DOG PPL — Attraction in Santa Monica

Update: knocking this down given unprofessional interactions. Got a drink and it tasted bad to my boyfriend & me — returned it for another drink and got attitude from one of the workers. We’ve gotten this same drink literally a week ago and it didn’t taste like the way it did. It tasted like the bottom of the tap. Mind you we buy drinks here often and visit the park almost daily. One of workers proceeds to try the tap the drink came from and said “I mean it tastes fine…?” and had an attitude indirectly/was passive aggressive (all without making eye contact with me as if I wasn’t there!) while the other worker was very polite and gave me a new drink. I’m confused, what was the big deal? I wouldn’t send something back without it being unacceptable to even consume. I also didn’t keep the drink we were returning so it’s not like I got a free drink lol. Definitely left with an awful taste in my mouth. I’m refusing to buy any more drinks/food based on this & not to mention the automatic gratuity added to the orders. Leaving a lot to be desired for sure in that regard.

Might consider canceling as well since another reviewer talked about dogs clearly not neutered and I’ve seen that before as well! I was also approved immediately. The system asked me to schedule a temperament test literally a minute after uploading the vet records so clearly no one actually went through the file yet at that point. Maybe they’re utilizing AI but still, questionable because there are dogs who clearly aren’t neutered. — Original review: Been coming here since we passed the temperament test! Really appreciate the kind staff and the referees that walk around. It’s nice they sell food & drinks, which makes it convenient. They put on pretty cool events too so that’s really fun!

There’s WiFi but I never use it — it’s not really that fast (it might depend on where you are). I don’t really care since I prefer using my hotspot anyway but wanted to call that out. No laptops after 6PM as well which is whatever, I’m rarely here that late but if you’re thinking about getting work done late at night, this might not be the spot for you.

The small dog side is mainly pretty chill but sometimes it can get super yappy (which is adorable haha) when all the pups decide to have zoomies. My little guy is really shy. Coming here has really done wonders to his confidence! He was always good with people but was super anxious around dogs. I don’t think he’ll start chasing other dogs around anytime soon, but just from coming in almost daily for few weeks, he can now hangout next to dogs and even walk up to them!! This is a HUGE improvement from before (hiding and running away). Love this place and...

Membership canceled after almost 2 years. Your dog is not safe here.

Dog PPL serves alcohol in open cups and people often spill their alcohol around the park. No one cleans up the alcohol, so dogs are getting buzzed. People often leave their alcohol unattended on low side tables where dogs can get into their drink.

My dog got into incidents at the park because of all the irresponsible alcohol serving and drinking. Dog PPL blamed my dog's temperament for the incidents and canceled our membership.

Back when I signed up, they only had a coffee bar. Now, they have a liquor license and sloppy safety standards around dogs drinking alcohol.

Dog PPL also has entitled members who yell and accost the employees as well as other members. If you report human aggression, they reply saying that they will monitor and wait for repeat offenses. Several dog park friends have told me stories of them getting yelled at by other members...and the park's response has always been "that's for you to deal with".

A member's dog was stalking and trying to hump my dog. My dog gave a fierce correction warning him to back off. He wouldn't get the message. I had to hold him by the collar and gently walk him away to create space from my dog. The owner started yelling at me saying that he's never humped and tried to kick me out of the park. I asked the rufferee/employee to review the security camera footage. He confirmed that I was correct and calmly explained to the other owner that I did nothing wrong. She ended up leaving the park early and didn't have the integrity to conclude the issue with me. And yes, she was drinking beer. She complained that I was ruining her enjoyment of her beer.

The employees have told me that members yell at them all the time. Management does nothing to protect and defend their awesome rufferees, so the staff turnover is high. Rufferees typically only stay a few months because members yell at them, supervisors do not support them, and the rufferees have to pick up dog shit all day with zero gratitude from the members.

To summarize: they serve alcohol in wide open cups they do NOT clean up spills dogs drink alcohol buzzed dogs get into incidents they blame dogs temperament and cancel your membership buzzed humans accost and disrespect other members as well as staff safety and community teams respond that they'll wait for more incidents of human aggression

Most of the people are awesome. But the administrative team holds on to the disrespectful people and sends you an email that after 2 years of membership, your dog's temperament is not suitable for their park.

Again, your dog is...

I think this park has the potential to be great. We joined because before this park, we were public dog park people. We wanted to go somewhere where the dogs were vetted and dog ppl seemed to fit.

While they do verify the rabies vaccination and have you come to do a "temperament" test, that's where the benefits of the park end in my opinion.

There were various things we didn't like here. No laptop use after 6PM. We felt for the price of this park, we should be allowed to come and relax regardless of the time, and sometimes there's just work we need to get done. After all, the paid "rufferees" are supposed to be regulating the dogs, that was our understanding and why we joined. We also had issues with this rule not being enforced widely. It seemed to depend on who was working and if they were going to enforce it. Didn't like that.

Both our dogs within 2 weeks of joining, caught pink eye. While pink eye can be caught through various things, this was the only actual "park" they had seen since joining. When we went, the park always seems to have a strong pee smell, that didn't give us confidence that the turf was clean. I see that there are tools to assist in cleaning, but either it wasn't done often enough or the setup for cleaning after the day ends is not refined enough. The park always smelled dirty. The pink eye issue is what caused us to decide against going here. For the amount each person spends on this park, the cleaning could be stepped up.

The park events seem like they are tailored to the dog parents and not so much the dogs. I understand the idea, but I want things the dogs can get involved with too.

The staff (I'll admit depending on who) are not the most respectful, they have on numerous occasions seemed a bit low energy, and even during our sign up process it took multiple calls for them to even confirm our membership was active. It required a good deal of follow up on my part, and when promised call backs I never got them. When we asked questions, it almost seems as if we were bothering them and not paying customers.

Overall, I'd summarize that this park feels like a park mainly for the humans and less for the dogs. It truly needs a better balance. I The IDEA of this park is cool. The execution leaves quite a bit...