It's a Dog's Life — Attraction in Johns Creek

First, I'd like to say that I have been taking my dogs to It's a Dog's Life since they opened about 10 years ago. On my initial tour of the facility 10+ years ago, they told me they would be installing cameras so we can watch our dogs play throughout the day but to this day, they have never been installed. I suspect the reason is to avoid pet parents from being able to witness their animals being neglected. I recently left my 3 dogs at the facility for 5 days while on Spring Break. When I picked them up all 3 were in disgusting shape. They reeked of urine. We had to drive with the windows open because of the overwhelming smell of dog urine in the back seat. Their feet were black as shown in the attached photos from apparently running around all day in urine and dirt. And the minute they got home, all three rushed to the water bowl and drank for several minutes. Because I can't witness their care through the non-existent camera, I can only assume they were neglected and that the facility didn't take the time to ensure the floors were clean and urine free and that water was accessible to them at all times. I've had dogs long enough to know that you can't completely control the peeing habits of dogs and it can be a constant job to clean the floor and its likely that your animal will walk through urine at some point. However, for my dogs' paws to have been so dirty, the floor had to be consistently dirty. I called the manager to share my concerns with him and he offered to give our dogs free baths if I brought them back but we had immediately given them baths the moment we got home with them. There would have been no way we could have let them stay filthy and stinky for any period of time. I am very disappointed in the care they received and will likely not be back which is a shame because I am so pleased with the groomer at Its a Dog's Life. Do better, guys. Taking care of someone's pet goes beyond simply petting them on the head...they need a clean, healthy, and safe environment to play and they need access to water. Clearly this was not provided...

I’m not sure if this business is under new management but it’s clear the quality of services has changed. My past experience with boarding here was always excellent, however this past weekend I left my 2 golden retrievers and I came away very disappointed. First, upon entering the building half of the lights weren’t on and the lobby was very dirty. The staff seemed unhappy to be there as if they were doing me a favor when we arrived. I received no feedback on how my dogs were over the weekend. As a matter of fact the staff wasn’t even sure of their names. Second, I had to take the younger one in for a temperment test on Thursday before leaving her. I was required to leave her for 6 hours, pay for full daycare and she was urine soaked when I picked her up. I had to clean my car and bathe her immediately.. I decided maybe it was an unusual circumstance. I returned Friday and dropped she and her sister off for the weekend. I called Sunday morning to say we would be returning earlier (by 2 hours) and to please bathe them if they could. I spoke to an answering service that didn’t relay the message and the staff wasn’t busy when I arrived. They told me I could wait and I chose to take them home. . The process picking them up was very disorganized. I had to wait for them to gather their bowls and beds and had to return today for other things that weren’t in their bag. Last, I asked several times about water stations for the dogs and I was assured they had access to clean water, but both of my dogs were extremely thirsty when we arrived home. I’m not sure what to make of that…I wanted to email this to management/owner but there isn’t an email address. I struggled with leaving this but I feel our pets are part of the family and others should be aware of experiences and decide for themselves if this is what they are...

We scheduled an appointment to have our Samoyed groomed here today. We clearly told them it was a Samoyed, which requires significant time and effort to groom due to the long hair and double coat. He had "some" mattes. They called us just as they were starting to groom him and told us that he needed to be shaved because he was too matted and it would be very uncomfortable for him to be groomed. Unfortunately, the lady caught our son at the wrong time and convinced him to shave our dog. Our son called us and told us and we IMMEDIATELY called the business and told them to STOP. You should NEVER shave a Samoyed. We stopped her. However, the only part of him that was "partially" matted in a "few spots" was his belly area which, with effort, could have easily been groomed appropriately. The lady completely shaved his back and sides without even attempting to groom those. Even the shaving was done HORRIBLY!!!! This lady was LAZY and VERY unskilled at grooming a Samoyed and should have either called us and told us that she was not qualified or simply declined to do the job. However, her excuse was "It would take me all day to groom him". No joke lady. That is always the case for a Samoyed. They take TIME and LOVE. Your first solution is NEVER to shave the dog. We will NEVER EVER use this facility for any kind of service again. Granted, we should have never "authorized" them to shave the dog. However, if you aren't qualified to do the job that you are hired to do, then admit it and don't accept the assignment. Shame...