Puppy Playland LLC

I’m giving one star because it won’t let me give nothing at all. I have not been here in years and I will never return, as I was also not asked to come back. I left my dog here 2 – 3 times a week for all day sessions. I felt it was good for his socialization and it gave him something to do when I was gone at work all day. I spent about $ 400 a month, so I think that I was a pretty good customer.
Here is what happened. I dropped off my Dog in the morning and at about 4p.m. I received a phone call from the girl that worked there saying there was an incident. My dog was nipped but it wasn’t serious. They said he probably wont need to go to the vet, but when I can, I should pick him up. I asked what happened. She said «well, I was on the other side of the gate on break, and the dogs were having their rest period, I saw the Kong had rolled under the gate, so I threw it over and the next thing I knew your dog and another were chasing it. Your dog got to it first so the other dog nipped him.» I left work and went immediately there. He was bleeding from his side. I took him to the vet straight from Puppy Playland. They had to put tubes in him to drain the wound and the bite was so deep it almost punctured a lung, so they had to knock him out to put the drains in. He had tubes hanging out of his body for 14 days and then the stitches had to be removed. It was a long recovery and now he is dog aggressive and gets so nervous when he’s around other dogs. I ended up asking for recovery fees for the vet bill, Jim refused saying I signed a waiver and it wasn’t their fault.
Who throws a toy during rest period and thinks dogs are going to watch it fly through the air? Since the whole scenario was documented, I took Jim to court. I ended up winning in court and Jim had to pay the vet fees. That’s all I asked for. I think it was only fair.
P. S. I have talked to many people at the local Dog Parks that said bringing their dogs there was the worst thing they did. They let the dogs bark all day and they swarm the gate when new dogs come in. SO, many dogs learned this and started to attack the new dogs coming in and brought this behavior to the dog park. Good for those of you that like this place, but I’d be cautious and seek all other options before I’d ever suggest this place to you!
I do have to say that this was years ago when they first opened, but it seems they still run the place the same way in their new location.

We took our dog here for a while, before we knew better. I can’t really add anything new to what others have said but can confirm that the place smells and the staff they have is very young and probably not the most experienced with dog handling. We now take our dog to Club K9, where we can hardly pull up the drive before he’s bounding out to play. Much nicer facilities and staff!
It has been a while since we’ve been to Puppy Playland, but if they still have just one room I would highly recommend against taking a dog there. Different dogs have different needs and there should be seperate areas for those that are high/​low energy, small/​large, etc.

When my puppy was 5 months old, and we were trying to figure out where he could go while we were at work, this was the first place we tried, as it was convenient and close.
The GOOD: the main staff woman seemed to know her stuff. Our puppy had never been around other dogs, so she brought us in and taught us how to introduce him to the rest of the ‘pack.’ She was very knowledgable and our dog overcame his shyness and was soon romping with the others. I liked the variety of dogs there — all shapes, sizes, breeds, etc. The price wasn’t too bad either — $ 25 a day, I think it was.
The BAD: the entire facility was indoors, in a warehouse-​type room, with a cement floor. It smelled terrible and was not well-​ventilated. We went in winter, but I imagine in summer, it would get quite stuffy. A guy we met at our vet said his German Shepherd had gone there for a while, but his pads started to wear down due to the flooring. Scary. Also, while the main staff woman seemed to know her stuff, the guys they had watching the dogs during the day looked like teenagers and didn’t seem really attentive; sometimes when I’d go to get my dog, they’d be all along in the room, no staff around at all. In addition to this, there was no real division between temperments or level of energy — all the dogs were just thrown together in the big room. Finally, the billing system they had was a MESS — the woman kept all the information on index cards, and if there were more than 2 owners coming to get their pups, she’d get flustered/​overwhelmed and wouldn’t write down the info right. They really needed to get computerized.
ALL IN ALL: This was a learning experience for me. We went here for about 3 months, until someone told us about Club K9 on the San Ramon/​Castro Valley border. It’s about 5 minutes longer driving time, but the price was the same and it is 10X better than Puppy Playland.
MY ADVICE: Do the research, check the reviews, and if you love your dog the way I love mine, drive the extra 2 miles to Club K9, and get more for your money. Your dog will thank you for it…

There’s tons of dogs here and while they’re really sweet and will totally love on you if you get close enough, I have some doubts however, about the dogs being cooped up in a warehouse all day when it would seem to me an outside pen would be much more beneficial.
The new bldg is still not finished and has no heat. The people who work here have no training whatsoever in dogs and it would make me a bit nervous that some person off the street was taking care of my dog.

I took my dogs here for a weekend stay. The smell of urine was overwhelming as you walk in the door and the dogs in the main room were barking wildly and only had one person with them.
The in-​take staff seemed nice and attentive to the dogs. The problem came after the stay. I picked up my dogs after the weekend and one of them was violently ill. She was throwing up and had diarrhea. In the 7 years I’ve had her, she has never been this sick. I called Puppy Playland after taking my dog to the vet and they said she had been fine. The vet thinks that they must use some toxic cleaning solutions in their kennels and my dog may have licked it off her paws. Needless to say, I won’t be taking my dogs back to Puppy Playland even after they move to their new facility.
I have friends who own a doggie daycare on the Peninsula and their facility is 180 degrees different than this one. I would be cautious about leaving your beloved family pet here. I won’t make that mistake again.