Barking Hound Village Marietta — Local services in Marietta

Firstly, I’m a client of BHV Training and really love their trainers and methods. Highly recommend. However, not sure I can recommend their daycare, especially for a high energy breed like mine. Admittedly, he’s only been twice: once for his compatibility day and his first full day, on which I also scheduled a bath. His compatibility day went OK: I watched on the cameras (though I advised them that the small indoor camera was offline/broken) and though the small dogs didn’t play often, it was a hot day so I thought they played inside where I couldn’t see them as much. When I picked him up at 2p, he was tired but he had also had a full day at a different facility the day before. They also sent a report card which showed both indoor and outdoor play.

However, yesterday was his first full day, and I will not be taking him back. Per the front desk assistant when asked about their schedule, they rotate the small and medium dogs every 45 min-1 hour play and rest. But from 9:30A-5:30P, I watched on the camera and the small dog only played for 1.5 hours outside. The inside camera is still offline but you can tell from the medium room camera that there was no attendant in the small room and thus no indoor play occurring. This might be OK for a small breed dog who only needs short bursts of exercise, but my 6 month puppy is incredibly active and requires more. Additionally, I am incredibly suspicious that my puppy was crated the entire day except for his grooming appointment. Though I did watch the cameras, I never actually saw him on camera. The small outdoor camera is further away, and my dog is black so he can appear similar to other small black dogs from far away. In the morning, I figured he was just being groomed so I didn’t worry too much about it. And in the afternoon, I think I saw him but upon his behavior last night, I’m unsure. I also received no report card, so the entire day they didn’t take any pictures of him. That’s what makes me believe he was crated the whole day, especially as he was incredibly hyper upon coming home. He usually puts himself to sleep at 845-9p every night, no matter whether he’s been to daycare or just been exercised with me during the day, but he was awake and expending energy until 11p last night. He also did not want to be crated, which is unusual because he enjoys his crate. Obviously I can’t be 100% sure that he was crated all day but from the 10 hours he was there, I can be certain he was crated for at least 6 of them. The large and medium dogs were outside far longer but had no indoor play, and I can be certain of that since their cameras all work. I want to be clear that I do think rest is important at daycare, but I believe that the dogs are crated too...

I had a very bad experience with grooming my Golden Doodle (Archie) at the Barking Hound Village East Cobb (Marietta) location. Archie has been getting groomed at this location since he was a couple of months old. He is little more than 1.5 years of age now. We ensure that we take him for grooming between 7 and 8 weeks as per the recommendation of the groomer. We also brush him more or less on daily basis to make sure that he is not heavily matted/tangled. The previous groomer was an excellent in handling Archie. He was patient, meticulous and always used to put his best efforts to detangle Archie as much as possible before shaving. Considering that an attractiveness of a Golden Doodle is its fur, the prior groomer always made sure to retain the fur in his face, ears and tail. However, we had a horrible experience when we sent Archie for grooming last time on 8th Jan 2024. His last grooming before 8th Jan was on 20th Nov 2023, so that gap is almost 7 weeks. When I dropped Archie, I was informed that there is a new groomer as the old one left for a better offer. The new groomer (Brandy) was at the facility so I spoke with her and explained her our expectation and the previous manner in which Archie used to get groomed. She observed few areas that were matted, so I was okay to shave those selective areas but I requested her to retain the fur / hair in his face, ears and tail to a good extent as there was no or minimal tangling in these areas. When I went back in the evening to pick Archie, I was shocked to see him. The groomer has completely shaved him to the bare skin. Archie doesn’t even look like a Golden Doodle. This is very disheartening and disappointing. Brandy (new groomer) didn’t made any efforts at all to save his fur and simply shaved everything. It is evident that she doesn’t know how to groom a Golden Doodle. She didn’t call during the day to let me know that she will be shaving like that, in that case I would have asked her not to do and we could have look for other grooming options. I will honestly request all of you to decide judiciously before you take your dog for grooming to Brandy at the Barking Hound Village East Cobb (Marietta) location. I am attaching a few pictures - a couple of them after the last grooming on 20th Nov 2023 and one from the recent grooming on 8th Jan 2024, so you can see the difference. My husband spoke to the facility manager (Jeremy), but he kept on defending Brandy instead of apologizing or accepting the mistake by the groomer.

Please note that we keep Archie at this location for boarding and it is perfectly fine. I might continue to send Archie for boarding in this location but never for grooming again as long as...

I am so beyond frustrated with this facility right now. I prefer to board my dogs at my clinic but a last minute change left no space for them until the 24th. I called well in advance when making the reservation to ask about pricing, if medications could be given, play-time, etc and was not only told they could accommodate this but allowed to book. I pre-packed all of their food, medications are incredibly simple and really just need to be put together in a pill pocket outside of one dog’s Entyce and another’s inhaler. Drop goes okay and it’s radio silent unless I call to check on them.

Tried picking them up 15 minutes after they opened this morning before work and not a single employee was up front or in the back that was available to assist. I know this because I knocked on their door and another client waiting to drop off for daycare also walked back into the employee area TWICE looking for someone. Came back during my lunch and I overpaid for their stay online so instead of asking me if I want a refund or credit, the receptionist up front just leaves it as a credit and doesn’t say anything. I wouldn’t have known had I not looked at the invoice. Then she doesn’t bring up all of their things and just lets my male run loose in the lobby without at least a slip lead on when another client is trying to drop her dog off.

The manager then has the audacity to call me after charging me over $300+ for their stay to tell me they require a very “high level of care” that the college kids he hires can’t handle. WOW. I’ve been extremely stressed with the new flu going around and had no choice but to keep them somewhere else. If the staff get overwhelmed by giving a few medications, how am I supposed to trust that they’re sanitizing everything and supervising group play properly. Lesson learned. I won’t be referring anymore clients here and I definitely won’t be bringing my dogs back for ANY services. They also don’t answer their damn phones so good...