WOOFS! Dog Training Center

This review is for the agility training. We recently took Agility I with Melissa Bishop, but Melissa Frye also taught a session because Melissa B. Had to be out one week. Both Melissas are great. They are experienced, friendly, and put your dog’s safety first. I like the fact that both of them reminded us of how things seems from the dog’s perspective.
The agility class requires that your dog have basic obedience like sit, stay, and down. Check the Woofs website for details. Before taking this class, we had done puppy and adult manners classes that used clicker training. I doubt we would have gotten much out of it if our dog wasn’t already clicker trained because this class used that method.
Even though this is not an obedience class, I have seen an improvement in my dog’s responsiveness to all commands since we started. Her stays last longer without refreshing and I feel like she is offering behaviors more. So even if we never do anything with agility competitions, the class was totally worth the time and money for this positive result.
The biggest negative for me is the class times. The earliest classes start at 7:10 pm. Some are 9:30 — 10:30 pm on a weeknight, which sucks if you have to get up and go to work the next day, as I assume most people do. I think the reason for the late class times is because they also do doggy daycare 7 days a week, and it ends 10 minutes before the earliest class starts. I’m sure this schedule makes sense financially for Woofs, but it probably discourages some from taking agility. Because class space is limited and demand is high, you have you enter a lottery to take the classes after level I. It feels a little bit like trying to enroll your dog in an exclusive prep school.
If you want to find out more beyond the Woofs website, search for Melissa Frye and dog agility on you tube. She has some good instructional videos.

I will preface this review by saying that I don’t recommend bringing your dog to this or any other doggie daycare facility. I know it sounds like a good idea at first, but I’m writing this review to save anyone else from dealing with the problems I have to deal with for the rest of my dog’s life. There’s a reason that the contract mentions behavioral problems. I know trainers who see problems in dogs who went to daycare all the time, and who refuse to take their dogs to a daycare facility. I wish I had known that before.
When I first got my dog I thought it would be great to take him to a daycare. I worked long hours, so I thought it was the perfect idea to let him have fun with other dogs all day so he would be tired and happy when I got home. I took him in for the behavioral evaluation to see if he was a good candidate. My dog was great with the other friendly dog, and ignored the aggressive dog. He’d also always been friendly on our walks and loved to meet and play with other dogs.
After taking him there a few times a week for about 2 years, my dog transformed from being a happy friendly dog that loved meeting other dogs, to being very anxious around other dogs to the point where I needed to constantly avoid them. Before, I wouldn’t even think or worry about another dog approaching, and now it’s a nightmare. At first he was calm and happy to see another dog, and I noticed a change in his behavior over time. He became more and more anxious and would start whining. When I took him to daycare, I thought he was whining because he was excited to go there. Now I know that he was whining because he was anxious, and he was dreading it.
Also, while he was there, my dog injured his leg trying to jump out of the daycare facility. When he got injured, they mentioned that they’d been having a problem with him jumping over the gate to get into the office, but I didn’t make the connection at the time. If I had realized that he was jumping out and didn’t want to be there, I would have taken him out right away. He also was involved in 2 fights while he was there, but nobody could give me specific details about what actually happened. The last time we were there, they had way too many dogs on the floor. While I think they mean well, it’s impossible to keep an eye on so many dogs, and watch body language to prevent fights from happening.
I know it sounds like a great idea at first, but nobody will take care of your dog as well as you will. If you want to socialize your dog, you’re far better off bringing your dog to the dog park, or finding a small play group where you can be there to supervise what’s happening. If you’re worried about your dog being home all day, you can get a dog walker. I wish I had seen a review like this before bringing my dog to daycare, because it’s not worth what I have to deal with now.

We’ve been bringing our Boston Terrier here for over two years and we absolutely love it. He has been to numerous pet boarders and doggie day camps in the area and, by far, he loves Woofs the best. They know him when he comes through the door and he’s always very excited to go there; I can’t say the same about other places he’s been. Naturally, Woofs does have a doggie smell, but it’s clean and our dog always comes home looking happy and healthy… and of course exhausted from playing LOL. I find Woofs’ pricing to be the best for the services offered and they don’t nickle and dime you for things like other places do. Even after we moved from VA to MD, we still make the hike to bring our dog here because he loves it so much and we don’t feel comfortable leaving him overnight anywhere else. I highly recommend Woofs.

I wish I could give this more than one star, but had a very tough experience with the agility training. The lady who teaches it is fantastic, and has championships under her belt. The time for the classes is awful (think Friday evenings at 830, Tuesdays at 930 pm)… who has time to be up until 11 pm training the dog? The lottery system to get into level II is ridiculous. I had to wait several times to get in, and they sent me an email while I was away to confirm payment. I tried SEVERAL times to call, leaving them messages that I was definitely coming and as a last resort would pay when I got there. After several phone calls of me calling and no one answering or calling me back, I got through and they told me that they had given my slot away. I will NOT use them again for their poor customer service. There are plenty of other dog care places on the same road that will get my money, my service, and my wonderful dog instead.

I started bringing my dog to Woof’s over a year ago, we started with dog training and then began bringing him for bi-​weekly/​weekly day care and boarding. While the location was not the most beautiful, we really liked going to Woof’s as our dog was very comfortable with the staff and we felt they knew us and our dog well enough to take good care of our puppy, especially when we needed to board him.
We consistently brought out dog to daycare, to ensure he was comfortable with the facility and we could be altered of any issues prior to leaving him overnight. The staff NEVER mentioned any behavioral problems to us, beyond he was really hyper. I left our pup at Woof’s (Shirtington campus) for a trip to California, upon touching down a received a message from the manager saying there was a situation and our dog was removed from the day care floor. The message provided little information and set me into a panic. I called immediately to find out what had happened, turns out our dog had growled at another dog and nipped at him. It was her assessment that the dog should no longer be allowed on the daycare floor. He also was kept in a «cell» for the next TWO days and unable to play in the dog daycare facility, as I felt helpless from across the country. When I pushed them for more information to understand why he wasn’t allowed to return after being removed briefly the strong continued to grow and become exaggerated — stating undocumented facts and implying that my dog exhibited problems on numerous occasions, despite the fact that each visit he was given a good report. Anytime I asked for facts about this supposed incident I was given vague remarks and often times the information changed. I also found it odd, they did not call my fiancé (who is also listed as an owner) but called my emergency contact to alert them of the problem, however upon receiving a panic-​ed message, my emergency contact was told the dog was fine and there was no need to pick him up early. The way they handled this situation made it clear they are unable to handle normal situations, without causing more harm or problems. This concerns me as I wonder what else they were unable to handle or handled poorly when it came to our dogs care. I have since taken my dog to two other day cares, both told me my dog does not appear aggressive and is just a hyper pup who likes to jump around and play.
This is not the level of care I would expect from a dog day care, especially one that knew my dog and myself well. Their inability to communicate issues, handle potential problems and work with me as an owner to find a solution we were all comfortable with was appalling. Clearly I will never return to use ANY of Woof’s services, (as they have offered to host my dog after this incident, which i found odd if their facts were true about him being aggressive), however i will also be encouraging others to use one of the many other day care/​boarding facilities in Arlington; most of which take far better care of the dogs and are able to handle the quantity of dogs they take on. If you want to take my advice, DO NOT USE Woof’s.

This class is solely for the agility training.
The agility training here is outstanding. Melissa, the head agility instructor, has years of knowledge working with every size, ability, and personality of dog and it really shows. The dog’s safety is paramount and it’s very nice to see in a training class in general. Have a leash reactive or even dog aggressive dog? The space is set up so dogs enter from one door and exit from another. She makes it clear from the get go that dogs are not meant to interact here, and that there’s a dog park just down the street if socialization is what you’re going for. Have a medium/​large breed puppy who still has developing joints? The staff is more than happy to lower jumps and take extra care to make sure that even the youngest learner stays safe.
The Agility I class is purely meant to get dogs used to equipment and provide enough of an immersion to make sure that you (and your dog!) enjoy it. It can feel like a big class, with a lot going on – sometimes without a lot of progress or personal attention — but all you have to do is speak up and the instructor will be over to you in a second. You will leave with more confidence and your dog will too!

We recently welcomed a new puppy into our lives and my life has completely revolved around him for the past few months. I can’t believe the hours I’ve spent researching about vets, daycares and dog foods. Even my Unilocal reviews have suffered because I haven’t had the chance to eat out as much!
Our little puppy went to Woofs the first time back in October. We boarded him for a week while we were out of the country. When we picked him up, he seemed happy, healthy and even grew a few inches!
We also brought him to a few of the free puppy socials up in the Ballston location. These are great for new puppies who still need to learn how to socialize. Plus, who doesn’t want to be surrounded by cute little puppies Saturday afternoon.
What I like about Woofs is that in addition to the small/​mid/​large dog play pens, they keep the really small or really old or really young in the office area. It’s perfect for our little one because he’s still a bit on the small side and can spend the day with just a few dogs and the office attendant.

My review is based solely on the Agility and Flyball classes here.
The instructor is WONDERFUL and my dog adores going. She has learned and improved so much, and I really see it translating over to her everyday life. She is confident, happy, and active. The instructor is wonderful and the other people in class are great as well.

We have been sending our Silky to Woofs for 8 years. He views it as his second home (probably means we are bad parents) and loves Laura and the gang, as do we. I would highly recommend Woofs for your pups.

My dog is absolutely afraid of crates. He has tried to break out of crates and had severely scratched his dog and made himself bleed. He hates them so much that we have had to remove the top & the door from his crate. He only sleeps in the bottom part (it’s look very, very chic that way lol). So, when it came time to board him, we were anxious and worried about the whole process. Previously, when we were living in Florida, we had several friends & family members that could take him in. Since we are still pretty new in the area, and the people we know live in pet-​free apartments, our choices were very limited.
I took our dog for the free evaluation and he was shaking, panting, and scared while we were in the waiting area. They brought out a couple of dogs to interact with him but he stood there like a statue panting & heaving. But, we’ve had this dog for several years so this behavior didn’t strike me as too odd — he really is a scaredy, anxious dog in new situations. WOOFS! recommended we bring Cesar in for 2 days of daycare. Although this would require some money out of pocket, we decided to follow through. We brought him in for 1 day of daycare 2 weeks before boarding and another day of daycare 1 week before the boarding. The first time around, I was told he sat in the corner of the puppy room and shook for awhile until he calmed down. When I picked him up, he was okay but you could tell he was tired from being a nervous nelly the whole day. The second time around, he was initially anxious but he quickly calmed down when they placed him in the front office with other more mellow dogs. We ended up boarding him at WOOFS for 3 nights and 4 days. When we came to pick him up, he was happy to see us and looked content.
The staff has been consistently friendly and helpful. I was able to tour the facility and our dog stayed in the pet suite. I don’t plan to board our dog anytime soon but if I do, I will probably use WOOFS again.

Although, the staff is very friendly and nice the overall cleanliness of Woofs is something to be desired. Each time our dog left Woof’s something would be wrong with it whether it be a torn paw or intestinal problems. Recently, she went in for daycare and came back with Kennel Cough. From speaking to other owner’s this is a common problem at Woof’s.
Overall we enjoyed Woof’s but due to getting Kennel Cough from Woof’s we will not be going back. Be careful about taking your best friend’s to this place if you want to keep a healthy dog.

I started my dog at Woofs when he was young. Seemed happy but they are a bit disorganized. One day, they returned my food container and said the other dogs at my puppies food. When I returned to address with a manager, she stated they do no feed dogs anyway and would not compensate or apologize in any way. Leaving a dog for 12 hours and not feeding the pup is absurd. I have not returned. In addition, he almost got kennel cough after a few visits to Woofs.

Great staff and location. The play area is well supervised and my pup loves it. They have a new billing system that the staff isn’t 100% with so I got overcharged recently and they were only ably to give me a credit on my next boarding but otherwise have had no problems. I have a very rambunctious terrier and Woofs has been a lifesaver through rough winters and rainy weeks where I just can’t get my pup outside to play.

I’ve only used this place for agility classes, and I have nothing but wonderful things to say. The instructor and staff are great, and my dog loves going. Her focus has improved tenfold since we started a few months ago. Prices are reasonable, and class times are good.

Great staff, great facility/​location and a very tired puppy at the end of the day makes Woofs a perfect fit.
The play area is fully staffed and supervised by a number of employees that always seem to be interacting with the dogs and having a good time. Unlike some other facilities in the areas, during normal hours every time I’ve been there the dogs are out in the play area running around and not crated. The option of half day or full day doggie daycare makes play time a little more affordable and schedule friendly.
Boarding dogs have the option of staying overnight in crates or in suites. My dog usually goes the crate route, but if you have two dogs apparently they can share a suite. There is also always a person on overnight duty to monitor the dogs. The best part is when I get home from a trip, pick up my dog and then she passes out asleep for the better part of a week. Worth every cent!