The Pooch Palace

Thank You Pooch Palace for always being there when we needed you over these past 15 years and to continue to provide our dogs with a home away from home. Whether it is a day tripping experience, an overnight stay, or an extended dog vacation our 6 year old and 10 month old have a great time, are well cared for by the staff and always return home tired. If Zarco and Scarletta could talk they would say there is no place like home, except Pooch Palace!

My parents’ dog has been coming to Pooch palace for years, and he and they love it. My dog Riley first spent a night at Pooch Palace in 2011 and has been back several times since. He loves it too! When we pick him up, he’s always happy and exhausted. Marcia is responsive to questions and clearly cares about keeping all of the dogs happy and safe. We feel confident that when we leave Riley at Pooch Palace, he is safe and having a good time. I highly recommend Pooch Palace!

I brought my puppy here for grooming on Saturday. I felt very comfortable leaving her with the Jen (the groomer) and the friendly staff. I was so happy with the cut! She looks amazing. The best yet! We will be back. Thanks Jen!

I have been using The Pooch Palace for 13 years now, so yes, I am a big fan! I did not want to put my Golden in a kennel environment. The Palace is a fun pink house with outdoor décor and seasonal touches, specifically renovated for dogs. You can’t miss it on Stanley Ave.
Before your dog can stay at the Palace, they will be walked by Marcia the owner, and then they will stay overnight to see how they fit in with the other «guys». If that all checks out and your vaccinations are up to date, then congratulations! Your dog has a new favorite place to hangout! Day tripping from 8:00−5:30 (longer & shorter hours available) is $ 25 or $ 22.72 if you buy a book of 10 trips. Boarding is $ 45−60/day depending on the size of your dog.
The Pooch Palace also has a groomer and a dog trainer on staff. I have used both services and have been very pleased.
I have total peace of mind when I go away. I know Marcia and her staff are on top of everything. They will call if there are any questions or concerns. My dog is always happy to go to Pooch Palace. Most dogs bound up the front steps leaving their owners in the dust. Marcia calls this «self delivery». When I pick up my dog after a day trip, he is happy and tired. «A tired dog is a good dog» so they say! After boarding, I usually have the Palace groom or at least bathe my dog before pickup. He always looks and smells amazing!
Thanks Marcia and staff for taking such good care of my dogs when I can not!

Love, love, love Pooch Palace and, even more importantly, my dog does too!!!
The main reason is that I can go on vacation and know my dog is also on vacation — happier vacation for me :). She can be a «nervous Nellie» so finding a place where she has a doggie blast and I know she is safe and well cared for is priceless. Big «thank you» to Marcia and staff and all you do!

We freaking love this place.
Our dog loves it too.
And I would add my voice to the chorus of «it’s not all about you, owners.» Our dog gets so much love there, just like if he was with family (and if that family had a whole bunch of dogs to run around with him). We have peace of mind when we go away on vacation, since we know he’s not going to be sitting in a kennel feeling miserable — he’s going to be playing with his friends.
When we pick him up after a daytrip, he’s happy and exhausted. The people who work there tell us all about who he played with, what he was doing, and how his day went.
Today, they arranged for him to have his shots while on the daytrip, just to spare me the effort of getting it done over the weekend.
Yes, they like dogs better than people. Marcia is totally open about that. I’m glad. They are not here to make you feel special — but they will make your dog feel happy and loved.

I can’t speak to any of the issues people have had with vet bills or injuries because we’ve never had them. However, if you have a «difficult» dog (like I do) this is the place to leave him/​her when you go away. Between stranger aggression, separation anxiety, and being only 7 lbs, my dog is more than a handful. But not only has my dog never had an issue here, I am constantly told how great she is (which is priceless when you have a dog who is very difficult to love!)
They may not be glamorous or customer service oriented and even pretty pricey but I don’t care. I needed a place I felt comfortable – even happy– leaving her and that’s what I got. The initial interview is key because while she has her issues, I would never want her or another dog there who is a threat to the others. I’m not saying any dog can board here but they are calm around her and so she’s calm around them.
So bottom line, if you have a dog that could go anywhere for daycare/​boarding you might not want to spend the money here. But if your dog is a little more complicated, it’s worth the money and piece of mind to go to the palace.

I love this place. Its a little more expensive than the other doggy daycare I use but we are regulars. I admit some of the staff is a little eccentric but they love the dogs and the dogs have a great time. I love that there are no cages so if I have to board my dog she goes there. I have also used them for grooming and have always been impressed.
The back yard is a huge playground for the dogs so its a ton of fun and they come home totally exhausted.

When we moved to the Boston area I was surprised at the limted daycare options. While Pooch is a little more expensive than I am used to, it’s nice to have a place to bring my dogs for a good day of play.
Pros
–You can book you pups for day-​of daycare on a whim
–Dogs run free in the yard with other pups and come back exhausted
–Owner is very organized when it comes to specific instructions for your pooch
–Daycare+grooming packages available — and your dogs come with cute bows!
Cons
–For boarding you pay «per day» not «per night»
–A little more expensive than I am used to
–Place can be really hot and stuffy in the summer

I read the negative reviews and I am gob smacked.
Quiet time is to let the Dogs have quiet time. If you want ²⁴⁄₇ go to the Pound.
Kobe has now made peace with the stairs, he is 8 and loves to go there. Last time I picked him up, from grooming, he was lolling about with several other dogs and 4 people, all giving him kisses and praising him.
I can NOT figure out what other people are getting wrong. I have to assume, at this point, that they should have had children. I have two, one in college and one in high school (and the chinchillas, etc I do have a degree in Zoology)
This is a top notch place!
PS Kobe needs an appointment, will next week do?

I decided to take my dog here for a grooming appointment. After I dropped her off, I read some reviews and got a little nervous, but I’m happy to report that the dog looked great! She seemed pretty happy when I picked her up. The people were friendly enough, not overly but ya know, ok. They did charge me $ 65 because they had to clean her anal glands, gross, but I’m glad I didn’t have to do it. It was pricier than BYOD which is where I usually go, but it was convenient, they took her the day after I made the appointment, and my dog looked good with the new cut, was clean and happy. What more can you ask for?

I only looked at this place about 3 years ago. Was going to leave my dog for a trial run overnight — and it was just mayhem. My dog was so obviously distressed and unimpressed that I didn’t even do the trail stay. kind of scary

the woman who runs this place is rather abrasive and rude. when we left our dog there we brought her skidless food bowl and she just grabbed it and ripped the rubber bottom off, «we don’t need this!» it took about ten minutes to get back on once i got it back. what was the point of that? that should have raised a red flag and i should have taken my dog and walked out. what follows is much worse…
while we were away, our dog was brought to the vet and we were not even called. i can’t imagine a dog boarding facility taking a dog to the vet without notifying the owners. we were accessible by phone and had left all our contact information. no attempt to reach us was made. she was brought to the vet for a bleeding paw — have no idea why. we were told «nothing happened». in addition to the vet bill, we were charged a $ 25 fee for the transport which we had not authorized. but worse — pooch palace started our dog on antibiotics prescribed by the vet for the bleeding paw!
was there a bacterial infection? NO.
i do not approve of the liberal use of antibiotics most vets prescribe for just about everything and my dog has a very sensitive stomach. i would not have authorized the administration of antibiotics to her. luckily she is fine but they didn’t even call us to ask past medical history or allergies or permission to start a prescription drug. horrid.
i will never bring my dog back here. very unprofessional.

Left my dog there while I went to Europe. After an overnight stay (that I had to pay for) to confirm he was eligible for boarding, I tried to look past the noise, the yelling, and the chaos of what conceptually seems like a great place w/​a great idea.
After dropping my pooch offf, I was asked if I’d like to watch the dogs play — and was invited to view them through what was a bathroom window. I almost went back in to get my dog out… I witnessed lots of yelling at the dogs by the staff, and physically pushing them away from the door they all so desperately wanted to come back in from. Some of the dogs cried out from being physically pushed by the help. The people working there seemed angry and disinterested in their job.
When I retrieved my dog a week later, he was limping, appeared drugged, and was lethargic and spooked for days after I brought him home.
When I called to see if anything had happened that I should have known about, I was told that he «barked alot» but was otherwise fine. My suspicions of the place intuitively tell me something untoward happened… and I would never leave my dog there again.

i really like this place — Molly loves to go visit and and they know her when I arrive (they don’t so much remember me but i don’t particularly care as my dog is the one on who they should lavish their care). i agree with tom about the staff — the staff may be eccentric but they really do like the dogs, and i love the cage-​free environment. and i’ll admit, i was a bit put-​off when i first left Molly there as they weren’t super-​nice to me on my first visit, but again, it’s not about my ego, it’s about my dog’s happiness.
i did have to drop a star as they forgot to give Molly her medicine once — but they apologized profusely and said it would never happen again. and it hasn’t.
all in all, i feel very confident leaving Molly in their hands (and I can be a bit picky).

My guy has been going to The Pooch Palace since we first adopted him 8 years ago. He’s a very social and playful guy, so I was initially worried that he may not fit in well in an «open» environment.
I’ve met way too many uptight dog «owners» in my day and there are so many people out there that don’t know jack about dog behavior and socialization — boy was I thrilled to meet the people at The Pooch Palace.
My guy actually has best friends there and we try to go on days when his friends are also there.
To the staff, the dogs *are* the clients and while that apparently is offsetting to the «stroke my insecure ego» crowd, I find it refreshing.
They know my guy — I can call anytime and ask how he’s doing. They know me when I walk in and my guy pulls all the way to the front door every time we go and he’s absolutely exhausted when he comes home.
Regarding grooming, my guy has always been afraid of brushes and dryers — the groomers there accommodate that — they towel dried him for years and he comes out as calm as one can expect from a place with so much sensory overload, plus he looks great each time he comes out (and apparently has a new found appreciation for the dryer).
The Pooch Palace does have strict quiet times — this is for the benefit of the guys there. Dogs function best with regular routines — having a person come in during quiet time would mess that up — dogs know when new people are around, they would start barking and disturb the routine — be patient and remember the world isn’t all about you and your needs (see dramatic photo).
Yes, The Pooch Palace is very strict about vaccinations, for puppies they have stricter guidelines than most vets. I’m not sure that I would want to take my guy any place that didn’t have strict guidelines.
What kind of responsible dog parent doesn’t keep their vaccinations up to date? Tape worms take months to develop — if you use the right preventatives, tapeworms are rarely a problem — I’m guessing that Oscar wasn’t on the preventatives (frontline is only 50% of it — do your homework) and probably sourced the tapeworms outside of the Pooch Palace.
I also wanted to mention the great philanthropic work that Marcia and the Pooch Palace do — they have fund raisers for Phinney’s Friends (an MSPCA organization that helps very ill people keep their pet pals in their lives —
). Plus Maricia and the Pooch Palace match every dollar raised. This makes me even more happy about taking my guy to the Pooch Palace.

i was afraid to review this place… in case i had to go there again. but luckily i found Home Buddies and my search for the perfect boarding place has ended.
its a great concept… but the people aren’t into it. the staff doesn’t seem to like their jobs, its very secretive, and oscar got a tape worm.
not to mention if you haven’t gotten all his shots, then you’ll be stuck with a large vet bill from them too…
nonetheless, i still think he had an okay time. but still — we won’t be back.

This place is awesome! I had some trouble finding a good cageless boarding facility that separated big and little dogs near Boston (my little lady is a tad rambunctious to be playing with tiny dogs).
The people who own the place obviously adore and understand dogs. Their big playground outside is great and the rooms where the dogs stay are very nice. I think my dog’s favorite part is that they mix homemade chicken gravy into her food (by request, of course)! They encourage you to call and check on your dog whenever you want, which is also really nice.
They also have day care, training, and grooming but we don’t use those services.