Camp Bow Wow Pittsburgh Highland Park — Local services in Pittsburgh

This place has a lot of great reviews from pet parents. Not from people who have worked here. I did. The staff use water bottles and spray the dogs in the face CONSTANTLY for EVERYTHING. I have over 8 yrs of dog psychology and behavior experience and training. I can tell you from first-hand experience, the staff is not trained properly in dog psychology. Simple behaviors that require a basic verbal correction are punished by spray bottles, pushing, collar dragging and yelling. The staff rely solely on intimidation tactics and spray bottles. The staff is overwhelmed and doesn't seem to give individual attention. Some dogs are constantly in a state of fear and the staff do nothing. It is heart breaking. There are several dogs that shouldn't be there and have exhibited aggressive behaviors towards people and other dogs. There are several dogs that constantly bully other dogs and caused fights that where never removed from the facility. Camp Bow Wow claims to be based on positive reinforcement. This is not an accurate statement. I could see using a spray bottle if there is an urgent safety concern, that's it. The overuse of such tools desensitizes them and teaches the dogs not to trust the staff. The staff do not build respectful and kind relationships with the dogs. I told the manager and director about my concerns. I was given a very uneducated answer. They both told me, "The spray bottles don't hurt the dogs." The use of positive punishment such as the use of spray bottles, hurts the dogs psychologically. This is not appropriate or a respectable way to communicate with any animal. The staff do not teach the dogs anything. They squirt them in the face repeatedly until they run away. This is only teaching fear, nothing else. They aren't forming a relationship with the dogs they are instilling fear in them in a poor attempt to get the response that they want. This is how dogs bite people because there is no trust. This is how dogs shut down. The other dogs are watching what the staff do and are learning not to trust them. I would never recommend anyone to take their dog to any Camp Bow Wow. The staff, including the directors and managers are extremely uneducated when it comes to dog behavior. They do not grasp the toll that it takes on a dog mentally when the dog is being shoved, pushed, squirted in the face and yelled at. The staff and company as a whole, lack empathy, compassion, knowledge and above all dog behavior education. Some of the behaviors that I witnessed from the staff where appalling and disturbing. This is the year of 2015 and we have learned as a society through research and behavioral studies, forceful and physically punishable training is not only ineffective but disrespectful and emotionally damaging. The tools and methods that this company uses are outdated, unkind and lack empathy. Even when they open the gate and have all of the dogs stay so that they can get another dog out, they do that improperly. They are not training the dogs to stay back because they respect them in a kind way or because they have a connection with the dogs, they simply squirt the dogs in the face and yell at them and if one of them crosses the invisible line they grab them and shove them back into the pack of dogs. This is so inappropriate in every way, shape and form. Shoving a confused and fearful dog into a pack of fearful and confused dogs is outrageous. They are not training the dogs to understand, they are expecting them to understand. Then they get mad when they don't do as they want them to do. Camp Bow Wow is a disaster. The lack of education and knowledge is scary. Camp Bow Wow is just as bad as The Dog Stop. Their dog groomer was screaming at a dog and she said it’s better than hitting them. Seriously?!

The owner can say whatever looks good. The fact remains that I know what I saw and those are the facts. Theres no way the owner doesn’t know what goes on at this place and is blatantly lying. I left because the dogs don’t have a voice and I believe in treating animals with kindness. Customers...

Unfortunately, we decided to discontinue our relationship with Camp Bow Wow in Highland Park due to a couple of incidents that just didn't feel right. The first incident was about two months ago. We went to pick up our Siberian Husky puppy as usual at the end of a busy day, she normally is very excited and happy to see us. But, on this occasion she seemed quite somber and more tired than usual and when I looked her over I found a bleeding wound on her leg. I asked what happened and without apology, I was informed that there was a 'play session gone a little wrong' that had happened around noon that day. Again, I was picking up our dog at around 5pm -only to be told she had been accosted nearly 5 hours earlier in the day and apparently no-one thought to inform us or clean her up and she was left in the same space with the dog that bothered her for the rest of the day. I asked explicitly that if there was a next time something like that happened, they call us immediately and that they keep our dog separated from the dog that hurt her. Our dog is very sweet, very loving and has never shown aggression toward us, another human or another dog. So, we were very worried that if she was exposed to this other dog again, something would happen. We continued to take our dog to Camp Bow Wow and requested each time that she be separated from that dog and that she not be put in the larger dog area -she is on the cusp of 45-50lbs and really quite small compared to the majority of dogs in the large dog area. But, each time we were met with resistance by the various staff working the front desk. That is, we were frankly made to feel ridiculous for even asking. But, ultimately they agreed and we tried to let it go. About three weeks ago though, we picked up our dog at the end of the day again as usual -only to find a large red welt on her leg in a different place, bleeding again. Her fur was literally gone where there was a bleeding welt. There was no explanation and there was no acknowledgment of the wound. We often watched the live cameras to ensure our dog was OK while at Camp Bow Wow -typically there was only 1 camp staffer in each room with sometimes upwards of 25-35 dogs. So, I wouldn't be surprised if they literally were unaware of our dog's wound and therefore didn't tell us. Either way, whether they knew or did not know, it's a bad situation and not great for our girl. So we decided to find a new doggy day care. We're truly disappointed because we found Kim, our dog's initial trainer, to be really helpful and professional. But, after reading other negative reviews for Camp Bow Wow Highland Park (which are few but, notable) about other dogs that had the same experience and ultimately never got help, we decided not to risk our pup's safety anymore. At our new doggy day care, we can see how overcrowded and unclean Camp Bow Wow is in comparison so, in addition to our concerns about our dog's safety, we also see that the conditions of Camp Bow Wow simply aren't up to...

I ran into a former employee at the dog park recently and I was excited to see that my dog seemed to like them. After that conversation my dog will never step foot in that building again. I guess the tours are kept short and sweet for a reason. It's severely overcrowded in a way that is not only dangerous for the dogs health but their physical safety as well. According to him the rooms are not supposed to have more than 25 dogs at a time (corporate rule) and watching the cameras that is obviously ignored. The rooms aren't cleaned on a regular basis, in fact they were cleaned 2 MAYBE 3 times the entire winter. Recently the place was filled with dogs that had kennel cough and the staff and directors knowingly chose to continue to allow these dogs to come to daycare. The staff don't really care about every dog; dangerous dogs and dogs who's owners will drop excess money on training are the one's that actually get attention. There are several fights a day and its usually the same dogs getting in these fights.There is no extensive training for staff like they advertise, employees are considered done with training when they need another body, no one learns about body language or possibly dangerous behaviors. Most of the time when a dog gets hurt its because undertrained employees ignored all the warning signs in favor of dazing off or hiding from the cameras to look at their phones. If your dog is "annoying" or if a staff member doesn't like them they may be spending their entire day in a kennel that hasn't been cleaned in days though dogs have been in and out peeing and pooping in it. On busy days they kennel the dogs on a rotation so you're only getting half of what you're paying for. Dogs have been hit by employees, killed by other dogs that still go there, medications are missed, dogs have been fed incorrectly and may go several days without eating. They often lie to owners about their dog enjoying camp or lie about their behaviors. Honestly it sounded to me like the owner/owners made their money and placed others in charge who only care about...