Astro Kennels 2 — Local services in Mauldin

Was not impressed with their training aspects. I would give no stars if I could, was so disappointed. I wasted my money on them when I could have had training done with someone else. They learned nothing like I was expecting and I was expecting them to have some sort of skill down, or there behavior changed. I should have listen to a few of my friends about there training. I was expecting updates on them and how there progress was going. I literally had to call them, email them constantly for them to finally give me one picture of them in there training room. One picture and they are doing great was all I got. I was so disappointed in this, that they were not helping pet owners feel more at ease knowing there dogs are doing great while in training. One lady said they had a person who does the instagram page who will be posting pictures constantly. I went to there page constantly expecting a few updates on there trainees and there progress. I saw nothing on there page but there daycare and dock diving. It felt like they wanted to hide what they were doing and not show you updates like they werent training your dog as frequently and wasting your money. I had one friend who has a shepherd very excited, nipping problem, jumping on people, who was so happy with how transformed her dog was, that I was expecting a better outcome for mine as well. When we went to pick up the dogs and Sandy was showing us what they learned in the training room. I started to get so frustrated because all I saw was them acting like they were never trained and was definitely not impressed with it at all. They were not listening to her commands just doing there own thing and she was going along with it. One thing that really made me mad was instead of doing something about my dogs being so rambunctious and destructive in a crate while the other one was doing the training. All they did was put a chair infront of the cage acting like that would calm him down, WHICH IT DID NOTHING. He was digging, scratching the whole walls, barking out of control and they never once inforced a behavior correction for this. I also told them they were on a special diet because they have food and environmental allergies thats they are on a special food. When I dropped them off they have a problem with eating their food way to fast so I sent them with two maze bowl. When I went to get their things one bowl was ripped to shreds with holes all in it. They were pooping plastice for a solid 3 days because they left the bowls in their cages and they destroyed them. They are lucky they didnt get a blockage or I would have been extremely upset for neglect and irresponsible care. I couldnt believe how much their bowls were chewed up that I had to throw them away. There was no apology for the bowl from anyone when they handed me the bag. I would have beenn fine if someone would have been hinest with me instead of hidding it like nothing happened. As far as listening to me when I specifically told them they have allergies, the trainers were feeding them hotdogs as treats which spiked a huge allergic reaction with a bunch of hotspots all over their necks. I had to shave their necks to get it under control and they had to be on two rounds of antibiotics and in their cone for 2 weeks. I was so disappointed in there training aspects of things, and was hoping for a way better outcome in there trainer. I will never recommend anyone to get training from them as they were no help in training my pups. Now I'm having to seek a different trainer to get better training behavior for my pups that Astro could not provide me. So...

As a long time, satisfied customer of the original Astro Kennels, I'm extremely disappointed in our first visit to the new Mauldin facility. First, when we arrived to drop off our dogs, we were asked if we had brought vet records. We did not have them, since we had been customers for a long time and assumed they'd be in the system. But, I explained that we could have our vet fax them over. The woman was less than polite in telling us that the two facilities aren't affiliated and that is why they called everyone to tell them to bring in records. As we attempted to say that we had not received a call stating that, we were cut off. The woman looked at my wife with a glare and said "I'm pretty sure I talked to you." Ok.... So, I tried calling our vet (who didn't open for another 30 minutes) while the woman attempted to call Astro Kennels to have them send a copy. We ended up waiting for most of that 30 minutes in the lobby, before they would finally let us leave our dogs, as the folks at the original Astro came through. Next, she asked us what time we were picking up the dogs on Sunday. I informed her that we weren't entirely sure, as we were traveling from Virginia, but it would be within the 2 hour window of 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM that they opened up for pick-ups. As if she didn't even listen to what I said, she insisted that I give her a time we would be picking them up, as they needed to schedule their check out baths. I explained again that we couldn't say for certain, but I'd estimate 5:00 PM. I watched her write down 2:00 PM bath for one dog and 2:30 PM for the other. No problem there. Finally, we were set to go.

2 days later, we arrived home from vacation and my wife went to pick-up the dogs around 4:30 PM. Upon arrival, she was told that the dogs didn't get baths because they were marked down as staying through Tuesday. Guess what? No discount for the "included" bath that was not included. And with holiday rates, boarding for 2 dogs in 1 kennel, for 2 nights with Sunday pick-up was $190. Ouch. Merry Christmas!

A few other little details...

When we first were asked what time we would be picking them up on Sunday, they had it down as Sunday, January 7th. 2 weeks? 2 days? Same thing, right?

When we first called a month or so out to book, we were told they were full and put on a wait list. When we arrived, we were asked if they could board together, in one kennel. Of course they can, and always have. Besides, would you have space for them to be separated, considering we were previously told there was a wait list?

I don't mind a mistake or two. But the number of mix-ups in a 2 night stay, combined with the attitude we were treated with when we arrived, as well as the total cost of the stay.... I'm not sure that we'll bother with this facility again. I think we'll stick with the original Astro, as it's clear to me now that the only connection is the name.

Sincerely...

We brought our 5 month old golden for a weekend while we went on a quick trip. I had called a couple of other places and even was told by one that I wasn't a great fit for them because I asked where the dogs slept at night. The person on the phone was the nicest that we had talked with and had great customer service. Overall, Astro was very friendly and I never got a secretive vibe from them. They even took the time to listen to my 7 year old and his concerns when we dropped her off lol! He loves looking out for his little sis. Our golden is the happiest and most easy going dog I have ever had (I work with a lot of rescue) and I was worried that she may develop some fear or separation issues while we were away but she came back happy and her usual self. She was tired when we picked her up but not unhealthily so. She also was bathed nicely and everything was in her bag when we picked her up. I really appreciated how the person at the front desk shared details about her stay - just little things about how she interacted and how good she was. It wasn't just some uncaring front desk person not involved. I would have loved to have seen some photos of her during her stay but other than that I wouldn't change a thing. We will...