Happy Dog Pet Resort — Local services in Abington

The content of this review was discussed at length the owner of Happy Dog by phone on Monday 10/1. I’ve attempted to explain in detail what happened below:

We found Happy Dog about a year ago, and we boarded our three dogs (age 3, 11, and 14) with Michelle for just over a week. As part of her paperwork, Michelle had us sign documentation that would allow her to authorize medical attention for the dogs if warranted. The week passed, and they all came home happy & healthy- no complaints.

A year later, we got married. Two of the three dogs returned to Happy Dog for the wedding weekend. We dropped off the 3 year old and 14 year old on Friday Sept 28. Due to a miscommunication between my husband and myself- we missed the drop off window by about an hour. We tried calling Happy Dog to let them know & nobody answered.

When he arrived, Michelle chewed my husband out for 15+ minutes, but allowed him to make the drop off. Tawny, our 14 yr old lab mix was fine when she was dropped off. She is always excited to go places, loves car rides and consistently pulls on her leash. My husband recalls totally normal Tawny behavior this day.

On Monday Oct 1, I went to pick the two dogs up. As soon as I arrived, Michelle said “why didn’t you tell us Tawny is so stiff and arthritic? Do you give her medicine for this?” Michelle told me Tawny was so stiff and arthritic that she didn’t get out of bed all weekend. Tawny didn’t want them to touch her, and she peed the bed overnight (which they didn’t change). Michelle described her as “really stiff and we thought she must be in pain from arthritis.”

I was not prepared for the state of the dog they returned to me- Tawny was so hunched over she could barely walk. She was happy to see me, but couldn’t do much more than rest her face on my leg. She leaned heavily against me and wasn’t able to balance herself. I literally exclaimed out loud when I saw her because I was so shocked by her physical state.

I had to pick her up to put her in the car, and she was in so much pain that she didn’t want to get out of the car. We immediately took her to the emergency vet who diagnosed a herniated disc, and put her on a nerve blocker and some significant pain meds. Two weeks of isolation and extensive rest and she is still not back to 100%.

To be absolutely clear- I do not know how the injury happened, and I cannot hold Michelle or her staff responsible for the injury. What I take SERIOUS issue with is that Michelle made absolutely no attempt to contact us, or to get medical attention for a dog that was clearly in pain- pain that Michelle and her staff recognized and reported to me when I picked Tawny up.

I contacted Michelle after the vet visit, and explained that I was not happy that she didn’t contact us. She blamed that choice on two things; 1) not knowing Tawny well enough to know what is/ what is not normal for her, and 2) that because we missed the regular drop off time, Michelle wasn’t able to ask us her normal questions about the dog’s health.

I cannot be clearer- there is NO WAY a human being would look at the way Tawny was moving and behaving and think that it was normal or that she wasn’t in pain- especially someone who works with dogs day in/ day out. Michelle even said at one point that “we assumed that she must be in pain from arthritis.”

Why didn’t Michelle call us to find out if we forgot her pain meds? Or to see if this was normal behavior? Or even call Tawny’s vet to see if there is anything like this on record?!? None of the options were explored.

While I am not around, Happy Dog is supposed to be my dog’s advocate. Michelle and the staff monumentally failed to be Tawny’s advocate. She lay in pain for 2.5 days, and on a pee soaked bed for at least a day. I feel so guilty that I left my dogs at Happy Dog, and we will never return. I encourage you to consider this failing as you evaluate Happy Dog’s competence as your...

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I wanted to like this place as I saw so many great reviews on here about it and decided to give it a shot. Unfortunately I didn't go with my gut feeling after also reading some negative reviews and the business owners defensive replies to criticism she was given. I brought my dog in for a trial day which went great he seemed to have a blast and was exhausted when he got home which was exactly what I was looking for however The next time I brought my dog would be staying the night. Due to miscommunication between my partner and I he had dropped our dog Zeus with only enough food for the day . He had spoken to the employees there and they had said that he could come back anytime to drop off food. We both work overnight and he went to drop off food at 6 o'clock on his way to work. Instantly he was met with attitude by the business owner saying " did you not read the sign" referring to a sign on the door stating not to ring the door bell . She then proceeded to give him more attitude when he explained he was just doing what he was told by her employees. The morning we were to pick up she had called him not for an apology for how she handled the situation but rather to address the review he had left on happy dogs Facebook page. The entire phone call she did not recognize her own blatant rudeness rather blamed my partner for "not reading the sign " and interrupting the dogs sleeping. As a customer who was new to the process of boarding and home care you would expect Michelle to be understanding of new clients and recognize that they don't always have all the information provided to them . With this in mind there is a polite way that you can explain how things work at your facility so that there is no need to greet someone with attitude when they are just trying to explain themselves or drop off food for their dog. My partner then proceeded to go to the facility to pick up our dog as we knew that was an environment we no longer wanted to give business to . She refused to return our dog to us at 8am because it was not "the 9am pickup time" . My partner was met by her husband GUARDING the facility looking at an invisible watch on his hand stating " pick up is at 9 am. It's not 9am". After an argument she finally decided to return my dog while CONTINUING TO BELITTLE AND REPRIMAND MY PARTNER for not bringing enough food originally and asking him whether or not I would be happy with my partner due to how the situation transpired. She has a wonderful and creative way of deflecting her wrong doings onto her customers. She will probably gaslight this review and ask for it to be removed. Overall extremely unprofessional experience with michelle and her husband. I hope others don't make the same...

We were looking for a doggy daycare due to our dogs isolation anxiety. When we called, happy dog, it was clear the owner loves dogs and loves what she does. She let us know about nap time and was willing to accommodate anything he needed if he was not able to rest independently. (He did great and Michelle was on top of his need the first day). We were able to get in for an interview/temperament test within a week even around a holiday And once we passed, we able to start right away. The owner is very responsive to any questions or concerns you have. Her staff love the dogs and your furry friend gets a big hello upon arrival. Our pup comes home happy but tired and ready for cuddles and rest. Also, the packages they offer are extremely fair and worth it.

Thank...