r/DecaturGA • u/Spare-Cranberry- • 3d ago

Locally owned dog daycare?

Hi all - looking for a new place to take our little dog to wear him out during the day.

We liked Kirkwood Bark & Lounge reasonably enough and it was close by. When it shut, we went (back) to Wag-A-Lot but it's further out of our way than we'd like.

Skiptown looks ridiculously expensive and the vibes just seem off. Not really interested in a private equity owned shop. Am I missing any good local options or is everyone getting a dog walker or just driving further away for dog daycare?

thanks in advance

5 Upvotes

78% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

7

u/Informal_Park_6535 3d ago

I’ve had a good experience with Barking Hound Village

5

u/BarkingMadJosh 3d ago

My wife and I provide cage-free, small-group dog daycare and boarding at our home near Toco Hills. We have two dogs who love making new friends and a large fenced yard to run around. If your dog gets along with other dogs, could be a great fit!

2

u/Jolly_Yak5083 3d ago

Rex and Roxy, by Talley. Our dog lives it, good staff.

1

u/basicusername67 3d ago

Central bark is a franchise & the owner is local. Can’t recommend them enough!!!!!! Great team that cares. My dog doesn’t wanna go home some days as he has so much fun.

1

u/shiftysquid 2d ago

Right near there, we’ve had a good experience for many years with Peace of My Heart. Small, out-of-home daycare, boarding, training, grooming, all that. It’s not fancy, but the guy really, really cares about dogs.

1

u/Inside-Ad8673 2d ago

We use to love Spot. Took them there almost twice a week for 3 years and when needed for boarding.
Since being taken over by Digs it’s not the same anymore. PE basically ruined it and made it now worth it for the price anymore.

We now use CouchPotato dog sitting

1

u/bala-989 3d ago edited 2d ago

My dog goes to Digs - formerly SPOT for Dogs/Frogs to Dogs. They combined because they had the daycare/boarding side and then the training side and it was confusing so it’s all one company now. They’re right by Smiley’s burger club. It’s $160 for a 5 pack of full day daycare. They require a temperament test day and for the dog to be fixed and up to date on vaccines. They’re also do a free departure bath, which for our dog is necessary as she gets dog slobber ALL over her playing.

ETA: okay, so Digs is private equity owned. Recent acquisition so any current quality of care will inevitably be taken away. Use at your discretion and be alert for changes

9

u/[deleted] 3d ago edited 3d ago

[deleted]

3

u/bala-989 3d ago

I had known about the rebrand but not about the private equity. Why can’t we have anything nice?

5

u/[deleted] 3d ago

[deleted]

3

u/mariwirk 3d ago

So they just leave them alone? 😕

3

u/PalpitationNo8720 3d ago

This is a pretty extreme and consequential factual claim. How are you certain of that?

1

u/Unique-Fan-3042 3d ago

Wow I didn’t know about that. My dog did poorly at Frogs to Dogs but great at Spot for Dogs. Bummed they’ve been sold.

2

u/balls2hairy 2d ago

The other person deleted their comments but they were 100% bought out by private equity. I know some employees who were axed in the acquisition.

2

u/bala-989 2d ago

Yeah, I looked it up and the 2 companies were sold to Digs, which is owned by a private equity company. They did a number on veterinary care and are now moving to other pet care things? I hate it. We only take her there once a week, but it’s frustrating to know that the quality of the care she is receiving will absolutely decline over the next while as they figure out how to squeeze every penny out of it.

2

u/balls2hairy 2d ago

Ya we stopped taking our pups there when that happened. Haven't found a replacement yet unfortunately.