Dog Abby Daycare

I’m a huge fan of the Dog Abby. I think the fact that they «interview» new dogs is an asset. It makes me feel like they’re really being truthful when I ask about my dog’s behavior after a stay there. I see that some people don’t like the fact that they conduct most of their business via email rather than the phone. Again, that’s something I like. It gives a record of all conversations and documentation of agreed to dates. My dog always seems happy when we pick her up after a stay there and I’m confident that she gets enough exercise and is well taken care of. I’ve used other facilities in the past and my dog’s stuff always got lost. At the Dog Abby we always get back everything we left with our dog, and everything, including the dog is always in good condition. No complaints here!

Dog Abby is fantastic! My boyfriend and I did tons of research looking for places to board our year old pup while we took our first long vacation since we got her. We visited Dog Abby several weeks ahead of time to check out the space. We spoke with one of the owners, Deb, who was nice, knowledgeable, and patient with our questions. The play area is a good size, both indoor and out, and the dogs (both boarding and daycare) have a great play/​rest/​eat schedule.
We dropped our little lady off for a trial day and she had a blast with the other dogs and was totally wiped when we got home. We eventually decided to board her there for 10 days while we vacationed and we’re so glad we did. She played her heart out the entire time and we came home to a tired but happy pup. I sent several emails to check up on her and Deb was great about responding promptly with nothing but good news.
We’re thrilled to have found Dog Abby and we look forward to sending our dog back for the occasional daycare session and for future boarding.

I LOVE the Dog Abby! I can’t recommend this place enough!!!
I have two pretty sweet but high maintenance Italian Greyhounds and after trying a few places, I have to swear by the fine folks that run this place. I have boarded them here several times and they get tons of attention, exercise and love. My dogs are
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actually more well behaved when they come home from a stint at Dog Abby. A rare and key find in Brooklyn. A++++++

This is a review for Dog Abby’s daycare as well as their boarding services.
I have a giant dog who is still very much a puppy at times so finding a good daycare/​boarding place is not that simple. Dog Abby not only met my expectations but exceeded them time and time again.
The owners and staff are wonderful and very accommodating. The facility is spotless and HUGE! When I say huge, I mean big even for a 180lbs dog (my giant :). They have an equal amount of indoor as well as outdoor space (my beast loves the water pools etc. outside) as well as a separate sleeping room.
My dog ALWAYS gets excited when we get close and is thoroughly sated when I pick him up. What more can you ask for?
Well, I also can say that Dog Abby saved my dog’s life.
Almost a year ago, I boarded him and then got on a plane for a long ride. By the time I got off the plane, I had numerous voice mails. During my time in the air, my dog started to show signs of bloat (a deadly twisting of the stomach where symptoms are not all that clear) and Dog Abby not only diagnosed the symptoms but rushed him to the emergency room (bloat can kill a dog w/​in hours) and fought to get him into surgery (the only way to deal with bloat unfortunately) as they weren’t the owner and the ER was worried I wouldn’t pay. Not only did Dog Abbey say that they would pay out of their own pocket if that is what it would take to save him (btw a VERY expensive emergency surgery) but also waited around until I landed and was brought up to date.
Unfortunately, we are moving to CT but we will still be using Dog Abby for boarding when I am out of town :)
Thank you Dog Abby, we love you!

Big warning to all of you out there who’s dogs are sweet-​natured but nervous the first time they go to a new place. My dog was rejected at her interview — not by the manager — or any other adult — but by her very young and inexperienced assistant who also incorrectly related my dog’s bio to the manager.
My dog interviewed successfully at the Dog’s Den where the owner and a staff of three all carefully watched my dog interact with a roomful of dogs for a 20 minutes without a hitch. That manager didn’t shluff her duties off to a teenager. Secondly, they DO NOT offer interview slots outside of the 9 – 5 hours — clearly when the vast majority of their clients are working. So I had to take the day off of work and rent a zip car to get to this far out-​of-​the-​way location. The owner was completely inflexible about interview times when I asked her for a more convenient slot. Why? She wasn’t even going to come to the interview herself as it turned out, so why couldn’t I come by after work?
Being my dog’s first time at the a new place, she was in an excited state — sniffing around the front yard quickly. When this assistant greeted us, my dog was super-​submissive, tail between the legs, ears bent down while continuing to sniff the girl and the corners of the yard. Then this assistant told me she’d bring out
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a dog to see how she reacted. What kind of dog did she bring out? A big hyper-​active dog who immediately sprinted from end-​to-​end of the small yard while almost crashing into myself and the assistant.
While that dog was not assertive, it was extremely hyper-​active! So much for dog professionals who know how to create an atmosphere of calm submission so that you know your dog will be safe and relaxed staying with them. I was shocked by the high-​energy-​level dog they chose to confront my dog with from the get-​go — couldn’t they at least work up to that energy level? I was annoyed by that dog’s wild behavior — obviously not the kind of dog you could bring to a friend’s bbq or let off the leash at off-​leash hours with people around. So my dog growled a bit at the unruly dog. When the big dog stopped running, they both stopped and panted along side each other — relaxing and catching their breath. The the big dog went nuts again — tearing across the yard. Still — nothing happened — my dog did not take that opportunity to attack the anxious dog or bark in it’s face.‘
Secondly, the assistant made a HUGE mistatement to the manager regarding my dog’s past experiences at Dog Den. I told her that — according to one Den staff member — my dog liked to chill and play with toys by herself more often than she played with other dogs. An innocent comment I thought. This girl told the manager that I said the Den kept her in a pen by herself because she couldn’t get along with other dogs. MY god that’s a completely different statement. MY dog never was kept separate from the other dogs. If the manager could have been bothered to come to the interview — as an adult and a dog professional (one would hope) — then perhaps she would have heard correctly instead of relying on second-​hand hearsay.
Finally, Dog Abby didn’t get back to me until I emailed them hours later — when they had failed to contact me as promised. Couldn’t they have the courtesy to interview What a thoughtless, and unprofessional interview process — and very inconvenient, and one that lacks regard for your 9 – 5 working customers. What a waste.

I just recommended Dog Abbey to someone and realized how much I miss them!
I used them when I lived in NYC for my bull terrier Desmond. He absolutely ADORED going there, to the point that when I’d get in the door and take his leash off he’d bolt to say hi not to be seen again until I returned.
I have never felt so secure about leaving him with anyone anywhere. He would always have a marvelous time and the staff were all super happy to see him and completely cool with feeding him his RAW food diet.
I would recommend Dog Abbey again and again and use them if I didn’t live in LA!

We love Dog Abby. We have used their boarding and daycare services and are extremely happy with the care they have provided to our beloved pup.
Three reasons why we think Dog Abby is a 5 star place.
1. They are attentive to the needs of the dog. When we brought our dog for boarding the first time they asked that we bring her a half day before we left town so that we’d be home if we were needed. Deb also responded to our request for updates about how our pup was doing during her boarding.
2. They are busy during the holidays and won’t accept more dogs than they can accommodate. Its a bummer being closed out, but I appreciate the good care my dog get gets when she is there.
3. As noted by other reviewers, dogs are «interviewed «for sociability/​aggressiveness before being accepted.
Kudos to Deb & staff!

We decided to go to Dog Abby over two other doggie day cares that were closer to us after several people recommended Dog Abby to us, and we’re really glad we did.
Before we could even start bringing our two Dachshunds to DA they had an «interview» with them, which was basically to make sure they weren’t going to be aggressive towards the other day-​care dogs. I admit this made me a little nervous that our «kids» wouldn’t be accepted into the good school, but it’s nice to know that they do this little pre-​screening of all the dogs that go to DA so you don’t have to worry about other people’s dogs being mange-​y.
The facility itself is really nice. There’s a large play room with rubber floors for the dogs to go to town in and on, and the rest area has spacious crates for all the dogs and even has a multi-​media entertainment system for them to enjoy (I asked if I could stay there, too…) Outside they have two pools for the dogs, one for big dogs and one for the littler dogs, as well as a sprinkler for them to run through.
The entire staff has been really friendly, even from the first time I went to check out the facility before scheduling their entrance interviews. Everyone is patient if you have a lot of questions, which is nice. And the second time we brought in our two Dachshunds everyone remembered their names which was also nice to see.
One of our kids is blind and he is usually very skittish and fidgety when new people try to pick him up or even come near him, but several of the staff at DA would pick him up and he was totally relaxed, which was very reassuring that he’s comfortable there. They also gave us little reports on how their day went, which is good to know that someone is actively with
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the dogs in the play room and the staff isn’t sitting around doing each others’ nails and reading People magazine or something.
When we come in to pick them up they’re happy to see us, but in that «we’ve had a really fun day here and we’re glad to see you» way and not in that «I hate this place and I’m glad you’re here to get me out» way. When they get home they’re very relaxed and look content after a long day of playing and socializing with other dogs. Since we started taking our Dachshunds to DA we’ve noticed that our girl doesn’t bark as much at other dogs when we take her out on walks, which we assume is because she’s being properly socialized around other dogs at DA.
The prices for day care are reasonable for the market in the area, and if you do their 15-​day package it’s actually less than the two other doggie day cares in the area we looked into, and you get the best quality day care at DA.
If anyone is not in the immediate Red Hook area, the B61 bus goes to Verona Street less than a half block away from DA, which is convenient if you’re on that route.

We took our dog here for boarding a few times as a puppy, and he seemed to enjoy himself. This last time, however, we left him for 8 days and he was a mess when he returned home. He was vomiting and did not eat for two days. He was also cut and bleeding from what looked like bites from other dogs. Our dog goes to the dog park to play almost every day and has a play group with his dog walker, yet the folks at Dog Abby expressed that he was causing issues with other dogs. I have never seen him be aggressive, nor have any of his handlers expressed this type of behavior (he is still an 11 month-​old puppy so very high energy).
I have met many people whose very well socialized dogs have been banned from this place. I think that their dogs do not have socialization issues, but are being dogs (running around, barking, wrestling). These people are unwilling to work with dogs that have a lot of energy.
Also, the customer service is terrible. They refuse to call you back or answer their phones and insist on doing everything via email.
I gave them a second star because I do think that the folks at the front desk are very nice, and that the facility is very clean. But I would NEVER bring my dog here again.

We have been taking our dog, Lucifer, here for a year or two. Once she stayed for a week, came home for a few days, and went back for a week. She loves it there. We’ve only done boarding, never day care.
The people are extremely kind and with-​it. They have even told us about problems they noticed with our dog that we had neglected to tell them about. They did NOT have to do this — if we had been jerks, we could have claimed it was their fault, which it wasn’t at all. This is all to say that they are honest and put the animals first, which I really appreciate. They are very nice to us and have taken great care of her in situations where the food we provided ran out, etc. Basically, they are always responsible, even when we are not, and I feel like our dog is in excellent hands there.
I also appreciate that their enrollment process is thorough and they do not take dogs that are poorly socialized.
We are thrilled with the care our dog receives there. Also, she comes home smelling clean, because their kennels are kept very tidy.

I love Dog Abby. We took our 8 month old puppy there to board for 7 nights. She’d never been away from home before and they took wonderful care of her. They let us know about her nervous stomach situation and they cooked rice for her each night! During the day she had a fabulous time running around their large outdoor space, climbing and splashing in the kiddie pools. She is a very energetic, playful dog who loves to run non-​stop for hours. They noticed that she had developed blisters on her front paws from all-​day running, so they kept her inside on the soft rubber floors for a few hours each day, but always made sure she had a good buddy to play with. I can’t stress enough how caring and knowledgeable Deb and the staff are.

Everytime I pick my pooch up from this place she’s content, happy, and pooped…

Out of all of the doggie daycare discussions on urbanhound, I believe the consensus is that this is the best place to go in Brooklyn. Thus probably why they were too busy to return my phone call to schedule a pre-​enrollment interview.

We love this place. Our dog loves spending time with them, and all the people are very nice and professional, and you can tell they really love animals. Deb is the owner and she is very accommodating, attentive, and really cares for your pets. Our dog gets very sad to leave us and likes to be close to us most of the time, but Dog Abby is the only other place besides home that she gets excited to go to, and she gets very excited just to see the staff.