Petsmart Hotel

[Disneyfied4]

We have 2 dogs that we have never boarded. Has anyone used a Petsmart Hotel? I realize that each one will be differnt but I would love to hear any comments.

 

[jenlynn0808]

I'd like to hear what everyone has to say too. We have always had a relative stay and "dogsit" but we moved cross country last year and they will have to be boarded now. We checked a few places around here (not a huge selection) and Petsmart seemed to meet our and our pets needs the best.

 

[arminnie]

I've never lived near a Petsmart boarding facility - but I have been boarding dogs for 30 years. I've lived in several cities so have had to pick a new boarding facility many times (I traveled a lot for work - sometimes overseas for a couple of weeks).

First you should always go visit before you need to board. Don't call ahead of time. But try not to go early in the am or late in the afternoon when they will be busy with pickups and dropoffs. Someone should be available to show you around and you should see first hand where your dog will be kept.

I personally will not cage board my dogs. I want an indoor and an outdoor run with a dog door to go in and out. Most places will close the outdoor part at night though. The indoor part should be heated or air-conditioned as needed.

The part about having a run is an absolute requirement for me. I prefer a place that can bathe and groom the dog on pickup day. Some places do not allow pickups on the weekend so you may have to wait a day to pick up your pet if you get back on a Sunday.

Another plus would be someplace that does doggie day care. If people trust taking their dogs there everyday they are probably doing a good job.

I don't board my dogs that often anymore - but I still maintain a relationship (grooming) with a good kennel. The staff know my dogs and that helps too.

My dogs always loved going to the kennels - they got spoiled with milkbones and pets all day long! They hated when I got a pet sitter (who was only there to feed them or sometimes spend the night). But my dogs are very, very social and love being around people.

 

[jenlynn0808]

One of the places we looked into actually told us no drop in checks allowed, if you didn't have an appointment you weren't getting past the front door. True conversation with one kennel...

Me:I didn't pick my child's daycare without a few unexpected drop-ins and since our dogs are consider part of the family I don't understand why you don't allow drop-ins.
Them: Well this is a private residence and we can't have people coming at all hours of the day.
Me: Fine, I can understand that, but why not have drop-ins between set times, like 10-6?
Them:It riles the dogs up to much.
Them: If you want we can set up a time to evalute your dogs and then if they qualify you can make another appointment to see the facility.
Me: No thanks...

Personally the fact that we couldn't just check out the facilities really rubbed us the wrong way. I didn't need to interact with the dogs, we just wanted to see where they were taken care of. It made us feel totally uncomfortable like they were trying to hide something. Needless to say, the dogs won't be boarded there.

 

[Shyvioletisme]

not sure if this is anything you are interested in, but have you thought about hiring a petsitter??? there are a lot of really reputable ones out there, you just have to make sure they are bonded and insured...you can go to petsitters international http://www.petsit.com/ and click on locate a petsitter and they will give you some in your area...If your animal isn't used to being boarded this might be a better way to do it...we hired one a few months ago when we had to go out of town and it worked so well for our cat...
again...not sure if you were really set on boarding or what, but just to let you know that the professional petsitter is an option.

 

[arminnie]

One of the places we looked into actually told us no drop in checks allowed, if you didn't have an appointment you weren't getting past the front door.

Big red flag. I wouldn't have used them either. Yes the dogs do start barking when someone walks thru - but that's what dogs do. It's not like someone is coming by to look every 5 minutes.

If using a petsitter be sure to find out how much time they will actually be spending with the pet. My boys just freak out if they only get a short visit a couple of times a day. And they have a dog door and feed on demand so their only real "need" is attention. They get way more attention and people time at the kennel.

 

[chisnpeke]

One of the places we looked into actually told us no drop in checks allowed, if you didn't have an appointment you weren't getting past the front door. True conversation with one kennel...

Me:I didn't pick my child's daycare without a few unexpected drop-ins and since our dogs are consider part of the family I don't understand why you don't allow drop-ins.
Them: Well this is a private residence and we can't have people coming at all hours of the day.
Me: Fine, I can understand that, but why not have drop-ins between set times, like 10-6?
Them:It riles the dogs up to much.
Them: If you want we can set up a time to evalute your dogs and then if they qualify you can make another appointment to see the facility.
Me: No thanks...

Personally the fact that we couldn't just check out the facilities really rubbed us the wrong way. I didn't need to interact with the dogs, we just wanted to see where they were taken care of. It made us feel totally uncomfortable like they were trying to hide something. Needless to say, the dogs won't be boarded there.

I'd never keep them somewhere where you couldn't tour. We toured one place and then set up bookings and then canceled once we found another place that we felt much better about. Make sure YOU feel comfortable with where you are keeping them. I don't think I'd use petsmart because a lot of the people they hire are just people looking for jobs, not true pet lovers, which is what a lot of private boarders are (not all, but most ). I feel best leaving my pups in a place where the owners love animals too.

 

[elizke]

not sure if this is anything you are interested in, but have you thought about hiring a petsitter??? there are a lot of really reputable ones out there, you just have to make sure they are bonded and insured...you can go to petsitters international http://www.petsit.com/ and click on locate a petsitter and they will give you some in your area...If your animal isn't used to being boarded this might be a better way to do it...we hired one a few months ago when we had to go out of town and it worked so well for our cat...
again...not sure if you were really set on boarding or what, but just to let you know that the professional petsitter is an option.

How much, in general, does pet sitting usually cost?

Back to the OP, we've used the Petsmart hotel, and it's very clean and well run, but the expenses add up (you pay extra for play time), and there's no outdoor area (not as important around here in the winter). The people there all seem very good and loving with the dogs.

But we still wish we could find other options. Pet sitting concerns me since, if we're gone for a week, she'd be all alone for long periods of time. She's very very very social.

 

[lilybrooke14]

We used the PetHotel for our Disney trip in October. Our cocker spaniel had never been boarded before, and I didn't want her staying in a small cage all week. She was boarded for 10 days. We went ahead and paid the extra money for the suite. It's an actual little room with a raised bed and a tv. We also added a few Bizzy Bundles (I think that's what it was called) so a few times a week she got some extra play time, a Kong toy filled with treats, and a "doggie Ice cream cone with treats on top". I figured that would make her happy. We called them and they called us a few times during the week to let us know how she was doing. She was in great shape when we picked her up. Clean, happy. We would definitely use them again. Be prepared though, it was pretty expensive for dog boarding, but we thought it was worth it.

If it had been possible, we would have gotten a pet sitter, but that wasn't an option for us.

 

[Mrs.Toad]

I would only use the Petsmart hotel if we were only out of town for a day or two, because, at least at the one in our area, the dogs are not let outside at all, and only get a half hour of play time with other dogs in a room no bigger than my family room. You can pay extra for another half hour of play time.

On the other hand, for only a little more money per day, there are doggie day care centers more like what arminnie described. The dogs can go in and out as they please all day long and play together in large play areas. The dogs that are boarding are put in their own little "room" at night. Our dog is very playful and loves contact with both humans and other dogs, so I'd worry about him getting too lonely at a Petsmart type set up, or with a sitter who only came a couple of times a day.

 

[Minnie&Nana]

After having seen what goes on behind the scenes at PetSmart grooming, would never use them for boarding...or any kind of pet care/grooming or the Vet some have attached to the stores.

We've heard way too many bad experiences (and one several years ago) with boarding facilities and stay home rather than use one. Let's face, as a pp said, these are family members and the same guidelines should apply for our pets as for our children when we seek child care.

Lots of excellent advice here!