Dogtopia of Downtown Evanston — Attraction in Evanston Township

We made plans for our dog to use the daycare at this Dogtopia. Planning for this stay took time/$/and many phone calls on our part. We confirmed his stay via multiple phone CALLS and when we arrived a day early we dropped by to introduce our pup, as this is not our “home” Dogtopia, and confirmed our prearranged early drop off. We arrived the next morning, 5 min early, saw a worker through the window, no one came to receive our pup. We called, emailed, knocked, rang the little white bell, walked around to the back and knocked there, BANGED on the front doors and windows….. NO ONE EVER CAME TO RECEIVE OUR PUP. I set this up with the general staff and with the owner via multiple phone calls, using the app, and website as directed. Their lack of ability to fulfill their obligations is astonishing. In addition, all our knocking and banging sent the dogs in the front room into a barking frenzy yet NO ONE EVER CHECKED ON THOSE DOGS and why they were going crazy barking. The workers were NOT checking on the dogs in their care. Our plans were SEVERELY impacted by this companies inability to uphold their obligations. It makes me wonder where else are they falling short when caring for the pups in their care… 1 star is not a low...

The facilities are very nice and it's easy to schedule. However the customer service is awful. I've never had a dog daycare treat me with such snobbery. There were many incidents over the past year where the staff was snarky and seemed irritated with my family/the dog. Namely, we received a sharp change in treatment after we decreased our daycare visits from 2-3 times a week to 1 time a week. My dog also received grooming during that time. For a year there were no issues, but after we stopped going as often they said the "dog is too difficult" to trim her nails. It's a chihuahua...

The last time the dog was boarded, they called me to tell me that her vaccine records weren't up to date and so she would be sequestered from the other dogs. Why not let me know before boarding her? They called me later in the week to ask about updating her records and I let them know "Actually we're not bringing her back" to which the girl on the phone responded happily "OK GREAT!" as if they couldn't wait to lose us...

Dogtopia can be great for most dogs, but this location specifically is under not-so-great management. As a patron, utilize with discrepancy. Watch the webcams, and ask for details about your dog daily (*and any handling techniques employees may be using to work with your pup). Ask a lot! Dogtopia is high standard for day-care, and allows a suitable option for short-term boarding stays. Grooming is a hit or miss, since there is no groomer, just the basic-level-trained daycare employees. There is no mistake in the love each employee gives to each dog. Management and front desk share a reasonable struggle to relay important and/or consistent notes. It is a shame the owner/manager is unable to fulfill her role as an honest and professional employer. My pup and I will miss our doggie daycare friends, but we are happier now to be outside! I hope your pups have fun if you decide to choose...