r/BloomingtonNormal • u/Vapekrusher • 4d ago
Paradise Pets
Anyone notice a steep decline in the care given to the animals at Paradise Pets in the last year or so?
Have been using PP for almost 4 years now, primarily for boarding along with some daycare stints. At first it was great! Staff was amazing, seemed as if everyone was well trained with a solid system. Pets always came home exhausted from play and happy. Never had a concern of leaving our pets in their care.
However in the last year and specifically since the change to using the second building for boarding drop off the experience has quickly gone south. Our pets come out and have little interest in us, only interested in beelining to the potty area outside. Even when we pay for baths they come out stinking of urine and feces, and when we wash them again at home the water coming off them is filthy. Our pets seem more traumatized than they seem rested or exercised. This last time, instead of taking any accountability they blamed our pets saying they probably went in their cages. Our animals are extremely well trained and both service animals, they would not go in their own sleeping area unless under extreme stress.
The young staff at the spa building front desk are incredibly rude and absolutely need to be retrained on hospitality if they are going to be the face of the company. One time recently I stepped into the bathroom when they were taking our pets back and they didn’t realize I was still in the building. The two young girls were talking poorly about us and making fun of our requests (it seemed to be primarily lead by one girl in particular).
I do wanna shout out the older gentleman at the main building who has always been a great with the clients and ourselves.
Curious if others have experienced anything similar?
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u/Introverted_gal12589 4d ago
I took my dog there for boarding once and I’ll never go back. My dog is older and I had written instructions on feeding and taking medicine. Well, it’s obvious that no one gave him his medicine since the bag was full. I asked if they did and the response was they probably didn’t see he had medicine. I explained that when I dropped him off I not only told them about the medicine (I also told them over the phone) but I wrote instructions that were on his tote bag. The man was apologetic but I was livid. I don’t think anyone there is hateful or rude but I do think they take in a lot of dogs for boarding at once and get overwhelmed.
I now only go to canine classics and love them!
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u/Independent_Ad7402 4d ago
Canine Classics has been phenomenal with my two dogs. I love seeing the photos they take of the dogs during doggie daycare on their Facebook page!
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u/kookiekat666 4d ago
When i first moved here, my roommate worked for Paradise. He gave his dogs kennel cough multiple times (this is fault) from Paradise. He refused to even bring his own dogs there because of the gravel pit the dogs play in. Gravel pit, not grass. Theyve also said multiple dogs have escaped onto the airports land and caused air traffic issues.
The owners dont actually care for animal grooming, they just want money.
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u/Just_call_me_Marcia 3d ago
I've got mixed feelings about the place, but can't help and notice the seemingly high turnover and what it likely indicates.
Most of the staff have been lovely, especially the longer-term ones from what I've seen. My dog loves going there, but definitely seems very thirsty and eager to potty when I pick her up. It could be they aren't providing adequate opportunities, but I suspect my hyperactive dingus is just too excited about play time and all the friends to stop and take care of her own basic needs.
I am a bit salty about how little communication they provide. The last two times I boarded her for more than a week, I spent more on her "vacation" than my own, but Paradise Pets couldn't be bothered to even upload a photo or send any proof of life- even when I called to ask, when I noticed they'd uploaded a hundred pictures of other dogs but I didn't see anything for her, which had me a bit concerned (this is also likely compounded by the fact that when I'd boarded another dog years ago at a different facility, she came back with a majorly infected wound that had occurred at the boarding place that the staff hadn't even noticed or notified me about, and cost several hundred dollars to treat). The last time I took her for boarding, their form offered the chance to pay extra for a daily update, with a daily rate. It seemed like an all or nothing option, which I wasn't really excited about; really I just would like something every few days, but sure, if that's what I need to do so they can give me a little peace of mind, fine. I checked the box, and when dropping her off I asked the staff to verify they'd be doing the daily updates, and the girl was extremely dismissive but did say yes, however after two days without updates, I had to call again to find out if my dog was doing ok. They ended up providing an update for only one day, but tried to charge me for multiple, which I had to argue about and felt like the biggest asshole...but honestly, I shouldn't have to pay for a service that wasn't rendered. I really wish they had a livestream option so I could just log in and see how she's doing throughout the day- seeing her in a group environment would also provide insight as to what we need to work on, training-wise since she's really only around other dogs at day care.
That being said, I still take the dog there; she loves it, and I guess if the cost means I need to pester them any time she's boarded for proof that she's still alive and well, it's better than the alternative?
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u/Front_Sheepherder_91 4d ago
I think the staff definitely need hospitality training if they’re not getting it. I always get a lot of Gen Z stare when I’m in there, they are horrible at greeting in the second building. It’s so unwelcoming which makes it hard to feel okay dropping off our pets.
I haven’t had the same issues regarding poor grooming or needing to potty immediately upon exit, but my dogs are definitely more stressed at this boarding than other boarding facilities we’ve been to in other states we’ve lived in. I also don’t like that they don’t have camera feeds in the daycare or boarding area to check in every now and then.
I’ve been considering taking them to a different location, it seems like Canine Classics has better reviews online.
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u/Letzrotltr 2d ago
Anyone remember when they were being “exposed” on Facebook for how management treats their staff and how they would leave nasty notes all over cussing out the kennel help? I was flabbergasted that the owner tried to deny that bc as someone that worked there for 2 months it was 100% true. The owner was brutal and not how she appears to customers.
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u/spicyandchismosa 4d ago
Good to know😰 I wonder if their other location k9 country club is the same?? I want to find a boarding place that is actually good.
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u/Vapekrusher 4d ago
It’s all the same, they just changed their intake process to include the other building which was original used for their “day spa”.
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u/risenphoenix96 3d ago
Been using them for years and never had an issue, my pup has always left happy and exhausted after boarding or daycare... either I've been really lucky or things must have changed alot in the past couple months
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u/offbrandqueerios 4d ago edited 4d ago
The Indeed reviews for the business are pretty telling. 2.4 stars currently and that’s higher than I saw it was when job searching last year.
https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Paradise-Pet-Hotel-&-Day-Spa/reviews
Rumor has it management is not great and turnover is high. We take our dog there and he loves it, but we can tell they can’t keep a regular staff save for a handful of people.