Stone Mountain Pet Lodge

In the past I would bring my dog to the Baltimore location for grooming and Kailyn was great! She treated my dog like I would. She scissor cut her, put nothing around her neck and it only took 1.5 to 2 hours max. She moved away and so I tried Kristi at the Radisson location instead. My appointment was at noon so I went to drop her off, talked to Kristi, told her not to put anything around her neck and she said OK. I did not get a call after 1.5 hours so I thought I would go there and she would be done soon. When I got there the groomer was cutting another dogs hair and I asked if my dog was done yet. They said no it would be another hour. I asked why so long and where is my dog? She was in the kennel and that it was normal for a dog to be drying and then another dog gets cut. Well I don’t think it takes over an hour for my dog to get dry and I am not ok with my dog being put in a kennel for that long. My dog does not like going there in the first place and then to be in a kennel for that long is not ok with me! I had an appointment and it should have been done at the most 2 hours! Then she told me that she would do it right away and it would be an hour and when I looked in the window the groomer had something around her neck so I told the manager that she can not have anything around her neck, she told me that it was for safety reasons and I said give me my dog I am leaving right now! They told me that I could put in the notes that I wanted my dog cut right away but I told them that I would not be back! The whole experience was awful and unacceptable!

Well first let me say something good. I brought my previous Saint here 2 or 3 times and really a great experience. They always bathed him and cleaned him up beautifully & everyone just great
Now for my latest experience with my new 7 month old Saint.
Made a same day appt. they led me to pre-​room of groomer. Otis didn’t really want to go in and receptionist started to try and sooth him and baby talk to him. I asked her not to speak or sooth him when he acts this way as it just makes things worse long term. She immediately left without another word. I spoke to groomer and asked her to not baby him if he acts scared and she completely understood and agreed (great groomer as she seem to «get» it)
I went to leave and realizing the receptionist may have taken my words poorly, although I in no way was short, abrupt or rude about it; I went to counter and started to explain which the woman completely ignored me in the rudest way
I left saying she was rude and could care less if she wished to behave so poorly
Needless to say I returned to pick up pup, who looked great, tipped groomer, told her she did wonderful job but I won’t be back as reception is horrible. Many were in huddle as I left; I’m sure justifying their poor behavior
I honestly thought it likely an isolated issue until I read previous reviews. They lost my business and two others thus far. By the way, I live in cities and will not be driving 40 minutes one way again. Lots of good groomers around.
Groomer was only one offering apology, which she was only one that had no need to

I dropped my dog off there this past weekend. When I arrived the front desk staff was cold and unwelcoming. She escorted us into a room where they check for fleas and ticks as well as do an overall exam. When this was done she really didn’t seem to car that I was nervous about leaving my dog as he had never been boarded before. She just continued to try and seek extra services to me. My dog came back unharmed but very scared I think it may just be because he was left there but I will not be using this place again.

I love this facility, and so does my pup! Aside from being a super clean boarding kennel, they also have many things other kennels dont.
1. Webcams! You can watch your pup ²⁴⁄₇ live if you really wanted to. I like this feature because I’m able to watch how the staff treat my dog, and how my dog interacts with the others.
2. 3 – 4 Large daycare play areas! The dogs are constantly moving around and have lots of space to play as well as rest without feeling crowded. They move the Plat equipment around too. The dogs never get bored.
3. The have fun activities for your pet. In October, they did a costume contest. Around Christmas time, they had Santa come bring treats. Plus, every morning they have a daycare activity for the dogs, such as ice cubes, bubbles, frisbees, etc.
The list could go on and on. Yes, they are a bit more spendy, but for me it’s worth it. We have never boarded our pup over night, but have brought her to daycare on many occasions, had her groomed there, and we have shopped the petstore. We are very pleased with the staff. We will be coming here for awhile!

I am very disappointed in my recent visit to Stone Mountain Pet Lodge.
About 3 weeks ago, a homeless cat showed up at my house. After about a week, we decided to adopt him, as we were unable to find his owner. Because he lived outside for so long, I wanted to get him bathed, since he was obviously dirty. I called Stone Mountain Pet Lodge because I had heard good things about them from a family member who had boarded his dog there. The receptionist that I spoke with said they groomed cats frequently, and that they had a specific groomer who specialized in caring for cats. We had to wait 2 weeks to get an appointment with her. Another grooming business in Forest Lake that I talked to was able to get him in sooner, but I decided to stick with Stone Mountain because I felt like they would be the best people to work with.
So, two weeks went by and it was finally the day of our appointment. Because I work in the cities, I had to take off work 2 hours early, using my precious vacation time, in order to get home, pick up my new cat, and bring him down to Stone Mountain.
When we arrived, we were escorted to the grooming office, where we met the «cat groomer». She immediately told us that if our cat tried to bite or scratch her during the grooming process, she would stop the service immediately and return him to us in the condition he was in (wet, full of soap, etc). She assured us that no matter how well behaved our cat was, that he might not not tolerate a bath, and she seemed to suggest that we shouldn’t even try. My husband and I were shocked. This woman was supposed to be a professional cat groomer, yet she didn’t even want to try bathing our cat. I can understand a groomer turning down the job if an animal was showing signs of fear or aggression, but our cat was sitting calmly in his kennel and has never been aggressive with us, our other pets, or at his recent vet appointment. We know a bath might be stressful for a cat, but it appeared as though this woman just didn’t not want to do her job. It is hard to believe she was a trained groomer, because she showed zero confidence in her ability to do the job, and didn’t even want to try! I have no idea why Stone Mountain claims to have a cat groomer, because this woman was completely unwilling to work with us. She didn’t seem at all bothered when we chose to leave.
When making my appointment two weeks ago, it would have been nice if the receptionist had warned me about their approach to bathing cats. Had I known the «cat groomer» was apprehensive about bathing cats, we would never had made this appointment. As mentioned above, I took time off of work, used my vacation, and waited 2 weeks for this appointment. I could have gone somewhere else and gotten in much sooner, and most likely received better service as well.
The women at the reception desk seemed very confused when we immediately walked out. I told them how the groomer treated us and our cat, and they tried to convince us to make an appointment with ANOTHER «cat groomer» on the following day, who would be «BETTER» with cats and would be «TOTALLY WILLING» to work with us. However, I’m not going to waste my time and take MORE time off of work, only to risk being turned away again.
After driving home very upset, I called the other groomer I had spoken to in Forest Lake, and they were shocked at how Stone Mountain handled us. This groomer said they would accept my cat with open arms and work with him to make his bath as stress-​free and calming as possible. They said they would NEVER return a cat back to its owner mid-​bath, but instead, they will take as much time as they need to complete the grooming process. We will be going to this groomer from now on.
We are very disappointed in the terrible customer-​service and this groomer’s unwillingness to take on the job that she was hired to do. We have 2 dogs and 2 cats in our home, and will never bring any of them to Stone Mountain for any of their services.

I love this place & the new location is just as good as the original. I’ve been taking Duke here for 4 years for daycare & boarding. He always has a wonderful time & I love the webcams. Staff is always friendly & Duke sometimes isn’t always the friendliest pooch but I know the staff will take care of him. We are looking forward to boarding him at Baltimore for the 4^th of July slumber party.

We boarded our dog here Tuesday-​Friday. I wasn’t overly impressed with the front desk staff. they were really cold, short, and unwelcoming. I asked to go into the back to see where my dog would be staying and they were okay with that. It sort of smelt like urine but the set up was as I expected. This was the first time we boarded our dog so the whole situation made me uneasy, it would of made me feel better if their customer service was better :/

This was in October 2014. My husband and I just got married and were going on a week long honeymoon. We heard everyone raving about how fantastic Stone Mountain was. They have TVs to watch, lots of play time, extra one-​on-​one time, etc. So I signed up our mutt, and added on a few things to make it a really pleasant experience for our best friend. I was VERY disappointed.
My first impression was «this place really wants you to buy stuff,» because the lobby is packed with merchandise. Shouldn’t you focus less on stuff and more on the dog. The place I take her now only has a few treats, a little food, some bones, and a handful or toys… that seems right as the focus should be on dog care not up sales.
First, they had a question and instead of calling us (which would have not been an issue since we kept our phones with us and we stayed in the states) first, they called my emergency contact (which was my mom). By doing that, they made my mom nervous too. Anyway, the reason they called was because they said our dog wasn’t allowed to play with other dogs because she had a mite that was contagious. Yes, my dog was on a medication for a mite she contracted, but it was NOT contagious. They claimed to have called our vet to ask about it, but the vet is the one who told us she WAS allowed to be around other dogs. And in fact, before we left her here for a week she played with several other dogs we are friends with and they never caught the bug. So, not sure if they lied or if they talked to the wrong person at the vet, but my dog basically was forced to stay in a kennel all week (aside from the one-​on-​one walks and play time that I added onto my purchase). Our dog LOVES other dogs, so because she was secluded all week, when we got her back she was hoarse from barking. She didn’t get her normal bark back for about a week.
Second, when we got her back she was disgustingly filthy. It was unreal. I don’t know what they did to her, but the only other time I have seen/​felt her that dirty is when we picked her up from the humane society.
Third, since she wasn’t allowed to play with other dogs, there was no way for us to check the cameras they have, as they don’t have a camera in every kennel. So I didn’t ever get to see how she was doing. It would have been nice if they had emailed or called us to give us a heads up, since we couldn’t ever see her on the webcams.
Finally, when we went to pick her up, she could not wait to get the hell out of there. First, it took them a really long time to bring her to us, probably 10 – 15 minutes. Not sure what they were doing or why it took so long. Anyway, when our dog saw us she bolted toward us and then squirmed by us and ran toward the dog. She has never been like that before. The place I take our dog now is wonderful, and I have to drag her out of the building when it is time to go home, that was definitely not the case here.
I was very disappointed and way over charged for the service that I was unhappy with. I had high hopes for this place, but now I will never bring my dog back. If you live close to Minneapolis, go to Metro Dogs… they are amazing!

Went to the Balitmore location for the dog park hours just to check it out. Small indoor and outdoor area. Just not much room to run around and play too much. It was decent, but I wasn’t happy because two different smaller dogs kept on getting into altercations with the big dogs. While we were there. These two dogs each got into about 3 – 4 fights with other dogs. Yet were never asked to leave by staff. They continued to stay and let their dogs play.

I needed an emergency boarding for 3 days and this place was the only ones with room to take on another dog because of the Christmas holidays.
My first impression was the facility is super clean and the girls at the front desk were all super friendly. I was also very pleased with the price. I dropped bear off at around 2 on a Friday and planned to pick him up on Sunday night. The total charge for the 3 days, 2 nights plus food, 5 walks and 4 play times was $ 87.00. For a nice dog boarding place that is pretty cheap.
When you board there you get a coupon for 20% off there toys and bones so that’s pretty cool too.
When I picked Bear up he had no issues. He was super happy and was not dehydrated at all.
I will for sure be going back there if I need to board again.

I go to Stone Mountain often & think it’s great. I just had my dog groomed by Caitlyn (?) & the dog has never looked so good. I board my cat who happens to be a princess & I know she is in good hands. It’s not cheap but nothing pet related is. At least I don’t have to worry about her being home alone on an extended vacation.
I do wish they had cameras in the cat kennels so I could check in on her. Good products & rewards system. Clean, ample parking & good staff.
I only had one complaint when I took my dog for a 6pm grooming appointment during the week & he wasn’t completed until almost 10pm. I’m a working person, so I just avoid those appointments now. They seemed to have some issues for awhile keeping groomers but it now seems more stable. I do highly recommend SM!

I wanted to provide an update to make others aware of our most recent experiences.
The time: late summer 2013. It was a sunny day, otherwise unremarkable. The trees were cascading soft shadows of fingerlings grabbing at the… whatever.
Late last summer, we received a phone call that our dog had been kicked out of daycare and would be in a kennel when we came to pick him up at the end of the day. In an effort to summarize what was a VERY detailed ordeal, the gyst was that they had witnessed him pinning another dog down by his neck, which was, per their report, only the most recent in a trend of periodic aggressive behavior. Now, I don’t want to be that mom who’s kid can do no wrong, but we were FLOORED. We had never received any reports of aggressive behavior from Stone Mountain and this kid is submissive to the CATS at home! That said, they’re dogs, so who knows what could have triggered him.
Only, OUR dog came home with a broken tooth and a hole in his back.
Stone Mountain didn’t call us to alert us to his injuries. WE had to tell THEM. My question is, if he was pulled immediately following his «attack,» then my assumption is that they conveniently missed the part where the dog bit my dog in the back, leaving a canine-​tooth-​sized hole on his spine.
I get it. Dogs argue. Dogs tussle. But the lack of awareness and communication coupled with the fact that our baby came home injured, confused and dejected (seriously…he moped for three days, and anyone that loves their pooch knows that they can) royally pissed me off. And our dog took puppy training there, so they KNOW our dog. The coup de grace was when I called to report the injuries. They stated that they were unaware of the injuries, but that «…many breeds, such as pit bulls and Boxers, tend to be more aggressive.» Those JUST so happen to be the two breeds our babe’s mixed with. And what’s the deal… a discriminatory boarding center? (Oh, and by the way…“pit bull” isn’t a breed. Dunce.)
It suffices to say that we won’t be back. I’m a fun-​loving, objective person, but you mess with my kid and there will be some furniture movin’ up in this place.

Our dog has stayed here 3 times and each one appeared to be a positive visit. Previously, we had used «Top Dog Country Club» which is about an hour away and we had a couple issues there, so we wanted to try something new. The Facility is large, new, clean, and appears to be run like a well oiled machine.
You pre-​pay when you arrive and they guide your dog to his temporary home. I like the fact that you can order extras for your dog. We do two walks and two play times a day with a smaller kennel. I didn’t see what the point was of having a larger/​better kennel with a TV going, so we pay for more interaction with a little less luxury.
Each kennel has a door to the outside and they open these doors often for the dogs to go outside (think how the Zoo might do it’s doors) to a «run» where they can do their business.
Price is reasonable for the peace of mind you get. We’ll keep going.