Best Friends Fur Ever — Local services in Joppatowne

I highly recommended you reconsider other options. We took our very healthy, happy, puppy to this facility for a 20 day board/train program. She completed week 1. She came home almost lethargic, which we chalked up to lots of exercise/mental stimulation. We found a cut on her lip which they failed to notice and had no explanation for. Her training reports were filled out, but her meal consumption wasn’t consistently. We would have to verify that she was eating. Her report cards on 2-3 occasions referred to her as a him. Our dogs name is Sawyer, so it’s gender neutral, but also when you pay close to 1600$ for a program, Its a small ask that the staff know the gender of a dog staying in their care for 20 days. Week 2 ended, we received pictures daily. Only 1-2 of them showed her looking happy and I started to get a bad feeling. I spoke with her trainer, who said she was a joy to work with, unlike many other dogs who he had personally “made up all kinds of bad names for because their owners weren’t as diligent as we were and it was frustrating”. This worried me some as she is a pup and isnt always perfect, but he seemed to like her so I let it slide. I got a note saying she had diarrhea in her crate twice overnight (she had never had an accident in her crate at home) I was told the one overnight staff must have been busy and missed her asking to go out. I wasnt told until I called if she/her crate was clean, or if she was sick still. Shortly after we got a call saying Sawyer had developed “crate rub” that morning and had a sore on the top of her nose. Our vet confirmed this wasnt a fresh wound. She is happy in her crate at home and enjoys her quiet time in there. They asked if they could move her to a “large plastic run” to which we agreed. We got a call shortly after saying that she was injured and they would like her to see a vet. My gut feeling was to pick her up for good. We were there in 15 minutes to get her. We walked into the place and the manager tried to hustle us outside away from other clients and I declined. I wanted to pick her up and leave. When we got to her. She was in an office with 4-5 people, on a thin blanket on the floor and barely lifted her head. Her female trainer that had otherwise been personable, would not even make eye contact with us. No one there would. I asked what they had given her because she appeared to be sedated and they said nothing. They declined to allow us to see the plastic enclosure but assured us that her injury was cause by “jumping up and down”. She’s a Belgian Malinois, strong, healthy and fit. She jumps plenty at home and plays with her brother and has never had an injury. We went directly to our vet who confirmed that he also agreed she had been sedated. He also suspected that her leg injury was sustained by having her leg caught in something, or having it pulled in the opposite direction. They refunded our training fee, which was appropriate as she hadn’t learned anything in the two weeks she was there. The best I could say was that she seemed calmer but sad all the time and miserable when it was time to go back. We had a vet bill totalling 350-400$ which they will not pay for because we agreed dogs can sometimes sustain injuries. We inferred this meant a scratch here and there or something mild. Not that our otherwise happy/healthy pup would not be able to use her leg. Sawyers spirit is hurt. She is not the same dog that went to that place. We later learned they used training techniques such as the alpha roll, and face harnesses. They denied this but we were able to see from a picture that she had some sort of device on her face as there was a distinct line in her fur. We also heard from several previous employees that what you see on the outside is not what you get on the inside. Sawyer had a rough start in life and it’s unfortunate that something that should have been a good experience, further broke her trust in people. Please care enough for you baby to seek a safe, happy environment. There are too many dogs here for proper personal care, money is the...

Update to review: Kelly, the owner of BFFE, reached out to me on Saturday to check on Otis and provide us with additional information her staff were able to gain from reviewing their facility tapes. Once she became involved, we had all necessary information to support our vet’s decision-making. Kelly continued to check in on Otis over the next day via text. We are so lucky to have been able to bring our boy home today to recover here. Our vet bill increased significantly, as Otis needed an additional night’s stay. After we brought Otis home, Kelly reached out to say that she would be covering the full cost of Otis’s ER care AND his vet follow up care (one visit for X-rays next week) AND they would refund our stay. These were not things I requested or suggested. This practice and their apology/kindness in his recovery indicates to me that our experience was very likely a fluke, so I am adjusting our review to reflect the more positive outcome. Kelly also shared that she is bringing in more staff to make sure this never happens again. This update was not requested of me by anyone, but I do not want to exist as an outlier in their largely positive reviews without the additional information especially when they are working so hard to make changes and I really do believe Kelly and her staff care for the dogs in her daycare. (portions edited to fit required characters) I am writing this as my dog is checked in overnight at the Animal Emergency Hospital in Bel Air 24 hours after his stay in Joppa. Otis, our 1 year old healthy boxer was dropped off Tuesday at 12:30. We returned and picked him up Thursday at 6:00 pm. He again had no report card. No pictures. From a two day stay. We had no reception during our trip, so I called to check on him while I was in town twice, getting no answer. After the facility closed, we did get a frustrated retuned call from a young woman saying he “was fine and they would have called if there was a problem.”

I called Thursday evening around 6:30 pm following pickup to find out about the missing report cards and pictures, as Otis’ behavior was a little lethargic and my husband was pushed out the door so quickly at pickup with the assurance that “notes will be in the report card.” (They also did not return our additional bag of dog food, but assured us he was fed the diet we provided). I was told that they would hunt down the stay information and call me by Friday (the next) afternoon. Around 10 pm (4 hours after pickup), Otis vomited. He was lethargic and retching most of the next morning so I called around 9 am to ask specifically if he had been sick. They assured me someone would call back. By lunch, no one had. I called again after lunch. Amanda spoke to me around 3 and indicated that she was still looking for report card notes, but assured me he had not been sick while he was there. It was also suggested I medicate Otis for his nausea and that “it couldn’t hurt.” She assured me she would call back with the information on Otis’s stay by close of business. It is now midnight and I have not received that promised call.

I called our regular vet after being assured that Otis had not been sick at the facility and due to the late notice, I couldn’t get an appointment until Monday. Otis continued to vomit, so at 8 pm, I took him to the Animal Emergency Hospital in Bel Air. Much of the forms I was unable to fill out, due to having no report card or stay feedback.

The number of dogs being supervised at a time (based on my camera observation and their inability to process report cards and track down handler notes) is more than they can handle. The follow through and communication is so poor I will never trust them with the care of my dog again. At this point I paid $180 for a two night stay to BFF that resulted in $1200 in Emergency vet bills. BFF came highly recommended by two trusted friends who used them several years ago, but I can assure anyone looking for a facility that things have...

We initially looked into BFFE for training, but by now we have utilized all of their other services as well -- daycare, boarding, and grooming -- and we've had really great experiences with everything.

When I was researching reviews and recommendations for a dog trainer, I came upon several people (through a neighborhood Facebook page) who highly recommended Catalina at BFFE. During the initial consultation visit, I could already tell that she was a great trainer because she had our big, stubborn, bernedoodle puppy's attention almost immediately! Catalina listened to our family's needs and goals that we were looking to accomplish for the training. At home, we had worked on very basic commands, but with work and kids keeping us busy, we knew we needed professional help as we didn't have the time or resources to properly and consistently train (this was our fourth doodle, so we're not inexperienced but needed more help this time around). Catalina recommended the 6-week honors program, which our doodle is actually finishing this week. We started noticing a big difference by the second week of training. Our doodle was quicker to respond to commands, and the weekly owner lessons helped to reinforce and transfer the knowledge. Catalina gave great advice during those sessions and even some helpful tips, tricks, and training tools. The online training portal with videos and reading material was also a nice supplement. We love that training included social play -- it has helped tremendously with his socialization and exercise. Our pup comes home tired and happy every day, and every member of our family has a better relationship and stronger bond as a result of the training. We will certainly take everything we've learned during our lessons and continue the work at home, but we're so happy that Catalina has given him a very good foundation on which we can build.

As a general review of BFFE, they have a phenomenal staff who have all been really wonderful. The names I remember off the top of my head are Jonah, Myrandha, Melissa, Maddy, and Regina. By the second visit, the staff already knew our pup and greeted him by name. They really treat their four-legged guests like family and care about them as much as their families do, which is so important to us. When our pup was out for an extended time due to a relatively minor health issue, we received a wonderful get-well care package with dog treats, toys, and goodies. It was such an unexpected and thoughtful touch! Front desk is always so warm and friendly -- they take their time answering questions and getting reservations booked quickly and easily. The kids love watching our pup through the doggy cams during play time, and if any issues or concerns arise, the staff are quick to call us. We're so glad we found BFFE -- we know we will be part of them for a...