Camp Bow Wow Rochester

My 11-​year-​old dog, Duke, has been going to Camp Bow Wow for day camp and occasional boarding for over two years now. The staff are always friendly and accommodating, and they treat Duke as though he is their own.
In addition, last month we had our first training session with CBW’s resident behaviorist, Andy Defayette. Despite doing well in general with past obedience training, Duke has always had trouble with other dogs while on leash, and he typically gets very aggressive with them. The following occurred after a few weeks of practicing some new techniques Andy had taught me:
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I have Duke on leash in the garage. I open the garage door. He notices a dog walking across the street, and he starts to pull and growl.
Within a split second, calmly I say, «Hey,» and he peeks back at me. I give him a click and a fistful of treats.
He turns to growl again, but hesitates, again looking back at me. I say, «Sit,» and he sits facing me. Click. Treat.
«Okay.» He gets up, turns, and gives a tiny growl, but he doesn’t pull. He looks back at me. Click. Treat.
Now the other dog is gone.
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I have had Duke since May 2004, and I had never accomplished such a feat prior to last month. Thank you, Andy!

Camp Bow Wow has been an incredible asset for us. We started with training classes by Andy Defayette, working our way through three different levels of classes. Andy emphasizes reinforcing desired behavior with praise and reward in opposed to punishing non-​desired behavior. This works especially well with our dog given his high energy because he needs to work for the rewards which both teaches him lessons and uses that energy positively.
We’ve also done play and trains with Andy where our dog spends the day at camp and gets some 1 on 1 attention with Andy. Through the classes and these sessions our dog has become incredibly obedient and has made amazing strides. Camp is great because we can watch our dog during the day at any point with their live cameras. The staff is incredibly nice and work well with the dogs.
I would highly recommend Camp Bow Wow for boarding, and especially for training with Andy!
— Doug

If I could give it a zero I would. We had such high hopes for Camp Bow Wow and we were very disappointed in the treatment of our golden retriever. After several successful doggie day camp stays we began to feel very comfortable with their services.
Then we boarded her for a weekend. Our dog, at the time, had some food issues going on and was on some medication. I wrote out the instructions on their boarding sheet and also labeled each bag with when to feed her. When we went to pick up Molly I was handed leftover food with a pill in it. I asked why she wasn’t given all of the food I had given, and especially not her medication, and they had no answer. They seemed pretty uncaring that they screwed up my instructions.
But we kept on giving them our service and brought Molly for day care again. We loved the doggie cam and watched it at work a lot — one day my husband noticed our dog was missing from the camera, for some time. So he called and they said she was getting too excited and they put her in a crate for a little while to calm her down. In an hour we checked back on the camera and she was still missing. We called again — this time they said they had too many puppies in day care and no room in boarding so we had to pick her up. Mind you — we both work — so we had to figure out who was going to pick her up and bring her home. Their day care does not require reservations so to drop your dog off at 7:30 in the morning, and you take her in, then to find out the «inn is full» and I have to pick up my dog?! Why would they keep accepting dogs if they were getting full? But my husband left work and went to pick her up. When he got there and asked for Molly they opened up the bath stall and there she was sitting, looking sad, in the bathing room all alone. He was so upset that he spoke to the manager and really laid into him. I was so livid that I left work to be with Molly at home. How could you treat a 1 year old golden retriever that way? She is like our kid.
we have never taken our dog back to Camp Bow Wow and we never will. The young workers do not treat these pets like they are our children. And the owner has no management skills to handle the volume. I was disappointed and really sad after the mistreatment of our dog.

My Stella loves going to Camp! I never worry at all when we go away, I can webcam and I get an email from her too! They really love dogs and it shows. Such a wonderful place.

Camp Bow Wow has been really great to me and my pup, Lilly so far. Lilly’s attended one interview day, one day camp, and two overnights at Camp Bow Wow. She’s always excited to go back, and sleeps so soundly for the next day or two. It’s great exercise, socialization, and a great way for her to spend her time while I’m at work.
The staff at Camp Bow Wow is really friendly and helpful. They’ve answered tons of questions on the phone, sent home informational packets, and always tell me what a happy and playful pup I have (I’m sure they say that to everyone… but I’ll take the compliment). They weren’t overwhelmed by Lilly’s complicated breakfast/​dinner process (she’s a needy pup) and having access to the cameras throughout the day to check in how Lilly is doing makes this worried doggy-​mama happy!
It’s a bit pricey ($ 25/​day for day care, $ 40/​night for boarding), but it keeps my pup happy. And I was told when we signed up «they have deals all the time.» So hopefully that’s true, cause I can’t afford to send her more than two-​three times a month, even though I know she loves it!

Our dog Emmy had the best time there! It’s the perfect place for her to get tons of exercise! You can watch all the dogs playing on webcams during the day so if you need to check in you can. The staff was very friendly and they seemed to really care. Definitely taking our dog back again!