Thee Dog House

If I could give zero stars, I would. DO NOT TAKE YOUR DOG HERE. It is a swamp of infection and disease that will promptly infect your pet. The facility reeks of urine, the stench smacks you in the face as soon as you walk in. Being a training facility and home to many dogs, an odor was expected... but this is just ridiculous. My 7 month old puppy went to Thee Dog House to go through their basic training program and potty training ($1200 something total). She was there for five weeks, despite me being told originally it was a three week program. Every time I called to check on her I got the same answer ""Oh she is doing great""... getting any real information about my pet was like pulling teeth, and answers were full of attitude as if I was such a nuisance for caring what was going on. On the day I was supposed to pick up my puppy, I called to let Dan know I was coming to pick her up to be told ""Oh no, she is not ready yet"". After having a big go-around with him about not being kept up to date on what was going on with my dog, and being completely disrespected over the phone, my husband and I decided to let her stay the extra week and a half because we thought that is what would be best for her and her training. There was no mention during the phone call with Dan of whether she had any food left or that I should bring more in... until I said something and was told ""Oh yeah, she will probably need more at some point"". I was dead wrong for letting her stay. When I did go to pick her up, my baby was terrified. She cowered on the floor in their presence, ears down and tail between legs, looking up as if she thought she was the worst animal alive. She was extremely skinny and shaky her first few days home... not to mention that she was not potty trained, making that clear as she peed and pooped on the carpet as soon as she got home. Once the pinch collar comes off, all of her ""training"" goes out the window. The only reason she ever listened to commands was because they were pinching her with the collar repeatedly and she wanted it to stop... not because she was actually trained. I felt that something just wasn't right with her, so I took her to our vet on the third day home. Among other things, the vet informed me that my puppy was underweight (which she never has been previously) had an extreme case of kennel cough, as well as Giardia. This not only cost us upwards of $500 in vet bills plus the $150+ for the medication, but put us out of taking her to puppy day care while I work, which cost an extra $55 a day for ""hospitalization"" at the vet because she had to be quarantined to keep her from spreading kennel cough. If I haven't made it clear enough yet, TAKE YOUR MONEY ELSEWHERE!!!!! Take your puppy somewhere they will be as important to the trainers as they are to you... because Thee Dog House is NOT that facility. Your beloved pet is just another four paws in their facility, not to mention that they are happy to take your money and not train your pet effectively. more

I just recently got my chocolate lab trained at thee dog house and all I can say is THANK YOU. I called them after having tried for months to train my lab through one of the big store classes to no avail. I felt horrible. Was it my fault, I wondered. Now I know it is well worth the investment to save yourself the time and frustration only to fail in the end. Coco loves going back to see her new friends at thee dog house and I LOVE seeing her pictures on their facebook pages. My whole family are now fans of thee dog house but none bigger than Coco and me. Thank you again. more

I had signed my girl up for a 6 week obedience course where I would drop her off and pick her up daily. When I first dropped her off, the stench of urine was overwhelming and I should have turned around right then and there but I gave the place the benefit of the doubt. I figured with that many dogs, that there would obviously be an odor- but this was ridiculous. The first day she came home, she smelled like urine BAD. I asked them to rinse her off before I picked her up the next time. Instead of doing so, they just sprayed some conditioner on top of the smell. Day 3 she gets home and repeatedly licked at her paws. Upon inspection, I noticed redness between her toes. When brought to Dan’s attention, he said it was most likely a yeast infection from the pool and to give it a couple days to clear up with her staying out of the pool. Day 5 she gets home and she has green goop in her eyes. By this time, I finally smarten up and take her to the vet where I find out that she has in infection between her toes AND conjunctivitis. Needless to say, I called Monday morning to inform them that she would never be back and requested a full refund as well as reimbursement of the vet bill. He agreed to the refund, but not the vet bill initially. It has now been a month since I first requested reimbursement and still have not received it. I am receiving excuse after excuse after excuse and now need t o resort to legal action. This place is not only disgustingly unsanitary but the owner has a serious attitude and awful customer service skills. I’m so mad at myself for not following through with my first impression of this place and not reading all the reviews on this horrid place.\r \r Check ALL review sites! Especially Yelp! Even Wavy 10 did a story on this place.\r \r STAY AWAY!!!\r more

My dog Samson was expelled from a doggie daycare in March 2012 for being aggressive towards the employees. He had been attending this daycare for 7 months with little to no incidents. Samson & I were both devastated. I was also panicking because I needed another daycare for him to attend,but was afraid no one would take him.I searched the web & found Thee Dog House.I was impressed with Dan's credentials and his knowledge of dogs.I called & spoke to him directly,took Samson in for an assessment and the rest is history.Since coming to Thee Dog House,Samson & I are so happy. Dan & his staff are excellent. They are friendly, professional and really love dogs. They constantly work with Samson and his overall training skills are greatly improved. He has had no problems with aggression and that's extremely important to me because he is a Rottweiler and the breed already has a very bad reputation. I highly recommend Thee Dog House for owners who not only want a dog sitting service, but a place that really cares about their dogs well being and development. more

this is the best place to train your dog and for daycare. They all really care about all the dogs and take great care of them. And the training is wonderful I wouldnt have been able to get Brady where he is today without them ! more

I know I have posted before on recommendations but I cant stop bragging about thee dog house the great staff there and how well they take care of all the dogs there ! more

We met Dan at a DockDog event and became close friends. We rescued a Weim, Odin, at about 8-9 months old. the first 6months were bad. He fought with my other 3 dogs. My wife told me to get rid of him on many occasions. Then I spoke to Dan about training. Dan took Odin for a month from us. We live in Ohio and he is in VA Beach. It was like sending your kid to camp. We called everyday. Dan was probably getting tired of us but he was sooo polite. Well, Odin is still with us, fully trained and one our best dogs! Thank you Dan and Thee Dog House for helping us keep Odin! more

To anyone who is sitting on the fence considering adopting a weim I would like to say- DO IT! We recently adopted Dodge to be a companion to our chocolate lab Coco and he is the most amazing dog we have ever had! more

Love shown here is Tremendous! more

My two labs love coming to daycare here! And I love that I have somewhere to take them where I have complete trust that they are taken care of. I visited at least 6 other places before deciding on Thee Dog House. I have recommended them to all my friends and family with dogs. more

We recently got our dane pup apollo back a few days ago and he is a perfect gentleman now. We were about to give him up if we could not get him under control. He was a 100+ pound nightmare, he was biting everyone and everything. Dan and his staff are very proffessional and thorough. They treated him like he was their own and took very good care of him the time they had him. He came back home a completley different dog. I highly recommend Thee dog house to anyone with a dog, not so much for the training for him or her but for the owners too. Thanks Dan and to all of your staff for all you have done for our family, you saved our baby. We are definitely going back to your day care service and grooming service I know he will always be in good hands there. You saved our baby lol. more

They walk my dog and do day care for me, so far they have done a great job my baby looks happy when she comes back. If you want your dog to live and be happy I recommend them. Thanks\r more

The most caring and professional doggie day-care for a Weim or any dog! Wish every dog had the chance to play here. more

The staff here is AMAZING! Loving, caring environment for my baby. I take Lovie here once a month for her grooming and she loves them as much as I do. The groomers are extra careful and go the extra mile to pamper the animals. more

Love everything about your place. Just wish you were open on weekends! more

My dogs (heart) Thee Dog House! I have 3 pooches, ranging from 2 to 9 years old, who are labs or lab mixes. Since I work during the day, someone has to help them burn off all that extra energy. They go to Thee Dog House two or three days a week - I drop them off between 6 and 7 am, and usually pick them up after dinner. They come home, eat their dinner, and head off for bed. During the summer, Thee Dog House has a pool set up, which the pups love. In the winter time, I think they spend most of the daylight hours running around Dan's HUGE fenced yard, as they're inevitably napping on the couches when I pick them up. Dan also offers dog-taxi and slumber-party boarding. My dogs came home happy and tired after a weekend there, and one of them hitched a ride to and from the vet's when I couldn't make her appointment due to work. We've not tried their training services yet, mostly because I train my dogs myself. If I didn't have time for that, I'd consider Dan's services. He's also a big supporter of local dog rescue groups. more

Horrible Experience!\r \r This is my story. I originally brought my dog to Thee Dog House because I was having trouble fixing two problem behaviors. Dan talked me through the techniques he uses and while I’m not an overall believer in punishment as a form of training (pinch collars, prong collars, shock collars, etc), I was at the end of what I could do for my dog. Dan showed me the shock collar and allowed me to feel the type of shock my dog would receive. While I did not like the use of the shock collar, I felt that the small shock she would be receiving was not so terrible. This was before I signed my dog up and paid for her training (approximately $1,450 mind you). \r \r Dan told us our dog would need to be boarded there in order to receive training. So we agreed and dropped her off. Since we love and missed our dog, we visited often. The second time we visited her, we, not Thee Dog House staff found a very large puncture mark in the back of her neck. One of the staff members told us that it was strange that the boys who watch the dogs did not notice the puncture as they are supposed to check the dogs hourly. We had not been in for several days and could already see signs of healing. And in those days, the staff had not once noticed this puncture. Our dog received dozens of cuts and scratches while there, and this is fine - dogs are mouthy and they get cut up while playing. No big deal. But a large puncture wound that went undiscovered? Unacceptable. At this point, we asked Dan if we could start taking her home at night so we would at least have the responsibility of checking her nightly to ensure her safety. He said he would not guarantee her training if we took her home at night (he supposedly offers a Lifetime Money Back Guarantee if you are not satisfied with his training) so in the end, we allowed her to finish out her training.\r \r We were so excited to take her home at the end, only to discover she had contracted Giardia at Thee Dog House. Okay, I understand Giardia can come from anywhere, but in the years I’ve owned my dog, this is the only place she has picked up a parasite. We brought her to the vet (3 times and $300 later) and a very drug resistant strain of Giardia finally left my dog’s body. Annoying, but not the end of the world.\r \r Once we brought her home, we spent weeks of daily training and reinforcing, a dozen phone calls to Dan, day care with Dan and even off site meetings with Dan’s trainers, and my dog still displays the original two problem behaviors. Dan’s unwillingness to get directly involved (always sending his trainers) went on too long. After over a month of this run around treatment, I asked for my money back. What is the point of spending $1500 (plus $300 for Giardia) if you have to spend hours and hours and hours trying to fix the same issues that were there before training? Dan offered more ways to up the punishment for my dog when she didn’t respond – but I was clear from the start where my limits were in punishment techniques. In the end, my dog exhibits the same two behaviors she went in with, I am $1800 poorer and Dan has done a sufficient job in wasting countless hours of my time, demoralizing my spirit and sickening my dog. I am disgusted with my experience at Thee Dog House and would not recommend their training services to anyone. more

I have known Dan Stallings for over three years and during that time, Dan has helped the Atlanta Weimaraner Club Rescue (a non-profit organization, regulated by the Georgia Department of Agriculture) on many occasions. With no more than a quick phone call, Dan has helped so many of our Weims that had behavior issues. Dan has an amazing facility, the experience, and the knowledge to provide the problem Weims with the structure and the consistency they require. Dan knows the breed, is on-site working with the dogs and rehabilitates them. In addition, Dan has found loving homes for these dogs. And I'll you you know Miss MeNotYou I've been rescuing dogs for many a year and I do know what I'm talking about. What have you done excpet slander good people who truly try to help less fortunate dogs? Without rescue people like Dan Stallings, many of our beautiful Weimaraners would have been euthanized. Atlanta Weimaraner Club Rescue can honestly say that Dan Stallings is truly outstanding in his field. I am privileged to have had the opportunity to have worked with Dan and highly recommend his professionalism. It is not often that you meet someone as dedicated to his profession as Dan Stallings. I just read his wonderful book, One Unforgettable Journey about , Maverick, his rescue that he saved and went on to make a champion out of him. What a truly touching story. A must read for ANY dog lover. more

Very pleased that we can bring our puppy to a place where they know her and take great care of her. During the day she gets the care and exercise she can't get when we are at work. The training has helped so much. Thank you. more

When I lived in Virginia Beach, Thee Dog House was the place to go for Tricky. Now Dan has a book out? I cant wait to read it! I highly recommend to any dog lovers! more