Playful Paws Inc

We recently started bringing our Boxer here and he loves it! It’s great to have a place so close that he can run around and socialize with other dogs. My only complaint would be an expected one, is that he is usually in need of a bath when he comes home because he smells like dog. Otherwise, I think the staff are great, prices are really fair and our pup always leaves there happy (and exhausted!).

My dog Jerry has been attending day care here at least two days every week since we moved to the area five months ago. I did my research on all doggy day cares near my home and office before ultimately choosing Playful Paws.
My dog is happy every time we pull into their parking lot for drop off, and he is always exhausted when I pick him up after work.
They have slightly longer hours than most day care facilities in the area. Even 30 minutes longer is a big deal to me in case I work a bit late. They charge what I found to be the most reasonable price when compared to the other nearby facilities. The dogs are not crated at any point during the day, which I found to be very common elsewhere. There is a large fenced in area at the rear of the building, and the dogs spend most of the day out there when weather is permitting.
For all of these reasons combined, I am happy to recommend their services and will continue to bring Jerry in for stimulation and exercise while I’m at work!

Playful Paws is God-​sent. Every single one of the people who work there are friendly, caring and professional. I have 2 dogs and was in huge need of finding a good dog daycare/​boarding facility, as I have just moved to the area. After trying 2 other dog daycare/​boarding facilities, I was beginning to lose hope, as the staff (and owners!) were rude to me directly and said my dogs were just «not fit for regular daycare.» Even worse, they made me feel bad about needing to board my dogs and acted as if they were doing me a favor by caring for them.
In comes Playful Paws. They can pick up and drop off your dogs, have wonderful hours (6 AM — 7 PM) giving me plenty of time to drop them off early if I need to rush to work and pick up late after a longer day. Or even better, they can be dropped off! Everyone at Playful Paws has been wonderful to both my dogs and myself. They truly understand dogs, have patience with them and never make you feel bad for typical «dog» behaviors or for having to leave them for the day or long-​weekend. The frosting on the cake is that the prices are so reasonable and fair. Thank you Playful Paws for making the transition to Boston so much easier and putting my mind at ease knowing my dogs are being well cared for while I’m at work or away.

Great place, great staff– brought my dog here a couple of times. Highly recommended to others.

My dog loves going here!
Pros:
— Most affordable in the area. $ 20/​day
— Grooming service. Dino is the only groomer that has been able to befriend my dog and get him to be okay with grooming. He’s great with the dogs.
— Open long hours 6am-​7pm (plenty of time to commute/​work/​make it back in time to pick up your dog)
Cons:
— There’s no live cam so you can’t log in online and see how your dog is doing. PetSmart has this feature, and I love it. I would bring my dog more frequently if this feature was available.
— Workers are not CPR/​First Aid certified. They will transport your dog to the vet if there is an emergency, but I would be more comfortable if everyone had some animal emergency training.
— Sometimes there are A LOT of dogs. I think they should expand this great establishment and make some more room for all the doggie costumers to run.

Our 5 month old vizsla puppy has been going here once or twice a week. She seems to love it (excited tail and butt wiggles when she goes in), and the hours and price can’t be beat. So far the staff has all been friendly and Christine (from Happy Tails) checked in with us a lot in the beginning to make sure we were comfortable with everything at the daycare! It seems to be a safe place for our precious pup, and we did take the time to interview/​tour a few other facilities before deciding to send her here. We love hearing stories of our pup’s day, but usually the checkout person is a bit too busy to have a real conversation with us. We wish they had a web cam for us to check in on our dog during the day, since she is/​was so young when we started bringing her in, as we weren’t able to observe the small dogs/​puppies at play for liability reasons. All in all, we’re happy to have found the place, and with a little bit more information about the time she spends there, it would truly be a 5 star establishment!

Love this place. Affordable and nice people working there… Dog is always sleepy afterwards. They also have longer hours than many other daycares around…

We take our dog Bruschi here. He is 8 years old and recently lost his life long sister who passed this winter. He was very lonely so we wanted to bring him some where for socializing. Staff is super friendly and caring. Lots of great space for our dog to run around and socialize with other dogs. Great prices and convenient location. We are very happy at Playful Paws!

We had a great dog walker in our North End neighborhood but wanted our dog (Buster) to get some play group time each week. We started using Playful Paws (and the companion business Happy Tails) a few years ago based on a recommendation from our vet. If a vet thinks a place is great, you know it’s probably great.
We have had nothing but great experiences with Playful Paws. Buster clearly loves going there. As as he sees the pick-​up person come through the door, he would dart across the room because he knew he would be going somewhere great. They also offer great grooming services.
We’ve also had to board Buster a few times for last-​minute business and/​or personal travel. They are extremely accommodating for last minute requests. It is a great feeling that we never have to worry about our dog when he is in the care of Playful Paws.
All in all, great people and great service. We are sad that we can no longer use them for daycare/​play group since we are moving out of their pick-​up area. However, we will absolutely use them for boarding.

After a week long family vacation, we came to pick up our dog from Playful Paws and found her to be filthy with poop all over her, hungry and with a low activity level that I would classify as depression. I don’t know what happened, but my dog is traumatized and my heart is broken.
Based off of the Unilocal reviews and a first visit, we thought Playful Paws would be a safe place for our 1 year old dog — Boy were we wrong!!!
Although, we had been told she did fine and played with other dogs, she is not the same dog we dropped off a week ago. We phoned in during our vacation to check on her and was told each time she was fine. Prior to dropping her off, she was active, playful and loved cuddling. Now she would prefer to spend majority of her days in bed in her cage. I don’t know what happened during her time at Playful Paws and probably will never know, but she is not the same. Not to mention, the placed smelled awful when she was picked up. It was not like that when we dropped her off.
BEWARE!!! This place is not safe for dogs.

We brought our 2 boys here about a month ago for overnight boarding. The facility is really clean and the boys seem to enjoy themselves while there. You can tell the staff are really dedicated to the care and well being of their charges. Only 4 stars because I think during the peak drop off and pick up times they need at least 1 – 2 more staff at the front desk. It has been chaotic in the lobby area when we have dropped off and picked up since so many family’s are doing the same. One staff member can’t handle the onslaught of dogs and people.

I drove by this place so many times that when I (or my pups) finally needed the services I rememberd Playful Paws! The staff was great. I was able to bring my pekingese in a couple days before their stay to get them accustomed to the environment and other dogs. For the 3 nights they stayed, I was so glad I didn’t have to worry about them. The prices you cannot beat and the staff are very friendly and attentive… My babies will definitely be back!

I’ve been bringing my fur babies (I have a 5 year old Boxer, who’s nuts, and a not-​quite-​2 year old Griffin, who’s also nuts) to Playful Paws for almost a year, and I’ve only lived in the area for 6 months. Yeah. You do the math.
We knew we were moving to the area, and wanted our pups to be comfortable at a place nearby long before the added stress of changing houses. Playful Paws came recommended to us, and we dropped our dogs off for their trial, for which I was more than willing to pay. Playful Paws is a business, not a free babysitting service. If I’m going to ask the staff to pay extra attention to my pups while they’re feeling out their places in the pack with their new friends, hell yes I’m willing to pay for it.
So their doggie adventures at PP began. My boyfriend was doing the drop off/​pickup, since he was usualy in the area, and always came home with two exhausted, sometimes a little dirty but always happy, dogs. «Daycare» came to be the magic word in my house. Good stuff.
My first time there was… surprising, to say the least. A little back story: My Boxer has had pancreatic issues most of her life, and as a result, she’s quite small, and always on the thin side. We manage to fatten her up once in a while, but being a Boxer, and therefore insane, she inevitably burns it off.
Fast forward to the first time I ever picked up my pups from Playful Paws, and Melissa met me in the lobby. Her first words to me, after telling her which doggies I was aiming to retrieve, were «Hang on a second. Let’s talk. Why is your dog so skinny?» No mincing words, no delicate toeing around the subject — she was about to grill me on why it looks like my dog doesn’t eat enough.
After talking it through and explaining my pup’s digestive issues, she said «Sure, great, yeah… so how are we going to fatten her up?»
I love this woman.
Her business is dogs. Dogs are her business.
If you want a pretty daycare, where everything is white and crisp and smells of bleach, you are looking for a facility where your dog is spending the day in a crate while the staff constantly cleans the place to impress the people. If you’re looking for a doggie report card, or some touchy feely experience, have a baby and get a nanny.
If you want your dogs to come home pooped, and the kind of staff that really isn’t interested in your sensitivities but very much concerned about the health & happiness of their real customers (the 4-​legged ones), this is the place for you. My dogs LOVE Melissa. LOOOoooOOooooOOOVE her. I have to spell the word «daycare» in my house because if I say it, and they’re not going, there is mayhem.
Great prices, great staff, great experience for the greatest loves of my life. Convenient hours, pickup & dropoff service if you live in the area (WHICH IS AWESOME) … I’d give Playful Paws a million stars if I could.

I have been bringing my four year old GSP to Playful Paws for almost three years. My dog needs the exercise and playtime with other dogs. I have nothing but high praise for Melissa and her whole team. They all know my dog. By name. No small task with all the dogs they see. And they treat him like he was their dog. They know what he likes, how he acts and work with me to see he has a great time. Not once did I get the feeling he was just another dog. He’s family. Please keep up the great work. Thanks.
Brutus’ Dad. ;)

I wish there were more stars to give Melissa and the whole Playful Paws family because they are just that amazing!
After having an awful experience with PetSmart’s doggie day camp (they forgot to feed my then 6-​month old puppy!!), I decided to find a more suitable outlet to allow my puppy play and exercise while being in a safe and caring environment. After my initial phone conversation with Melissa, I knew that she took the health of ALL the dogs who were there seriously — I mean, EVERY potential client has to have DOCUMENTED proof of all the dogs’ vaccinations, vet info, etc., and that gave me a good feeling.
I decided to bring my puppy for a 2 – 3 hour trial visit to see if the environment and other dogs were compatible with her (as well as give the Playful Paws staff a chance to see how my puppy interacted with them and other dogs). When I came to pick her up, she was so out of breath (which was a sight I have never seen before)!! When I took her to doggie day camp at PetSmart for an entire day, she would come back to me with as much energy as when I left her; however, she passed out after playing there in just those few hours at Playful Paws! Although there was a fee, I was glad to pay it after seeing how exhausted my puppy was (and she is a high-​energy Vizsla-​Lab mix)… There are some things you can’t put a price on, and this is by far one of those things!
Since my initial visit, I have been bringing my puppy on a regular basis (whether I can’t get home to walk her during the days or if she needs some extra time to burn off some energy). From time to time, I even board her overnight to give myself a break (to clean, run errands, etc. without interruptions) and to give my puppy the exercise and playtime she needs, and I can say that the staff at Playful Paws take care of my girl as if she was one of their own!
I always feel confident leaving my puppy with Playful Paws because I know that she is always well taken care of (they know her and EVERY dog there by name!) and she has a safe environment to release all of her energy and play. They offer flexible hours and VERY affordable prices. I am grateful for Melissa and the whole Playful Paws family, and will continue to support their business for as long as I am a dog owner.
Thanks, from Ashley & Nyla :)

I am very particular about where I take my dog to. As he is a wee fella, he has a tendency to be bullied by other dogs. Thus, he does not typically like going to daycares or Kennels. However, he absolutely loves going to Playful Paws. As they insist upon interviewing the owners and the dogs before they are allowed to stay, I know that he is in good hands/​paws/​company.
What is great for me is the fact that he pulls to get in and then when I get home from work, he is absolutely exhausted.
A great place where a friendly dog is well taken care of!

I have a 6 year old Bassett, She has been to 3 doggie daycares and let me say Playful Paws will be her last. The owner is super cool and approachable. They love all the dogs, and they treat them with great care. My dog had an infection from a thorn that was stuck in her paw over the weekend (I live near woods) and the owner noticed it right away, when I picked her up she had me take her to the vet. The vet told me I was lucky to have noticed it because if I waited a day or two longer it would have costed me a lot of $$$. I owe playful Paws a lot for that one.
This is also the first place where I haven’t had to wear a gas mask to when picking up Lucy. The Hours are great and the price is cheap only $ 20 a day and they watch her from 7 – 5. They offer boarding and grooming for a very reasonable price. They’re the only people that my dog will let trim her nails (the vet quits after two nails and she runs and hides from me whenever I break out the clippers.), and they file them down to the wick.
I strongly recomend that if you live or work in the Malden area send your dog here.

Whooooo! Stink-​key!
After reading all of the über-​positive Unilocal reviews here, I was shocked by the conditions when we arrived.
It was a weekend morning, so there weren’t too many dogs there. The indoor facilities were dark, dank, dirty, and even with the small number of dogs there, the smell was so pungent my nose was burning the minute we walked through the door. I was very hesitant to leave my dog for there for the two hour (paid) trial.
We have used other area daycares in the past and the conditions here were far below any of the others I’ve visited and/​or patronized. I would strongly encourage that clients who have never visited other doggy daycares take some time to shop around before settling for the conditions Playful Paws has to offer.
Oh, and when we picked up my dog? After just two hours? He reeked of the amonia-​like smell of the place for the rest of the day.

I’m sorry to have to update this review as I had trusted this facility for years.
My dog was bitten while boarding there last week and nobody called me or the local number I provided in case of emergency. Instead I was surprised with a scabbed, inch-​long wound and bruises when picking him up.
My dog was not taken to the vet and the biter was not segregated because, as the owner said to me on the phone, «this sort of thing happens all the time.»
Really. And your website says that agressive behavior is not tolerated. At the very least I should have been called to make a decision about seeing a vet myself.
No recompense or apology was offered when I spoke with the owner, just excuses.
Needless to say I’ll be finding another place for my dog to stay.

I use Unilocal pretty extensively, but have never once written a review. I’m much too lazy, you see. Given the excellent experiences I’ve had with Playful Paws however, it would be criminal not to share.
I moved to Boston (well, Charlestown actually) from the Connecticut countryside with my two dogs (corgis) in tow. Back in CT, they lived in houses with big fenced in yards, doggie doors, and lots of wide-​open space with very little contact with other dogs. Moving into an apartment in the city has, as you may guess, proven to be quite the transition.
Thank god then for the doggie daycare at Playful Paws. From the outset they have been incredibly accommodating, and have taken the challenge of socializing my dogs without missing a step. My dogs love going to daycare, they come back exhausted, they’re getting better and better with city living, the pickup and drop-​off service that they offer is a life-​saver, and everything is reasonably priced.
In my deepest, darkest moments during this transition, I had some worries that I would need to find alternate living arrangements for my dogs. Since discovering Playful Paws, I’m confident that won’t need to happen. I would unhesitatingly recommend Playful Paws to anybody looking for doggie daycare or boarding, and I’m grateful to them for helping me find a way to live comfortably with my dogs.