The Best Little Dog House In Texas — Local services in Houston

Bait and switch pricing. Long grooming time with appointment. The groom was good. The dog's hair had an even cut all around, and his coat looked healthy after the wash.

UPDATE: the owner has responded, so I have amended with my final response.

Took my dog here for grooming recently. When I initially called, they gave me a price of $70 on the phone, based on the weight of the dog, and an appointment time. Front desk lady gave me the same price of $70 again upon dropping off the dog AND after meeting the groomer. Didn't get called when grooming was ready, showed up 3 hours later to inquire and the dog had "just finished being groomed". Upon pickup, price went up $30. Different Front Desk lady told me price is based on his height, not weight, and that the groomer sets the price. I asked why didn't the groomer tell that to me when I dropped off the dog? To which they could not answer, just that the other people on the phone/working front desk were incorrect and they were sorry for the incorrect information.

The cut was good but not $100 good for a 3 hour appointment. Petco does just as good of a job for less money and in quicker time. Buyer beware, trying to support local business but I will not be returning.

UPDATE: it seems they have responded (and still have not attempted to contact me to make this situation better). First of all, I had requested a full groom from the onset and they suggested the furminator package, which I accepted. I received a $70 quote, (now it's $65. see the issue I'm having with bait and switch pricing?). I am actually unsure of my dog's mix, so the vet went with a default of German Shepherd but he is more of a blue heeler mix. I will make sure I update my vet's records. 49lbs is porky weight for a blue heeler. But lets go ahead and use an inaccurate weight of the dog (I just weighed him, he is still 43lbs). Where are these prices listed? Not on any brochures they offer when you walk in, so lets check the website. It says $70, and it says dogs up to 70lbs/25" height. Whatever measurement they went by, my dog is under 70lbs and 25". So now there are classes of small, medium and large dogs. Read this again folks, B-A-I-T A-N-D S-W-I-T-C-H.

There was zero communication about this prior to picking up and paying for the dog. Remember, I had to show up on my on accord to pick up my dog at closing (they close at 5pm on Saturdays, I showed up at 4:50pm because I had not heard anything and it was not a short drive to this location for me). The owner is apologizing for any unanswered questions I had when I left.. but there were no unanswered questions. They told me it was misinformation provided by the person on the phone and ultimately a bad estimating process (that now they are hopefully going to address). I will repeat: At pickup I asked why it was more and I was told its based on height. I have a tape measure, I can measure my dog's height. Yet this was not communicated on the phone, they still asked for a weight. I can't stress their lack of communication resulted in the customer paying more. I provide an up to date weight, yet in the response they are clearly stating the weight is only for estimating AND that it is used for final determination. Can you, the reader, tell which one it is? Height or weight which makes the final determination? Then they see the dog, and can tell its not a large dog, yet they still charge magical large prices without saying anything when I am there, with my dog, consulting with the front desk lady AND the groomer. I definitely do not plan on returning here now and will be sticking to my vet for all future groomings.

Bottom line: If you go here, make sure you get your quote in writing before you turn around and leave. I have reduced my rating further due to the passive-aggressive nature of the owner's response, posting information about my pet on a public forum, and lack of any attempt to actually reach out to me to resolve my displeasure. Heed the warnings from other reviewers, your experience may be...

We've taken Louis to The Best Little Dog House in Texas since he was about 6 months old. David and I started taking him to BLDHTX during the work week because we both work full days and at times late nights, so we knew we wanted to give Louis the opportunity to socialize and have fun with other pups while we were at work. The reasons we chose BLDHTX over other doggie daycares in the area were because of 1) its close proximity to Downtown Houston, 2) its cage-free aspect, 3) their friendly and caring employees, and 4) their focus on small dogs. Louis is a Pomeranian and relatively small compared to other dog breeds so we didn't want him to feel overpowered or stressed-out by bigger dogs and the BLDHTX's focus on small dog breeds provides us with the relief and assurance that he's in a safe environment. We've tried out all the services provided by the BLDHTX and have been more than satisfied with them.

Day Care: As mentioned above, we've consistently taken Louis to day care since he was about 6 months old (he'll be 2 years old this Friday). He loves going there and gets excited and happy every time we drop him off at BLDHTX. We are very impressed with all the caring employees at the BLDHTX and we can tell that Louis truly loves and enjoys seeing them, particularly Eric and Vanessa. :-) One thing that sets the BLDHTX apart from other doggie daycares is the amazing pictures taken by Eric. I love being able to see how happy Louis is through the pictures/videos he posts to Facebook and Instagram. Eric does a great job capturing the dogs in action as well as editing them! For Louis, daycare is a must because he is still very playful and gets easily bored when left alone.

Boarding: For the occasions we do have to leave our fur-baby behind, we board him at the BLDHTX. They provide us with email updates on how he's doing and we feel very comfortable knowing that he's being cared for by people he's already familiar with and dogs he already plays with. We feel good knowing that he won't be cooped up in a cage (which he hates!) while being boarded which is unlike many other boarding places you'll find in Houston.

Grooming: We've only recently started getting Louis groomed at the BLDHTX because the groomer we previously had been using since he was a puppy was no longer available. David and I are pretty protective and picky about his grooming/furcut and we were very pleasantly surprised by how good Louis looked after his first groom there. We love that we can get everything done at one place and with people Louis is already familiar and comfortable with.

Overall, we love the BLDHTX and have been thoroughly satisfied with their services from day one. We constantly recommend BLDHTX to our friends with fur babies! We love the people there!

For us, Louis is not just a family dog; he's a family member (and fur-baby) and we trust that the Best Little Dog House in Texas will look after him with...

I took my 5 month old puppy to this place last weekend because I read some great reviews in Yelp. My puppy is very friendly and loves other people and dogs. Everybody always says that he looks "excited".

I left him at this place on Friday morning and picked him up on Sunday morning. When I got there on Sunday morning, my puppy was hiding below the sofa and the lady at the counter had to drag him out. He was scared to death and extremely dirty. He had probably been there for a while. He was shaking and barely recognized us.

I called Friday afternoon to check on him and they said he was doing fine. They said he was nervous with the older dogs at first, but then they put him with another puppy and he was playing fine. So I decided to leave him there overnight based on the feedback. Then on Saturday I called again and they said he was fine. I asked if he was playing with other dogs and they responded he was mostly keeping to himself. I was concerned about this so I called one more time later on Saturday and I explained that my dog is very friendly and playful and that it is not normal for him to keep by himself. They assured me they would play with him and try to take care of him. The person there was very polite and she said they would give him toys etc. So I believed her and left him there another night.

So it seems like the staff at this place don't know the difference between a dog that is "keeping to himself" vs a puppy that is scared to death, shaking and hiding below the sofa. My puppy WAS NOT OK. The person at the counter on Sunday said she was just there on Sundays, and that she saw the puppy there below the sofa, and just decided to leave him there. I told her I was pretty upset and I would gladly talk to the owner over the phone. Our puppy was also extremely hungry when we picked him up. Our dog is very picky with food, so it is usually difficult to get him to eat. Well, he was eating like crazy when we picked him up. I am not sure if they fed him properly or not (this is something I can't prove).

The owner called me back the same day. His main concern was justifying what they had done and trying to play down the incident. He said my puppy was probably not meant to be in daycare. He said my puppy would be "fine". The owner was not there at any time during the weekend, he did not see my puppy even one time. Yet, he was claiming that the staff did nothing wrong. He offered a free bath, which I declined. I am not taking my puppy there again. The place is very dirty and the staff don't know how to handle puppies. The worst thing is that the owner is more worried about defending his staff and playing down the incident.

If the owner had left his dog with someone else, and he had found him shaking, full of urine and dirt, and scared to death hiding beneath a sofa, I am sure he would have been upset as well. This is no way to treat a dog, let a...