Dr. Boyd's Pet Resort — Attraction in San Diego

Tried rating through their feedback form they supplied us with via email, not showing up publically, after reading they asked another guest to remove her review on Yelp before boarding her dog again we knew we had to take the time to write this again. I feel it's very insightful feedback on the animal care that was supplied to us, and the fact that we would not recommend this faculty to others based on the severity and disposition of our situation. Like other poor ratings, we also struggled with the lack of public and inconsistency amongst staff, not to mention bearing responsibility for things that took place during our animals stay. Without realizing there were over 35 hidden reviews on Yelp, we sought out this pet resort to shelter our little guy for four nights while having to fly back to the east coast because my mother had passed. Upon arriving back to pick him up we were fully aware he would be exhausted. We get home and notice our puppy was limping and not putting pressure on his hind leg at all.. I put him in bed and notice there were multiple patches of missing hair where he obviously was bit by another dog, all from the left side of his neck all the way down his leg. Then we noticed the caked up eye discharge, his breathing was shallow and he shook and shivered with each breath in. This was alarming and concerning, we call and ask if anyone happened to leave any notes and maybe forgot to mention them to us or perhaps they looked him over and he seemed to be fine.. None of these questions could be answered and there were absolutely no notes left during his stay. Anyway, without being able to answer any of our questions we scheduled an appointment first thing that next day. We get into the examination room to access the current situation and we are assured it's a nail bed infection and nothing to be alarmed about and left with a complimentary empathy of antibiotics, anti inflammatory and eye drops. That evening his first digit blew up so incredibly bad that it started gushing blood ... We made him as comfortable as possible and the vet called us that next morning to check in, our little guy seemed much better at this point and was in fact applying pressure to that foot again! That evening we noticed he was licking that paw a lot more than normal and went to pick it up, Upon picking it up there was a huge hole in the bottom of his foot this was not there before and between the webbing of the first and second digits it has completely opened bearing all internal tissue straight to the bone in that first digit. We call right away and they give us the first available appointment. This vet spent about 45 minutes telling us what she THINKS it is (a foxtail) without even looking at his paw mind you.. She gets up to exit the room to speak with the manager in regards to applying a discount because we were told before this would be due to it happening during his stay - she than proceeded to tell us they wouldn't do that for this situation because it's a foxtail and that are on cement an there's no way he could've got it there etc. she pulls up his paw to access and is completely shocked and even takes a picture of it to show the vet we first met with and says this needs to be delt with now and how bad it is and that if it goes on it could possibly be amputated (amputated!) and even went on to tell a story of another dog she helped treat who had a fox tail enter through a dogs back and work its way into the spinal cord .. Leaves the room and comes back to tell us he seems fine and she might have three hours to get to him tomorrow but that he would be fine until Monday.. & they couldn't help with the cost. Meanwhile I call our primary vet and explain to them the situation and get a second opinion - immediately they pull an emergency visit and within 15 minutes of leaving Dr Boyd's and arriving at San Diego bay animal hospital they have him in a room accessing him, within ten they already have him sedated and ready to clean it out and suture it up due to the severity. Guess what, it was NOT a foxtail....

I decided to post the review I had written on Yelp here as Dr. Boyd's decided to hide my review from public view on Yelp:

I hardly write reviews but I thought it was important to share my experience with others who are considering boarding their dog here. I ended up boarding my dog at Dr. Boyd's Pet Resort for 3.5 days this past week due to an unexpected personal matter for which I had to fly out of town. I was very reluctant to leave my dog here since I had bad experiences with Dr. Boyd's Pet Resort in Irvine, but I had very few options. When I arrived at Dr. Boyd's at 4:30am on the day of my departure, the guy at the front desk reviewed my paperwork to ensure that my dog's vaccinations were up to date. After looking through my paperwork, he stated that I was missing proof that my dog passed the test for Giardia within the last 6 months. He told me that the facility would be able to take a fecal sample and test it for Giardia so that my dog would be able to interact and play with other dogs, otherwise he would spend the next 3.5 days in isolation and be taken out for walks on a rotation schedule. Since I did not want my dog isolated in a kennel, I agreed to pay for the test. Fast forward to the day that I picked up my dog.... As I was settling my bill, I asked for a copy of the Giardia test. I was informed that they just took a fecal sample and would send it out for testing. I was appalled! The day I dropped off my dog, I was given such a hard time about the test and then I learned that Dr. Boyd's did not even take a fecal sample until my dog was ready to go home. At that point I told them that I would prefer that my own vet run the test and requested a refund. I spoke with one of the managers on site and she agreed to refund the cost for the test since I had to pay for the entire bill up front. Later that day, I noticed my dog was limping and not wanting to walk. He was acting very peculiar and his bark was also different. I waited to see if he was better after a night's rest in his home and familiar environment, but he was still limping and not acting like himself. I called Dr. Boyd's this morning to find out what happened and they could not tell me anything and stated that there were no reports of any incidents or accidents. I will never know what happened to my dog during his stay at Dr. Boyd's and what caused him to limp and be injured. I should've trusted my intuition and not entrusted this facility with my dog. I just hope my dog will get better soon.

Update: Against my better judgement, I decided to take up Dr. Boyd's offer of examining my dog just to make sure my dog was okay. Due to my schedule, I was unable to bring my dog for an examination until 5 days later. The vet performed a very cursory examination at which point she stated that my dog was okay. She further commented that my dog never got injured at Dr. Boyd's and the reason he may be limping was due to a pre-existing condition such as hip dysplasia. I bring my dog for his check up every year and NEVER has a vet said that my dog has any issues, let alone, hip dysplasia. Thankfully, my dog is doing much better. If you are reading this and care about your dog as much as I do, I suggest thinking twice about leaving your dog under Dr....

$100,000-$150,000. This is the amount of money that Dr. Boyd’s Pet Resort is losing per my calculations of how much I would have been using their daycare services throughout my dog’s 15 year lifespan.

The problem is that the dogs are socialized, but a lot of the staff are not. It is important to treat the human customers, pardon the expression, not like animals.

I find some of the staff to be militant, defensive, unfriendly, and uncaring. Not a great trait for people taking care of your fur kids. I am not implying that all of the employees share these traits, but the number that do is disproportionately high.

On three occasions, I voiced to staff that I was running late and needed to get my dog as soon as possible. I learned very fast they don’t care. On one occasion I was told that I needed to manage my time better. Since I always dropped off my dog and picked him up in a timely manner, 99% of the time, that was a pretty insensitive and nasty statement. Things happen. To all of us. So if the employee reads this, she needs to know that she could have handled the situation much better.

In another case, I brought my dog in and someone else was right behind me in line. No one was there and then an employee walked out of the bathroom. She wanted to know who was first. I told her I was first. She felt the need to defend herself by saying she was in the bathroom and did not know who was there first. While she was going on and on, a cheerful employee came out and took the dog from the owner behind me. My dog was so excited to see this employee and just lit up and all she did is scowl at him. That speaks volumes as far as I am concerned.

I was told that if I need to pick up my dog at a certain time, to call and give advance notice. I did just that and still had to wait 10 minutes. When I tried to talk to an employee, she brushed me off by snapping “ I’m helping someone else right now.” No eye contact. No social skills.

So why did I mention the loss of $100,000-$150,000? My dog is now going to a wonderful day care, literally five stars when you check the reviews. Now, both me and my dog are as happy as we can be, and disrespect is a thing of the past. Unfortunately, they are closed on Tuesdays, so I have kept Dr. Boyd’s Pet Resort as a fallback when I have no other choice. I would have left in a heartbeat, but they are close to my house and open 24/7. The reason I gave them two stars, and some of the employees truly adore my dog.

I just received feedback from management. When I read the feedback really closely, it was not an attempt to make a situation better. Conversely, it was defensive and arguably was excusing bad social skills on the part of staff. Make no mistake, the manager was basically telling me what I needed to do to help the staff out. There was nothing leaned from that reply that I do not know already, and have waited patiently virtually every time I am there, except for the RARE times something was really urgent or emergent. I am 100% certain that even on my easiest day at work I am busier than any daycare staff on their worst day, and yes this statement is a fact. But I don’t treat people poorly because I am busy. There...