No Leash Needed — Local services in O'Fallon

UPDATE REVIEW 2/19/2025: Since new management within the last year, things have gone downhill. Front desk staff is overworked and understaffed. Often there is only one person to check in dogs, answer phones, etc. Since I don’t go in the back with the dogs, I can’t speak to whether or not they are understaffed in the yards. However, it appears there are too many dogs per staff member.

My dog had been going to day camp, but after several months of attending, I was told he eats poop and would have to be separated since they could not prevent him from eating poop in the play yard. Gross, I know…but not uncommon dog behavior. Wish I was informed of this earlier. I had no idea and thought he had digestive issues. Even took him to the vet who started him on probiotics because we had no idea he was doing this. Being separated meant he would have to be in Day Boarding with independent play. So that’s what I did for a while, paid $40 per day for “independent play” ($10 more than regular day camp) which meant he was supposedly by himself. However, he still was eating poop. I know this because of his explosive diarrhea every evening after spending the day there. No explosive diarrhea when home all day. I kept asking if he was put in the yard with other dogs and told no…he wasn’t. It’s funny that he has had zero issues since attending a different kennel.

You’d think that would’ve been the last straw, but I needed their service due to my father being in hospice and a new grandchild. I finally had enough after I made a reservation on their app (like I always did) for a couple of days around Christmas time. I did this a few weeks ahead of time. Then two days prior to Christmas week, I get a text reminding me there is no day boarding during that time. What?! First I heard of it and nothing was preventing me from making the initial reservation. I responded to the text, called (no answer, left voicemail) and emailed and received ZERO response. I’m sure management and owner decided they could make more money with boarders during that time. Should’ve addressed it a lot sooner and honored reservations already made. Or at the very least called me when you received my reservations and knew it could not be accommodated.

I now go to a place that is only $25 per day, he has his own run and dogs are not thrown together in a party yard. No worries about fights or contagious viruses or parasites. And the staff provides individual attention to the dogs. It’s clear the dogs’ safety and well being comes first at this kennel he now attends. NLN seems willing to take the money even if it means losing long time customers. I know the staff at NLN love the dogs, but they can only do so much. The problem, I think, is the complete lack of communication by the management and greediness of the owners. ———————————————————-

OLD REVIEW FROM 2023: My “new” dog (7 yrs old from the humane society) absolutely loves NLN! He was a little unsure about his new digs with me…warming up slowly over the last few months. But now that he is back to seeing and playing with fellow pups through the week, he’s settled in and loves his new routine. On another note, the vibe in the lobby is awesome. You can tell that the employees love their jobs and work well together. Love...

Edit: The manager called me to discuss Beaux’s stay and was able to refund me for the evaluation and the pictures. I appreciate that she took the time out of her day to call me, it shows signs of a good business manager. She had explained a few things to me regarding my review and was able to explain why Beaux had failed his evaluation. Again, I do appreciate her taking responsibility and she told me that she did talk to the team so that these problems won’t arise in the future!

We recently boarded our dog, Beaux, here while we were on vacation and were pretty disappointed with the experience. To start, we had to pay for a boarding evaluation, something I’ve never had to do elsewhere. I was under the impression this evaluation would involve him interacting with other dogs, but that wasn’t the case. I understand, this was probably a communication error on my part; however, I didn’t even have an option to choose.

While we were away, I texted to check in on him and didn’t receive a response for over three hours. I ended up calling, and the front desk told me they got busy and hadn’t checked on him yet. I understand things get hectic, but I wish they had just been honest instead of promising a response they didn’t deliver. When I finally spoke to someone, they told me Beaux was anxious, not eating, and hadn’t been around other dogs. I specifically asked for him to be evaluated with others because he loves other dogs, he’s just vocal when he plays, being a husky/German shepherd rescue. Our usual boarding facility has always said he’s amazing with others.

During his evaluation, I watched the live camera and was concerned to see another dog with a leash on being pulled by other dogs for nearly a minute while the attendant was on her phone. Beaux went up to her for attention and was pushed away, while she seemed happy to pet one of the doodles. He ended up failing the evaluation due to what they called dominance and fixation issues, but I truly believe it was more about staff capacity than behavior.

I also asked for photos on Tuesday and was charged $60 for six pictures, something I thought was only $14 when I signed up. This is not a huge deal since I love seeing pictures of him but, I would have just liked some transparency. Lastly, when we picked Beaux up, his bed smelled terrible, like a dead animal, and he was so dirty that I had to take him straight to get a bath.

I used to like this place, but it feels like it’s gone downhill. The staff seem overwhelmed and the focus now seems more on money than quality care. I hope they...

I brought my Henry (1.5 year old husky mix) in for his very first groom that was not done by myself or my fiance. Henry is getting a little too big for our tub at home, it's too cold to bathe him outside, and on top of all of that, he has started another infamous husky-esque shed.

The GM of the O'Fallon branch let me know that while they do not offer full grooming services yet, they were more than happy to do a basic groom (bath, brush, dry) and let me know that full grooming services would be coming soon! She walked me through how to create an account, and answered every single question I had (which, I assure you, there were a LOT) with the utmost patience and was just so welcoming. The pick-up process was so easy, too. I was in and out in less than five minutes, and it was clear he had been spoiled by the staff with all the extra attention! He was so clean, soft, appropriately floofed, and came out donning a HANDSOME blue bandanna!

Their staff were so pleasant and kind, and one of their girls even called me to brief me on the rest of their services, how they work, and even sold me on bringing Henry in for a temperament evaluation, to determine he is safe to bring around the dogs at the doggy day care.

I was BEYOND impressed with their openening day extravaganza and can't wait to see what else this branch has to offer. The staff obviously care, want to see dogs and their parents happy, and clearly are all invested in the well-being and safety of the visiting puppos. 10/10 will be back, and you should definitely consider giving...