Sam's Green Paw — Local services in Los Angeles

My friend and I brought my dog Bleu (1.5 years old) on Sept 1st for the doggy daycare. He was up to date on his vaccinations and had just received his annual check up. I dropped him off at 8:30 am in the primary day care room and was made aware from a friend at 10:30 am that the facility had 3 little sick dogs and had advised her not to drop off her dog. I was never contacted by the staff at the facilty. After I heard from my friend, I contacted the facility and was told my dog Bleu was not in contact with the 3 sick dogs and had not been in the same room as them. The lady at the facility informed me they had isolated the 3 sick dogs and that Bleu was happy and safe in another room and advised I could leave him there for the rest of the day. She ended up comping the price of Wednesday daycare. I brought him back Saturday from 12-5:00 pm and asked about the sick dogs. They told me the lab results were pending and they had not heard of any other sick dogs from any other dog owners. On Monday morning at 4:00 am, Bleu woke up coughing (almost choking) and could not stop. I brought him to the vet Tuesday for tests and was told by the vet that he most likely has influenza and a respiratory infection from the sick dogs. When I called back to the daycare on Tuesday, I spoke with a man saying they had still not heard about the lab results and that only 2 dogs were sick. When I asked more about the sick dogs he seemed to downplay the severity of the situation. He also reassured me that only 2 dogs had been sick and my dog Bleu was the third dog they had been notified was sick. Now, my dog Bleu has had to recieve 3 antibiotic shots, 3 days of fluid and had to spend the day at the vet under critical surveillance. I have now spent over $1000 on vet fees and have not been contacted by the daycare at all. Their response to this situation is completely unacceptable and unprofessional. Please keep you pets AWAY from here!!!! It is not worth the pain and suffering your dog...

I boarded my golden retriever for a week at Sam's a little over a month ago and had a terrible experience. I would highly discourage anyone from boarding here. My dog contracted Bordatella / kennel cough while at the facility. Sam's management handled this situation very very poorly, and it not only speaks poorly about how they do business and their character, but more importantly how little they care about animals. Sam's is supposed to check that all dogs have their Bordatella shots before boarding them and failed to do so (obviously because my dog was healthy before he got there). After taking my dog to get diagnosed at the vet, all Sam's did was offer to pay the vet bill, which was like $60 (which they still haven't reimbursed me for). And there's not much the vet can do with kennel cough unless the dog has respiratory issues bordering on pneumonia. Sam's should have offered to refund the boarding fee as well, which was about $300. I was stuck the next two weeks and it was raining outside and I could not board my dog at K9 or another boarding place obviously because I didn't want my dog to pass along what he got at Sam's. I could have elected to just board my dog at the veterinarian and passed the bill to Sam's, which would have cost thousands. All I asked was my boarding fee to be refunded. I eventually rejected the charges through Amex. Makes a great small...

Well it was great, until it wasn't. My dog is a usually well-behaved Norfolk terrier mix, but can be a little anti-social with other dogs, especially those he doesn't know well. He goes to the off-leash park daily, always without incident, but at Sam's I was told he was growling and snapping at other dogs, as a result of which they decided he wasn't welcome to stay there anymore. I was disappointed, because Sam's has always provided a perfectly safe environment for my dog when I need to travel out of town for a few days. My take away is this: Sam's (and for that matter any doggie daycare.boarding facility) isn't for every dog. Certain dogs like their space, and in a confined environment with lots of dogs, they are going to get stressed. Very social and playful dogs are welcome at Sam's, but they don;t seem to be geared up for the dog that doesn't play as well with the other kids. If your dog is like this, be aware...he or she may be getting more stressed in a doggie daycare environment than you realize, and Sam's isn't equipped to deal with less than very...