Camp Bow Wow Byron Center — Local services in Byron Township

We have 3 pups who have gone to Camp Bow Wow Katy, TX and CBW Pearland, TX their whole lives. We recently moved up to MI and needed a place to board them. I understand that CBW's are franchises and each may operate differently, but I was so disappointed both times we boarded our pups.

We boarded them over Thanksgiving and Christmas. The Thanksgiving stay wasn't horrible. We noted that the staff is rude both in person and on the phone. They're dealing with staff shortages too, so we tried to not let their bad attitudes affect us.

When we boarded them over Christmas, however, we were incredibly upset. I called to check to see why our dogs were not out in the yard yet (it was 9,9:30am and I hadn't seen them yet that day). When I called to inquire, the employee mixed my dog up with another dog. His name is Henry, but she was like "the dalmatians and Zeke right?" Umm,, I surely hope you didn't board my dogs with another dog (they looked really similar). I was then told that they would go out soon, don't worry.

2 hours later, I call AGAIN, and she said they'll be out soon don't worry. Boarding 3 dogs is really expensive. I want them to be able to exercise. I asked for a discount because they didn't get the full day and she told me no. She was incredibly rude and short with me.

Finally we got back to pick them up. Our 3 dogs are named Charlie, Stella, and Henry. As we were leaving, one employee said "bye, Sadie!" My dogs had been there for nearly 2 weeks. How could you get her name wrong?

Charlie was also given his kidney medicine way too early. We picked them up at 4 and he had already been given his medicine. He is supposed to be given it at 6am and 6pm. Who knows when they gave it to him. It's supposed to be given with a meal and i specifically stated no lunch so.... they didn't give it to him properly.

The biggest issue, however, was that they FORGOT TO GIVE US CHARLIE'S KIDNEY DISEASE MEDICINE BACK! We live nearly 3 hours away. They called right before closing to tell us "umm... looks like we forgot to pack Charlie's medicine... you can come get it." Mind you, he needs this medicine every 12 hours. I simply could not make a 6 hour round trip. I called, no apology from the worker, and demanded they ship it overnight to me.

The manager left me a voicemail essentially blaming his employees rather than taking ownership of the situation. He didn't offer a discount or anything either (not that I would take it).

I am sharing this because I want y'all to be aware of the lack of empathy at this franchise. I strongly suggest you...

*Response to camp bow wow:

I am shocked that you would make such a false and arrogant claim. I understand it’s common for people to fall victim to places like this, heck I did(one of my few regrets in life). Some people have standards for the care of their pets. Those people do not take their pet to camp bow wow. I just wish more people with horrible experiences voiced there experiences vs people being pressured to write positive reviews to mask the reality of this place. The response to my previous review by camp bow wow is even “cringe worthy”. My dog regularly attends AMC of Wyoming, Kim’s k9, and whiskers pet spa/day care and has for 4years. These places are absolutely incredible(over 250 visits combined and not one issue) . From the professionalism and transparency of the staff and owners to the commitment of building and maintaining a healthy, safe, CLEAN and STRESS FREE ENVIRONMENT for all dogs. A company culture that is non existent with camp bow wow. If you take your dog to camp Bow Wow and they come home and are extremely thirsty and fall right to sleep, it’s not because they were having a wonderful time playing /standing with a dozen(s) other dogs. It’s because they were locked in a pen with a dozen(s) of dogs in an extremely stressful and anxiety ridden environment. With many dozens of doggy day cares in the area(all of which are far superior to camp bow wow) and history of camp bow wow, it’s a no brained why they are so desperate for customers and the amount of marketing, fake reviews, cheap yards signs tossed all over the city shows this. I would expect the retention of customers here is very low, probably the lowest in west Michigan. Hopefully the state/attorney general shuts this place down soon and charges the owners as appropriate. Since my original review, I have met at least 6 people who share very similar experiences to mine. That’s now 100% of people I met that have brought their dog there at least 4-5 times.

Don’t be mislead or fooled. If you are a good dog parent you will at least explore alternative options to camp bow wow.

Original review: Horribly ran business. Very unprofessional. They're many dog daycares in the area. I strongly suggest not making the same mistake I and many other...

PET OWNER BEWARE, LOCATION DOES NOT DISCLOSE SHORTENED SUNDAY DAY CAMP. This was my first time bringing my two dogs to this Camp Bow Wow for day camp since we were visiting family in the area for the day. I had spoken to an employee about a week in advance to make sure my reservation was all set and she let me know that they were open from 7-10a and 4-7p. I was ok with that since we were able to drop off and pick up during those times. Come the day of drop off and I go to check the cameras later in the day to watch my dogs around 11:30a… no dogs out. I then check around 1:30p… no dogs out. I go to check again around 2:30p and still no dogs out…I started thinking maybe their cameras are having issues so I call and have to leave a message because they said they’d be closed from 10-4p. I get a call back around 3:30p and they told me it was a split shift day and the dogs only play from 7-10a and then from 4-5p… WHAT??!! So I dropped my dogs off wanting them to play all day as advertised but they ended up only getting about 2 hours of playtime?! I know I shouldn’t assume, but any rational person would think that the dogs were still playing but the lobby was closed to the public… right? A lot of day camps do this, so I thought nothing of it. I think they could tell I was upset because when I went to pick up my dogs the front desk girl told me she only charged me 1/2 day for both of them because of the mix-up. Not anywhere did they advertise that dogs do not get their normal full day of playtime on Sunday’s. Nothing on their website, no notice at the check-in/out area and I was certainly not told verbally. If I would have known this, I would have gone somewhere else. I have gone to numerous Camp Bow Wow locations around the country and this has been my first disappointment with the chain. DO NOT TAKE YOUR DOGS TO DAY CAMP ON...