The Barking Lot Bloomington, Illinois

Took cat there while on vacation and when we got him home notice that he looked very sick and eyes were real real cloudy, took to our vet and he had caught a virus from there so needless to say he won't go back. VET BILL was 340 dollar's. So thank you Barking Lot for the extra money I had to spend

I boarded my 11 month old 15 lb Yorkshire Terrier for 10 days at The Barking Lot over Christmas while I traveled to Florida. I picked her up on Wednesday Dec 29th and when I got her home, I realized she had a deep laceration on the pad of her front right paw. I immediately called the Vet and got an apt for that night. I called Deenie at The Barking Lot and asked her what happened. She pleaded ignorance and said she had absolutely no idea what happened. Took Nala to the vet and she told me it was bad and would require surgery the following day. I called The Barking Lot while Nala was in surgery and requested to speak to Deenie. I was told she was grooming a dog that she couldn’t leave but asked what the vet said. I explained to her assistant that she was currently undergoing surgery and that the laceration was deep enough that it had to have bled everywhere and I’d like to know what happened. Her assistant said Deenie would call me back as soon as she finished the groom. 15 days later I’m still waiting for that phone call. When I picked her up after surgery, the vet again expressed that “it was bad and I had a rough few weeks ahead of me”. She wasn’t joking. I couldn’t leave her alone and had to make sure she had minimal pressure on her paw. She had lots of dissolvable stitches on inside of her pad and then they stitched the pad closed. We speculate it’s from clippers from being groomed but that’s just a guess. We have survived the last 15 days with a lot of drugs to keep her sleepy and quiet while being restricted to a pen. I have shed so many tears, my body is exhausted from carrying her from room to room and pen to pen. But we survived. Today the stitches were removed. A small piece of the pad died and she has an open wound that can’t be stitched. She will spend the next 2-3 weeks still in a cone, more antibiotics, ointment on her paw along with a baby sock to keep it covered and weekly vet checks till the pad grows back. But we both gained our freedom back, she has no restrictions on activity which is a stress relief for us both. So far this has cost me close to $700. She has been so traumatized and it breaks my heart terribly. I understand that accidents happen. I understand that she is a high energy puppy that doesn’t like to sit still. But I know that in the 10 minute car ride home, her paw did not magically get injured. To plead ignorance, ignore phone calls, and let a dog sit in a cage with this kind of injury is animal cruelty. While I would have still been upset that it happened, it would have made a big difference if Deenie would have just been honest about what happened.

Been going to them for 25 years, so fantastic people and services and the owner loves animals.

DO NOT board your pet here. They are incredibly rude and have terrible customer service. They do not mask even at the front desk and have little concern for timid pets not used to boarding. Avoid this place.

I have brought my dog here for 3 years over that time we have spent about 3k on boarding during that time. We called and scheduled our dogs to stay over 3 weeks ago. I clearly explained we had a German Shepherd (been there before) and a pit terrier mix (his first time). The person was very nice and said that was great and she looked forward to seeing us. My wife and 4 year old went to drop the dogs off today, the day before we leave. Upon arrival they accepted my GS, then my wife and child went to get the pit/terrier mix from the car. When they came inside the owner abruptly stopped her and said they will not be taking the pitbull because he is aggressive. Mind you he came in with a 4 year old and lives with many other animals. That's not it. Then my wife was questioning how she could just say he was aggressive and refuse her a service that was scheduled 3 weeks before. Then owner then told my wife that they were not going to keep my GS either. They completely threw it in our faces. This is not a professional environment. The owner is a rude and condescending individual who is clearly on a power trip.

The staff is very cold and condescending to new clients. As a first time dog owner, I did not know all the required vaccinations for my dog to have upon arrival. The morning front desk worker was very rude and the afternoon one was not much better. I am so disappointed. I was happy my dog was able to stay since I did have to go to work, but I will not be coming back. I did not get any updates on my dog either throughout the day or pickup, which I have seen in other daycares that friends join. They just seemed like they were in a rush to get us out. Do not recommend to new clients.

My dogs were tired and content when I picked them up. I hope to use this location again for dog day care!

if i could give 0 stars i would i cant express how bad this place is they dont take care of your animals they will sit in a kennel all day long. avoid this place at all costs

My pup loves it here.

The Barking Lot was very professional and timely. Deenie and her crew do an amazing job with grooming and the price is reasonable too! Our new puppy really enjoyed her first spa treatment.

Doesn’t take care of dogs like they put on and let’s them sit in their own filth. Angry towards animals. Not a good place

From an ex employee. Please take your animals somewhere else for their safety.

Staff is very thorough with making sure they understand our routines and our pets' needs. We also love that our dogs aren't stinky when they come home.

Been going here for years. They love what they do. Grooming is exceptional..

Owner changed name from Deenie's Bed & Biscuit to run from previous reviews, extremely unprofessional. Owner keeps all tips for herself, don't bother leaving one for the overworked staff they won't see it. Forces staff to sign an NDA before working there..........

We take our dog Rex there 3 to 4 times a week and he loves it so much he starts whimpering when we tell him he's going to doggie day care and gets louder the closer we get to The Barking Lot. Nice way to get some away time. And the staff is Awesome!

Absolutely love this place. ???? So does my 4th kid King! Definitely would recommend to friends and family.

Awesome place to take your pet to, awesome staff

Great place to board my dog when we are on vacation. They take good care of your pets. My dog enjoyed it there. Seemed like a very popular location for "doggy daycare" as well.

Our labradoodle ( Macy) has been going to Barking Lot (Deanie’s) for over 15 years. Every three weeks we had Macy spa scheduled (Nails, Bath, and hair). Macy loved going to the Barking Lot. Macy loved the interaction with other dogs and staff. I knew everyone loved our Macy and I knew she was in great hands. We recently had to put Macy to sleep. I cannot thank Deanie and staff enough for the great care and love. Thank you Deanie; yes, Max is adjusting being the only dog in the house.

I used to work here and can promise your dog isn’t in the best care. Not boarding, not in daycare, not being groomed, and not getting their nails clipped. I’ve watched them cut nails to short and dogs bleed more times than I could count. I’ve watched dogs sit in small cages for HOURS and not be let out or checked on. I’ve watched dogs be pulled and screamed at by kennel workers. A dog was given meds for diarrhea without the owners permission and he was on other medication. I’ve watched them mix up dogs. They put “bark collars” on the dogs if they bark to much without owner permission. The photos you see don’t show the half of the place and how it is. The pool doesn’t work so it fills up with brown gross water that never gets cleaned out. Please go somewhere else and don’t trust them with your animals.

I purchased a very expensive kitty from the owner of this business. The owner never sent the promised health records and the kitty had terrible ear mites when we took her to the vet. Owner will no longer respond to me when I contact her about getting the health records for the newly purchased kitty.

Called to get a quote and get my dog set up for an appointment and she asked me to call back because a client walked in.

If I could give less stars I would. Absolutely the worst customer service EVER. They will lie and say that you asked for ad ons while boarding and charge you even though I did NOT ask for a full groom. I mentioned the $15 bath they have advertised online, where they got $50 full groom is beyond me!! The “manager” will cuss you out and be an absolute pain to deal with after being on hold for 45 minutes to speak to the rude woman!!! On top of all of this, My dogs are both still incredibly muddy!!! Update/response to the owner: you still consistently keep saying that I requested for my dogs to be brushed out, when I did NOT ask for this!! I simply wanted the exit bath and nail trim. NOTHING MORE. I even questioned the girl at the front before I paid, but she rudely shrugged it off as if it didn’t matter. That is why I called back. Had to wait 45 minutes to even speak to you! And after you deliberately made your point that I asked for the full groom did you finally ask what I wanted you to do, I asked that I be refunded the $70 ( $100 from for both dogs - $30 for what it should have cost) you then replied “no” and was absolutely rude to me!! You start cussing so I cussed right back and was fed up with it so hung up abrubtly, that indee is true. Other than that you’re full of lies!!! I’m sorry but you not your employees have NO customer service skills and I will let it be known!!!

Wonderful people that take great care of my dog.

The girls like staying there.

Will definitely never use this place again. Dropped our Great Dane off Friday evening picked him up Sunday evening. They had only fed him 7 cups of food the whole weekend. It was explained that he gets 8-10 cups a day when we dropped him off. We were told that would be split between three meals a day which was fine with us. That Clearly didnt happen. Dropped him off with 22 scoops of food there were still 15 scoops left in the bag when we picked him up. Hes been home an hour and hasn't stopped eating until I made him stop. Called up there and was told they would discuss it with management and got an "oh I'm sorry". Your "sorry" you only feed my Great Dane 7 cups of food over a weekend???? He eats more than that in a day.......

Kept my dog safe while out of town, returned him clean

Great staff and they really know what they are doing. Deanie the owner really has a passion for taking care of your pet and treats them like her own

My dog Sassy loves this place. Awesome staff.