups--they are an incredible source of info for all things dog and we are lucky to have them in Brooklyn!

Viviane assisted me with an urgent issue with my dogs. She went above and beyond in helping me…read morequickly, assessing the situation and assisting me in handling a painful situation with the confidence of knowing that we are doing the right thing. She is incredibly knowledgeable, wonderfully compassionate and understands dogs in such a beautiful way. I am so thankful I was referred to her.

We had a fantastic experience adopting our puppy Mavis from Sean Casey Animal Rescue. They took…read moregreat care of her before we got her, helping her with an issue she had as a very young puppy. And they were very happy to see Mavis again when we brought her for an occasional quick visit and reunion with Sean. Mavis was extremely sociable, happily meeting countless people and dogs on our walks. And also a very avid swimmer -- we took her on many adventures at a lake, a bay, and a pool. We'll always be grateful to this shelter for helping us adopt Mavis, and enjoy 13 great years with this beloved dog.

I visited SCAR looking for a cat to adopt. I fell in love with a tripod darling that was in a cage…read morenear the back of the store. I was told he had just come in and was not ready to be adopted yet he had to be vetted. I kept going back to look at him was truly love at first site for me and he was so cute. After leaving and arriving home I looked at the website and there was the kitten I wanted - up for adoption!!!! I live far enough away to not go back same day. Was planning on going back today (Sunday) Well he is no longer on the website so I suppose he was adopted. Very disappointed.

Great place my dog loves the really looks forward to it every week I highly recommend themread more

We've been through the gamut of dog groomers in central Brooklyn, from those who no longer exist,…read moreor have become, attitude-wise, too big for their britches (I'm thinking Brooklyn Heights) to mobile groomers (easy, but unreliable). Ciao Bow Wow is great for grooming our two Maltese. They care, they ask questions, I learned new vocab ("leather", along the ear), our dogs (two Maltese) always come out looking fabulous. My only reserve is that I have to take them back to be groomed every two months, which is a lot of money to spend, and it's hard to get a spot. Lots of money and few spots, but it seems worth taking your dog(s) to Ciao Bow Wow for grooming. Sara is the best!

Worst groomer in NYC! Took my Aussie and they decided (of course, without my consent) to SHAVE my…read moredog. This is a breed that no groomer will ever make the mistake to shave because they need their coat to protect them. I really wish that places like this did not exist because is a liability for our dogs. So unprofessional, so careless. Completely incompetent. For context, my dog's coat was in PERFECT shape and condition. Look at the before and after pictures

PupCulture on West 57th is great! My dog Vesuvius stays there for boarding or daycare very often…read morewhen I am either working at the office or traveling. They take such good care of him and he loves going there. Highly recommended!!

My dog contracted kennel cough at Brooklyn Dog Training Center (Doggie Academy) and they refused to…read moreprovide a partial refund for the class he missed after getting sick. They wanted me to come to the class without my dog and leave him home alone sick. The facility is very dirty and run down and the owner acted very unprofessionally with regard to the entire situation. Owner is a total liar. She never spoke to my vet, she contacted my vet's office via email and asked a hypothetical question about whether a dog showing symptoms the next day would have contacted it at her facility so they responded accordingly. Yet my specific dog did not show symptoms the next day, he showed symptoms a few days later. Sarah is being sneaky and deceptive in order to get them to provide a response in writing so Doggie Academy can avoid any legal liability. My actual vet will be writing a letter confirming that my dog did most likely contract kennel cough at Doggie Academy. Would not recommend, absolute con artists and putting many dogs health in jeopardy by not notifying their clients that their facility has kennel cough.

Interesting that this is their first review…read more My wife and I brought our 3 month old puppy for their puppy socialization class last Friday. We left before the class was over. If you can imagine how Park Slope parents are with their kids, you can figure out how they are with their puppies. Although I am fine with people babying their puppies (not really but it's your dog), if the trainer is correcting the human issues, which she wasn't. 3 examples. 1) There was a puppy there that was showing aggression and dominance. (A lot of low toned growling, biting, not nipping, and when taken away was very aggressive towards its owners with biting and growling. The trainer didn't remove that dog from the group and didn't try to correct the owner's handling of the dog. The owners were definitely new owners and had no clue what they were doing. Which is fine but puppy socialization classes are for the owners as much as the puppies. 2) Our puppy is very well socialized. It doesn't have any problems with any dogs or humans, including in this class. Later in the class a very nervous and timid terrier came in. It was hiding under chairs and in the corners with its tail between its legs. My puppy went over to it and tried to play with it, Chased it around and, admittedly, prob tried a little too hard to play with the new puppy (which is how some dogs will react to that kind of energy from another dog). But instead of trying to help the timid, nervous puppy, the trainer took our dog out of the area and proceeded to say "if there is anyone who played with *name of our dog* nicely and wants to have their dog in his area...". Needless to say it wound up being every dog in with our puppy and the timid terrier and an aggressive, very small, puppy by themselves. 3) Our puppy, probably 75% of the time, when playing with other dogs, is the first one to go on its back and show belly. If anyone knows anything about dogs, this is a sign of submission, AND you know that puppies play by nipping and "mouthing". So, he was playing with another puppy, was on his back, and mouth was open (not even nipping at this point). Another dog was on top of him and the owner of that dog was saying "Too much teeth, I'm seeing too much teeth. I can't handle it" and pulls her puppy away from our dog. The trainer, right there, once again doesn't correct the owner's behavior. Overall, there was a very tense energy in the room. There were too many puppies for the space and the trainer was either overwhelmed, burnt out, or both, which led to the owners being nervous and tense, which led to the puppies feeling and feeding off of that energy. It wasn't a good situation and definitely encouraged the nervous aggressive dogs to be nervous and aggressive. Lastly, don't call the puppies "your kids" to the owners. This gives the mentally of them being our babies and treating them as human babies. They are puppies and need to be treated as puppies or that's when you get older dogs with aggressive and protective issues. I gave 2 stars because I like that they are doing this but they need to figure it out. Maybe do it more often so you don't have every puppy in the area going in the one day a month. We go to Wag Club every monday for puppy socialization and it is relaxed and fun for both the puppies and owners. They correct any puppy issues (the actual cause) and teach the owners how to deal with the issues.

Posting this again because our friends mentioned they are using this service and noted that my Yelp…read morereview has mysteriously disappeared.... We used to use house broken exclusively. When using them for check-in's for cats while we were away they were fine. They would make the daily check in. However when we started using them for dog walking the service was entirely unprofessional. We had our walker cancel on us last minute twice before we stopped using them. Both times we were hours outside the city and relying on our dog being cared for so we could enjoy our day. The cancelation notice came in extremely late notice. Leaving us frantic to get back, as our dog had already been alone for 6 hours. The last time the cancelation happened the service told us the store where they house their keys closed early and they had no way to access our keys to get into our apartment. If you're going to have a third party hold the keys to your clients, and you have clients booked into the evening, better organization is needed. Both times only a shrug of an apology was offered. So yes to cat check ins absolutely no to relying on them for walks. (Or keeping accurate Yelp reviews, because I find it very suspicious my previous one has gone missing)..

HouseBroken is the best dog walking service I have ever used....and believe me when I say this…read morebecause we have tried many services in the Prospect/ Crown Heights area. Vivian, the owner, is absolutely pleasure to work with. The walkers are reliable, well trained and caring. Very highly recommended!!

Do not board your animal here. This honest review is strictly based on a boarding experience I had…read morewith my 7 month old Doberman Mix who is the happiest, highest energy pup you can ever meet. I left Winston in their care from June 21st - June 28th when I went on a trip out of the country. On day one as I was boarding my flight, I got an email that Winston had injured his back paw and was bleeding while he was running around in the back yard. No one "saw" how it happened or seemed to know the cause (my best guess is he was unsupervised) so alarmed I sent my sister there to check on him and she said he seemed ok. They assured me they'd crate him so he could rest and give him solo play time so he wasn't so wound up (because he loves to play). So I checked in on him in the days that followed and they assured me he was recovering and doing just fine and didn't need to see a vet. When I finally picked him up on the 28th I brought home a different animal. Although he was initially happy to see me, in the car ride home he wouldn't let me pet him. He was traumatized, ears pinned back and low energy. He also had a runny nose and a cold? It was clear as day that whatever happened there affected him negatively and everyone in my family picked up on this behavior shift. He wasn't asking for hugs, kisses or playing. So beyond out of character for him. This lasted for 4 days until on the 4th day I noticed a raised and swollen lesion on his paw that was filled with pus, so I reached my breaking point and brought him to the vet. The vet said it was infected and put him on a topical and oral antibiotic for a week. Mind you this lesion was in a different location than the initial injury on day one. Both the vet and his assistant also observed emotional trauma and agreed that something unpleasant happened at his stay. Then a day later I noticed another lesion on the side of his mouth, also pus filled. I don't know if these were bite marks from other animals or what? I emailed them and asked what happened and they assured me that "nothing happened" and he was just "playing with the other animals". In my email correspondence with their manager they also assured me that Winston was happy and playing with other dogs, but the day I picked him up the person working the front desk said they had issues with Winston being bullied by the other dogs. Two clashing stories - which one is it? There are other reviews here that cite this place as condescending and I have to echo that sentiment. When there are obvious glaring issues and you insist that "nothing happened and he was just playing" and brush it off like you're not accountable it's frustrating. They offered to reimburse me for the vet bill but after thinking about the right thing to do in the larger picture, I'd rather spare a future dog owner of the distress of bringing home an injured and traumatized animal that they then have to seek medical attention for. This just isn't right and they aren't running a safe and careful facility and either people need to know this and avoid leaving their animals there or the management needs to take command and ownership and level up their safety protocols, care practices, and cleanliness to avoid infections. I'd also suggest better staff training and a selective hiring process because there are way to many gaps and leaks in the whole story here. Enough to file a formal and legal complaint.

My dog loves it! They are very communicative and care about the dogs so much. Been going for years…read morefor daycare and boarding. They take excellent care of the pups. I don't trust most people with my dog and they've proven their experience, expertise, and care, every time my dog comes in. My dog is always hyped to go. My only negative- could it be located closer to my apartment LOL.

Justine gave my dog the worst grooming haircut he's ever gotten. The fur around my dogs nose was…read moretrimmed in such a ridiculous and terrible way it's almost hard to describe. I'll let the photo speak for itself. Justine would not acknowledge how uneven and chopped up the cut was and refused to refund me. I would have understood if she acknowledged the butchered job, but she would not. She told me that I should have taken him to a "fancy groomer". To me, that's awful customer service. It will take about 3 months for this fur to grow back to blend in. Don't take your dog to get a haircut here. Here are before and after photos.

The employees don't seem to engage or socialize with the dogs at all, which is one of the main…read morereasons I recommended my niece to bring her dog here since I thought different. Her dog came home smelling strange, as if he hadn't been given any attention or proper care throughout the day. It feels like they're more focused on keeping the dogs in a room than actually interacting with them. Definitely not the experience I was hoping for