Camp Diggity Dogs

posted: July 29th, 2008

If you're thinking about bringing your dog here, DON'T.

This is the first review I have ever done and the only reason I am even writing one is because this place is GROSS and should be SHUT DOWN!!!! I have a 1 year old mini pincher named Mike, who I needed to leave for a night because me and my boy friend were going out of town. I had seen some photos on the internet and it looked pretty nice, I also liked the fact that it was "cage free". So I call to see if they had room, the person I talked to on the phone was nice and said yes they had room and asked me to come in and do a screening of my dog to make sure she would get along with the other dogs. When I came for my screening the first thing I noticed was the main lobby which looks nice, but it just a false cover for the dump that is behind it. let me explain, they take me out to do a screening of my dog. The first thing you see is a lot of couches duct taped and ripped apart with the springs exposed. Not only did it looked disgusting the smelled it too, imagine having a bunch of dogs going to the bath room on your couch everyday, you get the idea. The outside area you would think would be in better condition but that wasn't the case. The swimming pool they had for the dog's was so badly chewed up that it was to the point that the dogs could cut themselves on the edges. The astroturf was torn, covered in flies and smells so bad I hardly breathe. I ask what they do when the dogs go to the rest room and was informed they pick it and then spray it off with the hose, but you could tell there was no place for the water to drain so the dogs are just playing in poop/pee water all the time. I left Camp Diggity Dog traumatized by how much disregard there is for your pet health and couldn't understand why this place hasn't been shut down by the city.. If you're thinking about bringing your dog here, DON'T.

edited: July 15th, 2008

Camp Diggity Dog - Bad News

My 17lb rat terrier Simon has been a patron at 5 different doggie daycares over the course of his 8 years and I've discovered there are 2 kinds of facilities that exist: those that were started by people who are completely in love with canines and want to immerse their lives in them, and those started by people who are tired of their 9-5's and looking for a small investment, low-overhead, service-industry business for their personal gain. Camp Diggity Dog is definitely one of the latter.

Simon attended doggie daycare about once a week at Camp Diggity Dog for nearly a year without incident. But within the last few months of his stays there, he would have a violent physical reaction for the 24 hours following his day there - consisting of vomiting and diarrhea. It happened like clock-work for a couple of weeks, every-time I would pick him up from daycare so I finally took him to his vet. The vet said that Simon was suffering from some anxiety that was affecting his stomach and suggested that I try feeding him rice, chicken, and a little bit of Pepcid AC in the morning before attending daycare and then at night after picking him up.

I tried that - twice; with no change in his condition post daycare. I was devastated because Camp Diggity Dog is so geographically convenient for me (I live in Golden Hill), the groomer was awesome (her name is Samantha), and the prices were very reasonable. To make matters worse, I had just recently purchased another $240.00 10 day pass - confident that the veterinarian’s recommendations would certainly succeed.

I didn’t really know what to do because I didn’t blame the facility for my dog’s condition, but I also didn’t want to waste hundreds of dollars due to an unexpected scenario that I had no control over. Eventually, after weeks passed; I worked up the nerve to explain my situation to one of the workers there while picking up Simon from a grooming appointment. She was super nice, totally understanding of my situation, and promised to talk to the owner, Ted, and have him contact me. Weeks later, after hearing from nobody; it took me an additional 3 phone calls and some pleading to finally get a direct conversation with Ted.

I politely explained my situation to him, but he adamantly refused to refund a cent back; and even suggested that I wait a month or so and try bringing Simon back in again to see if he would experience the same reaction. I tried explaining that I’d already done that a half a dozen times already hoping the problem would just be magically alleviated. I asked him if perhaps the funds could be put towards grooming instead since I planned to continue those services with Samantha at Camp Diggity Dog, but he still completely refused to compromise in any way; citing the fact that doing it once for me would mean adopting a general ‘refund policy’. I tried offering my veterinarian’s contact information so he could confirm my story, but I quickly realized this man was married to his $240 and wasn’t going to budge no matter how extenuating my circumstances were.

In retrospect, it’s obvious that the owner of this company does not have the best interest of the facility’s dogs in mind, and I can only presume at least some of his workers share his sentiment; maybe that’s why Simon developed these obscure symptoms that he’s never exhibited while attending anywhere else. I’m disappointed to have lost my money, but it was a small price to pay to learn the true priorities and spirit of Camp Diggity Dog and its owner.

1 pet found this review helpful

posted: June 15th, 2007

Be a Diggity Dog!

Pawwwwwwtastic!

1 pet found this review unhelpful