Shamrock Ranch Kennels & Stables

We had an excellent experience with trainer Lisa Rhodes and the Board & Train program at Shamrock Ranch! After many months of working with a local trainer in our area, along with many private lessons, Ella, our border collie mix rescue pup showed little improvement. Ella came to us extremely fearful, nervous and with a host of insecurities. After limited success locally, we reached out to the rescue group where we adopted her, and they strongly recommended Lisa. First, I contacted Lisa by phone, and had a lengthy discussion about Ella and her issues. I could tell immediately that Lisa understood and had experience & success with fearful dogs. A week later we went for a visit where we toured the ranch and met with Lisa. We decided to send Ella there for 3 weeks at Lisa’s reccommendation. It was not an easy decision to let her go away and we did miss her terribly. Lisa promptly answered all my «worried mom» emails, and even sent photos & videos which was reassuring. When we went to pick her up, Lisa first spent an hour with us in her office. She educated us about Ella’s particular characteristics and what we need to do to continue to build her confidence and gain obedience skills. She helped us to understand that Ella was born with her temperament, and that there is nothing we can do to change that, but we CAN teach her how to behave and cope with her fears. It was very clear that Lisa had come to know Ella very well, and had the knowledge of what does and doesn’t work for her. After the meeting, when Lisa returned with Ella, we could not believe our eyes! Ella’s behavior was dramatically improved! Lisa then gave us a 2 hour lesson where we learned the techniques to continue at home. After 2 weeks, we returned for a follow-​up lesson that was really valuable. Ella still has a ways to go, but overall she is more confident, relaxed, happier and better able to cope with the world outside our home. Now, when faced with a «trigger» (i.e. a motorcycle, truck, child), instead of going into a frenzy, Ella is able to follow our commands and focus her attention on what we’re telling her to do. Rather than living in fear, she now enjoys a happier, less-​stressed life. She is improving everyday and we know we made the right decision to work with Lisa.

I dropped my Frenchie off to bootcamp at Shamrock for 2 weeks due to some aggression issues. His trainer, Lisa, spent a lot of time with me prior to drop explaining the process and what to expect. Upon picking my dog up, Lisa spent two hours teaching me what my dog had learned and how to continue the training. I came home and have had nothing but success in reforming both of our behavior and we are experiencing a much better quality of life. Additionally, I examined the grounds at Shamrock prior to drop off and found the kennels to be clean and comfortable, all staff relaxed, but professional and the grounds to be a dogs playland. I couldn’t recommend the services at Shamrock enough.

We love Shamrock! We have boarded Zola, our four year old Golden Retriever, here for over three years and Shamrock Ranch is without question the best boarding facility and grooming service we have ever used. The boarding kennels are huge and allow Zola to go outside for fresh air anytime she wants! Also, the groomers are amazing and Zola always looks great after she has a Shamrock spa day. Zola is a high energy girl and the half and full day play groups are awesome! We recommend Shamrock to all our friends for boarding, grooming and obedience training. By the way, Lisa Rhodes, the resident trainer is amazing. Zola spent two weekends with Lisa, and I am not sure we got the same dog back that we left with her. The change was awesome and totally due to Lisa’s talent and patience with our girl.

Lisa Rhodes, the trainer here is wonderful. She really made a difference to our 1.5 yr old rescue dog, Frankie. He was anxious, timid, and had developed some behaviours that were unmanageable. After staying with Lisa for a couple of weeks he is a different dog. He’s happier, less anxious, obeys commands, and is now a valuable member of our family. In a world where there is so much conflict regarding training a dog, Lisas methods prove to be effective, and easy to follow and maintain.
And when we took Frankie back for a follow up visit, he was excited to see her.
I would highly recommend Lisa as a trainer.

By far the best in the business!!! This place is incredible! The staff is amazing and the ranch itself is so beautiful and so well taken care of.
Our dog Lucky, loves it as well and that’s all that matters to us!
We love Shamrock Ranch and We wouldn’t go anywhere else!

I highly recommend Shamrock Ranch PlayCare/​Boarding & Grooming at 650−359−1627. They have been taking care of my Dogs for years now. Their new daycare/​playcare facility has a barn divided into sections for different temperament canines & has connected runs/​yards for everyone to get their exercise without the worry of overzealous wrestlers, like my Rufus, marring their fun. This is an all weather facility. They are assessed, supervised & grouped accordingly by an experienced staff, i.e. Lisa, Serena, Kelly, Kevin, Brynne, Spencer, Mike, Linda, Michael, all whom I adore (I know I’m leaving someone out of my list, sorry, Shamrock).
They consistently go the extra mile to maintain a healthy, predictable, fun & safe environment for your Dog/​s. You can call or stop by to schedule a tour. They are located at 100 Shamrock Ranch Rd, Pacifica, CA 94 044, at the cross of Peralta & Rosita.
If you visit on Wed. or Thurs. you’ll most likely see my big Lab mix & my little Yorkie. All the best in your search for quality care for your Loved Ones.

Friendly staff, reasonably priced, great place for an active dog that needs to stretch their legs.

Our experience with Shamrock has been nothing less than great. We’ve boarded our large breed dog with them twice now and feel so relaxed knowing our girl is in great hands. The Kennels are large and immaculate with an outdoor run! We opted to go forward with some add-on’s like the additional 20 minute walk– (3 walks total in the day). You can tell that the staff and grooming department really love animals and are in it for the passion– super PLUS. The ranch is grand in size and in a nice quiet neighborhood in Pacifica– essentially it’s a doggy retreat. I would recommend them to anyone in the Bay area.

I rarely write reviews but because of the minimal and poor reviews for dog boarding, I feel compelled to chime in with some good feedback. I am a resident of Pacifica and this is my third time boarding my English bulldog Gidget at Shamrock.
This last one was the longest time away from her with 8 days of boarding so I was really nervous and sad about leaving her for so long. I have to admit, I was initially dreading taking her to Shamrock for over a week as our previous stays were just a couple of days and our dog walker friend ended up not able to take care of her like we had hoped. However, when I checked their website they seemed to have re-​vamped their services a bit and they also recently remodeled their #200 kennel building. So, I was more encouraged.
Gidget is a very active bulldog and requires a lot of attention. So, I selected their «Go all day» package which is 40 minute personal play time+a 20 minute leashed walk OR ~2 hr off leash group nature hike on the ranch with other dogs. This is on top of the basic boarding which includes two 10 minute potty walks around meal time. With how long she was staying, I wanted to alternate these two options because she was already used to going on off leash group hikes with her dog walker but was a little weary of how she would be with the other dogs as she can be snappy with some breeds. To my surprise, the desk staff must have passed on my concern because I got a very nice and thorough email from Serena while we were in Hawaii explaining how Gidget was doing and what she thought was best for her. She also included a picture of Gidget and a follow up email to my reply! We felt SOOO relieved and really was able to enjoy our vacation after that.
Yes, it’s NOT cheap. But, if you want the kennel stay to not feel like «doggy jail» then you have to pay for it, it’s under your control. I think the bad reviews are because people don’t really understand what a kennel is and assume their dog is going to be roaming around the ranch or something. I was rest assured Gidget was safe and not getting into anything she shouldn’t be on top of having a fun active stay.
If you are a dog person like me, then I think the price is totally worth the peace of mind.
I do not know their names but all the desk staff and two different caretakers I met up at the kennel building were very friendly (more so than our previous stays). Sure, next to having a baby cam in the kennel or a hidden GoPro mounted on her, I can’t know definitively how she was doing every second. But, picking up Gidget looking fit, happy, and running to every staff person she could find to say Good bye, my guess is she was treated more than fine. Thank you Serena and everyone for taking care of her! She will be back :-)!

The horse boarding facility is absolutely the best in the Bay Area, with a middle of the range price.
I moved from Australia and researched 14 ranches close to San Francisco. 13 of them were awful. Horses caged in «stalls» all day. Urine soaked mud. Gossipy people. Cruel training methods. Then, luckily, I found Shamrock.
At Shamrock, every horse spends all day in pasture. It’s a rule. There are several pastures to choose between, according to what suits the individual horses. The horses are fed quality grass hay in a sensible system, that prevents angst amongst the herd.
The boarders were so welcoming when I moved there. And their horses are happy, calm and well behaved. There is a google group for sharing information like spring shots and the social BBQ. Everyone always invites each other to ride out on the trails.
The trails are mostly single track all over the Pedro Point Headlands, with spectacular views of the ocean all along the top.
Update:
My horse and I have now been at Shamrock for six months, and I couldn’t recommend Shamrock highly enough. The people are wonderfully friendly, and the horses are very healthy and well cared for. The staff do a terrific job, and are lovely to be around. I couldn’t be happier.

Sarah is am amazing groomer. She truly cares about my two labs Guinness & Josie. Josie is a rescue and she has some serious anxiety issues. Sarah is very compassionate about how she handles her. I would highly recommend Sarah for all of your grooming needs!

My experience here with Sarah was awesome! Incredibly kind and attentive with my girl (she’s a rescue from an abusive situation) — I would recommend her to anyone!

We’ve had a long and unusual relationship with this facility. My daughter was friends in elementary school with a girl whose parents boarded their horses here, so she got to ride around and groom a horse here as a little girl. When she was older, we were friends with a family who actually lived on the ranch (the mother worked there). Once we were on the ranch near by the horse pasture, waiting for them to get home, and an employee ran up to us, said we were trespassing and if we didn’t leave she’d call the police. I told the person I was a police officer, showed my badge, and said we were waiting for people who lived on the property. The person explained that since the ranch is so open that it is easy for people to get on the property and that the issues included potential theft of animals, burglary of homes, vandalism, abuse of animals, and getting sued if a trespasser was injured. I understood all that and it made sense.
Fast forward 5 years and my family buys our first dog. As we walked around town with our new puppy, random people gave recommendations and warnings about training, vets, and kennels. The ONE name that kept popping up was dog trainer Lisa Rhodes. All comments were positive. As first time dog owners we wanted to make the right choices. We had a need to leave town for a week, so we enrolled our pup in Lisa’s live-​in puppy training. Lisa answered a myriad of questions online to ease my concerns. So, we brought our dog to Lisa’s «Puppy Boot Camp» at Shamrock. The office staff was amazingly friendly and must have known we were first timers. We toured the kennel and brought our pup’s bed from home plus his food. The «kennel guy» was friendly and seemed very at ease around dogs. The kennel did not have a «kennel smell» so that was good. It seemed clean and secure.
Lisa was great. Very informative and reassuring. We left our little pup in her hands and spoke to the groomer, a very nice young woman. She was clearly a true dog lover. She discussed our pup’s grooming needs and arranged for him to be trimmed up and to get his nails clipped during his stay. We said goodbye to our pup.
Ten days later we picked him up. He was happy, frisky, groomed, clean, and healthy. He was also trained more than we could imagine. Walking was a joy, plus sit and stay, etc. were things that he learned. Lisa gave us a debrief, the groomer came out to cuddle our pup, the bill was professionally handled. All good.
We liked this place so much we signed on for the group training class on Saturday mornings … with Lisa. We got to see and participate in LIsa’s training. She’s the best. She explains why she does things the way she does, and how her ways work. She used one of her own dogs as an example.
We’re going to sign up for the second level of group training. We’ve continued to use their groomer. They greet our pup like an old friend. Give this place a try, the attitude is refreshing as they genuinely care about dogs.

If I could give this place zero stars I would. I never write reviews, but given the circumstances I absolutely need to. We went away for new years and left my 10 month old husky in Shamrock’s hands for just two nights. When I went to pick him up I asked the staff how he was and the only answer I got was good. This was his first time ever in a kennel so I was looking for a bit more.
About 7 – 10 days later he became very lethargic, wouldn’t eat or drink. I took him to Oceana where he was diagnosed with Parvo. Keep in mind it’s very rare for a 10 month old to get Parvo, especially a 10 month old that had been vaccinated. What bothered me even more was the fact that a friend of a friends dog also stayed at Shamrock and picked up Parvo shortly thereafter. Unfortunately, their dog did not make it.
I am happy to say that almost $ 10k later and after 5 days at Norcal clinic my husky is recovering. I am getting reimbursed by the vaccination company for all the expenses.
Look elsewhere when you need to board your pet please!

I just moved to Pacifica 5 months ago. I am very particular on where I take my Long Haired German Shepherd for grooming. I found Shamrock which is very close to my home, and I cant say enough good words about them. Sarah is an amazing groomer, very professional and personal! It takes alot of patience with my spoiled 10 year old Sheperd and she has it all. He comes home looking amazing! I highly recommend Sarah and Shamrock for grooming!

I have been bringing my dogs to shamrock grooming for years. Picked up my dog and she had been brushed so hard hair was gone, skin very red and inflamed. So off to the vet. The ranch did pay that vet bill directly.
January brought my standard poodle in for grooming, was told when I picked my girl up & saw she was limping, I was nonchalantly told she jumped off grooming table and hurt her paw that she’d be alright. Well she wasn’t had to have surgery, extensive home therapy & swimming. All of which I must say shamrocks insurance was very good in handling claims. I had to put the money out & insurance would reimburse me. Surgery was $ 5,000.
I feel groomer was negligent.

I have been taking my dog Domino to Shamrock Ranch for boarding and grooming. The front-​office staff is very friendly and knowledgeable. I have dropped him off for boarding on numerous occasions; and usually sign him up for playcare, which is a great deal. He always looks happy & healthy when I pick him up. He gets a bath & grooming when he is there, and I have never been disappointed. The groomers do a fabulous job, especially Sarah! All in all, I have nothing but good things to say, and would definitely recommend Shamrock Ranch!

This is just a review for the dog boarding and dog care facilities (not dog training which seems quite good). This facility has soooo much potential just given its location and amount of land available, but if you care for your dog you really do not want to board here. Read the bad reviews, there are way too many. Also, I walk by Shamrock all-​the-​time, so this is first hand knowledge.
* Dog kennels are like jails, and you can hear the dogs barking for attention especially in the mornings and night. Look at the kennels before you board here.
* Dog a la carte boarding prices might be ok for a Ritz Carlton; this is NOT a Ritz Carlton and these prices are sky high for what you get.
* The short walks for boarded dogs, are often walks up and down the Shamrock ranch road. These walks are so short it is shameful to charge for them.
* If you do the basic boarding, then your dog is essentially in a kennel for 23 hours out of every day and night.
* The doggie play area is a newer fenced in sand/​dirt pit; looks like a very cheap dog park and it is obvious they did not want to spend any money on it. Also, the dogs only go out there a few minutes at a time.
* Playcare is a new option they offer, and that pricing is not that bad; unfortunately, playcare seems to be in the same fenced in area and dogs are definitely not out there all day; Shamrock, find a larger, grassy area in your ranch to host playcare!

Wow! Lisa Rhodes is the true «dog whisperer». She completely understands the mind of dogs and the minds of their owners. I am blessed to have benefited from Lisa’s talents, insight, and expertise.
I have a strong willed but insecure mixed breed dog. I love him but he was impossible for me to train. After his «school» with Lisa he is at ease and very obedient. I can’t express in this review my admiration for Lisa.
In my lifetime I have rarely, if ever, met anyone, in any field, that I consider at the very top of their profession. Yet, Lisa Rhodes is truly as good as it gets in her field. She is remarkable dog trainer.
Thanks to her we now are a very happy family with a great dog! The best part? Our dog is so much more content and happy and, as a result, so are we.
I give Lisa and Shamrock Ranch my highest recommendation. You won’t find anyone or any place that’s better.

My review for Shamrock is for dog training only. I have never boarded my dog here.
We, my pup and I, love Shamrock. Lisa is an amazing trainer and understands the temperaments of each breed and has worked with me a lot in helping my boy correct some behaviors and also teach me on how to be a good trainer to my pup at home. She’s an amazing trainer.