You can pick up any time before closing.
You can pick up from daycare any time before closing.
As soon as we open (the earlier the better), but no later than 1pm. By mid-afternoon, the dogs in our playgroups will have been playing together for hours and will have an established social “pecking order,” so any dog that enters the group at that point may have a more difficult time settling in.
8AM-10AM Mon-Sat. Bathing/grooming appointments are not available on Sundays (except for dogs that are boarding with us and picking up that day).
7am-6pm Monday-Friday, 8am -11am & 3pm – 5pm on Saturdays, and 4pm – 6pm on Sundays. It is best to drop off in the morning to allow your dog plenty of time to get settled in.
Our baths include bathing, drying, brushing, nail trim, ear cleaning, and gland expression. Grooming includes all of that, plus a haircut and/or additional services (teeth brushing, de-shedding, etc). Please specify which services you prefer when making the reservation.
We may be able to board your dog individually in a play area versus a kennel. Note that since we only have six indoor play areas, availability is very limited and priority is given to elderly dogs and dogs with incontinence or other health concerns. Please ask about availability of play areas for boarding when making your reservation.
Don’t worry! We’ll take care of them for the night, and you can pick up next day, as soon as we open. If you forget to pick up your dog, you can rest assured that s/he will be well taken care of and will receive appropriate food, water, and bedding for the night.
We accept cash, Visa, MasterCard, AMEX, Discover, and Apple Pay. We do not accept checks. Payment is due upon receipt of services, so it is recommended that you pay in advance or leave a card on file if you plan to have a friend or relative pick up for you, or if you are running late.
Just your dog and his/her leash. However, if you would like to bring a lunch or mid-day snack, please feel free to.
Your dog’s leash, food, treats, and medication. There is no need to bring your dog’s food bowl or water bowl, we provide these at no charge. We have hundreds of stainless steel bowls, which are very safe and which we clean and sanitize daily. Additionally, there is no need to bring your dog’s bedding. We provide our own house bedding at no charge that is very soft and that can be easily cleaned and sanitized daily. It is not recommended that you bring anything precious or valuable to you, because there is always a chance that it will be lost and/or damaged while your dog is boarding. For safety reasons, we do not accept any items made of glass, ceramic or any material that can easily shatter or splinter. If you have a special toy or something else you would like to bring that you feel will make your dog’s stay more comfortable, please feel free to call and discuss it with us. We will be happy to accommodate if we can. Our goal is to make your dog’s stay as safe and comfortable as possible.
Yes. Bringing your dog’s own food will keep your dog’s diet steady and will help prevent any potential digestive issues. Please note that we cannot accept food containers made of glass, ceramic or any material that can easily shatter or splinter. If you forget to bring food, we can give your dog our House Food for a nominal fee of $5 per day.
We do not accept dogs that do not socialize well with other dogs. Our goal is to offer a safe, clean, and positive environment for dogs to run around and play in large groups with other dogs, and our facility is designed around that concept. If your dog does not socialize well with other dogs, we recommend in-home pet care, or possibly boarding at a facility where the dogs are kept separate, but given lots of individual sleeping space and plenty of individual attention and exercise.
All kennel staff leave shortly after closing time, but we do have overnight security personnel for the complex. We also have a state of the art security and emergency alert system with remotely-monitored cameras and sensors. All of our managers live within a 5-mile radius and are on-call 24-7. After the kennel staff leave, all dogs are safe and secure in their own separate kennels. It is extremely quiet here after closing time, as all the dogs drift right off to sleep after a long day of running around and playing with their friends.
No, but depending on our availability you may be asked to provide a non-refundable grooming deposit when you make a future reservation.
It depends on when you dropped off. Overnight boarding is charged per night, but includes care for up to 24 hours. For example, if you dropped off at 10AM, one night of boarding would include everything up to 10AM the next day. So, if you picked up at 6pm the next day, you would get charged one night of boarding plus one day of daycare.
Yes. Just like kids, a dog’s behavior will be different depending on the situation. Your dog may be comfortable at home, in your neighborhood, at the dog park, or even at another daycare, but there’s no way for us to know how they will react to Piedmont BARK until they actually experience it. Doggie daycare can be a very high-stimulation environment, and it can be a bit too overwhelming for some dogs. Additionally, your dog’s behavior may be completely different when you are present than it is when you are absent. We want to make sure your dog is comfortable being in our playgroups while you are absent before we confirm any reservations.
Yes. We always keep dogs separated based on size, age, temperament, and physical condition, even if they are siblings. We can board siblings of different sizes together, but do not place them in the same playgroup.
We ask that your dog stay with us for at least six hours on the trial day. You do not need to be there for it. Simply drop off in the morning and pick up later in the day. We will call you midday to let you know how your dog is doing. We ask that your dog stay with us for at least six hours so we can get a good idea how they will respond to a full day in the Piedmont BARK environment in your absence.
Usually 2 to 6 hours. It all depends on the size of the dog, the type and condition of the coat, and the type of service requested. We bathe/groom on a first-come, first-serve basis, so it may take longer depending on how busy we are. The earliest time we can guarantee that your dog will be ready is 4pm (assuming you drop off by 10am), but many dogs are ready before that. When making the appointment, you can specify a pick-up time (any time after 4pm), and/or request a “call when ready.”
We have several safety measures in place. In general, dogs prefer to settle their differences without resorting to violence. Some posturing and body language along with a few grunts and growls are enough to settle most disputes. With that being said, all dogs have the potential to get upset at each other, just like people. Additionally, some dogs are not properly socialized from a young age, some have unfortunate experiences that affect their future behavior, etc. Therefore, we have the following safety measures in place:
- Every dog must meet certain admission requirements before being accepted, including attending a trial day and going through a “temperament test,” during which we evaluate their behavior to see how well suited they are to our type of environment. Doggie daycare is a high-stimulation environment, and it is not suitable for all dogs.
- Our staff members are trained to read canine body language and look for signs of potential aggression, to step in before an incident happens, and to use humane and effective preventative measures such as redirection of focus, positive reinforcement, audible correction, squirts of water, or time-outs when needed. Note: Piedmont BARK staff members are prohibited from using corporal punishment of any kind. Please do not ask us to “smack” or “pop” your dog if they misbehave. We won’t do it.
- We are proactive about keeping owners up-to-date on their dog’s behavior. We inform owners immediately if any behavioral concerns are observed, and recommend obedience and/or behavior modification training as needed. Dogs should at least have good name recognition/recall before entering a group play situation. We do not have trainers on staff, but we do try to reinforce basic obedience. Specific behavior-modification training must take place outside of the daycare environment.
- We turn away any dog that we deem a risk to itself or others. This includes dogs that display repeated, excessive, unprovoked, or unpredictable aggression.
- We place all dogs in an appropriate playgroup based on size, age, temperament, and physical condition.
- We regroup dogs that seem too shy or overbearing for their current playgroup.
- We are very careful about how we introduce dogs into an already established “pack.”
- When moving groups of dogs from one area of the facility to another, we do so in a calm and methodical manner.
- We never allow valuable resources (such as food, treats, or toys) into the playgroups, as dogs are naturally inclined to guard them.
- We intervene in play behavior that gets too rough, inappropriate, or out of control.
- We intervene in dominance stand-offs before they escalate into aggression.
- We remain calm and monitor our own behavior and body language to ensure we’re sending the right signals. We carefully watch how the dogs respond to our presence and change our behavior as appropriate.
Each of our six playgroups typically consists of 10-30 dogs (including overnight boarders). We max out at 130 dogs. With over 10,000 square feet of run space, each dog has plenty of room to play.
Yes!! We just LOVE petting and playing with our canine friends! All of our staff are definitely “dog people.” Most have their own dogs at home, which they get to bring to work with them every day (of course, we’re careful not to go overboard with petting or play favorites, as some dogs get jealous). Occasionally we’ll take a break from petting and let the dogs romp around with their friends for a while, but we’re always right there in the play area with them. Our staff will spend hours upon hours interacting with the dogs and getting to know each of their names and personalities by heart. Like a teacher with his/her kids, it truly is a rewarding experience!
Yes, depending on staff availability. It may be possible for you to arrange for a late pick up for as late as 15 minutes after our normal business hours. For security and safety reasons, we require that all staff members stay for any late pick ups. Therefore, late pick ups may not always be available. Please call us as soon as possible if you think you will be late, and we will try to arrange for staff to stay after and wait for you. There is a $35 charge to cover the extra staffing, and we do not offer late pick-ups for later than 15 minutes after closing time.
We have Facebook! We take pictures of the dogs daily and upload them to our Facebook page throughout the week. If you would like us to take a picture of your dog and upload, just let us know! We’ll do our best to capture them in the midst of the fun!
No. Our business is built around the concept of all-day play, so the playtime is included in our boarding charge. All boarding guests spend the majority of the day playing/socializing in one of our large, indoor, climate-controlled play areas with dogs of similar size, age and temperament. All dogs go outside at least six times throughout the day.
Yes, of course. As discussed above, we have several safety measures in place to prevent incidents as much as possible. However, dogs jostle one another, run and bump into things, and tug and nip at one another during play, so there will always be some inherent risk of injury in any situation where dogs play together. In this sense, doggie daycare is often akin to a contact sport. Just as it is not surprising for a child to come home with a few scrapes and bruises after playing basketball with friends, it is not unreasonable to expect occasional injuries when your dog interacts with other dogs. Another thing to keep in mind is that dogs interact with their environment and with each other using their mouths, and those mouths happen to have sharp teeth. You should expect occasional injuries if you intend for your dog to interact with others. However, unlike most public playgroup situations where you never know what to expect, you can rest assured that every dog in our facility has gone through the same temperament-testing process as your own, and we monitor and control our playgroups very closely. You never have to worry about your dog being exposed to an aggressive animal while it is in our care.
Yes. We can administer any form of standard medication. Please bring detailed instructions. Note: please bring pills in a separate container and do not mix them in with your dog’s food. To protect the safety of all dogs, we keep all medications in a secure location in the facility and its administration is tightly monitored and controlled.
For safety reasons, small dogs stay in their own designated play areas, boarding areas, and outside area. It may be true that your big dog prefers to play with small dogs (or vice versa), but the same may not be true of other dogs in the group. Additionally, placing dog of different sizes in the same playgroup would increase the chances of accidental injury, and we obviously want to reduce the possibility of that as much as possible.
Yes. We will be happy to give your dog their own toys to play with in their kennel while being supervised. However, since many dogs are possessive/aggressive around toys, we do not place toys in the playgroup. Also note that the only toys we can leave in the kennel overnight are so-called “indestructible” toys like Kong® brand toys.
Please keep your dog on leash and under your control at all times while in the lobby. The lobby can have multiple dogs at any given time and a dog unattended has the potential to cause injury to itself, another dog, or a person standing in the lobby. Also note that it is very common for dogs to be aggressive when on leash, so please be very mindful of this and pay close attention to your dog at all times.
Yes, if we have a large enough Suite available. Please let us know if your dogs need to be kept separate during meal times.
Yes, of course! All playgroups are under the constant supervision of our experienced staff. We assign 1-3 staff members per playgroup, depending on the size of the dogs and the number of dogs in the playgroup. It basically works out to be about 10 dogs per staff member, though the staff are never isolated from one another; we have an open floor plan that allows all team members to be in constant communication.
Generally speaking, daycare reservations are not required. However, reservations are required for your dog’s trial day and around major holidays. During the busiest times of the year, we may require daycare reservations on certain days of the week. If this is the case, we will post notices in our lobby and on Facebook at least one month in advance, as well as send out an email blast to all our customers. Please contact reservations@piedmontbark.com if you have any questions regarding our hours, or if you need to make a reservation.
Yes. Reservations are required for all overnight boarding, though we can sometimes accommodate last minute boarding requests for existing clients. Please keep in mind that we book up about a month in advance for major holidays. Also please note that all dogs must attend a trial day of daycare before any reservations are confirmed.