Pet Paradise St. Johns - WGV — Local services in Nocatee

If you just want somewhere to leave your dog for the weekend and know they are safe, this place is good for that. If you need anything else during their reservation - don’t bother. I boarded my dog about a month ago (Friday - Monday) and made a grooming reservation for Sunday. Sunday the groomer called out. I asked them to do it Monday, and was told “she’s booked already and the next availability is two weeks from now.” People that were canceled on should have gotten in the next day, not have to wait weeks - it isn’t our fault their staff called out. I boarded her again this weekend (Thursday - Monday) again, made an online grooming reservation. Picked her up and found out they just gave her a bath. Why? Because apparently their online grooming reservations are only for baths…(??) even though there’s option for actual grooming services, where you upload pictures and give details on the cut you want them to give.

The excuse I was given today was that grooming reservations come through as baths and you have to CALL to make an actual grooming reservation. No where on the website does it say to call but days say you can do it online. Then claimed the actual grooming reservation was changed to the 20th. This was not done by me (funny at first you can’t see the reservation, not claim it’s there on the 20th? Which is it??) The worst part? There was another customer in the lobby when I picked up my dog that had the exact same issue. Additionally my dogs shots expired the third day she was there - I had an appointment with her vet after I picked her up. The staff said I was required to have it done by them while she was there. So they made sure to give her those shots, but didn’t bother with anything else I asked of them.

Long story short - they are great for boarding but their service for anything else sub par to say the least. Don’t have an option for grooming online if it isn’t going to be done, or if you actually have to call. Customers don’t know how your system works on the backend, we only see and can do what’s available to us...

We just boarded our intact Boxer there for 3 days and unfortunately, I can't recommend it (for boarding) to others. We paid extra to have him taken out 4 times on Saturday. I checked the cameras probably 12-15 times throughout the day on Saturday, and never once saw him let out. It could have been coincidence, but I really doubt it. We tried calling a couple times and no one answered on Saturday afternoon. On Sunday, I did catch him being let out, but the person who let him out sat down during the play time and didn't do anything with him. When he tried to engage her (in true boxer fashion by jumping on her), she pushed him away and stood up so he would leave her alone. Never saw her throw a toy or anything. Boxers are high energy dogs and he had been cooped up in the kennel for hours; all he wanted was some engagement/play time.

Additionally, as mentioned by another reviewer, it's pretty clear that my dog wouldn't use his patch of turf in his kennel to go to the bathroom, so when we picked him up, he really had to urinate (and did so all in the lobby). When we got him home it almost seemed like he had a UTI, because he kept trying to urinate and nothing would come out, but the next day he seemed better. I could tell via one of the cameras that when he got let out on Sunday, he urinated for a long time, so he definitely wasn't using his kennel turf patch to go. If you feel like your dog would do the same, I'd be hesitant on boarding him.

To sum it up, if your dog can't play with other dogs due to not being fixed or not playing well with others, I wouldn't recommend boarding them here. They won't get the attention they need and they won't get true "play time". I get why they don't want an intact male playing with other females, but don't understand why they wouldn't let him play with other male dogs that were staying there. Also, if you don't believe your dog will use the (very small) patch of turf in the kennel to urinate, etc, then I also wouldn't board them here, because they won't get consistent or timely...

I have used PP for boarding my 11 year old lab mix several times, but this is the first time I've boarded with the WGV location (I normally use Saint Augustine or Durbin Park). Checkin went great and the staff is very friendly. When I checked on our dog throughout our trip I was surprised by the volume of dogs at this facility. Full capacity was VERY full and the play yards were very crowded. I booked with SA location during Spring Break of last year and they either have a smaller capacity facility or more people working and are able to spread the dogs out to more yards, I don't know. My dog is on the anxious side so if I had known, I would have probably opted for her NOT to be given play time with the other dogs--which I'm sure would have cost extra. She usually will come home with a cough, but I understand that's sometimes part of boarding. Happily, she had no cough this time, but she did have diarrhea and vomiting. I don't blame the facility, as she's just a nervous dog and sometimes it's a risk you take when boarding anxious pets. She did have some feces on her when we picked her up (never happened before) so I would probably elect for the bath next time--baths are usually stressful for her so I opt to give her one at home to make it easier on her. We took her to our Vet who gave us some medication to help get her tummy 'right' again and she is already doing much better. All-in-all they kept her safe, but my advice would be this: If you have an anxious dog, you may want to hire a pet-sitter; they may not do well being boarded. If you have to board, then I would ask how many dogs are in a play yard or take a tour, first, and then perhaps opt for no group play, as it can be overwhelming given the potential volume at this facility. It may be difficult for staff to monitor your one dog and recognize he/she isn't eating. I took away a star because I felt they could have reached-out and told us about the diarrhea and we could have had their vet give her some meds for it. Hope this...