TailWaggers Doggy Daycare — Local services in Verona

We took our 7-month-old dog here for a day of daycare. He came home really tired but also, it turned out, very injured. The pea gravel the daycare uses for their outside area ripped up the inside of his pads, which are raw and bloody. We saw another review describing a dog who had a similar experience, but we thought they were overreacting. We now have a dog who is crying in pain. The advantage of the daycare--a convenient spot to keep our pup safe and happy on the occasional day where we need to do a lot of work--has dissipated, as we're now spending our time keeping our dog's wounds clean and bandaged and trying to get him to calm down.

Let me note: the daycare has you sign a form that absolves them of liability for any pea gravel injuries (of course they do). However, the form suggested that pea gravel would only cause "redness and irritation." Raw, bleeding skin between his pads is not, to me, "redness and irritation."

The form also suggested that this was unlikely to happen to our dog: "Some dogs (especially dogs who have not built up tough paw pads due to their youth or lack of exposure to surfaces other than those in their homes and grass outdoors) may experience irritation." Our dog is young, but no longer a little puppy, and we walk him on many different surfaces, as we live downtown and take him around the city, to parks, and to dog parks--he's rarely on soft, suburban grass

The last straw, however, is that the daycare knew there was a problem and was negligent in responding to it. We were told that they noticed that our dog was experiencing pain from the pea gravel. Their response was to put some protective paw wax on his paws and send him back out to play. This is like putting a helmet on your kid after he's already wrecked his bike--the damage is already done. Paw wax prevents future damage, it doesn't heal already-damaged paws. They should have kept him inside after this or called us to come pick him up.

We suggest that people who care about their dogs stay away from this negligent facility that uses the cheapest material they can get away with to make a buck. A good company would stop using this material, rather than warn people about it. A mediocre company would, at the very least, provide honest forms and take care of dogs when they get hurt. Tailwaggers is...

I had such high hopes for this daycare on my way to work. I took my dog here for one day of daycare and things seemed to go fine. I took her a second day, and it was a totally different story. She seemed nervous going in, which is very unlike her. I felt uneasy about it, so I called them at 11:30 to check in. I found out that they had taken her out of the play area and put her into a separated suite on her own. That's a great precaution if she's nervous--but why not proactively call me then and let me know things weren't going well? Instead, I had to be the one to call and find out my dog was having a high-stress day. I left work and took her home early. I found out that there had been around 70 dogs in daycare that day, likely the cause of her stress.

Then, this past weekend she started coughing. She has kennel cough. Yes, she and all dogs at Tailwaggers are required to have Bordatella, and unfortunately the vaccine doesn't protect them against ALL things that can give them kennel cough. She's a healthy young dog, and with some antibiotics she should be fine in a few days. However, I just called Tailwaggers to inform them that my dog has kennel cough - just to let them know so they could warn other pet owners, and be aware that one of the dogs in their care has passed Bordatella to mine and probably many others. When I called, I was told they have been aware of this since Friday, and have put a notice up on their door. Why they wouldn't email everyone who has had their dogs in daycare for the past 7 days (the incubation period) is BEYOND me. Twice in a row, I had to call them about something they already knew about. And now my dog is 3 days into this cough, where I could have taken her to the vet on Friday if I'd known sooner.

I believe they have too many dogs in this daycare, and I wish they would limit the number and put people on the waiting list like just about all other places do. Sure, the idea is nice to just have a drop-in daycare available. But at this cost, it's not worth it.

I'll be waiting for a spot to open up at a different daycare and not taking...

We used to drive out to Middleton to use another company. Over time their service got worse, as they got busier, and they took more and more dogs for daycare. We were so happy when TailWaggers opened up because it's much closer to where we live (in Verona), and they are SO FLEXIBLE about pickup/drop off times. Having pickup as late as six is so much more realistic for a working human who has to work until 5- to pay for doggydaycare!!! They also are open on Sundays for pickup, which is amazing for weekend trips, other places in the area don't let you pick up you dog on Sundays, and there is a small window on Saturdays. It makes me feel better not boarding him unnecessarily with extra nights because of this!

Our beagle loves to come play, and we love knowing he's in a smaller group of dogs for open play. He has a heart murmur, and they are able to keep an eye on him if he's getting worn out or coughing, and then he gets to be office pup for a bit to rest. Whenever we drop him off, we are almost always greeted with an excited staff member happy to say his name and pet him right away.

He's always so happy to pop out of the car, and race inside, so he can hurry up and play with friends, climb onto the Caterpillar tube, and get all the loves...