Bark ATL — Local services in Atlanta

Neutral rating because our dog didn't like it. It was our first time boarding him, so we didn't know what to expect. Our dog has anxiety, and under our care he had never stayed overnight in a kennel before. This review is not about the facility itself--which we found perfectly adequate--but our personal experience with boarding in general.

The Monday before Thanksgiving, we dropped off the dog overnight for a Temper/Obedience Check. On camera, he avoided other dogs and spent most of his time with the staff member on duty--not unlike his typical behavior at home. When we picked him up the next day, an employee informed us he was panting and whimpering quite a bit, but otherwise he was well-behaved and welcome back. The staff was friendly, attentive, and professional; and the facility was satisfactory for a dog his size (10 y/o, 100 lb St. Bernard/Walker Treeing Coonhound mix).

For Thanksgiving we dropped him off for a two-night stay while we visited family. We frequently checked the webcams and felt bad, as he was obviously distressed the whole time. He ignored the other dogs, and he was usually seen standing in one place, barking at nothing in particular. He eventually found the camera's blind spot and began to hide from it. One time he walked into the center of the room, looked directly into the camera, and pooped on the floor. He was not happy about being there.

When we picked up the dog after our holiday trip, a staff member told us he was welcome back, but we should find a place he would like better.. During the drive home, we noticed he smelt heavily of urine and had lost his voice from all the barking and whining he had been doing. At home we noticed chafing on his neck, from where it appears he had been drooling and his collar had rubbed him raw. He also showed symptoms of a UTI, prompting us to take him to the vet. His distress continued for the next few days, and it was heartbreaking to hear him cry with his vocal cords blown out.. Considering the cost of boarding and the vet bill, we would've saved about $500 and a lot of heartache if we had just taken the dog with us and gotten a pet-friendly hotel room: something to consider if you find yourself in a similar travel situation with an asocial, anxious dog. Again, the facility is acceptable, but our dog just wasn't happy there.

EDIT: a manager called me this morning after seeing my review. I will update this post after I return his call. I am changing this review from 3 to 4 stars to reflect his due diligence and follow-up, and because I don't think it's their fault our dog didn't...

I sent my dog here from September 2020 - May 2021 during the weekdays while I was at work. Pros: cameras, decent pricing, the separate rooms based on dog size, seemed to always have openings, there was one female staff member who my dog adored in particular, sometimes I received pictures of him at Bark and would see some of him on the Facebook page, my dog loved the little kiddy pool that they would put out in the yard in the summer, the staff seemed nice enough

Cons: When my dog's vaccine records expired, no one ever reached out to me to get updated vaccine records. Whenever there were new staff, there was no communication, and so it was confusing some days when I would drop off my dog and a person I've never seen before would come to my car to take my dog (this was last year when we couldn't enter the building ourselves.) When my dog got kennel cough, I notified Bark and stopped sending him immediately. Unfortunately I never brought him back after that because no one ever reached back out to make sure he was okay. It just felt like if the manager doesn't even care enough to see if my dog is okay after getting kennel cough, then why would I continue to pay to send him there? I'm not necessarily blaming Bark for my dog's kennel cough - I get it, it happens, but to not even check in to make sure he's okay after I told them why he won't be there for a while, just didn't sit right with me. The cameras were down a lot and so I felt like I was reaching out at least once a week to let them know that the cameras are not loading - they would then reset them, but it just didn't feel like I should have to be the one letting them know. The cameras would only be on until 4pm on the weekends, which didn't make any sense to me, just felt weird to not be able to see my dog after 4pm if I had to board him for the weekend. The dogs spend a lot of time indoors instead of out in the yard. I've heard of other doggy daycares having end of day report cards or holiday pictures taken at Halloween/Christmas - this is something Bark did not do the year that my dog went.

I think Bark is a fine option if you need to send your dog to daycare, but of course, no one cares about your baby as much as you do, so make sure you watch the cameras and reach out to them if you have concerns,...

It's unfortunate I have to write this review, but I hope to help other dog owners make informed choices when it comes to where to board their pup. For context, my dog is fairly timid so it takes time for him to adapt to places, so part of the reason I liked this facility is because he seemed to enjoy his time there for the most part.

Lately the cameras have been down and when I picked him up most recently after 1 night of boarding, there was a deep gash on his nose (photos attached). I was incredibly upset with the way it was handled to say the least. The person at the front desk (after collecting my payment) brings my dog out and nonchalantly remarks “oh he has a gash on his nose.” No explanation other than the cameras are down and he was being watched and wasn’t in a fight so think he may have just scratched his nose or was playing rough. My immediate thought was "no one thought it was a good idea to call me and let me know this happened." I am now about to incur additional cost bringing him to the vet as the gash is fairly deep.

I won't be bringing my dog back to this facility (at least not until the cameras are restored). They just increased the costs of boarding which I wouldn't mind paying if I was receiving better service - the cameras are down, the front desk staff was beyond unhelpful and I had a separate issue where they were recently trying to invoice me for daycare from a year ago that I had no recollection of and had to discuss with the manager to remove (because truly how are you trying to bill someone for a service you say was delivered a year ago).

Beyond that, I dropped him off with a gallon-sized ziploc full of food and when I picked him up, they couldn't locate it - said he had eaten all of it. Mind you, he only had 2 feedings from 1 day of boarding and they told me they hadn't fed him that morning. The cherry on top after this incident was I was late to work and a meeting, in addition to being out of expensive dog food, and now having to coordinate and pay for a trip to the vet. I was not offered a refund or any payment for my dog's injury which occurred at...