Camp Bow Wow West Mobile — Local services in Prichard

My sweet, docile 6 year old Siberian Husky (Lucy) was viciously attacked by another dog while being boarded at the WestMobile camp Bow Wow location! The bite and laceration injuries were just barely under her eye and went down to her zygomatic bone before tracking up her face. She required transport to a vet, sedation, wound debridement, sutures and antibiotics. Her injuries were dangerously close to her eye! She could have lost that eye!

“Campers” are supposed pass a “Camper Interview” to be evaluated for aggression and any issues before being allowed to be boarded and placed around other dogs! Camp Bow Wow claims “Safety is Our Top Priority”… they ascribe to having all their Camp Counselors “Certified and extensively trained in dog behavior, CPR, and pet first aid”. The dogs are supposed to monitored while on the play yards for safety.

No first aid was rendered to my dog. She was just placed in a counselor’s vehicle and driven to the vet. Clearly dog behavior wasn’t adequately evaluated on an ongoing basis or my dog would not have been attacked. Where were the “counselors” when the attack was happening?

The phone call I received at work started with “Lucy’s fine”…..well apparently that is not the case at all! After leaving work, rushing to the vet, running back to CBW to get her belongings while she was under sedation and being treated, then back to the vet to wait for her to be able to be brought home; I finally arrive back home with her just in time to receive a call from Camp Bow Wow staff requesting that I pay for Lucy’s boarding! Are you kidding me? My dog could’ve lost her eye! She had to undergo sedation and wound closure. She will still need a follow up visit for suture removal, and possibly more if she develops an infection or vision loss. Where were the staff when she was being viciously attacked for no reason whatsoever? The staff even acknowledged that Lucy was not the aggressor at all, she didn’t even try to defend herself!

If you’re taking the time to read this, you’re a dog lover like me who’s going to great lengths to do your due diligence when selecting the right place for your fur baby. We all love our pets, they are family members. Lucy is my battle buddy. The guilt I feel right now having boarded her here after what happened is enormous! We try to never board our pets. Unfortunately our home was being treated for mold in the crawl space underneath the house, and the professionals told us to remove our pets and ourselves for a few days until the mold was gone and the chemical odor was out of the house. Boarding her wasn’t for a vacation or “me time” (not that anything’s wrong with that), but I was trying to protect her from dangerous chemicals and she ended up almost losing her eye in an unprovoked attack! I trusted Camp Bow Wow with my best friend and when the unthinkable happened; instead of kindness, understanding and genuine concern for Lucy and my family, they just called wanting payment. Honestly, if they weren’t calling for money, I don't think they would have called to check on her at all.

I will never board my dog here again! Lucy is a loving, kind, talkative classic husky. She is so sweet and endearing to everyone. From the time I picked her up from the vet, she has been frightened, withdrawn and traumatized. She whimpers whenever we try to pet her head or love on her. I did not get back the same dog I dropped off.

UPDATE: the regional manager just called me and was very genuine in her apology for what happened to Lucy. she offered to let me come by the location and view the video of the attack so I could see what happened. She confirmed their commitment to pay her vet bills and assured me that I didn’t need to worry about the boarding fee. She felt bad for the way it was handled, and seemed very concerned about how Lucy was feeling. She welcomed updates from me on her condition or need for future care. Genuine compassion and concern for Lucy seemed to be at the forefront of what was concerning to her, not the money. That made all the...

The boarding services may be top notch, but this is the absolute worst groomer we have ever had the misfortune of letting touch our dog. Flashback: About a month ago our dog had a hot spot. The vet shaved an area a little smaller than a tennis ball in order to clean the spot and allow it to get air. Present Day: We tell the people at Camp Bow Wow that our American Eskimo needs a trim, and we ask them to try to blend the hair around the shaved spot. The only way that the people at Camp Bow Wow could come up with to “blend” the hair around the shaved spot was to SHAVE HIS ENTIRE BODY. (I can’t decide if it is incompetence or idiocy, or some special combination of the two.) Did the people at Camp Bow Wow take the time to pick up the phone and ask us if this was what we wanted before they took the insanely drastic step of shaving our dog? Nope. Couldn’t be bothered with that. Everybody would interpret “blend the hair around the shaved spot” to mean SHAVE HIS ENTIRE BODY. Now we have an American Eskimo with long hair on his head, neck, and tail and the rest of him (including his legs) shaved. See below for Before and After pictures. Having these people groom your dog is pretty much the same as having a clown build your house, except your house would probably turn out better. YOU HAVE...

I can’t speak highly enough about the staff at Camp BW - Mobile. I’ve used them for a few years now and here’s just one example of why I wouldn’t use any other facility: My two year old golden retriever started experiencing tummy issues which resulted in a very messy boarding space. The staff came in the next morning to find him and our other dog VERY messy. They bathed them and cleaned the kennel - then gave our golden lots of love and snuggles as he dealt with stress induced intestinal issues the whole day. They kept me updated on his status and did everything they could to calm him and even applied a soothing cream to his irritated and raw behind due to the intestinal issues. I was grateful he was at a facility with such kind and caring people. Luckily, he’s only had that happen on one stay, but knowing how they handled such an unfortunate situation has given them all the trust in the world to care for my dogs when I’m...