Pet Paradise Ft. Myers — Local services in San Carlos Park

“Paradise” is laughable; I’m sure my dog lived in a nightmare while he stayed here. I drop my dog Mochi off on Friday (12/29) and picked him up Monday afternoon (1/1). My dog is 29.9 pounds (almost 30). We were told he seemed too small to go with the larger dogs. But they said they could try him with the larger dog group and see how he does. Great! He LOVES other dogs and often plays with dogs the size of those in the large group so I assumed we wouldn’t have an issue. I get a txt saying that my dog is SCARED of the large dogs. Lies. My dog has never in his life been scared of another dog. He is a goldendoodle with so much energy he doesn’t know what to do with it. He would play with a bear if I let him. However, I didn’t feel like arguing since they may take it out on him, so I let that slide. I look at the webcam Saturday to see what he’s up to. He’s not outside. I leave it a bit and check again…still not outside. I call asking why he isn’t out when we pay for all day play. The excuse? They were short staffed. That’s funny because it seemed ALL other small dogs were outside, so where was my dog? After I called asking where he was I see him outside only a matter of minutes later. Didn’t seem like they were as short staff as they claimed since they handled that quickly. I keep watch on the webcam since I want him to have fun while he’s there and I enjoy watching my pup play. I find that the person in the play area with him is completely ignoring him. He often follows people around seeking pets and attention. So of course this happened with the individual outside. They then got down to pet and praise other dogs but left my dog out. Interesting. I made note and left that as well. Here’s where I’m not as quiet. I check on him Monday on the drive home multiple times. Note, we had all day play scheduled for Monday as well. My dog was nowhere in sight outside AT ALL. From 11-3 I checked the cameras and saw all dogs but my dog. Now I’m livid. We get there to pick him up and my anger gets even worse when I see and smell the condition of my dog. He smelled like dog pee. I am not exaggerating, I thought he had peed right on me from how strong it was. Then I look at his paws and they are SOAKED. Wasn’t water. How do I know? He stepped in the car and got a paw print on the center console that stunk of dog urine. Now I’m concerned. How is a dog COVERED in dog urine? Yes, he’s a hyper boy, but he has NEVER (what I imagine it would’ve taken to smell this bad) ROLLED AROUND in his or another dog’s urine. I get him home and start looking him over and he is COVERED in dog feces. Here’s another red flag, since he is very careful to avoid his own feces when walking outside, so how is it he’s covered in it now? I have provided photos where I had to chop off hair to get the feces off since it had matted his hair and was unremovable…. What makes it worse, is that gnats were living in those mats in his fur, bothering him and causing him to chew himself raw…. You could barely touch his rear without him whining. I go to give him a bath, and to just get the stench off his body, I had to scrub and rinse him 3 times with 3 different products. He was so exhausted he could barely stand while bathing him. I got him all cleaned and dried and started to get his toys and treats out of the basket we had provided. I’m glad I washed his toys the day before I dropped him off, because now I know FOR SURE that he wasn’t given ANY of his toys while he stayed there. Why tell me to bring his toys if your staff doesn’t care enough to give them to him? If he stunk that badly I’m sure his toys would’ve looked and smelled just as poorly. His treats were also not touched. I can make assumptions about what went on behind the webcams, and I can say I see now why they don’t have webcams in the kennel areas. He did not get any toys/treats while there so I’m made to wonder if they simply took the proportioned food bags and threw those away instead of feeding him. My dog was mistreated here and I will...

My cat was not let out at all during his stay. I watched the cameras a lot and they let out each cat, but mine. I requested for the cattery area on the left in front of the camera so I could see him and I was told that was reserved. No cats were in that area the entire weekend. I received a phone call on day three telling me that my cat did not want to eat and that they would use broth and try to hand feed him and that the cat next to him is having the same issues. I said it would be fine. I watched the cameras and the staff person played with the other cat and pet him and tried to feed him by hand. Later on they went to my cat and he was in the bottom where the litter box was. She did not play with him or anything. If I was locked in an enclosed space for 3 days I would be depressed and would not eat either. I packed toys for my cat as well and no one used them. I packed 3 days worth of food and only one wet food was open. I told them at check in that he loves the wet food, but they did not feed it to him. When I first checked in, I also told the girl that my cat loves attention. Sadly, he did not receive any this weekend. When I addressed this when I went to pick him up, the staff person said that the cats go out as they please. How is that a legitimate answer when the staff opens and closes the doors?

I did not see my dog either the whole weekend except for once on the camera. While all the other dogs would play, mine was not. I have taken my dog to the one in Naples many times and have had great experiences. My dog now has diarrhea and is sick since she has come back. I suspect that they did not let my dog out since they called me about 20 minutes after I left saying they did not realize my dog is a senior and what is the dollar amount that I allow my dog to receive emergency services. My dog is 13 years old and they must have not looked at her when checking her in. She has grey hair all over her face and body like any other senior dog. They have her information. I said that before any emergency services I would need to be notified for approval. Plus, I never had anyone at any other Pet Paradise ask me such a question. When I went to pick her up, it took a long time for them to get her. When they called to tell me my cat would not eat, I told them I would be there by 3 per my GPS since I was out of town. They should have had her ready.

Also, I did not receive report cards for either of my pets. I received my invoice by e-mail stating that their report cards were attached. However, my pets were not cared for, so how could they make a report on them?

I will never be back to any Pet Paradise or recommend them ever to anyone. It was horrible for my furkids to go through what they did and it ruined my vacation since I could not relax because I was constantly worried about them. I was stressed out the entire time and saw them ignore their needs. The staff should be ashamed of themselves and since they do not care they should find different jobs not involving care of any...

I would avoid this place at all cost. I have a 6 year old dog who has been boarded numerous times through his life. I use to travel for work quite frequently and he was always fine at OTHER places, he actually would get excited and try running inside other facilities. Before I left him here in May 2023 I let him do a day of day care to see if it was a good fit. I then left him memorial weekend 2023 and that was the first red flag, there were numerous situations of miscommunication, he was never on the camera meaning he was in his crate the whole time when he was supposed to be getting playtime which is extremely upsetting because my dog is a rescue and hates being created all day which is why I thought this place will be a good fit for him. After that stay he seemed fine. I then left him ONE day and night labor day 2023 weekend. After he stayed I took him to his groomer a month later who called me to come get him because he was full on panicking in the crate which has never happened, he is a Havaneese so gets groomed frequently and never have I been called to come get him. So he gets groomed a few more times after that and it was fine, I just have him express groomed now and he is ok with me leaving him. I figured something must have happened when I left him at Pet Paradise in September of 2023. So I give this place another chance in March of 2024. I was VERY clear to them told them multiple time to inform me if he is showing any signs of anxiety, i was leaving him a day early so if it didn’t work out I can cancel my trip or have a friend stay with him. I told them this multiple times. So i go to work and check the cameras every hour, he is never out there. So i call to check in, which took forever to get through. I finally do and then they put him out to play…. Then I’m on my trip, I paid extra every day to get the updates and they were sloppy, short, or I just didn’t get one (the first day was good but that was the manager). Then when I get back to pick him up he was covered in pee, he had absolutely no voice he could not bark meaning he was barking the entire weekend, and then his food that was left over and his treats were mixed together. When I asked them why his treats were mixed with his food they told me to ensure he got it all. Once again I gave them very specific instructions to only give him one treat every time they place him in the crate. Instead they were feeding him all of the treats in the span of three days a whole bag mixed in his food. So that night when we got home he was throwing up all night. The poor guy is traumatized I just tried taking him to the groomer today, and I just heard him screaming the whole time and trying to wiggle out which has literally never happened to that extent. Management there wants to talk to me about my experience and they did reach out with an email and phone call which I did not answer. Honestly this place is not worth it they take on too many dogs then they can handle and my dog is completely different now...