Dogtopia of Maplewood — Attraction in Maplewood

We've been sending our 15 week old Bernedoodle puppy to Dogtopia in Maplewood for the dog daycare service, and have been very pleased with the results. We have not used the boarding or bathing services. Pro's and con's outlined below, but all things considered I'm leaving a five star review and will continue to use Dogtopia in the future. The Con's I've left are more so suggestions for improvement, not problems that would prevent us from using this dog daycare in the future.

Pros: -Trained staff, though all very young, clearly love working with dogs and have a great attitude every time we're in there. -Communication is extremely responsive. -They take special notes, like dietary instruction or training needs into account. -They really do seem focused on the best interest of the dog. Our puppy peed in her crate during nap time (12-2:00 PM), and they gave her a bath to make sure she was clean before putting her back in the play room. -The webcams made us feel much better about leaving her, and the staff encouraged us to call if we see anything that concerns us while watching. -Staff is continually focused on cleaning up messes. -Facility is brand new, so everything is high quality and not torn up.

Cons: -This is just a straight up group play session, all day. That's great at tuckering out the dogs, and we have no specific complaints. That said, it would be great if they offered some kind of intellectual stimulation as well, as that's lacking from the daily agenda (play from 7-12, lunch and nap from 12-2, play from 2-5). -Wish there were multiple webcams in each playroom, as not the entire room is visible and competitor dog daycares provide multiple views of each room. -For boarding, there is no one there overnight. For fully trained adult dogs, this probably isn't an issue, but as the owner of a puppy this is wouldn't be okay for us, considering that she could have an accident, get scared by thunder, etc. Seems like a nominal expense to hire a night monitor to step in and resolve any issues. -It would be great if they made details of their training program for staff visible to customers; it would bring some peace of mind to know what they are and are not trained on. -Dogtopia offers great resources for daycare, bathing, and boarding. We wish they offered full grooming services, even just one or two days a week, as well as structured training services to teach things like basic puppy obedience, advanced recall, etc. To be clear, I would be very willing to pay extra for those services, and do so at other businesses, but I wish I could get an all-in-one...

I’ve brought my dog to many places, including daycares where ALL dogs are required to be trained to join the facility but not at dogtopia! They will allow any dog to be there, it seems they need the money.

It seems to only be teenagers that work here, I hope they don’t have uncertified teenagers doing the “spa”. They will allow any dog to be there so don’t be surprised when your dog gets attacked every single day you bring it. Also there’s no toys for our dogs to play with so they’re in a room with 20 other dogs, cages and no toys. It seems like there’s at least 1 person in the rooms but I feel like it’s a waste of money to send your dog somewhere to sit in a room with nothing to do besides get bit at and attacked by other dogs. I’ve also noticed watching the cameras that other dogs will constantly mount mine and many others and the people in the rooms won’t do anything about it. Don’t send your dog here unless you want to...

I was initially a bit worried about sending my baby to doggy daycare, but Dogtopia has exceeded my expectations. My dog loves spending time here! Within just a few visits, every staff member knew my dog by name and now he's so excited to see every one of them! He has so much fun with his new dog (and human) friends. He has some genetic health issues that resulted in him becoming half blind, and the staff at Dogtopia are always looking out for him and they genuinely care about him. Dogtopia Maplewood has cute events for dogs (photo ops, fun activities some days, and frequently they will give your dog a special treat for the day if you donate a few bucks to the Dogtopia foundation) and fun perks for pet parents (who doesn't love free donuts & coffee sometimes?!). I would recommend Dogtopia of Maplewood to anyone who wants their dog to have a fun and active day while...