The Dog House

Watson my dog and I love The dog House so much so that he will pull my daughter from across the street to wait outside for the owner to come out to see him!
So I would say he is a happy customer. We have been going for three years, he goes for day care and when I have been out of town for long periods of time and I have never had a bad experience. It’s is a great place to leave a very dear member of of your family anytime.

They don’t really take care of your dog. They are not pay all attention on your dog. My dog got bit in there while many dogs were playing. The people who work there said they were not responsible for that!!! What else can I say!

Our dog has been going here for about 8 months now. The girls who care for our dog are always friendly and I trust them 100%.

We tried the dog house for our 2 small dogs. We really wanted to like it because we live and work on the waterfront so it would be very convenient. The staff was friendly and good with our dogs, one of which can be shy. The downside was there was only one person there working both big and small dog area as well as the front desk. At the end of the day when we picked then up the place smelled of dog urine. and our dogs smelled as well. With only one person and the smell I was worried about cleanliness and their ability to clean up after the dogs promptly. We had previously taken our dogs for daycare on a daily basis when living in another state and never had these issues.

My dog absolutely love this place, I usually take him to The Dog House one day a week for a full day of doggy day care. He is a very energetic Siberian Husky so letting him play in a nice, open, indoor (air conditioned) place with other dogs once a week makes him and myself very happy, especially in the summer.
This place has nice, long business hours. I usually drop him off early in the morning around 630 or 7 and pick him up 530 – 6 ish (they close at 630). All the handlers are great, my pup seems to love every one of them, he is always very excited to see them. When I pick him up he is nice and tired, a little smelly but that just lets me know he had a good time and did a lot of playing. What dog isn’t A LITTLE stinky after romping around with other dogs all day? It’s never been bad enough that I’ve felt the need to give him a bath, I think I wiped him down once with doggy wet wipes, any smelliness is usually gone by the next day.
I recommend this place for Daycare, haven’t boarded our pup there yet but if we ever had a need to then this is probably where we will take him. He seems to have a lot of fun, loves the dogs and handlers, and has never once come home with a scratch.

I came to Dog House with the Living Social deal. I was hoping this would be a good day care for my dog as I work on the hill and it would have been super convenient.
I pulled my pup out of this day care after she jumped the fence and ate the dog handler’s lunch. (The dog handler stepped out of the dog area and left her lunch unattended). She was acting funny so I took her to the vet. Turns out she consumed some bones in the lunch and it tore up her insides.
This wasn’t the first time our pup has jumped the fence. She has done it many times, so the dog handler was aware that she could jump over the fence. Human food shouldn’t have been left unattended. Lunch shouldn’t have been consumed in the dog area period. That’s just gross considering how smelly their facility is.
The people-​to-​dog ratio is not sufficient to ensure the dogs are safe and that the facility is well kept. One employee cannot handle the dogs, clean up after them, and keep an eye out for the front desk.
I have a feeling they don’t even interact with the dogs b/​c I’ve seen the dog handler reading her book with earplugs on for who knows how long. The dogs are left in the play area by themselves and when they relieve themselves, it takes awhile for the potty to get cleaned up. Which is probably why your dog will be returned smelling of urine.
The couple who owns Dog House has no business being in the dog business. I will be taking my dog to Lexi or Sniff.

We have boarded our dogs for quite some time… at other places in Oregon, California, Chicago and most recently in Portland. The Dog House is as good as it gets.
Our dogs are well cared for and excited to go inside when we drive up. Most recently we were in Hawaii on vacation when our Aussie got a bad urine infection. Catelyn and their team noticed she was having trouble, called us and when we didn’t have anyone close to take Sophie to her vet in Lake Oswego they took her for us. Who else would do that right away for someone else’s pet? They took her. at the Vet’s direction left her there for 3 – 4 hours and went back and picked her up to bring her back. Was fairly early in our vacation so they gave her the meds she was supposed to take and gave us updates on how she was doing. Their efforts gave us peace of mind to continue our vacation knowing our dogs were well taken care of.
Both of our dogs love it there and are treated like family members by well qualified staff who HAVE to LOVE dogs or they wouldn’t be as good as they are.
We live in Oregon City and drive over 30mins each way to take our dogs here – driving by several other doggie daycares because The Dog House is the BEST! Sophie has gone since it first opened and now our other dog Siesta goes too.
Rich and Lisa Vasquez

Love this place for dog daycare. They take great care of my sweet dog Ava. Good prices — wonderful staff. Convenient location.
Have had nothing but good experiences for the last 18 months.

I wanted this place to be great, so badly! I used to take my dog to Noah’s Arf in NW until we moved to John’s Landing recently. I had bought the LivingSocial deal last year and thought it must be fate! When I brought my dog in the morning, it smelled REALLY badly of urine. Reading other reviews beforehand, I thought, these people are silly, dogs are always a bit smelly. Noooo, this is not normal. It’s like their ventilation system isn’t sufficient or they don’t clean up often enough. Not only that, but when my boyfriend picked up our dog he said that the place smelled so badly of feces that he wanted to throw up. He had to give the dog a bath before he’d let him loose in the house and wouldn’t let him sit on the car seat. It seemed like my dog had been allowed to roll in poop and nobody had bothered to rinse him off or dry shampoo him or anything.
I think this place needs to figure out how other daycares manage to clean up after our dogs before other dogs have a chance to play in/​eat it, or at least clean up our dogs before they’re returned to us. I don’t care if he rolls around in pee and poop all day as long as I don’t have to know about it later. Spray him down with a hose or something!
I’ll keep checking reviews to see if this gets handled because I really want to be able to bring my dog here, since there’s really nowhere else convenient to our house. Oh… also, it’s next to impossible to pick up my dog in time. Why 6:30? Why not 7pm? That means if we don’t work in downtown Portland and don’t leave the office before 5:30 we might be late with all the rush hour traffic.

This review is for the self-​wash station. After a beach weekend, our two doggies needed baths so we decided to bring them here. They charge $ 18 if you wash your own dog, and $ 12 for additional dog. That’s a little more than I normally pay, but it does come with some nice perks. They have one wash station in a separate room with a couch and a window that looks into the daycare. They provide towels, shampoo, aprons, a blow dryer, and various grooming tools which is nice. Staff was friendly.

We have used the Dog House several times since moving cross country to Portland. As a whole, we are quite impressed. Our dog has severe separation anxiety but once he lets go, he’s a happy, playful retriever who loves interacting with other dogs. But he’s very leery of people. From the first time we dropped him off, he went right into the play area and right with whichever employee checked us in. He always comes home tired, which I take as a good sign that he’s had fun. Though I fully expect part of it is lack of sleep and routine being in a strange place. They usually send him home clean with a clean bed. Everyone remembers our dogs name so that when I call or when we show up, we get a personal greeting. No need to repeat our info or story. I love that!
We have had a few issues where it seems like they aren’t feeding him quite enough during his stay. But I also fully acknowledge that he’s a picky eater who might not want to eat like normal during the stay.
Every time we stop by, we peak in the window and see him having fun running and playing with other dogs. And that’s exactly what we want.
This last stay, we had a shift in our air travel plans that would have cause problems with picking up our dog. Rich, the owner, was incredibly accommodating and understanding. He worked with us and, along the way, as we were stuck in airports anxiously wanting to be home, he sent us some pics of our dog. Based purely on this last visit — where we redeemed Groupons and in-​house boarding specials (I find some vendors fault you for doing that) — I will be a lifelong customer here.

I decided to give this business having not yet read the negative reviews regarding the smell of urine and the lack of professionalism exhibited by the owner. That was a mistake.
Here is the e-​mail exchange between myself and, Rich, the owner after my dogs’ first and only stay at the facility.
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Hello Rich,
I figured that it would be just as easy to let you know about our experience via email. We have been interested in trying your facility for some time and were very happy to see your Groupon. My husband and I both purchased a Groupon and boarded our dogs for three days, paying full price for the third. I was disappointed when we picked them up because I immediately noticed that Cosmo, who has allergies, had discharge from his eye that had obviously not been cleaned in days. We loaded our bed and dogs in the car and were immediately overcome by the smell of urine. Upon arriving home, I immediately washed the dogs and investigated the bed. I found multiple, large wet spots that were not fresh and smelled of urine. I imagine it could’ve been soiled a few days prior as the wet areas were not visible.
I am not a serial complainer, I am not hard to please but I find your service to be unacceptable. I am concerned that my dogs and our belongings were not cared for. I also don’t appreciate returning from a trip and having to find a laundromat to wash the bed after paying for your service. Under normal circumstances, I would not imagine asking for a refund for services rendered and even more so since I used a Groupon I, however, do not feel comfortable paying for your service. Please issue a refund to my credit card.
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Thank you for the feedback. However, I personally got your belongings together the morning of your pickup. We make sure all belongings are not dirty, and if they are, clean them at 6:30am. If there was an issue of the dog bed being dirty at pickup, we would have been more than happy to wash.
I am not sure why you are requesting a refund for a service rendered. Next visit l will make a note to wash your bed whether needed or not. We enjoyed meeting Cosmo and Maya. They were both a pleasure to play with.
Kindest Regards,
Rich
The Dog House
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Regarding any eye discharge, we give our dry shampoo treatment to each boarding dog and didn’t notice any issue with Cosmo’s eyes the morning of departure.
Again, next visit I am more than happy to apply any eye treatment and wash bedding if you would like. We are always more than happy to give medications at no charge.
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Hi Rich,
I am requesting a refund because your service was unacceptable. After reading your reviews on Unilocal,it seems that dogs and belongings being returned smelling of urine is a known issue that you have not resolved. Cosmo and Maya will not be returning to your facility. If you didn’t notice Cosmo’s eye or that the bed was wet, you weren’t paying attention. Once again, I am requesting a refund.
— — — -
I am sorry you are not happy with our service. We do all we can to make dogs and belongings are as clean as when they arrived. The bed simply was not soaked in urine. I moved it and saw so myself. Again, the service was rendered and I am unwilling to issue a refund.
— — — -
Wow! Are you calling me a liar? I’ll be adding to your negative reviews online.
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Yes. I have spoken with all employees and they informed me you didn’t tell us at check in that one dog had allergies. No medication was included either.
— — — -
It was included on the registration and he does not require medication. His eye sometimes gets a little discharge. Since you were caring for him, I would think clearing his eye of discharge would be part of his care regardless of whether he had allergies or not.
— — — -
Many dogs have seasonal allergies, usually in the late Spring. Any special requirements or medications we are more than happy to give at no charge. Owner’s responsibility to tell us at check in. I am continuing to correspond out of courtesy but don’t believe we are getting anywhere and not sure what else I can do to improve your opinion of us. Your dogs were well cared for and were a pleasure to play with. I wish you and your dogs well.

My dogs go there all the time for day care and love it. Sure my dogs don’t smell great when I pick them up, but it’s a doggy daycare! Doesn’t bother me one bit. People that work there are great and I’d recommend this place to anyone. Check it out!!!

As with many other reviewers, we too tried The Dog House after purchasing Living Social/​Groupon deal (can’t remember which it was). It was the first time we were boarding our golden, Maya, so being the worried «parent» that I am, I called to make sure she was doing ok. Suzi graciously took 2 videos of her playing with the other dogs & emailed them to ensure that she was doing great (so I’m not sure why others didn’t receive their videos). When we picked our dog up, she was definitely a little dirty and smelled, but I find that to be the case no matter where we take her and even if it’s just for a day at doggie daycare and not being boarded overnight. What can you expect from having a bunch of dogs playing and slobbering all over each other all day long?
We’ve taken her back multiple times for boarding and have always been pleased with the service. They even washed her doggie bed for us once, with no charge! When we were running late once due to traffic, we called to let them know that we would be late and it was not a problem at all. I also don’t find their facility to be dirty/​smelly at all. I’ve been to other doggie daycares that are definitely bad and this isn’t one of them. Maya will definitely continue to return.

Our experience with this business echos that of many other Unilocalers. I purchased two $ 40 living social coupons to use for two overnight stays for our pups. Upon dropping my dogs off, I was overwhelmed by the smell. I realize it’s a doggy daycare, but it was beyond pungent. I also commented that the «play» area (that’s a stretch) did not look at all like the photos on the website. I think they are misrepresenting the entire place with the pictures. There is no large floor pad, no doggy playhouse, not one toy or ball, nothing. I was told they take everything out to start cleaning before they close; it was only 3pm. Funny thing is, it was the same way when we picked them up, bare.
2000 sq. ft. of space? Is it? I hesitated even leaving them because of how small it is. I asked if they take the dogs for walks at least, that only occurs if you leave your dog for three days or more.
Like others who commented, there was only one person working when we dropped off and picked up. They were nice enough, but brought the wrong dog out to me when we arrived. I guess I decided to write a review because I just finished giving both of my dogs baths. They too reeked of urine and felt disgusting to the touch. Definitely NOT how they were dropped off, and not how I planned to spend two hours of my Saturday night. We will not recommend or be back. … oh, we were also promised video of our dogs at play. Never happened.

I tried this place out by using the Groupon deal. For the price I would have to pay to keep my dog here during the day I expected a lot more. I only saw one play table for the dogs to perch and lay on in one big empty room. I thought it could use more as there wasn’t any kind of toys or balls around like one of the pictures on the Unilocal image page. Employees here are great with the dogs, and the registration was pretty easy. Place seemed pretty clean even though it can smell like dog urine outside. I am thinking that’s where the vents to the Doghouse exit.
Biggest concern for me was that I only saw one employee working. Their website states that management is certified in Dog CPR and first aid but it does not mention that the employees are certified.
In a nutshell
Pros
1. Convenience. If you live or work in the South Waterfront its the easiest place to take your dog for boarding and daycare. Registration was simple.
2. Clean. Despite the smell inside the facilities itself were clean. Peeked through the window in the front and didn’t see any poop or pee spots.
3. Employees are great with the dogs.
Cons
1. Convenience comes at a price. More expensive than your typical doggie daycare.
2. Not a lot for the dogs to do, lack of «big toys» (only one table for a big room). Wasn’t like anything like the picture showed.
3. Concerns about seeing only one employee on site, what happens if something happens to the employee, or one of the dogs?
I can’t rate on the grooming or dog washing as I didn’t try out those services.

Why isn’t there a negative star?
I bought the living social deal for day camp. So not a deal!
After the first visit my dog smelled of urine. I didn’t say anything and chalked it up to he played with a lot of dogs. The second time I went I let them know what happen the first time and to just keep an eye on him. No problems. The third time he smelled of pee again! I then called. The girl was very nice and offered a bath but then the owner CHARGED $ 25 for just a wash no brush (on a bichon frise no brushing come on)!! I then had to have a 45 minute argument with the owner to have him FINALLY agree that we want to find a better solution and to not charge me for the bath.
Then all was going fine… three more visits and nothing wrong… Ahhhh finally getting what you pay for and feeling good about it… Should have known better!
I come to pick up my pup and no matter what clock you want to look at I was either on time at exactly 6:30 or 4 mins late (On my cell phone log I called at 6:34p.m.)… DOORS LOCKED AND NO ONE IN SIGHT TO JUST HEAR MY DOG CRYING AND BARKING!!! No courtesy phone call (as the 6 other times I was NEVER a second late i’m not a stranger or first time customer)… no grace period and charge me by the minute… just gone with no notification of how to get my dog. I left a voice mail at 6:35pm according to the owner… and then another one a few minutes later…
Not a surprise now looking back (and reading the other reviews) he has NO CUSTOMER SERVICE… he is more concerned on his policies then if you return and are satisfied! He was eating dinner and they gave my dog a courtesy bed… yeah right i was looking in the window and saw no bed… He had no food… who knows if he had water! So for the next 12 hours he was left alone to pee and poop in the «private suite» which is the same open play area… No wonder he smells of pee the other times…
When I picked him up the next morning the owner was still rude and charged me $ 45 for the boarding he had to do!
So besides that they knew my dogs name every time he came there is not ONE positive thing I can even try to think about saying about this place!!!
Oh and the first visit they said they were going to send me that video of how much fun my dog was having… NEVER GOT IT!
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I find it interesting the owners remarks below! I only said the f-​word as she he says after he accused me of not using their services since I complained about my dog smelling of urine (ironic he didn’t address that huh). I didn’t say f you and hang up either. I said I was going to call the police and animal control and hung up. Which I did. Both of them and the news channels felt this was ridiculous that they would hold my dog over night for being 2 minutes late. I’m sorry how did you close up shop in 2 minutes, I think the employees left early.
Again notice that the owner only talked about his POLICIES!!! Where is the customer service!!! Which is more important?

I purchased a Living Social deal for boarding for $ 25.00. I called the owner to ask if I could just use the coupon for two self service dog wash sessions, and he agreed. I scheduled my two sessions and he redeemed my coupon. I went for the first appt with my dog, was there all of 15mins and it was a nice experience. When I came back for the second session I was abruptly greeted by the receptionist who told me that the owner said that I would have to pay $ 18.00 to wash my dog for the session. When I explained about our agreement, she just kept repeating that I would have to contact him on Monday and that I would have to pay. The problem I had with this is don’t make the agreement and then change your mind after you redeem your coupon. Secondly, the dog wash coupons were $ 9.00 per wash, so, even if I did two dog washes they would still come out ahead. They could have allowed me to pay some difference ot something. REALLY poor service. I have been to this place for daycare services when they first opened and we decided not to go back because it was just a room with a television and nothing for the dogs to do. When I was there this time, the staff was wearing ear plugs the entire time because there was a dog that was barking the entire time, it seems like they just put the dogs in a room, put ear plugs in and collect peoples money. Not safe for your dogs, not professional and very shady. I have to say that even though the dog washing area was really nice, clean with all the nice items, I left there upset and went and paid $ 25.00 for a dog wash and play at another not so fancy place, but was happy with the wonderful service. I will tell everyone in my community to never take part in this places services as well as report them to the BBB.

My favorite things about having a dog:
1) Companionship
2) Someone to greet me when I come home
3) Being able to write reviews on Unilocal for Doggie shops, doggie daycare spots, and other doggy-​type related establishments
The Dog House. is awesome. Everyone there is sweet and knowledgeable, and makes an effort to treat my little guy like he’s the only one in the joint (when in reality, there are a lot of barky, jumpy, sniffy critters).
The first time my dog stayed there, the employees remembered his name and told us about his stay (and how he was making friends). Like the poster below, I was also told by an employee that my dog was able to get another older dog (that’s normally shy and doesn’t interact with others) to play. Hm. Apparently our pets are the Tom Hanks of dogs (i.e. super friendly and gets everyone to love them).
As many of you «pet-​parents not-​yet-​real human parents» know, dogs are the closest things we have to children. And when my furry kid is happy, I’m happy. And he is super happy at the Dog House.

I had my golden stay here using a Living Social coupon.
This place is very clean, and the facilities are nice and can accommodate a number of dogs for day care and boarding. They also have a groomer on site and a dog washing facility.
They sent me a video of my dog playing, and I thought that was pretty cool.
They charged me a $ 19.00 «fee» because I could not pick up my dog right at the end of the 48 hour boarding I paid for. At first, I did not understand the «fee». Every other place I use just charges me for a half day, which is typically 12 dollars. However, they do charge $ 19.00 for a half day of daycare. So, after I thought about it, it made sense. But, I just couldn’t understand why they called it a fee. And when I asked the owner when I dropped of my dog, his explanation was very unclear and I just didn’t get it. And it showed, because I was one irritated customer when I left (it didn’t help that I had to drive through road construction to get there and got turned around with the detour signs). After I thought about it and looked at their website, I got it.
I have my two main places already for doggy daycare and boarding: 1 by my house, and 1 by my office. However, this is a very nice 3^rd option as it is on my way to work. Their day care prices are reasonable, but the boarding is a little on the pricey side (compared to what I pay now at my two other options).
At the end of the day, my dog came out happy and exhausted and I didn’t worry once about having him here. When I picked him up, the person on duty told me that Boscoe got another dog there to play who usually never plays with dogs (chow mix, it makes sense). I got a little momma pride about this, I have to say. My lovable golden brings the wall flowers out and makes friends wherever he goes. Gotta love it.
I know there are a few negative reviews on here, but you should take a look at the facility and make your own call. My dog goes to daycare A LOT, and occasionally gets some cuts and bruises. Just like your kid does at the playground. I think its par for the course.