The Dog Stop - Richmond VA

"We love the Dog Stop! We were very nervous to get grooming services done after having an awful experience at a different groomer. They listened to our requests and delivered! We are so pleased with how they groomed our yorkie. We also love to use them for overnight boarding if we have to go away for a weekend. It is hard for us to trust others with our dog but being able to check in on cameras and the caring staff make it easier. They always do a great job."

"At first we thought we found a dream daycare until it turned out to be a nightmare. We took our dog to the dog stop as soon as they opened, one of their very first customers. We ended up getting a second dog and she was adopted from a shelter. She was sky but super friendly and loving. Our first situation was with our dog Brody, he was getting his nails trimmed and snipped the owner. This was over a year ago and is still talked about. Our second situation was when I was looking on the cameras for Bailey and Brody and I could not find them anywhere. I called and asked where they were and they told me they put them in a crate due to there being so many dogs. I explained we do not crate our dogs and this is unacceptable I don’t send my dogs to the daycare to get crated up. This happened over 4 times after I said call me if you need me to pick up my dogs. Please do not crate them. It even got so bad my dogs would fight to stay in the car. I have no idea what they did at that daycare but, my dogs love other animal interaction and they seemed absolutely terrified to go to that place. They went downhill fully and it’s our jobs as dog owners to trust our dogs. They will never get a recommendation from me and I hope everyone who goes to this place really knows what they are doing to there animals. Have a blessed Christmas season."

""On 11/10, I dropped by very large, high-energy golden retriever off at the boarding school with a harness that I use to safely keep control of my dog. The boarding school removed the harness as per their policy, but I did ask them to put the harness back on for pick-up at 6:30. When I went to pick my dog up, the harness was not placed back on him. Being high-energy, not finished with his training, and less than a year old, my dog was jumping up excitedly on other people, and without his harness I had to physically restrain him by basically hugging the dog and gently pushing him toward the ground so I could get his harness back on without him potentially hurting someone else by jumping up. I eventually got his harness back on and left the boarding school. Later, an officer arrived at my home to check on the welfare of my dog, because the staff at the boarding school called with concerns that I was abusing my dog. I am a first-time dog owner and am doing everything right by putting my dog through training and making sure he's well cared for when I am unavailable to do it myself. I have never abused my dog. I was highly upset that instead of speaking with me privately, an officer was sent to my home. The officer ultimately cleared me and said there were no signs of neglect or abuse to my dog, but I feel like my morality and judgement were called into question unfairly by the staff at this boarding school and I am very upset that they would immediately jump to such an extreme conclusion. It is for this reason and the staff's extreme reaction to an innocent attempt to calm my enthusiastic puppy that I will no longer be taking my dog to this boarding school. I hope in the future the staff takes the time to gather evidence of abusive behavior or signs of abuse before making such a severe accusations and reporting someone to the police.""

"I have mixed feelings on this boarding facility. Let’s start with the positive — the facility is very clean and you can tell the staff is friendly and do genuinely care about dogs. They were attentive to the fact my Lab Mix pup was stressed, and moved her to the small dog section. I can see how they outshine the other facilities in the area in that regard. On the other hand, I have to say I was quite shocked about how long the dogs are left alone during weekends. Your dog will be in the kennel from 4pm and the next employee doesn’t return until 10am the next day. I personally think that’s a ridiculous amount of time and don’t find that acceptable. 18 hours! Of course my dog smelled like urine when I got her, and she definitely seemed stressed when I got her. I think they have a caring staff but she won’t be boarded overnight again. We would consider coming back for daycare though."

"Everyone is always so kind and helpful. My day I got to tour the facility and loved what I saw. I could even watch my little Gavin run and play with his pup friends throughout the day. I love that it doubles as a boarding facility if needed and they even have grooming there too. I wish the outdoor camera’s were working but that may just be during the winter. Now thats it is beginning to warm up, i assume they will get turned on again."