The Spot Experience

I am giving this place 2 stars only because the Chelsea location took such good care of my dog for so many years. I had been taking my dog for boarding and grooming at the Chelsea location for years with no trouble at all, but moved and had to switch to the 72^nd st. location. I have a dog with some issues which I have always been very upfront about, and I chose this place because I was under the impression that they trained their employees on dog behavior, and how to generally handle dogs. I would assume that upon giving this information up front along with the training their employees are supposed to have received would ensure that they would take the precautions necessary to ensure the safety of my dog and the employees of the facility.
Apparently, Spot is not at equipped to handle a slightly difficult case as one might hope. One of their employees got bitten by my dog upon feeding time. I gave full disclosure that he was a resource guarder. Using my common sense, I wouldn’t put a food bowl down in front of this animal. I would put the bowl down then lure the animal into the cage for feeding. Using the skills I could learn from attending a basic dog behavior course, I would know not to look the dog in the eye, and not to put my hands anywhere near the dog while feeding. Obviously, I wasn’t there, so I don’t know the circumstances under which my little a**hole bit the woman, (I am not pretending my dog is any kind of saint here because he is literally the worst,) but I from what I was told, there were no precautions taken at all, and basically the «manager» I guess she was, says «she fed him the way they feed the dogs there…»
Anyway, we have been kicked out of Spot, which is fine because I wouldn’t feel safe leaving my dog in a place where the staff cannot handle him. But that is not the reason for a poor review. After I board my dog I always have him washed, and this time, because of an error from another poorly trained irresponsible staff member, he got taken out of boarding late, so when I showed up an hour and a half after my appointment time (which is when the front desk girl told me to come when I made the appointment,) he wasn’t ready, and still wasn’t ready an hour later 2.5 hours after my appointment time. I was offered no apology or compensation for wasting my whole day, and that’s when the «manager» played the beat around the bush game in telling me my dog was no longer welcome at the facility.
So from one difficult dog owner to another, don’t be fooled by the posh shop, pretty website, or fancy technology this place has to offer, the staff are far from «expert.» Spend your money on care and not aesthetics.
Also, it is WAAAAAAYYYY overpriced…

And another issue. This time they’ve walked away with my apartment keys instead of returning them to the doorman. How does one trust a company that steals your keys?

Staffs are nice and everyone remembered every dogs name! The place is clean. Although we do not go here anymore because our dog is no longer under 8^th month/​not fixed. But we did like the place when we use the service here!

i really like the facility, especially since it’s been updated but the staff is way too young, irresponsible and unprofessional. I have been given the wrong dog on pick up time and time again, I have never received a response from 2 emails I sent to the main company, I have never been able to fill out the request form online because you don’t get a response but my dogs last stay resulted in an email from them saying they have been trying to contact me for 2 weeks with no success and they have no CC on file for me. Nonsense. My CC has been charged many a time by them and I have not gotten one call and or message which tells me they are lying or have a wrong number when they took responsibility for my pet! Very scary. I wouldn’t trust them with anything as precious as my dog ever again

We sent our dog here a while back to get groomed, only to find that they had shaved of his dew-​claw and didn’t even realize it. When we asked them what had happened, they said «we accidently cut your dog, it’s only a wart.» then after that, they didn’t even apologize. His recovery included; multiple trips to the vet, stitches and heavy bandaging. We would NEVER reccomend this store to anyone.

Review for Lori– she is the best! I’ve been to so many other groomers since moving but I would travel just for Lori. She follows directions exactly the way that I describe for my dog’s haircut. Definitely recommended. My dog is 16 lbs and she takes about 3 – 4 hours for the cut.

Brought my dog in for her nails to be cut. I made the first appointment that was for 9am. The girl didn’t show until 9:30. So that was upsetting. Then to make it worse she cut the nails without filing them & cutting the hair by her feet because it grew over. Nails were done sloppy. $ 20 plus tax for something I could have done myself. Very very disappointed & don’t think I will return.

I travel during the week and my husband works long hours, so Spot has saved our pup from tedious hours home alone. I peek here and there online to see if he’s having fun, and he actually does better than I ever thought with the other dogs (he’s usually scared). Not a worry with Spot picking Bailey up and dropping him off on the days he’s in their care, he actually is excited when he leaves for «school». It’s a little pricey, but what isn’t pricey in NYC.
Overall, it’s a great option if you’re uneasy about your pup being home alone too much. I trust them, and I am one crazy protective dog mom!

Twice the walker/​daycare made dangerous medications errors while caring for my dog. Both times she went into my medicine cabinet and «figured it out» instead of calling/​texting/​emailing me for clarification. The second time could have been fatal as she gave my dog MY medication from my medicine cabinet with my name on it. It took management days to get back me after this occurred. Don’t believe the customer service hype

I went to visit Spot today with my two pups. After speaking to a representative yesterday, I was pretty excited to go. I even printed out surveys, good and bad to help assist with my decision. Plus, I have extensive business travel coming up so it’s imperative I find someone I absolutely trust.
From appearances, the place looked pretty good. I did like the playground out back and so did my pups. The turnoff was that I wanted to observe the actual areas where my two dogs would stay for daycare and boarding and was denied. I was given an explanation as to why, which I checked with other daycare providers and they stated it’s basically a judgement call on the owner.
If you were leaving a child at a daycare and wanted to tour the facility to ensure your level of comfort and quality of care, but were denied that opportunity, wouldn’t this be disturbing?
I’m sorry, it was for me. I felt that there were options to work with their policy instead just dictating policy. After careful review of survey information and not being able to tour where my pups would be housed, I can’t leave my pups at a business I cannot trust.

LOVE these guys, awesome toys and treats! My dog is obsessed with the ‘twizzlers’…
Will definitely return and recommend to friends.
THANKS!

i absolutely love spot for my daycare, boarding and walking needs and so does my pup. amanda, in charge of dogwalking, is very responsive and always accomodating.
lucas, manager, is always super helpful. spot makes going away easier and knowing i can check up on my dog via webcam is a great feature they have!

Spot makes my busy life so much easier. When I’m called for an unexpected all day meeting, I can always count on Spot to come and walk my poodle — as long as I call before noon. Spot is super accommodating and convenient and their pricing is great. I love having Spot in the neighborhood!!!

spot 72 makes dog ownership 100x easier with the daycare, boarding and walking services they offer. I walked by the store when I first moved into the neighborhood then decided to try it out after learning that several people in my building go there.
I’ve been a customer for over a year and have only good things to say. Even when there were a few minor issues here and there they were always addressed in a timely and appropriate manner. It’s so refreshing to finally find a service industry who offers exactly that — good service. And good expertise.
All of the management team at spot 72 are consistently professional, communicative, helpful, flexible and understanding. Having used various boarding places and walking services all over the city in the past six years, I would say that spot 72 is BY FAR the best (even compared to other spot locations!).
Walking services are well organized. Both the previous and current director of Uptown walking have always been very responsive and helpful. We have had three walkers over a period of time and each has been great with my dog despite the fact that he takes a little bit to warm up to someone initially.
Daycare is a great option to have on a rainy day or to let my dog expend some extra energy (or when I’m feeling lazy). The web cam viewing is fun and convenient.
Ditto with boarding — being able to see your pup while you are away not only eliminates the need to call and sound like a crazy ‘dog-​mom’ but definitely gives better peace of mind being able to see exactly what your dog is doing while you’re away, that he’s being well taken care of and that he’s probably having more fun than you are on your business trip!
On longer boarding stays my dog tends to get a little grumpy especially when he gets tired from all the playtime. Chris, Christian, Anthony and Lucas know his little quirks and are excellent at making sure the staff know how to keep him happy. I’ve also had to extend his stays mid-​trip once or twice and it has never been an issue.
I saw some varied reviews about the grooming but can’t really speak to that. My dog has short hair so his groom is basically a bath, nails, ears and brushing teeth. I usually specify that I want everything done and he comes home pretty fresh.
Based on my experience I highly recommend spot 72 to everyone. It’s obvious they really love their dogs and care for their customers. I really couldn’t do it without them and I’m pretty sure there are a few others in the neighborhood who feel the same way. Thank you spot 72!

We recently moved into the area and our dog needed grooming badly. We were hesitant to drop him off anywhere. Therefore, we researched the area by personally dropping into the local shops. We decided on Spot because the employees were very friendly, knowledgable and helpful. The service was EXCELLENT! After picking up Jasper, we very pleased that he was perfectly groomed. He has gotten so many compliments about his grooming whereever we go. Being very impressed and happy about the outcome, we went back to the store and asked for the groomer’s name — Dawa. Dawa will be the only groomer touching our dog from now on. Great personalized service.

If I could, I would rate this place 0 out of 5. I literally JUST walked out with my dog and I am SO UNHAPPY with her grooming that I am posting right away. I dropped my dog off at 11am and they told me it would take anywhere fro 2 – 4 hours, likely closer to 2 hours. By 3pm, I hadn’t heard from them so I gave them a call. They said they would need another hour because they wanted to take their time with her (I should mention that she is blind).
My dog has a very relaxed personality and is the quietest, easiest dog to groom– she will just sit there and won’t move or fidget. Other grooming salons I’ve taken her to will groom her right away at her appointment time to get her finished since it would likely stress a blind dog out more to be in an unfamiliar place than to keep her there for 5 hours because «they wanted to take her time with her»
When I picked her up and asked if it normally takes this long if we had set an appointment a week before and the manager admits that they only have 1 groomer on Sundays and Mondays so they were backed up a bit. Can someone tell me what the point in making an appointment is then?
DO NOT have your dog groomed by Dawa. I specifically asked for my dog to have her legs just cleaned up and trimmed so her fur is a medium length and for the rest of her body to be a little bit shorter than her legs. I asked that her face be groomed carefully since she is blind.
They literally shaved her down. I don’t even understand the point in asking what kind of breed my dog is if theyre going to groom her like every other dog.
I should also mention that they didn’t even ask for her rabies vaccination certificate. EVERY (!!!) grooming salon I’ve taken her to has required this. When I first made the appointment and asked whether I should bring this, she said it was okay. HUH!!! If they dont ask this of me, that means they dont ask it of other dogs too. That should have been my first warning sign!!!
She has also been itching herself NONSTOP since we’ve gotten home and is running away from me when I try to pick her up. SHE IS NEVER EVER LIKE THAT!!!
Seriously people, stay away from this place! I will make sure to write them up on other review sites so you are more aware before considering this place.
I called right when I got home and saw just how closely they had shaved down her face and how carelessly they cut so closely to her eye and the manager kindly asked what he could do to amend the situation (at least he was nice about it) so I asked for a refund– which he is giving to me. But that doesn’t alleviate anything for me. It’s strange to me that she is so itchy right now and she keeps running away from me.
If they ask me what breed of dog she is beforehand, they should very well know how to groom her!!! They do NOT know how to groom dogs– AVOID! AVOID! AVOID! I’ve gotten my dog groomed at plenty of places and this is by far the worst experience! The only positive thing I have to say about this place is at least the manager is nice but the thing is, I didn’t pay for someone to be nice… I took my dog here because it looked clean and there were good reviews on Unilocal but now I question these reviews because she seems so anxious right now and she was kept there for 5 hours… I wonder why her behavior is the way it is right now and how the groomer treated her…
Never ever going here again!!!

I took my golden doodle in for an anesthesia free teeth cleaning at Houndstooth by Spot and I could not be happier. The staff was knowledgeable, polite and the technicians did an amazing job. My dog was in and out of the teeth cleaning within 30 minutes and his teeth are now spotless. I have recommended this service to several friends who are also pleased with the work that has been done on their dogs’ teeth. I don’t know why anyone would ever subject their dog to being put under anesthesia for a teeth cleaning with such an amazing alternative available by Houndstooth by Spot.
Thank you Spot I will be a customer for life!

I really like this place. I’ve been taking my Pom. here for 3 years now and I have never been unsatisfied with the service. I just go here to get him groomed and he always comes back happy which is a plus! :)