Barking Hound Village Sandy Springs — Local services in Sandy Springs

6 months ago, I did unscheduled visits to both BHV (Sandy Springs) and Dogtopia (Sandy Springs) on the same day to compare options. You're likely trying to decide between the two as well, so I'll save you time: BHV is absolutely the correct choice.

The staff at BHV were immediately very friendly and offered a tour, while the Dogtopia staff were more standoff-ish and only handed me a pamphlet before I asked for a tour.

Both facilities are very clean and well-kept, but BHV has less dogs per room at a time. The Dogtopia staff told me they can have as many as 40 dogs in a room at once which seems like a safety issue to me. I've watched many play sessions at BHV and they keep their groups smaller and controlled so safety is not a concern. Both facilities let you watch your dogs play via webcams (not an option at some other local daycares).

In short, Dogtopia is the corporate nationwide brand of doggy daycare and it really shows. BHV has the perks of a well-established local chain without the compromises of trying to scale across so many locations. All this while being a slightly lower price!

To add to all this, my experience in the past 6 months has been nothing but lovely. My dog loves jumping in the car to head to daycare and constantly nudges me to the door in the morning. I can feel a genuine love for the dogs from the staff while always having their safety and comfort in mind. You won't regret...

I used to be a loyal customer and take my dog to daycare every day, but they’ve lost my business. There would be multiple instances where I’d check the cameras and my 4-6 month old puppy was supposed to be playing according to the schedule they post at the front desk, but wasn’t. I’d call to ask if everything was okay or if she got in trouble/needed a break (understanding she’s still a puppy) and there’d always be some excuse. Finally one day, I watched the cameras from the moment I dropped her off at 7:45am to the time I picked her up at 5:30pm and logged when she was out playing vs when she was in the crate. She was in the crate in total for almost 7 hours and only played for less than 2 hours. The max time she was out was 38 minutes. This is not what they advertise as their schedule, which is essentially a total of 4 hours of play, 4 hours of rest. When I confronted them about it, the response was they don’t always follow the schedule. I felt very confused, misled, concerned for the safety of my dog, and ultimately made me question why I’m paying for a service that just crates my dog all day when I have the expectation she should be getting her energy out. All that being said, I never returned back and I found a much better daycare/boarding facility that I am happier with. I do not recommend this place...

I was debating on doing this but I wanted to warn other high energy dog owners. I think the staff is friendly when you arrive but I feel like they take advantage of the rotation breaks. Overall the rotation they have is horrible and seems to be different each day. My dog is a high energy dog and if I’m paying money for daycare than I want my dog tired coming home. Although when I would check the cameras I barley saw my dog on and if I did see him it would only be for an hour or less. He was still energetic when he came home making me question the “rotation schedule”. Also when it would hit 4/4:30pm they seem to be done for the day and won’t have dogs playing out anymore from what I saw on the cameras. This would mean my dog would possibly be sitting in a crate for 2 hours by the time I picked him up at like 6pm. I think this place is great if your dog thrives on those crate breaks throughout the day and has a lower energy tolerance. However, I haven’t brought my dog back and I can see a big difference. He has been more happy and comes home actually tired from...