Sniff Dog Hotel Beaverton — Local services in Beaverton

We had our wood floors refinished and the contractor told us no dogs allowed on the floor for a solid week while it cured. We made reservations at the Sniff location in Beaverton, OR. The only other time we've boarded our dog (a boisterous young male German Shepherd), we used a different kennel that was much farther away, so we liked the idea of something closer.

The good: The facility is absolutely spotless, with a very attractive lobby and extremely nice employees who obviously care about dogs. It's conveniently located (for us, anyway), and very spacious. We reserved the only space available for that week, the "penthouse," at $88/night, and it was a very good-sized space. There's a webcam available for owners so that they can look in on their dogs at any time.

The OK: Our penthouse included "dog videos," whatever those are, played on an in-room television. I have no idea whether they were actually running during our dog's stay. Certainly he paid absolutely no attention to the TV that we could see, so I'm not sure what the value might have been.

Our dog is intact (my partner intends to breed him when he's a bit older), and apparently the rule is that intact dogs cannot be put in with the other dogs. Instead, we had "private service" which meant our dog's only contact with humans was whoever came to feed him or let him potty. Once we saw someone making him "sit" to have a treat, but that was it.

The employees seemed a bit disorganized; I filled out the application, was told everything was fine, then on the morning of the stay was asked to bring in extra paperwork. Not a huge problem, but it would have been more convenient to do it the first time around.

It turned out our dog needed some additional vaccinations (we'd misunderstood the vet and thought the rabies injection was good for 3 years when it was an annual vaccination). The front desk told us that since our dog was "private service" anyway and wouldn't encounter other dogs, it would be OK to leave him and get the vaccines from our regular vet.

About an hour later they called to say that no, the hotel manager said it was NOT OK, and if we didn't come pick the dog up right now and take him to an emergency clinic for vaccinations, he couldn't stay. We dropped everything, spent the next three hours at the emergency vet, waiting for vaccinations.

Obviously, it was our fault about the vaccinations, but it was aggravating that hotel personnel didn't seem to be on the same page.

The not great

We won't use Sniff again, not for any of the above, but because, as my partner said, our dog's room bore a close resemblance to an isolation cell at the county jail--barren and empty. The first night, he didn't have food, water, or bedding for nearly six hours. I called, texted, and emailed to ask about it (apparently no one comes to the phone after 7pm), and finally was told that the problem had been rectified.

Even then, however, our dog was extremely bored and unhappy. He was let out twice daily to relieve himself, but we'd expected that he'd have some playtime outside or in a play area. Instead, he was stuck inside that glass box and given minimal attention.

Sniff couldn't take our dog for the full time, so we transferred him back to the farther-away kennels (Cooper Mountain) for the rest of his stay. At Cooper Mountain, he had regular outings in grassy outdoor dog runs, with obstacle courses and wading pools to play in, and kennel personnel romped with him. Better still, Cooper Mountain was exactly half the price of Sniff--we wish we'd just gone there for the entire trip.

So....Sniff certainly isn't a bad place, especially if you're talking city dogs that rarely leave the apartment. But our dog goes hiking and fishing and climbing with us, and he needs more stimulation than bare walls. We'll go back to...

DO NOT TAKE YOUR DOG HERE!! I always believe in first impressions and this one was absolutely terrible! Previous to my visit I called to plan a tour as I was interested in boarding my three pups here, the next day Saturday 5/14/2022 at around 1045-11 I drove about 45 min to visit snif Beaverton. As I walk in employees were slamming doors and yelling, the front desk lady told me they weren’t able to tour us since she was the only one up front and couldn’t make any accommodations , but yet didn’t proceed to ask another employee to help us. At the same time a short girl with curly brown hair came busting through a door saying they don’t give out tours and don’t know why you came out here on a weekend. She also yelled out that they are short staffed and had nobody to help us. She was very negative and rude!! Never even stopped walking to give us the time of day to have a real conversation. They way I see it is If they are rude and don’t want to give their human customers the time of day, how are they treating peoples fur babies!! I would never ever leave my babies with people like this!! My babies have special diet and behavioral needs and would never trust them to take quality care of them just based off of this interaction. Good workers are hard to find and this company is...

I wouldn't even give this place a single star if I could help it. Previously, we had great experiences at the location in the Pearl. However, we just picked up our dog today from this location in Beaverton, and it was a horrifying experience for my dog and myself as a dog owner.

Firstly, the staff did not store the raw food appropriately in the freezer despite leaving instructions with a supervisor. Instead, they did not store in the food in the freezer. A huge failure on their part to follow through with instructions for staff. I am shocked that they would even feed my dog raw food that could have potentially been rotten. I hope she does not have any health issues or gets sick because of this.

Secondly, our dog came back bald. The staff called me to notify me that they were going to give her a trim due to her hair being matted. However, my dog came back bald.

Overall, huge failure to adhere to owner's instructions. I will never utilize this...