Please seek daycare elsewhere

We took our four and a half month old puppy to the Central Bark Brookfield location yesterday morning. She had been well socialized at the dog park and tagging along on patio, brewery, and beer garden dates multiple times a week since we rescued her at 10 weeks old. She’s met dozens of dogs without issue. On the phone while scheduling and during check in I warned them that she gets scared when chased and/or cornered by too many dogs at once. They assured me she’d be slowly introduced. First playtime would be one on one, and if that went well, they’d add one or two more dogs during second play time. We had dropped her off at 7:30am. Before 9:30am they called and said I needed to pick her up. That she was uncomfortable and not enjoying daycare. I left work and rushed there. When I got there they told me she did great and happily played one on one with the other dog during the first introduction. Then she told me in group play she hid and showed her teeth when cornered. I asked how many dogs she was introduced to in group, she hesitated and then said well not more than 5. I’m not sure how anyone trained in dog behavior thinks it’s okay to expose a puppy to a pack of dogs all at once in less than two hours of being in a new space. They also told me she must have separation anxiety. As I was standing there getting these explanations she said do you hear that high pitched bark? Over a dozen dogs were in their kennels and barking incessantly so I said no. She said well that’s her and how we know. I tried to log into my account this morning to make sure I wasn’t charged, less than 24 hours later, and my account was closed. No further explanation, no offer to try again. We went to Hounds & Tap last night to give her a good experience and ensure she didn’t experience any lasting trauma. We explained the situation and they were appalled. Explained that they only put 4 dogs max in a group, did one on one leash introductions for every dog entering the group, and immediately diffuse and distract the other dogs if the group is chasing or cornering one. And if there were any issues they couldn’t correct at the time they’d send them home but try again another day. She played for hours with the other dogs, chasing and being chased, without issue. Any time she was cornered, one of their team members would diffuse the situation and the dogs would spread out and play again. We ignored the warnings about Central Bark because they were on the way to work, that was a mistake. If you care about your furry family members, please seek a more trained staff at a safer location.

Aug. 18, 2022