Camp Bow Wow Westminster — Local services in Westminster

Having been a customer of this location and its previous home in Broomfield, for the last year and a half, I feel very hesitant to recommend Camp Bow Bow to existing customers or future customers. My experience with this location has significantly worsened, recently.

On the positive side, the facilities are new, clean, and quite modern. This location always has a clean front lobby, and what's seen on the cameras looks very well-kept. I've never been under the impression that my dogs were at risk of getting sick or being uncomfortable.

That said, this facility does not stack up favorably to other boarding/doggy daycare facilities that I've used in the past. The main difference is the amount of staff, their efficacy, and communication with owners.

For full disclosure, one of my dogs has experienced escalating behavioral problems when at Camp Bow Wow. This behavioral issue is not present in other environments (at home, or with other dogs when not at daycare.) These problems escalated to the point that my dog won't be returning. In and of itself, I understand the reasons that my dog won't be rejoining the group - and think that's a good thing, all around.

The problem, for me, and for other owners, is that the staff had not effectively communicated this problem to me. Nor was there ever a constructive conversation with the staff on how this problem might be corrected in a positive manner. My general impression from multiple staff members was that they did not regard this as their problem. In contrast, previous boarding and pet daycare facilities have given me detailed reports of my dogs' play, how they played, and if they observed any behaviors that might need to be fixed early (rather than allowed to escalate.) You should expect that the staff here will put forth the bare minimum amount of effort to manage dog behavior in the daycare group (stopping fights or confrontations once they've begun, but otherwise haven taken insufficient action to prevent them in the first place.)

The staff at Camp Bow Wow do not provide "report cards" per se, and when I proactively call the facility, the staff are aware that my dogs are there, but don't seem to be able to communicate any details about their stay. Generally, if I proactively call to check on my dogs when they're in daycare, the staff are somewhat rude and are interested in getting me off the phone as quickly as possible. To their credit, the staff do call you promptly if it appears that your dog is unwell in any way or not eating, for example - which I'd consider the minimum requirement for a dog boarding facility.

My overall impression is that there are not enough staff present; the staff that are present aren't equipped to address undesirable dog behaviors proactively because they can't or won't, and subsequently fail to adequately communicate with dog owners, compounding the problem. Short-term, these issues are not noticeable. After repeated visits, in the long term, there is most certainly a problem here.

To other dog owners, I'd suggest you carefully consider bringing your dogs here. It may work for you and appear that things are great short-term, but my long-term experience with this location has been...

I rarely leave reviews but I thought it would help others to know my experience with Camp Bow Wow. I was new to camp bow wow and had started bringing my loving energetic lab retriever puppy there once a week. I was informed kindly by the staff that it was ok to not make an appointment and just show up whenever for daycare. Every day that I picked up my puppy I was told how much they loved seeing him and how wonderful he was. My experience quickly changed with them. I work right by camp bow wow and took my dog there one morning to be told rudely by a staff member that they wouldn’t take him without an appointment. It was my fault for not making an appointment and I take ownership of that but again I was told it was not necessary. I took that to be true especially since I was new there and didn’t know any better never using them before. I live an hour away and had no other option. I asked if they could keep him at least crated because I wouldn’t make it back home and back for work in time. The employee then said fine and wanted it to be clear that he would be in the crate all day. I said that was ok, thanked her and left for work. Within two hours I got a phone call saying I needed to get my dog immediately and that he is not welcome back. When I asked why she said he bit the trainer and attacked dogs and that I could see the video if I wanted to. I left work to go get my dog and asked to see the cameras. My dog is an energetic lab puppy who never once has even barked or even tried to bite anyone or dog so I was very shocked. When I got there the same employee said she wouldn’t let me see the videos and when I asked to speak to the trainer she said she was busy. I asked her if something happened because he’s never acted this way before and she just kept saying he was aggressive and couldn’t ever come back. I knew that she targeted us from that morning and was looking for anything to get back at me. I spoke to the manager Amy the next day and I give her credit for investigating. Amy spoke to her staff and watched the cameras. My dog was not reading social ques of other dogs and kept wanting to play and nip at them but that was all. Again, he is a lab retriever puppy of course he wants to play. Nowhere did she see any aggressive behavior or biting of any sort. She said it would be best to give him a break to get more training to read cues and to re-interview in a few months. She also apologized for her staff being so rude and not being honest. I can only hope that this situation was taken care of with this employee. Needless to say my puppy will not be re-interviewing and I encourage others to go to a place that has an...

Dropped my 2 dogs (1 senior dog, 1 non-senior dog) off on Monday for a weeks stay during an extremely critical work project ( I was working 16-18 hours a day for the week ). Got a call on Tuesday around 2pm telling me that one of my the senior dog seemed tired, stumbling a bit and staring off into space.. I asked them if they've provided additional rest periods so that she's not over-stimulated and their response was non-convincing.. I explained that I was in the middle of a big work project and the earliest I could get there was 4pm. Unfortunately, I couldn't leave work until 5:30pm.. While driving to the dog camp, I received a second email... "Hello! This is Camp Bow Wow... ate her dinner and I spent time with her outside alone and she seems to be doing okay... Great!!! Do I still need to pick her up??.. You said you were picking her up at 4pm.. what I said was that I am in the middle of a work project and the earliest I "might" be able to leave is 4pm.. Oh, okay.. so do I still need to pick her up if she's doing better - the reason that I'm boarding them is because I'm in the middle of a big work project, and based on the earlier phone call, I feel like you are kicking is being kicked out, so I don't know what to do... well.. we're not kicking her out, we just feel like she doesn't belong here..." so I picked up this dog.. called our vet and BEGGED him to stay open late enough to see her.. he was kind enough to do so... examined her thoroughly.. and stated to me "there is nothing wrong with this dog... she has age appropriate and expected diminished eyesight and weakness in the back legs due to a previously known injuiry...I paid the vet (thank god he took pity and didn't charge me the after hours fee)...took this dog home, begged friends and family to help me take care of her.. since the people who I expected to PAY to take care of her couldn't... finished up the project on Friday.. I went to pick up the 2nd dog... the front desk attendant asked me about the 1st dog.. I told her that I rushed her to the vet and the vet said there was nothing wrong with her.. I was met with an 'oh' and a blank stare.... asked for a detailed receipt and noticed that the charges increased on the one dogs stay after they kicked out the other dog...and costing me additional vet fees based on their 'concerns'... I didn't know that camp bow wow in westmisnter was so hard up for revenue... I would not recommend this business for any individual who has an elderly dog or one that has special needs......