Happyhoundsplaycentre Avis 7

This was the first time we've boarded our 7 month old Cockerpoo and it would be fair to say we were more than a little nervous.
We needn't have worried. Cooper was with Happy-Hounds for two weeks and he appears to have enjoyed every minute. Phil and Rich couldn't have been more helpful. From sending us regular pictures of Cooper playing with new found friends to a full debrief when we returned we knew we'd found a wonderful "home-from-home" for Cooper going forward. I can't thank them enough.

Been using hsppyhound for 4+ years now and I've been overwhelming happy with the support and care from the team, wouldn't trust anywhere else! 🤍

Our dog attended this day centre for a long time. Every time we fetched him we were told how well he had behaved, how he got on with the other dogs and was never an issue at all in fact a “pleasure to have”.

Then months and months down the line we received a text message while he was there to state “ we can no longer have your dog” obviously shocked and confused at this we headed on down to Happy Hounds.

We were told that he “was too much” and was “winding up the other dogs” and getting very stressed while in their care. According to them this had been happening for a long time however every time we fetched him we were never told this.

We were always told the opposite which if the above is true is absolutely appalling and concerning. As if this was true we wouldn’t of been sending him putting him through the stress (we very highly doubt this is the truth)

Our dog is well socialised around other dogs, gets on with ALL dogs on and off the lead so I fail to believe the above from this “doggy day care centre”.

On a few occasions he also returned to us with what looked like scratches or a nip from another dog under his armpit, again this was NEVER mentioned from them.

These dogs are supposed to be looked after in their care so they should be fully aware if another dog has nipped a dog. I feel every time we went staff were just stood around on their mobile phones and not really interacting or watching the dogs.

On one occasion a dog was just sat in the small reception area looking extremely sad.

I am glad our dog no longer goes here, going by other reviews it appears people feel the same way. If you want your dog to be well looked after and cared for I’d avoid here at all costs & find somewhere nicer like Dogs Play in Swadlincote.

Sadly my two dogs have returned with injuries one a puppy I feel they were over exercised despite instructions on referring. When contacting owners with limping and lameness the response was just defensive and concerned only with reputation. Had large impact on my ability then to work as had to find another daycare provider. My dogs are labs and live rurally so theyre used to exercise but this centre I feel doesn't give enough break and downtime or has suitable cool areas. Feel a responsibility to let others know but more importantly the worrying response of owner when raised.

Great private play for my two dogs today. Enclosed and secure they both loved being off the lead and I could relax knowing that they were safe. Staff very helpful and were prompt to answer any enquires. Quick and easy to book online. Will definitely do this again in the near future.

Amazing place, my dog loves going! Always comes back tired but a happy pooch! The staff always look after your dog and do what is in their best interest (putting them into groups if some are nervous or more boisterious etc!)

At first instance, this business really seems to care about your family pet. We initially started with the day care service when we moved to the area. Our little guy had attended a day care for over two years with no issues when were at out previous house. It stressed him out at Happy Hounds and he became a super grump so we opted for the dog walking. We had no issues at all with this and everything appeared to be fine for a few months. We then had a month off in December and as January came something seemed off at Happy Hounds, but we couldn't put our finger on what it was.

Whilst our dog was no angel on lead; he most certainly is not a child biting, electric fence scaling sheep attacker to paraphrase one of the fantasy stories conveyed. It became apparent that we were being provided with made up stories - like our dog 'going for a child' when the reality was that he'd sniffed near a child as dogs do. Given that Happy Hounds posted videos of him happily running off lead suggests that he was far from the monster that was portrayed - for no reason that we can understand other than that our business was no longer wanted. Our actual dog walker describing him as a big softy was the comfort that we could take in confirming to ourselves that the stories were nothing near to the truth.

If you've heard stories about your dog from Happy Hounds that you're struggling to believe, it's highly likely that it's a fabricated exaggeration based on 1% truth; as we found out from talking to the person who actually walks our dog!!!

The staff seem to genuinely love the dogs - but beyond that it's hard to comment.

These issues aside, Happy Hound's ability to effectively communicate is questionable - with the call informing us there had been an issue on his walk coming in at 9pm (from a midday walk?!).

Can't say we're overly thrilled that we never witnessed him having a full 1 hour walk when we were home either - 55 minutes I can stomach, but a 40 minute walk on more than one occasion? Shocking.

Avoid this business if you're after someone you can really trust to look after your pet as if they were their own.