Wet Noses Dry Paws — Attraction in Tacoma

Buckle Up.It's a doozy.Back in August 2023 I inquired about a dog on a Monday, that I very much wanted from Wet Nose Foster Paws, since she had been flown up from Texas and I wanted her from the other rescue in Texas as well, 9 months prior!I took this as a sign that I NEEDED this dog. Once I had emailed I got an email back that the dog I was inquiring about was having GI issues and asked if I could do a "Meet and Greet" that coming Saturday and of course I said yes.I came by that Saturday and the only girl working there told me that this dog was having GI issues and she wasn't sure if the dog could do the "Meet & Greet".In my head I was like no worries if I can't meet her today,but also was baffled by the fact nobody felt the need to let me know ahead of time.The worker then came back from the back&said the dog was given meds and could meet me. When I was done meeting her the worker asked me right there on the spot if I wanted to adopt or foster! Mind you, I have rescued 2 other dogs with the past year and a half and never have I been asked ON THE SPOT to adopt a dog. This alone seemed very sketchy to me. But I did want this dog and I adopted her that day.The very next day I noticed 2 fleas on her little face and instantly gave her a bath and she had an immense amount of "flea dirt" come off of her. ): I ran to the store to get her and my other 2 dogs flea treatments ($150) because now those 2 had been exposed.

The very next day, I decided to politely email Wet Nose to let them know that my dog had fleas and I am sure she had been around other dogs. I was told via email that day that she had received a topical flea treatment when shr had arrived to them about a week or so prior and offered another complimentary flea treatment to pick up from them. I was also told she was given a "health certificate" at the beginning of August. (To me personally good health and hygiene are 2 entirely different things.)So the next day, Tuesday, my boyfriend stopped by to pick it up and to his surprise the person who gave it to him told him that my new had NOT gotten a flea treatment when she arrived.I feel like somebody was lying to me about this. Fast forward 4 days,I have had my new dog for a week now.I had noticed her stool was exceptionally dark over that week.Like she had been given something to thicken it up since she had that diarrhea issue they initially mentioned to me.Welp,1 week later from when I adopted her it came back with a vengeance!I thought I would wait it out a bit to see if it would pass&2 days later she had blood in her stool and still had diarrhea and would not drink or eat and this was.out of character for her, even though she had only been with me for a week.On this particular day,it was Labor Day and all the vet clinics were closed except for emergency vet clinics. So I had to take her in because she was so sick.I was there for 4 hours and found out from the vet that I was adopted a dog with GIARDIA from Wet Nose Foster Paws! I then learned from the vet that this parasite is extremely contagious to other animals. So my other 2 dogs needed to be treated as well. This visit for just this one dog was $487.74! The day I found out that she was extremely sick with Giardia I felt the need to let Wet Nose know, since again I am sure she was around other dogs!All they said to me was "Thank you for letting us know.I’m glad she is on the mend (:" &at this point I about lost my cool because no where in my email did I state she was on the mend.I mentioned that she was diagnosed that day!They freaking KNEW she was sick&adopted her out anyways and clearly didn't have her checked by a vet here for her GI issues.This is negligence at it's finest!All they care about is the money that they rack in at these "Meet&Greets"&I am appalled& would have never willingly adopted from them had the dog I wanted not been transfered there.One week after I adopted my new dog,Wet Nose Foster Paws blocked me&all of my dogs accounts.Including the one I had just adopted from them!In total it took 3 months to clear the Giardia&over...

PARVO! Wet Noses has a recent Parvo outbreak at their facility. They should let you know that.

Update: It doesn’t surprise us the owner hasn't taken responsibility and has put this on us and Koru. Poor communication and deflection have been a big part of our experience with Wet Nose management. Now we can add untruth to the list. It is HIGHLY likely Koru was infected while boarding here. He is fully vaccinated. WNDP wouldn’t allow him to stay if he wasn’t. Our truthful experience is below, owner statements are false. Poor management, poor care, poor facility. Be aware of Parvo. Be wary of this facility.

Original: I’m so heart broken. We boarded my grand fur-baby here for 8 days. It’s a mistake that will now last a lifetime. He’s a beautiful 7 month old Portuguese water dog mix. He is fully vaccinated and now is recovering from Parvo. At least we hope he’ll recover. As of today, he’s still sitting in ICU at the vet.He’s been at the emergency vet since last Saturday. He’s been at the vet for 5 days. We’re currently in debt for $10k for the vet treatments. Is it worth it? Yeah, he’s the best doggone dog we’ve ever had. I hope this is not a memorial to him, I hope he survives to snuggle with us again. I’d pay double that if I could afford it. Here’s what we experienced at this disastrous boarding facility.

Our sweet Koru is a fully vaccinated, well-loved pup. He is one of the kindest, calm dogs you’ll ever meet. We decided to go on vacation and leave Koru at Wet Noses in their boarding facility. It seemed like a good fit; we’ve taken him to their doggie day care a few times. The staff promised to take good care of him, they told us they love Koru, and they’d give him lots of cuddles and most importantly, send us daily report cards on how he was doing while we were away.

We didn’t get daily report cards. When we hadn’t heard from them, we reached out and we’re told that he had diarrhea. We thought maybe it was stress related. Wet Noses had isolated him to call him down. Another day went by. Still no contact from Wet Noses. Our fault, we didn’t call them to check on Koru, we were on vacation mode and feel bad about that now. Then it all escalated. We got an email that Koru now had bloody diarrhea. Possible Giardia. Then they asked should he go to the vet? Yes. On Saturday morning, to their credit, they took him to the emergency vet. Maybe because by then he was unresponsive and cold on their kennel floor. The vet who received him said he had hypothermia by then. FFS. The vet brought him around using the best of their skills.Warming blankets, saline drip, feeding tube, pain med.Tests. The worst possible diagnosis for a pup. PARVO.

He's in the isolation ward now. We desperately research Parvo, it’s effects, everything. It has an incubation period of 5-7 days.Koru started boarding with Wet Nose prior to the incubation timelines.

I’ll give credit where credit is due. Wet noses did get Koru to the emergency vet. They did tell us he was sick. That’s all the credit they get. They need to get their house in order. They need to disinfect their facility and close to get the Parvo virus out of their facility. They need to contact every owner over the last 10 days and let them know of active Parvo in their facility. When they do reopen, they need to drastically improve their communications for pet owners. Daily report cards on care and well-being. IMMEDIATE vet communication for sick or injured dogs.They need to give the Vet the dog’s owners contact information!! (Wet Noses only gave the Vet our first name and phone number with “we think this is the dog’s owner”). We’re currently trying to get Wet Noses to refund some of our money since they direct charged our credit card for additional days that Koru didn’t stay with them (he was in ICU).

Things we’ve learned from this experience. Please make sure that your dog has his/her three series of Parvo. But, more importantly, if you do need to board, choose your boarding facility very,...

Edited - original review posted about a year ago.

I first started bringing my dog here about a year and a half ago, and was really happy with it. There was a lot of space for the dogs, web cams, some great staff, and reasonable prices.

About six months in, we needed to board our dog and I emailed the staff to figure out the reservation (it was a slightly non-traditional one). While communication started off good, there were quite a few times throughout and after the process when communication just stopped on their end. Some of my questions were never answered. I noticed as a whole that it was harder to get a response over email and stopped sending messages.

We get occasional report cards, but nothing consistent - rarely did we get one after boarding our dog, and only sometimes after she’s groomed. We have her bathed there once a month.

There’s also been a lot of turnover with staff, to the point where I’ll still be asked who I’m bringing in when I drop off my dog - despite our bringing her the same day every week for a year and a half.

Following the daycare on social media also reveals how new dogs are joining them on a daily basis - yet there doesn’t seem to be a significant increase in staff. The human-to-dog ratio is important to me, because I know it will keep my dog safe.

In recent weeks a lot of information has come to light revealing mismanagement and neglect - neglect of dogs as well as neglect of employees - and it makes me worry for the safety of all the dogs and the people there. This includes a lot of staff, both current and former, stating they were responsible for more dogs than they felt comfortable watching on their own, as well as instances where other dogs or people were bit.

My dog’s health and safety is my number one priority, and I am increasingly concerned that she will not receive the care or attention she needs here. I don’t think this is because the employees don’t care; rather, I think the way this business is run and the policies put in place...