Disclaimer: I was a veterinary technician for close to a decade and am ungodly protective of our two dogs. That being said, Stay does NOTHING that is not for the best for your dog in its evaluation process and vaccine requirements. You can be against vaccines all you want, but don't expect your dog to be boarded anywhere legitimate as no legitimate place will accept unvaccinated dogs. The newest concern is canine parainfluenza ("flu") and the vaccine is newer. That does not mean it is bad nor does it mean that it should not be required. It means that Stay is keeping up with current veterinary recommendations by requiring the vaccine.
Okay. Onward to the review. I am a freak to please regarding my dogs. They are our babies. I am new to this area and previously went through 3 daycares in our old area before settling on one. Luckily, I chose to see Stay before other daycares and was quite happy with what I saw, happy enough to choose the place as our dogs caregiver. I called ahead to tour the facilities and on the scheduled day the employee gave me a 30 minute tour showing me the yards, the outdoor yards, the kennel area, the grooming area, and boarding/overnight suites. I got the paperwork and scheduled an evaluation day for my husky. The evaluation process requires a couple of forms to be filled out in an effort for them to get to know your dog. Veterinary paperwork is also required but since my dogs are current on everything they didn't make any phone calls to their veterinary clinic (as mentioned in a previous review, in which the person also complained about vaccine requirements so I am betting the dog wasn't up to date on everything). An evaluation day is a little more expensive than normal daycare.Yes, this is annoying and not really warranted as your pet is playing with the others and the caregivers would be there anyway but oh well. I think the paperwork took me 10 minutes, max, so I don't find that burdensome to complete. On evaluation day you will sit with an employee and discuss your pet for a few minutes so that they get a good idea of personality and behavior. I would be more concerned if they didn't do these things.
The dogs are separated into the traditional small and big dog areas. The warehouse structure is huge (and climate controlled and very clean) and separated into various "yards" with high fencing that separate the two groups. Sure, there is barking. Who is upset with barking?! If your dog stresses out over barking they probably aren't right for daycare. It isn't any louder than a dog park. The big dog yard is attached to an outside yard that always has caretakers with the dogs. Owning a Siberian Husky who is quite active I know that this is great for an active breed as they can frolic and cool off outside or lounge inside in the yard. Both yards have beds or things for the dogs to chill on if they get worn out.
The dogs get placed in a plexi-glass kennel for about an hour to rest and eat lunch. Granted, I would not have chosen plexi over other types of kennel doors. It is freaky to see dogs behind plexi glass. They have open tops (remember people, heat rises) so the dogs are totally fine and in there a very small amount of time so that they can eat, rest, and probably so employees can do the same and clean yards and whatnot. There were Kurunda beds in the kennels the day I took the tour. Dogs weren't just lying on the floor.
My husky and Pug are extremely happy and worn out when we pick them up from Stay. That is all that matters to us. The dogs that surround them have been temperament tested and vaccinated and the employees seem very happy to see their clients.
We have not boarded our pets here, only use the daycare. I am a grad student and my husband is a soldier and we cannot justify the costs of here versus other boarding facilities but once I am done with school I would happily leave our pups overnight. read more