Bark to Basics

Six months later, this is the good-​bye letter we sent to Shura and her team:
Shura, hi. So we have just set the move date from our home in SF to a small house in Menlo Park. Unfortunately we will be way out of B2B range. We will miss you!
I can’t thank you enough for all the wonderful help you have provided Luke and me. Helping us connect with a great vet. Helping me fly with Luke safely (without that weird drug that Pets Unlimited gave me). Helping us find a vet we could trust for Luke’s cherry eye surgery. Helping me figure out Kongs for Luke. Hooking us up with a great pet boarding situation (Jesse). AND ALL OF THE MILLIONS of day-​to-​day loving things you did for us. Finding you was such a gift for us and I can’t imagine what it would have been like without you.
Please accept our DEEPEST THANK YOUs. We really do love you and are so grateful to you. Thank you for taking such good care of my baby.

Truly fantastic group! I love everything about Bark to Basics. Highly recommended!

I have to echo the other reviewers. Shura and her team are A.mazing. Capital A for sure.
My dog gets more excited to see her and her team than me and my husband. If that isn’t a sign your dog loves B2B, then I don’t know what other proof you need. It makes me jealous but I know how happy he is when he’s with them so I don’t care! If you have a small dog that needs some company once a week, you won’t regret taking them here. Her team is wonderful, Shura is outstanding and I can tell he loves all of them. It’s been 3 years for Benny and we couldn’t be happier.

Is your dog tiny?
Does it like to have fun?
Are they «The Baby»
Then you need to talk to Shura!
Your pup will get to play his/​her little heart in a safe, clean, well supervised environment with loving staff.
You go to work and the dog goes to Shura’s and everyone is happy.

love love love these guys. so appreciate of all the care they have given my little furry neurotic fellow through the years.
they do overnight care too, the staff will take your pup home and treat them as one of their own.
LOVE.

Shura and her wonderful dog-​loving trainers at Bark to Basics are the BEST! They have been taking care of my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Arabella, for 8 years. Shura not only provides a friendly and clean environment, but her doggie daycare gives my only-​child dog excellent socialization and much needed exercise. Shura takes care of dogs like people where they have the run of a safe home environment and secure yard. Her «Little Doggie Daycare» sometimes has a carload of Cavaliers ready for their daily adventure. Shura is also a certified trainer — which shows — because every time my dog boards overnight with her or her staff, the dog comes back better behaved than before! WE LOVE YOU SHURA!!! You are truly amazing — as are Vicki, Lloyd and everyone on your team!!!

Our dog Sadie has been going to bark to basics for a few months now and I could not be more pleased with Shura and her team. They are all huge dog lovers and are dedicated to each and every dog as if they are their own.
Sadie comes home every day happy and well socialized. Shura is also extremely accomodating to boarding Sadie or finding someone to take care of Sadie while we are out of town. My fiancé and I work full time and I know that we could not have the joy of our pup in our lives without the help of Shura!
I really could not say enough good things about bark to basics. I can be an extremely protective dog parent and I know that Bark to Basics is the best for Sadie!

We’re THOSE people about the pug. Henry Kissinger is the baby for old folks who didn’t want kids. He has a bed in every room, about 50 toys scattered around the house, and is never by himself for more than a couple of hours at a time. He sleeps under the covers in Mom’s arms. Dad won’t allow any of the bones he gets after his bath to be thrown away because «it’ll give him a complex!» So it looks like a New Orleans graveyard in our apartment. He has a blog and three Huge orange monkey toys, because one is just never enough.
When Dad’s in town, he goes to see the folks at Bark to Basics two days a week. They ring the bell and he’s down the stairs like a shot, no looking back, no «see ya later Dad.» He becomes a puddle of pug goo when they appear, and on the days they don’t come he sits at the top of the stairs pining. When Dad travels for weeks at a time, HK’s at B2B 5 days a week with some weekend overnights, and the fact that we NEVER worry about how he’s doing, and know that he’s having the time of his life, is something that we’ll be thankful to Shura for forever.
Animals never are with us for long enough, and the only way I can deal with knowing that he’s going to head off someday is to try to make every single moment of his life be as happy as possible. Shura and B2B, we love you dearly for making our dude as happy as we want him to be, and for being with him from the beginning as an extension of his family. Any dog would be so lucky to have you in his or her doggie life.

BEYOND 5-​Star Service!
This is long overdue but here is my review on B2B:
We were lucky enough to find Shura and the B2B team and have our little nugget accepted to join them full time Monday-​Friday as a daycare attendee. Our ‘baby’ has been with them for over a year — and still going strong! The Bark to Basics staff are an amazing group of people (all of which I believe are SF SPCA certified trainers) with extensive experience with dogs in training, counseling, and safety. Besides the exclusivity of being a small dog only (under 20 lbs.) daycare service, they provide additional perks such as individualized training, beach walks, and a swimming pool at the daycare facility — OK, I am jealous! We interviewed many daycare services and none compared to Bark to Basics. We felt the services offered, the comfort of knowing that our dog would be with other small dogs ONLY, and the safety of having our precious one with knowledgeable staff who are highly trained left us without hesitation of where she would go. Given we work long hours and needed to drop our pup off early we knew she would need to be somewhere that she felt was like her second home and indeed it is! I also wanted to mention, we travel, and when we do, we know that our dog will be left in excellent hands. The final ‘topper’ to this is the Monthly Yappy Hours where a lot of the pups parents come to enjoy and meet other parents and see the other ones frolic around! We love you guys! Need I say more?

I can’t begin to express my sadness that we are moving from Shura’s doggie zone. We haven’t broken the new to Bean yet. He’d just end up moping around the apartment, looking depressed and pathetic.
The last time I brought him over to Shura’s, he literally was trying to jump over the little gate to get to his friends. We will make sure that Bean still has the occasional visits to hang out with the Bark to Basics crew. I think it would be cruel to cut him off from his buddies completely!
I don’t expect to find a daycare place as wonderful as Bark to Basics in the new neighborhood but if it can be even half as caring, fun, and easygoing, I will be happy.
Thank you Shura!

Shura was boarding my dog and noticed symptoms of a disease common to the breed. My dog ended up having the neurological disease. If it wasn’t for Shura, I never would have suspected it. I will never be able to thank her enough.

Still not enough stars for her. Since I’ve written my review, we have moved from the SF Bay Area. While we miss many aspects of this wonderful place, none more than Bark to Basics. Here are just a few of the holes in our (and our dogs’) lives:
1) Yappy Hour — the social highlight of my week when the furkids went to Shura’s. Fridays simply are not the same.
2) Holidays — Shura and her staff made every holiday a true treat. Whether it was coming to pick up the kids and finding them in «scary» costumes in October, sharing a sumptuous corned beef in March, or reveling in the schwag she provides her clients in December — holidays are just less special where we are now.
3) Tired pups — Loved having the dogs hit the couch as soon as we got home and not moving until bedtime. I know that sounds funny, but we knew that they had spent the day having such a good time that they just couldn’t stop until we left.
4) No worries — I always felt like my dogs were as safe (safer, really) in Shura’s care than in our own. Whether it was for a day of socialization or 2 weeks while we went on a cruise, we knew without a doubt that our dogs would be healthy and happy when we got home.
Think about it – Shura is SO good that I’ve taken the time to write about her business almost a year after I last used her. If you are lucky enough to live in her area, and have a small dog (or 2) that need some socialization/​daycare, you could do NO better than to contact Bark to Basics.

Just an update: we are still happy customers!
I have since met other wonderful people who work with Bark to Basics and wanted to give a thumbs up to all of them; thank you!
Recently I was away for three weeks and my pup stayed with Malena and Kevin (with Bark to Basics). They were incredible! I actually had nightmares while I was away that Sophie was attacking their poor kitty. Malena left me messages that all was going well. Whew. When she dropped my pup back off after that long time away, she was happy, healthy, and even better-​behaved. When Malena left after dropping her off, Sophiedog let out one little whine by the door, so I knew that she loved her home for three weeks. (But the whine wasn’t too big that I thought I had been replaced :) And it even sounds like Malena and Kevin really enjoyed having Sophie with them.
Love love love Bark to Basics! They definitely go above and beyond what you would expect. Truly.

This is my super overdue review.
I am soo lucky to have found Shura and her awesome team. I have no idea where I’ll be without all her help.
When my baby graduated from her puppy daycare to adult daycare I was in total denial. Thanks to SF Puppy Prep, I found Shura. She was their one and only recommendation for my girl. When I met Shura for the first time, I thought she was the crazy dog lady. I mean crazy. Who has mural walls of a doggie classroom???
In the past 5 months, my girl is getting more and more confident. She is still the floppy dog, but she is getting much better. (If you ever see her, she’s the dog that plays dead on the sidewalk whenever she see’s another dog) She is also doing 1000% better on a leash. She use to pull and get so distracted, but she checks in with me and keeps to my side.
Shura has been super accommodating to my last minute request to board her. I feel guilty for calling her: «Do you mind watching Mocha tonight? I have a party that I forgot to a doggie sitter for?» «Any way you can take Mocha everyday this week?» She has never said no or made me feel guilty.
I love how Lloyd comes by our house to pick her up. The few times I was at home when Lloyd came by, Mocha would run to the door when the downstairs gate open and would sit patiently until he came up. She then shakes her whole body in excitement for a full day of fun. When she comes home, she is pooped. A tired dog is happy dog.
I am so happy that Mocha is with them. And Mocha is so happy she’s at Bark To Basics. Shura and her team has a magic touch.

Like what else can I say?! Shura is just so AWESOME in every way be it w/​the canines & with their owners! Through the past 1 ½ years, Shura has been one of the most thoughtful, giving and understanding people when it comes to pet issues & human issues. Where are you going to find a doggie daycare provider that truly cares about dog & owner? NO WHERE! She’s become a trusted friend to both me & the little monsters. They know when it’s Friday because I could feel the excitement Romee & Violette have in the morning! Oh how I wish I was them having fun & playing all day & learning new things from Ms. Shura!

«wake up,» said my dog. «we have to talk.»
i pried open one eye to peek at her. «what’s up, weiner dog?» i asked.
«i’m leaving home,» she said.
i bolted upright. «after all we’ve done for you? where are you going?»
«i’m moving to bark to basics,» announced josie weiner dog. «shura takes much better care of me than you do. she lets me run around her house all day, she has a giant astro-​turfed backyard that she installed just for spoiled puppies like myself and she and her fabulous professional trained staff play with me all day long. i get treats and pats and i can do whatever i want. i go on super fun outings, chill with my awesome doggie friends and receive endless love and attention. and YOU went and had a baby who sits on me.»
mmmm… good point. maybe i should start sending my dog more than one day a week.
«you’re just saying that so you can attend yappy hour on friday nights and get free booze from shura while i have the time of my life,» she retorted.
true. and so, i have been outsmarted by my dog… again.

Roscoe *hearts* Shura and everyone at Bark to Basics. Why do you ask? Because he has all day non-​stop fun (of course there’s nappy time) and he gets to play with all his squishy faced friends and go on a walk. When Roscoe gets home, he tells me how much fun he’s had all day and then passes out for the rest of the night.
Shura’s Yappy Hour rocks!!! We *heart* Shura!!!

I can’t believe it’s been a YEAR since Mochi started going to Bark to Basics! Time really does fly…
Shura and the staff deal with all of Mochi’s quirks with so much patience and I just can’t thank her enough for providing such a safe, clean, wonderful place for Mo to play! We’ve loved it since day one and I can’t imagine bringing her anywhere else.
The entire staff goes out of their way to help and they’re all just such good people. Over the course of the past year, we learned that Mochi doesn’t do too well in the car with lots of other dogs — at the expense of Shura’s car… eeks! — so I must thank Alana personally for making a special stop at my apartment (3 days a week!) to pick Mochi up!
Alana would stop by my place on her way to work so that Mochi wouldn’t have to be in the car for a long time and so she could be situated and comfortable at daycare before all the other little dogs came!
It’s just the kinda thing they do at Bark to Basics (:
Ps. Shura: Mochi pooped in your garage today when I was dropping her off :(I cleaned it up, of course, but just thought we should say sorry. She just got so damn excited to get to daycare and, well… you know.
*sigh* Do you see what Shura has to deal with? She really deserves like 200 stars instead of the measly 5 that we’re allowed to give!

Shura, Lloyd and Elana — Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking such good care of my poochies. Having both a Senior Girl and a Puppy at B-​2-​B, both are given the type of care they each need. I agree with others — who wouldn’t want to live there — it’s pretty much doggie heaven year ’round. Shura goes beyond anyone’s wildest imagination with clever holiday client gifts — year round. She loves her clients (human and canine) and goes the extra mile giving legendary service. The dogs go on daily walks to the park, get backyard playtime and rest and down time (critical in a daycare setting).
Being in the canine industry myself, I’m quite picky of who watches my pooches — and she gets four paws (2 from each pup) way up!
All of Shura’s clients are equally great and everyone has a good time when she hosts social hours.
Don’t ever stop!

I thought I was THE crazy dog person. And then I met Shura… You just don’t understand the amount of details Shura put into the daycare facility until you see it. Everything there is about the dogs. Whenever there is a holiday, Shura spoils them like there is no tomorrow. For example, this is what we (and all clients) got for Christmas: treat jar with pups names engraved on it, tuna biscuit mix, cookie cutters, dog design apron, toys, Christmas bandannas, chocolate (for us), and bottles of «Pinot More» with the pups names and pictures on them. Talk about going above and beyond! And crazy!!!
Sophie and Lulu love it there. They are happy pups when I pick them up and promptly fall asleep in the car as they are exhausted from having a grand time. Other than play time at the house, they also get to go out for walks at great places like Stern Grove.
I can tell that both pups just adore folks there. Sophie pees everywhere (she still happy pees) whenever she sees Shura. And my shy little Lulu goes nuts whenever we run into Elena.
I cannot say enough good things about Bark to Basics. There are very few people I trust to leave the pups with. I won’t even leave them with my closest friends. I highly recommend Shura for anyone looking for daycare for their wee ones. Not only is this a great facility and has the best folks, it’s also one of the best priced daycare around.