The Dog Club — Local services in Kalispell

This is a sad review for me to write. I've taken my dogs here for a couple years now and the staff has always been caring, my dogs have enjoyed going here. I haven't used their services for probably 6 months. Today I took my dogs in and when the live cams came up, I saw my dog was wearing an e-collar. Since I had never seen them use one, I called to make sure that the collar wasn't capable of shocking, and was assured multiple times that they are only vibration collars, and do not shock. She also told me the collar wouldn't be on for long periods. I was keeping an extra eye on the camera, to make sure she wasn't having a bad reaction, and saw her (white dog in right hand corner, you have to click the video to see the whole thing) have a very strong reaction to the collar. I immediately called and spoke to the owner, who again stated they don't use shock collars, just vibrate. I asked her to take off the collar immediately, and let her know I was on my way to pick up my dogs.

When I got there, she stated that my dogs reaction was because that was the first time it had vibrated, even though she had been wearing it for at least 3 hours, around barking dogs. When I asked to see one of the collars, the story changed to "some of our collars do have the capability to shock, but we don't use that" She did seem to feel bad when I showed her the video, and said "Oh, and she was just standing there"

I was then taken into the "back" where we met with the lead trainer, who told me the collar had not been on the whole time, but had been taken off and put back on, which I know not to be true from 1000 on. When asked, from a business standpoint why would they purchase the more expensive shock collars, instead of the ones that just beep and vibrate if they werent going to use that functionality, nobody had a response for that.

I don't know if this was an accident, if they know they shock them, or if my dog just had a strong reaction to the vibration, but I do know that after this sort of reaction the collar should not have been put back on at all, that they lied about the shock capability of the collars, and about how long my dog had one on.

I trimmed the video so the staff can't be seen, because I have never met a staff member (aside from now the 2 ladies and head trainer) that I felt I couldn't trust. The staff member watching my dog did immediately run to her and take off the collar to change something on it before putting it back on. The staff here has always been great, and I do truly believe they care for the dogs.

Regardless, these collars are not appropriate for training in this setting. My dog wasn't barking, or even moving when the shock or vibration happened. I suggest changing your policy so that dog owners are notified when a "training collar" will be used, and above all, honesty when answering questions about the capabilities of the collar. If, when I called in the morning, I was told the truth, we would have been able to figure this out and I would be a returning customer for years to come. A simple "we'll make sure that she has the vibration only collar" and then follow through, would have fixed it 😭 sad to say, but my dogs...

Extremely Disappointed and Concerned About Safety Practices

I had taken my 9-month-old Rottweiler to The Dog Club for several months, trusting that he was in a safe and professionally managed environment. Unfortunately, I later learned that the owner had knowingly allowed a highly reactive—borderline aggressive—Sheltie to interact with the general dog population for over two years. I first became aware of this dog’s unstable behavior during a Saturday class led by one of the trainers, and I had hoped the situation was being responsibly managed. It was not.

Eventually, I received a call notifying me that my pup had been involved in an “altercation.” What actually happened was far more serious. The reactive/agitating Sheltie had gotten into an altercation with another dog and then rebounded into my Rottie, and when my dog tried to set a boundary, the Sheltie escalated which ended in my pup defending himself. My dog was left traumatized, shaking, tail between his legs, dumped his water and laid in it to calm himself, confused and scared. He later had visible scabs on his neck after the encounter. As is often the case, the larger dog was unfairly blamed and was not allowed back at the Dog Club ( Which for the record, I would not take him there again regardless after the way this was handled).

The fact that this Sheltie had a long history of reactivity—and was still being allowed to roam freely among other dogs—is completely unacceptable. Using the general dog population as a “buffer” for this Sheltie’s behavior was reckless and dangerous. Most reputable daycares would never allow this dog to remain in group settings, let alone for two years.

To make matters worse, when I met with the owner to express my concerns, she took absolutely no accountability. Her proposed “solution” was to isolate my Rottie pup (who is at a crucial phase in his social development) behind a gated area where he could watch other dogs play, while a staff would spend one hour a day with him—an arrangement she admitted was also being used for the Sheltie going forward. In other words, my well-adjusted, social dog was being punished for defending himself against an unstable dog who should never have been in group play in the first place. Addendum: The sheltie did not "nip" per response or my pup would not have scabs, the Sheltie aggressed other dogs in Saturday school who were not in tact Suzanne, this is on you not your staff, I rest my case on no accountability. No other daycare would take the Sheltie knowing it's behavior.

The Dog Club failed my dog, and I would strongly caution other dog owners—especially those with large breeds—to think twice before trusting this facility with their...

I dislike having p to write this review as we came to the Dog Club for both daycare and grooming several times as it’s conveniently located near my house and work. Well, our first incident was dog coming home with a bleed on her chest after being at daycare all day. The staff was kind in caring for the situation (although they had no idea how it happened) and gave me a free day for the future. My big gentle Newfoundland attended daycare frequently until a new employee showed up and stated that she couldn’t come back due to “being aggressive and not spayed). I travel with my dog frequently and she at many boarding and daycare facilities around the state with 0 issues. So we started to go elsewhere for daycare which was fine because my dog loves access to the outside and DOG Club does not provide any outside access. My final straw was just this past week, I had a grooming appt for which I typically drop offf before work as pick up when she’s done. I called the morning of and stated I could drop at 7:50 or 8:45 and to call me back - no one called back and when I attempted to drop off at 8:30 the same employee who stopped us from daycare was rude and refused my grooming appt. That we had waited 6 weeks for, bummer. I’m now finding a new groomer and we’ve already switched daycare to a facility with kind employees, access to outside, and daily enrichment activities. Goodbye DOG Club a we’re not sorry to leave. New employees are disrespectful and dogs deserve access to fresh air, room to run around, and not peeing/pooping directly...