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February 2024 by Patricia B.
I do not recommend this business to anyone. I had a previous bad experience with the grooming service under the old ownership. I gave them another shot under the new ownership this past weekend. I dropped my dog off at 9am. I called mid-day to find out when he would be done and was told he hadn't had his coat trimmed yet because the groomer washes all the dogs and then cuts them in the order they arrived. At 4:30pm I had not heard back so I called again. I was told he hadn't had his coat trimmed with the same explanation again and was advised that I should pick him up and bring him back for a cut another day. When I picked him up, I saw that many dogs I had seen arrive AFTER me had or were leaving with full grooming/cuts. So much for cutting them in the order they arrived. It was also obvious that my dog had been brushed only shortly before I arrived to pick him up. By the way he used the bathroom and drank water upon arrival home, I can safely say he spent 8h in a crate, likely wet until I called at 4:30pm. Absolutely will not be returning and I advise everyone to avoid this business.
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October 2023 by Sarah Stusek
no communication at all from this place very disappointed i really wanted to like them. came in for our eval and had a great experience watching from the cameras as my dog was in medium. then brought in for a day on saturday when i had to be gone for a few hours. checked the cameras and found my dog over in large. the dog was very obviously distressed and crying and i saw the worker spray the dog in the face repeatedly with the water instead of comforting them. this appeared to go on for hours while the worker stared at their phone, spraying away any dog who dare needed attention. I tried to call multiple times to tell them my father in law was going to come pick up the dog and no answer so i sent him anyway and they just gave the dog to him.... and then on monday i stopped in to hear their side of what happened and they just kept saying i don't know someone will call you and still no one has called one month later.
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October 2023 by Susan B
I have been taking my dog there for a few weeks. She is in small dog area, with cameras. She enjoys the extra activities available. They provide webcam. I recently boardedher first time ever since we got her a few months ago, and got her a bath. She was happy, they appeared to have followed my feeding, nap, bathing and added activity (agility, and a "brain game") and lodging bonus requests to a "t." They have an outdoor area to take boarding dogs. She was very happy to enter when I brought her, and very happy to see me when I picked her up but did not race to the door like "*let me out of here!" (*as my dog did the one time I took her to a place in Springfield, where she was humping the attendant(!), Not typical behavior, to get attention.
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August 2023 by Diane Dietrich
Nothing but A+ from us and our pup, Riley. She's never so happy as she is at daycare drop off. We also board her fairly regularly, and she's always clean and happy when we pick her up.
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August 2023 by Eva Bignoli
Stay away from this facility. Took my dog here for 4 hours last week for a “test stay” before boarding him for a week during my wedding. He got kennel cough from staying here only 4 hours and he has not been around any other dogs since. He was also vaccinated with the bordetella vaccine before going. I haven’t slept in 3 days my poor dog is non stop throwing up, I spent $500 at the vet and no one will watch my dog now due to the contagious factor of this illness, my wedding is ruined..I will NEVER again visit this facility.
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June 2023 by crissy odonnell
We love Whole Dogz! The owners and staff really love dogs and it shows. They have everything Bailey needs all in one place, so convenient. Daycare, training, grooming and a store. So glad we found them.
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May 2023 by Jacqueline M.
Tldr: my dogs seem to love it and I've never had an issue!My dogs have been going here for over a year now and seem to love it! I am a very protective dog parent as many of us are so I am always nervous leaving them with someone, but they always come home tired, happy, and without a scratch. They have cameras that you can watch during daycare and the people seem to genuinely love the dogs! It makes me so happy watching them interact. There is a short haired individual in particular normally in the large dog area who always makes an effort to give each dog some love. :) It is worth noting that one of my dogs is very high anxiety and they were patient and worked with her to make her comfortable (she quite literally pooped herself the first time...) and now she runs in and tries to tackle hug the owners and employees when she sees them. On our last stay they truly went above and beyond. Our vet called while I was gone saying that one of my dogs needed a medication. Since I was out of the country I was unable to get it but one of owners, Mary, went all the way to my vet to pick it up for her without any extra charge. I cannot thank you enough for making such a stressful situation work. Highly recommend using Whole Dogz.
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April 2023 by Melissa H.
Never even made it to using their services. That's how bad it was. I've been calling regularly the last 2 weeks to try and get basic answers to typical boarding questions before boarding my dog here for the weekend. A few times I've gotten a dial tone but most of the time it just rings. I finally got through to a person this morning and I mentioned it. NOTHING BUT ATTITUDE. And then the tone and overall way my questions were handled were super unprofessional and I just hanged up. I couldn't even tell you if this place is worth the attitude because I will not give my money to a business that can't even get through a conversation from the owner of the pet you're caring for. I don't need a response or explanation on this one.
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April 2023 by Cameron Wakefield
Best dog daycare, grooming, and boarding in the DMV! I took my dog here for years before moving away. The facilities are clean, there’s plenty of space (including outdoor space) for the pups to explore, the groomers are excellent, and the boarding is exceptional (your dog gets either his own tiny little “room”, or the manager’s suite to sleep in. So much better than a crate!). Highly, highly recommend!
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March 2023 by Joyce Pastore
On the way to Union Station, my boarding facility called and said that they were closing down due to a potential case of canine flu. I had to return home and pick up my dog. I had no one to take care of my dog for four days so I thought my trip was canceled. The next morning I called Whole Dogz to see if they could help me out. I brought Madeleine in for an assessment, she passed with flying colors. The next morning she boarded for three nights, and spent the days in daycare. She absolutely loved it! I could watch the WebCam while I was out of town and see how she was smiling in the playroom. I greatly appreciate how the staff accommodated us and I’m so happy to have found a new boarding center as well as daycare. I highly recommend Whole Dogz to all doggy moms and dads.
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March 2023 by Saringi Agata-Moss
TLDR: Horrible customer service especially from owners and will charge you a cancellation fee for boarding even if services were not rendered due to animal sickness.Whole Dogz has extremely appealing amenities (different playrooms based on you dog’s size, no need to book ahead of time for non-holiday daycare, convenience store in front) but I would STRONGLY suggest you consider one of the other 100s of doggy daycares in Alexandria as their customer service, particularly their owner, is rude and inconsiderate.My dogs recently caught kennel cough (diagnosed by a vet) around the holidays when I had initially planned to leave them at Whole Dogz during my international trip. When I informed management of my dogs sickness prior to the start of my reservation (both for the safety of other dogs at the facility and to abide by their policy that “no sick dogs shall be admitted) I received accosting questions and comments from the owner suggesting I was being untruthful about my dogs’ illness in order to have to pay less for the reservation. I was further told that “if I fed my dogs well and gave them additional vitamins (which they happen to exclusively sell in their store) that they wouldn’t have gotten sick.”Unfortunately my dogs still had kennel cough a week after our original reservation so since I was out of the country I made the decision to continue the alternative care I found when my dogs got sick initially. As opposed to charging me the deposit for my original reservation equivalent to a night of boarding, they chose to charge me a cancellation fee equivalent to almost half the entire stay (we had booked two weeks). This was directly contrary to not only the rules stated in their pre boarding email correspondence and website but directly contradicted their policy to “not bring in sick dogs.” On top of this about half way into our original reservation they sent an email out to all Whole Dogz clients closing their facilities for two days DUE TO A KENNEL COUGH OUTBREAK.There are a number of small business/family owned doggie daycare facilities in Alexandria - I strongly suggest you look elsewhere.Response to Business response:Actually told you my dog was sick the day before drop off as there was no guidance on when to inform whole dogz when a dog gets sick in you pre boarding correspondence or on your website. When I spoke to you on the phone you did not confirm that you had even pushed my reservation to the following week you just continuously asked me why I wanted to push heavily implying I was lying about my dogs being sick.Further, in your pre-registration email correspondence there was no claim that holiday reservations were non-refundable and this was further backed up by the fact that I was not charged when I made the reservation (earlier in November) but conveniently after the reservation had begun and I did not drop the dogs off (again due to illness). Presenting rules after the fact is disingenuous and makes it hard to work with an organization especially as a new customer because I can’t even trust the information I see on the website or in direct correspondence. Rules are fine and necessary to run a business but when they are only presented after the fact it breaks the trust between the business and the customer which is the reason I won’t be returning.You all clearly have desirable facilities and daycare services but I strongly suggest you amend your website and automatic email correspondence to convey pricing rules (holiday vs non holiday bookings, deposits, etc) ESPECIALLY when it comes to sick dogs to ensure you maintain the trust of new customers because even the “best” daycare in the city is out of the running to most dog owners if they don’t feel confident leaving their dogs in your care.
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March 2023 by Meighan Haupt
We did an evaluation for our pup and they were great. They have the dog camera viewings on big screens that you can see what is happening. The dogs are happy. The place is clean.
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January 2023 by Tam O'Shanter
Thank you to your team for taking care of pooch for the last few days. She has been sleeping since I brought her home, probably catching up on some zzz’s as well as recovering from her play sessions with the other pups. She was calm and relaxed, definitely not over anxious, when I picked her up, which was great. She settled down at home quickly and has been sleeping since dinner time yesterday. I was worried about leaving her for so long of a time but your team did such a great job with her. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart. Highly recommended. -T
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January 2023 by Megan Johnson
I wouldn't take my dog here just because of the owner's responses. Very unprofessional and confrontational.Edit: Your pathetic! I don't troll anyone with reviews. I was looking for a daycare for my fur baby. I was reading reviews of places I might want to check out and was appalled by your responses. I will be contacting whoever is over you.
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January 2023 by Brandon Sheehan
We always know that our babies will be taken care of here despite their beagle tendencies to be a little crazy. They come home happy, stimulated, and tired. We love checking the cameras throughout the day and often see the staff hugging/ petting our younger dog that needs a bit more affection than the average pup
