Camp Bow Wow Long Island City

First I would like to say I would not leave your dog here. Secondly if the circumstances had been different I wouldn’t have left him there, nor learned what I have. My husband and I had a last minute emergency and needed to leave quickly.
–We went to CBW and I liked the idea of there being cameras so I could check in from time to time but the cameras suck no matter your internet connection. You can’t see what’s really going on.
— I asked him to be bathed and they said he was but he looks and smells no different than when I dropped him off. I can actually smell him sitting three feet away from me, it’s disgusting.
–Also they don’t actually walk your dog unless you pay for a 20 min daily walk so the dogs «just go» wherever inside the facility. All dogs deserve to get walked, especially house trained dogs.
–For some reason My dog’s bed came back smelling like piss and poo and it was BRAND NEW, he’d only used it for a week before I dropped it off with him. And he’s never peed on anything at home EVER. Now I have to throw it away and buy another bed, great. Good news is, he’s home now.
On a better note:
I am very particular and protective of my dog as he is a rescue and I am rehabilitating him. I left specific instructions for more down time to keep him calmer. And out of concern I did receive a phone call regarding his poo and eating schedule (I expected his stress to cause his eating schedule to go wack). They said they started hand feeding him to encourage his appetite. I was very grateful for their services in that aspect and the bath charge was refunded.

Camp Bow Wow is the best doggy day care I’ve come across in Queens. I’m in Astoria and there’s nothing that comes close. The areas where the dogs get to play are by far the largest I’ve encountered and they cater to dogs of all sizes. The staff is very friendly and helpful and communicative and my dog is always so happy to go play and tuckered out when he gets home. They have great deals on day care packages that really make it affordable and worth your money.

I am officially putting Camp Bow Wow LIC NYC on blast. After trusting them with our dog for seven days, we get a call this morning (hours before picking him up) telling us that he has «a slight rash». An hour later, we pick up a very sick dog with a horrible skin infection and a 103.5 fever.
The best part, they tell us this «just happened the past two or three days». They didn’t bother to call us. After bringing him to the vet, it is clear that if he was even slightly monitored or looked after, this could have been prevented. We drove home with an extremely lethargic and shaking dog who could barely climb the stairs when he got home.
Our dog has been boarded multiple times before, in other locations. Every time we have picked him up, he has had such a good time he doesn’t want to leave. The staff loves him and only has good reports. Picking him up at Camp Bow Wow was entirely different. Our poor boy walked out slowly without the pep in his step that he is famous for. I am holding back tears thinking about it.
Finally, we were PROMISED by the manager that the owner would be giving us a call before 7pm. It’s getting close to 5:30 and we still have heard nothing. For a dog with a dangerously high temperature, we would have expected at least a call by now.
We will be making sure everyone knows how this company operates. If you care about your dog, DO NOT leave them with Camp Bow Wow.
You should be ashamed of yourselves.

I have been to Camp Bow Wow in LIC about three times. All of our stays have been in the range of 2 — 3 nights. The first two times, I had mixed feelings about the place, but I had no evidence to indicate that it was a bad place for our dog.
Our dog, Samantha, just completed her third stay as of today (12÷30÷14) and I felt compelled to write a review about the location.
First, when we got home we found cuts on the outside and inside of her right ear. The cut was bad enough that when we tended to the wound, she kept crying as we washed it. In addition, there was a red rash on her back right hind leg.
I could treat this as dogs being dogs, but nobody at the kennel bothered to call us to inform us that she had been injured, which clearly shows that nobody is monitoring the dogs.
Second, the old man with the gray hair in the front (who I presume is the owner) knows nothing about the dogs and only cares about selling you products or services. When I asked him how Samantha was doing, he replied with «I don’t know, I guess good». I suppose I should appreciate the honesty, but I don’t. Again, I assume he is the owner, so if the manager is acting like this, how do you expect the employees to conduct themselves?
It amazes me that he never forgets to try to sell me unnecessary vaccines when I have the medical documentation to support that she does not need further boosters. In addition, he always tries to sell you nail clippings and baths.
For example: Prior to us dropping her off for this last stay,
he again asked, «Do you want us to bathe her?»
I replied «No, it is not necessary»
He replies with «You know we have like 80 dogs here, right?»
I’m not sure if he thought before he spoke, because this is not a ringing endorsement for your institution. But enough with my ranting.
In summation, this is a bad place to bring your dogs because they do not monitor the dogs, the owner does not care for dogs, and it is questionable when it comes to how sanitary the location is.
I feel bad that I brought her here as many times as I did. Please do not make the same mistakes I did.

When I ask my dog if he wants to go to Camp Bow Wow, it’s like someone asking me if I want to go to Yankee Stadium. The dancing and chirping starts immediately (he does that — not me), and it doesn’t end until we finally get there and he runs up to the front desk to demand hugs from Omar and Stephen. Jimmy boards here when I go away for long weekends, and unlike other facilities I had used in the past, Camp is very big for NYC. The smaller facilities stressed him out and he would come home skinny and depressed. After a weekend at Camp Bow Wow, he bounds out full of energy and happy as a clam — not to see me, mind you, but to revisit the front desk. I try not to take offense… he does eventually notice me.
My dog is an older gentleman now (he’s been going to Camp for about 4 years) and needs to take various medications for his arthritis. As a fairly paranoid dog owner (ok – more than fairly), I never worry about him when he’s here. They take good care of him, give him his meds, feed him his fancy food, and never hesitate to give me a full update if I call to check in.
I live in Park Slope, so it’s a bit of a hike for me to get Jimz to Camp Bow Wow. Sometimes I have to drop him off a day early or pick him up a day after I return just to make the arrangements work for my schedule, but the peace of mind is worth every penny and the extra overnight. :)

My experience at this place was horrible. They really don’t care about your dog at all. The receptionist Omar has an attitude all he cares about is selling services. I was a very good client but got very very poor customer service. The place is smelly and dark. The staff rarely interacts with the dogs and then they tell you things about your dog that is not true. As for the owner Stephen, he is very nasty and doesn’t seem to care about the dogs or clients I would not recommend this place at all. The owner Stephen does not know how to run the business.

It’s an ok place but the prices are RIDICULOUS and keep going up. The last rate hike was too much for me.

DO NOT BRING YOUR DOG BABIES HERE!!!
I am only giving LIC camp bow wow a one star bc Unilocal requires you to.
Let me first start by saying this is not for ALL Camp Bow Wow’s. I have been to three locations (Cherry hill, Lawrenceville and Bridgewater NJ) over the past two years of my dogs life and these locations are Amazing! This Long Island City location… ABSOLUTELY AWFUL!
1^st. The SMELL! Is disgusting! None of the other locations are this gross. Even the human bathroom is scary to use.
2^nd. They are SEVERELY understaffed. You can watch it on the cameras for yourself. There is rarely humans in the pens with our dogs. Except for the occasional walk in to clean up a puppy potty incident. (This is nothing against the one-​two employees that ARE working there, sometimes double shifts too, as they are extremely caring and really do love animals). But if you tune in to any other Camp Bow Wow locations you will find a human at all times in the pens with the dogs, controlling the situation at ALL times! I can’t even imagine what would happen if a dog fight DID break out. Even the nicest dogs have bad days, it is certainly possible. There is NO way that one person in the entire building could break an intense situation up.
3^rd. The owner. He is NEVER there! He totally taking advantage of his employees and OUR DOGS are the ones suffering!
4^th. The owner has a TIP JAR on the counter. Tip for what? To help you pay for cleaning supplies? Or better yet, more employees?
I will be contacting corporate next. This owner clearly needs a little assistance. I was even told, when confronting them with all my above information, that «this is not the first time they have heard these complaints». Really???
Get it together LIC Camp Bow Wow, we are trusting you with a member of our family! I don’t appreciate watching a dominate dog humping others all day with no one around to help! :0(
Awful, awful, awful!
Ps. The only reason why I brought my dog back more than once is bc I work on the road. I needed to have a family member watch for a FULL DAY to make sure I wasn’t over reacting! Thank god for the cameras!
NEVER EVER AGAIN!

Toby stayed here again since last time and for this time we booked the spa for him right before he was to come home. He looked and smelled great. So now I can’t really speak to how he would have smelled if he hasn’t gotten the spa package.

I took my dog here for an «interview» day when I thought I was going to have to board him for a Thanksgiving holiday. I ended up not using the place since my dog sitter in my neighborhood freed up, but I felt good about my dog’s day there at daycare. They have multiple large rooms with little playgrounds and stuff for the dogs to play on, and you can watch them on live video feeds on their website. It was totally addictive and I pretty much didn’t get anything done all day while I watched my pup play happily in a couple of the different rooms. When a dog pees, someone swoops in to mop it up, and I don’t think there was a time where I didn’t see a person wandering around supervising the dogs the whole day. It’s a secure location with plenty of space, it seems to be in a larger warehouse type building. If I called or e-​mailed with a question, I was always answered right away, and when I had to cancel a reservation, there was no issue or money that I couldn’t get back since I canceled not at the last minute. I liked the employees who I met there, they were all very friendly and patient. The one-​star knock-​off is for it’s location which wasn’t ideal for me.

My dog loves this place. The people who work here are friendly and they obviously love what they do. Every time I pick up my puppy, they know her by name without me having to describe her. I love the doggie cam feature, and I love that my pup comes home happy and tired. The only thing that I don’t love is the out-​of-​the way location. It’s about a ten minute walk off the 7 train, which makes drop off and pick up a bit of a pain. But honestly, they do a good job so I get over it.

I recently returned from a vacation during which I left my dog here for 4 nights. I have used another Camp Bow Wow in NJ previously before I moved to NYC, so I figured that I’d have the same experience here.
The dogs are allowed to play together, which is excellent for socializing them and for exercise. They even have cameras so that you can check out what the dog is up to on a computer or their app for your iPhone. This is exactly the type of experience I’m looking for for my dog.
Unfortunately, 2 major misses soured this experience for me at this location:
1) Poor Customer Service
A few weeks before heading out for my vacation, I called and booked a stay for my dog. I had his vaccination records transferred from the Camp Bow Wow in NJ so that there wouldn’t be any issue with those requirements.
About a week ahead of his stay, I called back to see if I could add an additional night onto his previously-​scheduled stay.
Steve, who I believe is the owner, picked up the phone. He stated that he had no record of my reservation. I was a bit surprised since I had spoken to someone at the desk at length to ensure that all of his records were transferred over, etc. I asked why there might be no record of my reservation, and he said only that, «it doesn’t matter at this point».
Actually, it does matter to me because my time is valuable and I don’t want to have to sit on the phone a second time, conveying a bunch of duplicate information. When I asked again why this could possibly have happened, Steve just said that «sometimes the girls don’t hit ‘save’ on the computer». We had a short back and forth and he made it clear that he wasn’t really interested in what happened, or in making sure that it didn’t happen again in the future.
I’m not that finicky a customer; a simple «I’m sorry about that, I’ll look into it» would have done it. This guy has a terrible attitude.
Next, after I told him all of my information again, I asked one final time how I might confirm my reservation since I didn’t want to show up the night before a vacation and find them booked up or something. Steve said «its fine» and then asked for my credit card number for a 50% deposit.
This policy is fine, except that a) I hadn’t been asked to ever leave a deposit over the phone the first time I made the reservation nor at the camp in NJ, and b) he had just aggravated me and I wasn’t fully in the mood to hand over a bunch of money that second.
Unfortunately, even though my dog loves this place and I know they take good care of him, the owner doesn’t seem to understand proper customer service. When I’m paying several hundred dollars for a stay for a pet, I’d like to at least not feel like I’m giving my money to someone who clearly doesn’t care about his customers. This place seems to be the only similar style facility in the area, though, and apparently he takes advantage of that.
2) The Bath
I paid an extra $ 75 or so to have my dog bathed, his nails trimmed, his ears cleaned, and his teeth brushed before I picked him up.
When I arrived, the dog was still wet. The nails, ears, and teeth were done well, but any groomer knows that one of the most important parts of a bath is not the bath itself but the dry afterward. Dogs smell when they are wet, obviously. My dog had not been thoroughly dried, and on the way home in the car the whole car smelled terrible.
I understand that they don’t offer full haircut/​grooming-​type services, but after paying this much I would expect to at least have a clean, odor free dog. I had to re-​wash and dry him at home.
In summary,
Pros:
The dog loves it
Hours of group play/​excercise daily (much better than a normal kennel)
Dog comes home exhausted and well behaved :)
Front desk staff is very friendly and helpful (except the owner)
Cons:
No outdoor space
Industrial, out-​of-​the-​way location (I have to use a Zipcar)
Poor bath service (see above)
Customer service skills of the owner (see above)
I really would like to rate this place higher (if it weren’t for the issues described above I’d give them a 4 or 5). Unfortunately, though, I just couldn’t recommend it after this experience.

HORRIBLE place! I would never leave my dog here. I spoke to steve twice before bringing my shih tzu for an «interview» and completed paperwork — never once did he mention any fee for what I assumed was a complimentary introductory session, since it’s required in order to bring your dog here. at the very end, «since we didn’t buy a package» he tried to coerce us into paying $ 21.75 «because it’s indicated on their website.» great, but I haven’t even seen your website! now, that’s customer service at it’s best.
we walked out with our traumatized /​stinky puppy and with my 5 year old daughter in tears because, as we discussed earlier with steve, brought her into the store so she could see our puppys «summer camp» only to find out kids aren’t allowed in the back area. thanks steve.
oh, and to top it all off, the dogs only have a fire alarm to supervise them overnight. how comforting! and the place smelled more like a puppy mill than a sanitary pet care facility.

UPDATE: After posting this review Cody from CBW reached out to us and was very apologetic for our dog being sick, although his sickness is not their fault, that was really appreciated. They said they will look for our dogs toy or reimburse us for a new one. They also offered to give us complementary play days. I have to commend an establishment that does whatever it takes to turn a bad situation into a good one and therefore have to give them another star. While I’m not sure our dog is a good kennel candidate Camp Bow Wow’s concern does not go unnoticed.
We were really excited to leave our dog at CBW for some exercise and play over the weekend, when we went for his «interview» we found out that our dog needed the «kennel cough» vaccine — even though I called the day before we were asked if all his shots were updated — they were, but I guess this vaccine is not required by the state but is for kennels — would have been good to know this before we drove over there. I wish they were more forthcoming with information.
We returned after a few days with our vaccinated pup for the interview, which he passed, but had to answer all the same questions we did the first time around, even though they claimed they put all the info in our file, it was very disorganized and frustrating.
Upon our dog returning he was exhausted but I think it’s due to his lack of sleeping since there wasn’t much play when we would check in on the cams — not CBW’s fault, more our dogs temperament. I was also disappointed that their «yards» were all indoors. Our tired pooch returned with a bad case of kennel cough (which we were told was going around) and is on antibiotics. We used their drop-​off service, when we were given back his things his toy was missing. Overall, we were very discouraged with the level of service and it’s unfortunate that our dog, after getting the required vaccine caught kennel cough, I guess that happens, but we will not be using CBW again.

I can’t say enough about this amazing, wonderful place for my dog!
Last month we adopted a beautiful 3yr old collie mix from North Shore and the entire family was immediately in love. We were very worried that we already had a week’s vacation planned in August and would have to leave Molly after only having her with our family for such a short time. Well we had no worries after our interview at Camp Bow Wow! It was clear that they loved our dog and all the dogs they care for. All the staff we met were knowledgeable, kind and friendly. Stephen, the owner, Rocks! The Camp Cams are amazing and the space is large and clean and full of positive energy. Molly loved it as soon as she walked through the door!
When we picked up Molly after a week of Camp, she looked Healthier and Happier than ever! And the added touch of a little report card to let me know how she did was so nice! That is what makes this place so worth it, the extra touches that just show how special your dog’s experience was! We are off for a few days for Labor day and we have no worries that Molly will have a special labor day vacation too!
I would recommend Camp Bow Wow to anyone who is looking for a Doggie Day Care and boarding in NYC. I live in Brooklyn and it is less than 20 minute drive to get there. The staff is cool, the place is clean and the dogs have fun! Lots of Fun!

I am very happy with Camp Bow Wow so far. The location is a little out of the way for people without a car and I can’t imagine how the dogs like to be walked among the huge warehouses and mack truck fuel stations… but other than that, it’s a great place to bring your dog for socialization and play. It’s a franchise, so the only thing I will say about this location is that the staff seems very nice and they all clearly love to work with dogs. My dog is absolutely tired when she comes home, a good sign.
It is pretty pricey however– overnight boarding is Manhattan prices– and the packages are pretty steep.

My dog had an «interview» here and I was appalled at the condition of this facility since I had read so many great things about it. They had only one person working, watching over 40 dogs, and seemed more concerned about me buying a package than answering my questions. I would not recommend this place AT ALL.
Update: So someone from CBW emailed me (which is super creepy) so that I can clarify what I mean.
Sure thing.
While there were other people working when I went only one person was in the pen area, while there were 2 people downstairs doing administrative work. I was told that there were usually two, but that didn’t really start me off on a good foot.
Also to further clarify, the «play yard» is simply a poorly lit area with 7-​foot high fences to corral the dogs in groups depending on their size. The description online is that there is an «indoor/​outdoor play yard» which is completely inaccurate. It’s in an industrial area, so clearly there is no space outside. But maybe they mean that there are windows, I’m not sure.
There are lots of other open concept daycares in the area and I totally encourage people to check them out. It’s really hard to find other daycares in LIC since CBW is a franchise and has marketed their services better online. But maybe I went on an off day…

Before we adopted our puppy, I did a bunch of research on doggie day care places since I work long hours and I didn’t want the new dog to be alone. Unilocal led me to Camp Bow Wow and I’m so glad they did! The facility is clean and modern, and the staff is super friendly. We love being able to watch him play (and play and play) with his friends on camera. Best of all, we get a very happy and tired pup at the end of the day.
There was a mixup recently when both my fiancé and I thought the other one was picking up the dog and neither of us did — Stephen, the owner called me on my cell and was super nice about it — he even stayed late so I could come pick him up. Of course I felt like a terrible parent but Stephen was nothing but sweet about it — now that’s pretty great customer service.
The only downside we’ve noticed: our dog rarely gets as excited about seeing us as he does about going to camp.

They didn’t even flinch when I called and said, «Hi, This is Bert’s Mom.» I guess it is normal for other humans to refer to their dogs as their children?
My dog really enjoyed himself. He normally hates car rides. It makes him anxious to rock back and forth and he hates the humming under his feet. He’s a walking dog, not a riding dog. But after spending a day at camp, he was sleeping sprawled out on the back seat. My dog now bounds into the car expecting to go to Camp Bow Wow.
Camper Cam is the best. It is so fun to watch your dog’s antics secretly at work. I actually saw someone come in and hug all the dogs while looking for one of them to put eye drops in. Clearly, they like their jobs and care about giving the dogs what they need including medicine on time.
Conveniently located in Long Island City just off Van Dam Street, they also make their location easier by having pick up and drop off to your house too.
Stephen is the main guy that answers the phone and calls me about issues. He has always been courteous and accommodating. They shared a lot of important information such as when they plan to resurface certain flooring. OF course I need to know when that happens. I appreciate that they share.
I recommend this to all the Dog mom and dads out there.

Camp Bow Wow just opened up in Long Island City, right off Queens Boulevard and close to Northern. Its a great facility with wonderful staff. If you live in the Astoria/​Long Island City area this is definitely the place you want to take your pups.
It truly is a great facility and much needed in this area. I would highly recommend this place for its excellent location, wonderful and accomodating staff and definitely check out how clean the facility is. Its hard to to come by large spaces for our pets but this place is great.
Maybe you have a little pup that you don’t necessarily want to leave at home all day and maybe you want your pup to socialize with other dogs his/​her size or temperment. You should definitely consider taking them to daycare and this is a top notch day care to take your pup!