Happy Tails Resort

This review is for grooming only, as we have not used Happy Tails for any other service (although, we arent opposed, just haven’t needed to). Cindy does a fabulous job grooming our shih tzu, who is now 1 year old but has been going to Cindy since she was younger. Cindy listens to what we want and our dog always looks so beautiful when she’s done!
The staff is also very friendly and helpful. The price to groom our shih tzu is about $ 40.

We recently boarded our 2 year old shitzu with happy tails. Having never boarded him we were extremely nervous. After checking out a few other places in the area I was even more nervous as I am not a fan of shoving dogs in cages all day. I was immediately at ease after touring the facility and seeing the other dogs being dropped off for daycare. They were literally chomping at the bit to go play! Our boy is more human than dog and doesn’t often socialize with other dogs but after a few days they were posting pictures of him running and playing while smiling! A quick flip through their photos on Facebook will show you tons of happy dogs! I’m so thankful we trusted them with our fur baby. Highly recommend them if you have to travel and simply can’t take your baby. Also used them to groom him before we left and was really pleased with that as well! Thanks Happy Tails!

Happy Tails is the best thing I have ever done for my dog! First, they have daycare from 7AM-​7PM, which is amazing, because not only do I get to be guilt free on long work days when my dog is there, I don’t have to worry about rushing out to pick her up. That being said though, the couple times I’ve been running late for pick up the staff has been totally 100% understanding if I go right up to the 7:00 buzzer or a few minutes after. When that happens my dog has been in the lobby just hanging out with them. They’re understanding and friendly and on top of that they seem to know all the dogs’ names. Second, they have a pool! My dog swims every day when she’s there and comes home totally tuckered out. Then she proceeds to sleep all of the next day. Last thought: boarding there is convenient and easy. The dogs play all day with the day care crowd and only go to their rooms after dinner! So, in conclusion, I really don’t know what I would do without Happy Tails. They’re probably the most deserving 5-​star review I’ve ever given. We’ll go there as long as we live in Norfolk.

False advertise there web site. going in to get my dog overnight care because my primary dog sitter could not watch my dog due to a medical issues. The puppy is 14 weeks old had all its shot except booster and they refused to take her on because all shots have not been completed.
If that the case why will they take in pets at 8 weeks most vets won’t do shots until then and boosters get done four weeks later. And since I was waiting for booster how are these other clients getting in without it. Sounds like some shady business to me. I was hoping this would be good place but I am already not impressed.

Oh my, I cannot say enough good things about this place. I always hate having to leave my pets anywhere when I go out of town. I am so used to taking them in the car with me wherever I am going but now that I am living halfway across the country from my family that is not feasible. We recently adopted a 2 year old cuddly, pain in the butt and he can be very hard to handle at times. He is very picky about his doggy friends and gets overwhelmed when there are too many around him. They are so good at finding a pup that he gets along with and lets them have their own play time separate from the others. The staff is all so nice and they all seem like they love their jobs which makes me feel so at ease when I have to go out of town without him. The facility is so nice and is always clean when I go in there. If you are looking for a wonderful place to board give them a call.

GROOMING REVIEW ONLY:
Cindy has groomed my dogs since they had their first grooming when they were 4 months old. Archie and Hershey turn 7 this spring. She does a fabulous job with the dog’s cuts. It’s got to a stage where I just tell her to do her thing. In winter she tends to do face, ears, nails and hygiene while keeping their body fur longer. Come the warmer weather, she cuts their body fur shorter.
I will forever be in her debt after the day I took my dogs for a walk along the Lafayette River and before I knew it, Hershey had rolled in a rotten fish. I loaded her into the van and drove, heaving all the way, to Happy Tails where I asked if I could use their tub to bathe my stinky dog.
Imagine my surprise when Cindy too Hershey from me and bathed her for me, and then did not charge me for the wash!
Everyone I’ve ever interacted with at Happy Tails is pleasant and helpful. It is so obvious that they all love animals.
I would use them for boarding except that my dogs don’t do well with change, so we bring a house/​pet sitter into our home when we travel.

We recently moved here and it was quite stressful to find a place to leave our girls for the first time. Happy tails was the first place i stopped and to be honest after checking out other local places I went with my gut knowing my wife would kill me if anything happened to the girls. They run a doggy daycare and before you board, ask that the dogs be screened for an hour to ensure your pups and their staff are compatible We are both so happy we decided to board with them. My only complaint is had i known they posted pictures daily i would have liked them on Facebook sooner. The only negative reviews I saw was dogs being lathargic when they came home. Its no wonder because the staff there spends full time playing with the dogs and posting the pictures of the fun. Our girls were so happy to see me when i picked them up and they are definitely pooped. We will be returning.

I LOVE THIS PLACE!!! I take Tucker, my loving Pitt Bull, to Happy Tails a couple of times a week while I’m at work so she’s not home getting herself in trouble. Jana and her staff are amazing, they always greet us with a smile making us feel welcome.
I was at first a little nervous about taking Tucker to Happy Tails because she has separation anxiety and I was afraid it would cause some kind of aggression, but Jana and the girls won her over and now I can’t leave for work without her trying to go with me.
Another great thing about Happy Tails is they take plenty of pictures and post them on Facebook so you can see how happy your dog is there during the day.
I can’t stress enough how wonderful Happy Tails Resort is, they’re the best thing that ever happened for me and Tucker.

LOVE this place!
We brought our pampered pooches here for a weekend visit. Just to get them out of the house. Unfortunately they did not all play as much as I hoped they would.
Three of our four dogs stayed to themselves in their own little click? The owner was concerned and did talk to us about it when we picked them up. But then there was our 4^th dog who decided to run and play with almost every dog there was there. Not in the least of what I expected.
When we dropped off our dogs, their beds, food, toys and treats we got a tour of the facility. All the staff was very nice and very loving to all the dogs. Although we had big dogs there was an area for small dogs so they did not get trampled. The whole play area was well kept and monitored. The room that they slept in over night was very nice with beds for them to sleep on if desired.
Another wish is that our dogs got INTO the pool. None of them would get in? We have a lab for heavens sake!
Wish there was one on the peninsula to bring our dogs to on a regular basis. Traveling through the HRBT is a pain!

Poor Customer Service
For the most part, I had liked using their service. The facility was clean and my dog liked it there.
The problem arose when we had a grooming issue and I looked up their FB page to find their number to get the problem resolved. Lo and behold, my dog’s image was being used without my permission as their cover photo. We have always been happy to let our groomer use his image if they ASKED first. We are more than happy to sign a limited consent– for non-​promotional purposes.
However, we called and asked them to take the image down and the manager got angry with us, blamed us for being the problem, and finally hung up on us. We called back and tried to politely straighten the situation out. They agreed to take the image down and we felt the matter had been resolved.
We took our dog in this afternoon to have the grooming issue fixed and were told by the manager we were no longer welcome at the establishment because we raised the issue of their use of our dog’s image without their permission. They pitched a fit. We didn’t.
So basically, as long as you never ever have a problem with something that happens there, it’s a great place. If you ever do have a problem, expect them to blame you and pitch a fit. It’s unfortunate they chose to address this issue in such a poor manner, but I guess professionalism just isn’t that important to them.

I am so incredibly happy with my experience with Happy Tails! My dog bear is a special one. special in that he is a total mommas boy and has a bad back that he has had massive surgery on. I have actually never left him at any sort of puppy resort in the fear that he would re-​injure himself or perhaps be devastated that I wasnt there. I learned from this experience that this is all in my head! Bear had an ABSOLUTE blast and I know that not only from the gorgeous pictures posted online but because of his self esteem around the house. Bear is typically a little more on the shy side and when he came back from Happy Tails, he was bouncing around the house with his tail and head held high. There has to be something about being in a pack of dogs that really boosted my guys self esteem!
I am a huge fan of the boarding options and after I am done writing this, I am taking Bear to daycare. The pricing is more than fair and the staff is WONDERFUL. I am not kidding that this has changed my dog for the better and its a really liberating feeling to have a group of people that you trust with your most special friend.
Thank you thank you Happy Tails! I am a very happy customer.
Lyndsay Pierson

This review is for grooming only; we have not used the daycare or boarding facilities here.
We have been using Happy Tails’ grooming services for two plus years and we love them! I have a ten pound rescue toy poodle mix who can be very skittish at times, and my mom has a very mellow Bichon Frise. We get them groomed together. Cindy, the groomer, is fantastic with them. They have always come back clean and happy. The facility itself is well-​kept and appears cleaner than a lot of the dog facilities I’ve visited. I am super protective of my dog but feel comfortable with her being at Happy Tails.
One helpful hint – make sure you let Cindy know anything specific you’d like done. I ask specifically for my dog’s ears to be plucked and for bows to be added (silly, I know). Cindy does a terrific job of completing anything specific I ask.

FOR DAYCARE ONLY: This place is great. I kind of want to hang out here with my dog. The staff is genuinely interested in Roby and tell me how handsome he is (duh) every time I pick him up. They have indoor and outdoor space, a pool, and staff who seem to give the dogs a lot of attention.
Every time I pick my pup up from daycare they assure me that he is happy and well taken care of. First, he is always exhausted. Second, they mention something he did that day to let me know they pay attention. For example: «he played with the big dogs today! his confidence is really improving!» This is wonderful for me, because I always want to know how my best friend is and what he’s doing. The last time I picked my Robydog up, the owner, Jana, told me that she got some great pictures of him playing. All I had to do was check out their facebook page and I saw my pooch in several pictures running with the other dogs and jumping with a crazy look on his face. Nothing makes me happier.
I do wish the prices were a little lower, but they are competitive with any other doggie daycare in the area.

I’ve read the reviews, seen the pictures, and most importantly have been a client for approximately a year and a half. I can’t drive near Happy Tails without my dog going crazy with excitement. Coda loves Happy Tails, but not as much as I do. I’m going to spare you her heart wrenching story, but not her salvation.
Happy Tails has been paramount in my dogs rehabilitation. It’s a pleasure to know I’m not just dropping her off to sit in cage all day and not be engaged; which is exactly what Happy Tails staff does. The dogs are encouraged to play and swim. They are hugged, kissed, dressed up, played with all day long. It is this interaction that has brought out the playful side of my anxious and sometimes aggressive, baby girl that I knew was locked inside. I trust Jana and her entire staff implicitly.

I love Happy Tails. I live 5 hours away, but when I used to travel to Norfolk for work I would bring my dog Hokie with me and he would spend every other day or so at Happy Tails.
Now I don’t come in for work but when we visit our parents my partner and I always make sure to drop Hokie off at Happy Tails. It is twice as expensive as the local place where I leave my other dog (long story short — she isn’t properly vaccinated so she can’t come to Happy Tails. I disagree but see where their policy is coming from) but it is worth it for the awesome facility, awesome stuff, and fun pictures they post on facebook that I get to see!
I’m actually in Afghanistan right now for work so seeing Hokie have fun at Happy Tails is extra awesome.

I’m not sure why my original review from July 2011 has been filtered but Happy Tails has made my Chocolate Lab very happy. Our temporary home here is without a pool and we’ve been bringing Ghirardelli and Dizko (our little alpha mix) to HT since they opened their Granby location. Once 46^th St opened we started boarding them there. Our dogs have never been mistreated, never came home dirty, have never came home sick or vomiting. The only thing they are when they come home is EXHAUSTED! Our two dogs have always been socialized so we’ve never had an issue with their behavior. I have never encountered a rude person there and if they told me that one or both of my dogs had been on time out I would know it was deserved. The staff there has always been welcoming and my two dogs are ecstatic once we hit Colley and they know where they’re off to. I have been recommending them to my friends since day one and will continue to do so. My dogs are my children and I don’t trust them with just anyone.

I have a golden doodle and a Shitzu. The golden doodle has grown up at Happy Tails. We started at their first location, on Granby, which they very quickly outgrew. He is now almost a year old. His two litter mates from other homes have grown up at Happy Tails too.
I have always appreciated the one on one attention my boys have gotten. My doodle learned to swim because if this attention, and affection. And as importantly, my entire staff and I enjoy the daily photo posting, which often give us all a great laugh. Every time I visited happy tails I was always very comfortable with the dog: people ratio.
My boys get excited every time they go «to school». This was not the case with several other facilities I tried throughout the region. We were so excited when they moved to the new, larger location, and offered boarding.
I have met several of the owners of other day care «kids». One Woman was so thrilled to finally meet my golden doodle as her dog is generally seen with his head in my dogs mouth. She thought it was awesome, and has that pic as her screen on her iPhone. We never thought that to be vicious… how ridiculous.
One thing about Happy Tails that I personally found differentiated them from others… they all seem to know the personalities of each dogs that attends camp. And, for those they do not know, they seem to observe them more closely so that they can be proactive in ensuring the safety, and overall fun experience, of all the kids at camp!
I love Jana and the staff. They are always friendly and very helpful more than I can ever express in writing. The place is huge, the pool inviting, and overall Happy Tails is immaculate.
I am sure that at any business, including the one I manage, if one looks for fault it can be found. But why? I trust them with my boys without question. The happiness and safety if my pets is important. And I, and the boys, love Happy Tails.

This is for: Happy Tails Grooming
Dante got his summer cut/​trim and Cindy did a really good job making sure to keep his bad ass mohawk manageable.
All this while Dante performed some incredible acrobatic stunts and probably surprised the heck out of her. I told her he’d be able to jump the 4 foot fence they have up but I had no idea he’d be able to jump the 5 foot one. Not only did he jump it he jumped on top of the wall and paced back and forth. Much to her surprise, I’m sure. Oh. Dante is only 19″ tall.
Lucky for us, Cindy is not only an excellent groomer, she is also a quick problem solver of all strange doggie phenomenon. She quickly got Dante into a room with another pup so she could continue working on her other clients.
Her prices were great and Dante got to show off his super-​hero-​wall-​jumping/​scaling skills. Thanks to Cindy, he’s still rocking the mohawk. She did a great job!

O man. So sad I had to do an update like this but I would not be doing my readers justice if I didn’t so here it is.
Jana and the team had a great philosophy: Limit the number of dogs and have a high human to dog ratio with free play time. They have the added convenience of a vet and grooming station there; not to mention a pool too. However, I had brought my dog there for well over 6 months and was a huge champion (as you could tell from my previous review) until 3 strikes happened and I had to tell them that I would no longer bring my dog there and no longer recommend them. It’s really quite unfortunate.
Anyways, so here is the brief story. I had first noticed my dog throwing up every time he came home from the Happy Tails. He wasn’t just nauseated. He threw up pieces of toys. Not just soft stuffing or anything, but hard plastic. When I initially brought it up with them, they were adamantly denying that that could have happened. Fine. I give everyone another chance. Then the second time happened about 2 weeks later. They laughed when I told them when I had to bring my dog to the vet and merely said «O, your dog just eats everything!» It really doesn’t matter whether he does or doesn’t. If your philosophy is to have someone watching them all the time, then you should be sure to be stopping them from eating a toy that would have taken at least several minutes to down. If I brought a baby to daycare and they ate something there and choked, would they be laughing and say that my baby likes to eat? No, they would be scared to have their pants sued off. Ok. I’m a nice guy. I gave them a THIRD chance. This time was by far the worst. My dog was there and was able to ingest an entire tug of war rope toy. I’m talking about a foot long rope with a knot. I came home one day with him vomitting and having diarrhea everywhere. He was rushed to the hospital and had to be checked out and slammed with a myriad of tests before he was cleared. They said he could have died as eating that much string would strangle the intestines. Guess what. I called and do you know what the person on the phone had the gall to tell me? «Well we simply don’t have enough people to watch ALL the dogs at one time.»
Wow, what a long way this place has come from when I first met them. I was so eager to promote them and this is how they treated us and other customers from what I’m reading. Too bad. Use caution.

This is one of the harder reviews I’ve had to write.
While I really like Jana and the concept she has for her business, we had so many problems there that I can’t recommend them with good conscience. What I will say is that when we went in to talk about the numerous concerns and missteps we felt had taken place, Jana took the time to really listen, gave a sincere apology, and refunded the remainder of our package deal.
We wish them the best of luck, and feel saddened that we were a part of the «growing pains» of a new business.