Harry Hound Play & Daycare

As a puppy, my dog really liked the place. But once he was moved into the large dog section, I had to drag him inside. I kept asking the staff what might be going on with him, and they kept assuring me he had fun there. They were no help at all at trying to brainstorm solutions. Their webcam is so fuzzy that it's impossible to tell how your dog is interacting.
One day as I dropped off my dog, I witnessed a dog fight. Later, when I picked up my dog, I asked about the fight. It was like the Twilight Zone; they all claimed that there hadn't been one. I had seen five people descend on those dogs and break them up -- now they were claiming that nothing happened.
My dog started being fearful around people. One night we ran into one of the staff, who stopped to say hi. I noticed her manner around my dog was very strange -- she stood silent and still and stared down at him. Not the way experienced dog people act! When she put down her hand to pat his head, he snapped the air near her. I had never seen him do that to anyone before. She didn't even react like it was out of the ordinary, which made me wonder if that's what passes for acceptable behavior there.
He also started peeing inside the house. He was completely potty trained before going there, and they claim that letting the dogs pee and poop everywhere inside wouldn't affect their training at home. Don't believe them!
As soon as I stopped going there, my dog stopped peeing inside the house, stopped being fearful, and went back to being the happy puppy I had always known.
I agree with the other reviewer that some of the staff are great people who are really good with dogs. But on the whole, I think Suzanne is just out for the money and runs the place accordingly. I was once mugged when picking up my dog (it's a terrible neighborhood, and easy for people to drive by, grab a purse, and drive off). Suzanne didn't even call to see if I was okay. I later asked her to post a sign to warn people that guys are casing the place (I had seen the mugger there before, just hanging around) but she refused. She said she put the info in her newsletter, but I never saw it there.
I suspect she makes her staff put a good face on everything (like claiming there was no dog fight the day I saw it with my own eyes) and tells you whatever she thinks will keep you coming back. I'm not surprised that the other reviewer's negative review mysteriously "disappeared" from a different website.
When I first started there, I asked if there was a minimum number of visits per month. Suzanne said no, it's all drop in. She did ask that I let her know if my dog would be gone for a while. The day I did let them know my dog would be out for a month, she had a staff member call me later to say that, as a "favor," they would hold my place. (She rarely communicates with customers directly, and makes her staff do her dirty work for her.) I said, "What favor? That's your policy! Please ask her to call me." She never did.
After seeing how happy and well behaved my dog became after he stopped going there, I was ashamed that I let him go there for the few months that I did.

Posted 05/01/07 | Report Abuse

Was this review helpful to you?

We are mostly happy with Happy Hound. The owner, Suzanne, really understands the needs of her clients. The hours and location are convenient. The staff are friendly and seem to keep a close watch over the dogs for potential problems. Even though there can be a lot of dogs, the staff learn each of the dogs' names.

On the downside, my dog's coat is always sticky/funky when I pick him up at the end of the day. This probably has something to do with the sheer number of dogs that he's in contact with during the day.

Overall, my dog seems happy (and tuckered out) after spending a day at Happy Hound.

PROS: Location, day care + overnight care, extended hours, web cam
CONS: Not for all dogs, yucky coat at end-of-day

Posted 11/09/06 | Report Abuse

Was this review helpful to you?

Terrible! We took our puppy to Happy Hound and found out that they spray the dogs in the face with water if they bark!
The frustrating part is that they lied and said they only use water to break up a dog fight.... so I asked if my dog was in a fight - nope, she was barking; we don't allow barking.

Plus, the facility smells terrible. The dogs all poop and pee on the concrete floor, inside the play area.

Think carefully before exposing your dog to this environment. This facility is not focused on the well-being of the dogs, only on bringing in cash.

***** Update 9-22-2006 *****

I wrote a review on both Yelp and Insider Pages following my experience. It looks like Happy Hound is trying to clean up its image - my Yelp review is gone (they didn't even contact me) and Insider Pages emailed asking for more details as part of a verification. Here's the full story... it'll be interesting to see if I'm still allowed to tell it:

We took our dog there for a total of about 1-2 months. At first everything was great we always saw the same person there (Josh) who clearly had a bond with our dog. Josh disappeared one day, and soon our dog started getting more and more reluctant about going inside. Soon, she was coming out with a wet head, sprinting and pulling on the leash to get out of the building. We asked and were told at first that it was the result of dogs playing and slobbering on each other. That didnt sound right, so we kept asking (and sometimes sticking around to observe) and finally someone told us that she was wet from spray bottles. But on our initial visit, they had originally told us that spray bottles were only used to break up fights. When we asked if our dog was getting in fights, they said no. Finally they came clean that some of the handlers sprayed the dogs to keep them from barking but they neither apologized nor gave any assurance that this would change. We finally stopped going, even though they owed us well over a hundred dollars for pre-paid visits.

Our dog was brand new to us, a rescued puppy, and she was having some behavior problems at home (very fearful and anxious). Once we stopped going to Happy Hound, her behavior improved immediately, and soon was happy and healthy. Some of the people at Happy Hound were very nice and clearly loved the dogs. But they also had people that were borderline abusive, and they showed no interest in correcting their behavior or removing the individuals. I rarely recommend strongly against a business, but these guys deserve it.

Posted 06/04/06 | Report Abuse

Was this review helpful to you?