Pet Paradise St. Augustine — Attraction in Saint Augustine

I was so nervous about leaving baby she was only 5 months & I had to find a place during the day for my sweet-heart I have NEVER had to take any of my fur babies to any day camp or leave them anywhere but the comfort of home we got Bella at 8 weeks and didn't have another fur baby home the 1st time ever plus I was home with her day one 24/7 she was never left alone, well our girl absolutely loved her day camp she comes home exhausted and she has had A LOT of energy, she was shy at 1st but after a few days she walked in like YES!!! She became so confident with her head held high and pranced in hey all I am here! Bella hasn't been able to go for a few weeks, she was just spayed, and we had to keep her home and calm for 14 days (challenging for all of us her mostly...) it is a bit costly on my budget so I cannot take her as much as she would like to. The staff are amazing and Bella LOVES all of them and does not want to leave when it's time to go home. The staff are attentive and seem to love our girl as much as we do, she entertains them as much as she entertains us, she is one of a kind for sure. They even sent me pictures of her laying in the water bowls to cool off because she is still a little nervous about going into the big pool, she loves the sprinklers and the baby pool for now and meeting new friends and having her besties to play with. The ONLY CONS I have had with her going here is she did come home with a few fleas on her and she has been on the prescribed vet flea medication from day one, I did ask if they treated the facility with anything knowing other dogs do have fleas when there are so many in one place and not all flea meds work or are not given by the pet parents as they should be given, they do make sure ALL pets are fully up to date on shots I wish they could enforce the same on other fur babies with the flea treatments, they really never answered me when I asked if they treated the facility for fleas and other pesky critters, I wish they would make that a priority for our fur babies that have never had a flea before playing with all of their friends at camp. The only other CON was after her 2nd week in she had some eye discharge that was actually green!! When I took her to the vet and actually showed them her eyes they said there is something going on for sure so when I left her for her surgery they checked her out and tested her eyes she did end up having conjunctivitis in both eyes, they flushed both of her eyes out while she was under for her surgery and had to be prescribed medication to treat it, it is not contagious from our fur babies to their human family members but it is very contagious from other fur babies that they come in contact with that are also infected, I did not realize just how dangerous conjunctivitis was if left untreated in our fur babies it can cause long term damage to their eyes if not treated and even lead to blindness if severe enough a huge concern for me and my fur baby. Thankfully we caught it right away and our vet treated her immediately and it is now gone, her beautiful brown eyes are healthy once again, it will be something I will be keeping an eye on when she goes back to day camp over the next few weeks, I am hoping not to see a return of anything going on once she returns to play with her friends, it is the ONLY place our girl has been with other fur babies to get infected, she has only ever gone to camp and back home with her family. Now that being said that has been my ONLY CON with Saint Augustine Pet Paradise, and some things I can understand they cannot control like making sure fur parents are treating their babies like most of us do with the flea, heart guard, etc. treatments protecting our babies and making sure no one has any infections going on, that should be a fur parent to make sure their fur babies are 100% healthy at all times, other than the staff noticing something going on with our babies and addressing us right away, and if they are not treating the facility with something to eliminate pesty critters that should be a priority...

Let me preface this by saying I don’t like to complain. But, I’m picky when it comes to my animal’s well-being and instead of being silent I’m going to warn anyone thinking about boarding their animal at this location. I gave this location ample chances to make this situation right, and they refuse to even return my phone calls. So I’ll post an honest review.

My corgi puppy stayed at the St. Augustine location for 5 days while I had my wedding in St. Augustine. He was 9 months old and I was worried about leaving him when I got there. My puppy was extremely skittish and wouldn’t go near the handler that came out to get him. He’s normally so friendly, curious of new locations, and enjoys day camp at his vet, so I was concerned this was his reaction. My husband had to take my puppy back to his kennel because he would not go with anyone that worked there. My husband said the back smelled strongly of urine, but I paid extra for regular check ins and felt like my animal would be taken care of.

I did not receive all of the check ins I paid to receive, (which makes me wonder if my dog received the extras like treats and extra playtime that I paid for) but on the updates I did receive my puppy looked happy. I was concerned there were SO many dogs in the pictures with no care takers in sight however. And given that my dog was sick when he came home from something caused by overcrowding, I wish I had called to voice my concern during my pet’s stay.

After 5 days there my dog was sick and came home coughing and wheezing uncontrollably. He literally kept crawling in my lap and crying while wheezing. I took him to 2 different vets that said it was kennel cough from overcrowding and poor sanitation. My sisters dogs then caught kennel cough from my puppy, and they’ve been passing it back and forth. My dog still wheezes a little when he overexerts himself. This is almost TWO FULL months after his stay.

I brought this to the attention of managers. They basically told me it wasn’t their fault and no other animals had this issue. While I’m thankful other dogs are fine, mine was not for over a month after his stay, and their indifference and how rude they were about the situation was off putting to say the least. They never answer their phones and when they do they have poor communication and don’t relay messages.

I paid over $300 to have my animal boarded here just for him to come home sick and now more skittish around vets and vet techs than usual. Several hundred dollars in vet bills later, I advise anyone skip this establishment and find another solution. Honestly, I wish I had kept my dog home with a sitter. I’m seriously disappointed with the lack of professionalism and complete disregard for my animal’s health, especially when I paid so much extra for services above and beyond regular boarding.

TLDR This place won’t care when they get your dog sick. Skip this place and...

Let me start by saying this incident happened a couple of years ago… September 2022.

I didn’t say anything at the time because I was sooo angry about it, I couldn’t find the right words, and then as time went on, I felt it was too late to post about it. I am making this post now because I tried to take my dog to a daycare where we live now, and she is TERRIFIED- almost 2 years later. She used to love going to PP, and I used to love it too! Until the day we didn’t. I was curious if other people had the same experience we did, and reading PP’s responses to many posts, I am again pissed about this and now wish to share our experience…

I dropped my pup (50lb pit mix) off for a full day of day care. I had no worries leaving her there, and she was always happy to go! The last day we were there, they bring her out and she’s moving a little slow. Not entirely unusual, it was a hotter day and she was there all day so I figured she was just tired. They said “she was great” and quickly walked away. I figured they were busy so we left. We got home and she wouldn’t jump out of the car…thought maybe she was tired? Bring her in the house, and she just stood by the door, wouldn’t move. I picked her and carried her up the stairs, when I set her down, she let out the loudest yelp I’ve ever heard out of her…

They returned my dog to me with ALL of her paw pads completely raw, a few still had the top layer, but those were hanging by a thread. I called them and they said “yeah, that sometimes happens with high energy dogs with the wet turf.” (If this is something you’re aware of, maybe take better precautions to prevent it?)

I can understand why it happens, but I don’t understand how they let it happen.… this is not something that happens in an instant, it takes time. She was suffering…with how she was walking and acting, there is no way she finished her day of playing and they should have checked on her and notified me of her injuries.

The daycare employees did not notify me, and acted as if they knew of it and avoided that confrontation. Obviously, my dog needed vet care… sedation, debridement, and follow up wound care totaling over $700… I called them saying this isn’t right, it’s negligent in my opinion. They claimed their lawyers say it’s not negligence and they are not liable. They “made it right” by refunding me for that day, and giving me a $200 PP credit (as if I would ever bring her there again).

So, when I read on posts that they provide a “safe” environment and the care of your pet is their priority…that may be the case for most, but not us.

I hope nobody had/will have the same experience we did, but it is worth putting out there how PP deals with these situations. Like I said, almost two years later, and my dog still remembers what her last day of doggie day...