A Joyful Dog Buffalo, New York

I absolutely love that there is such a committed, caring and communicative home away from home for my dog ???? I left my puppy here yesterday in hopes of going on vacation, but due to the snow storm my flight was canceled and I picked him up a week early. The staff was wonderful with my black lab, and one of the workers named Karen went above and beyond to ensure my pup was comfortable. I will absolutely be recommending A Joyful Dog to my friends and family who need someone to watch their fur babies. The prices are very affordable, the staff is very responsive and overall I felt very comfortable leaving my dog here for the first time.

My 9 month old Labradoodle's daycare, Kindermutt, is closing, so I'm in the business for a new daycare. A Joyful Dog was recommended by our current daycare, so I visited their website and felt like this daycare could work. I called to schedule an evaluation and was told evaluations are only done during certain days of the week during a limited window. I made my appointment for a Monday at 9:30 am, knowing I would have to take a day off work. On the day of the evaluation, I brought my puppy to the daycare. Upon entering, I noticed how tiny, unkempt, and seemingly dirty the front end of the daycare appeared to be. There were two dogs in a small pen with a few beds right next to the front door. The front end looked a bit run down, had a strong odor compared to other day cares I've visited, and overall, had seen better days. The day care attendant (who may have been the owner) noticed my dog was a bit nervous coming in, but gave her some treats. She asked if my dog came from Kindermutt, and when I said yes, she said they've had a few dogs from Kindermutt come in for evaluations and "things didn't work out." I thought this comment was a bit odd and off-putting--it certainly didn't make me feel welcomed or like my dog was wanted here. Nothing else was asked about my dog's socialization or play style. The attendant briefly explained the evaluation process, and I allowed my pup to be taken back for the evaluation. Another attendant offered me to move closer to watch the camera. By moving closer to the tv screen, I saw more of what I believed was the office end of the facility, where another dog was laying down, and again was somewhat put off by the messiness of the back office. I watched on camera as my dog was taken back, and introduced to one or two dogs in a small pen. After a few short moments, she was taken to the larger pen with maybe 8-10 dogs. On the camera, it was difficult for me to tell what was going on, but my pup's tail was wagging, as were others, and I did notice her start to try to play with others. I noticed one or two attendants in the frame, and they would occasionally spray dogs with a spray bottle if they were "out of line." I believe this was supposed to be a 15-20 minute evaluation, but my pup was brought back to me within less than 10 minutes of being taken back. The attendant told me that my dog was very "overwhelmed" by the other dogs, and had an "inappropriate and rude" play style with the other dogs. She said my pup also "bared her teeth" and therefore, "this was not a good match." I found this analysis interesting due to the fact that the attendant herself realized my pup was a bit nervous. Clearly, my dog needed a bit more TLC being introduced to the other dogs but wasn't given that at A Joyful Dog. I want a daycare that is willing to go the extra mile and provide my dog with the individualized care she needs. If a doggie daycare/boarding business can't provide that care in daycare, I surely won't trust their ability to provide that care in a boarding situation. If you have a puppy or a young dog, I wouldn't recommend A Joyful Dog, as it seems that they don't want to provide that care and/or directly supervise the play of young pups who are learning. Perhaps they don't have the staffing or they just allow a larger number of dogs in their daycare and don't have the manpower to manage. In any event, it seemed like the attendant already had her mind made up prior to the evaluation starting; for whatever reason, my pup was denied and I'm glad it didn't work out because I would not have felt comfortable leaving her there. That same day, my pup was accepted at Dog Days of Buffalo (which is much cleaner) and was told she did not exhibit any rude or inappropriate play behaviors.

So nice. Boarding my dog there was a great experience. They were very responsive to his needs

All very nice!! My dog loves it

Awesome. Really appreciate it ☺️ Looking forward to boarding again this month hopefully. Thank You

My wife and I purposefully sought this place out because my Great Dane does better with women than he does with men. These ladies are awesome. I can't say enough good things about them. My Dane and my husky love this place. My dogs are more than happy when they see us pull up to Joyful Dog. My dogs jump out the car and rush right into the building. Quick story: I boarded my dogs for a week and my Dane was having an eye issue. Joyful Dog called me and I could tell right away how concerned they were for my dog. Thank God it was only his allergies, but they were more than willing to take my Dane to his vet and even pick up medicine if they had. They were happy to go out of their way and work with my wife and myself. It took some much stress off of my wife and my shoulders just knowing they care about my dogs like they would if it were a kids daycare. They have a lifetime customer in me.

Caring people who understand dog behaviors and provide safe, comfortable boarding and daycare options, always have a staff member on-site including overnight.

Wonderful staff that take great care of your fur baby. Ace loves going here.

Ignore the bad reviews, they're nonsense. I have no affiliation with the owners or workers at this business, my review is based on experience alone. We had to leave the country for a week for vacation and decided on AJD based on a coworker's recommendation. AJD got us in fast and we dropped our dog off on a Friday. Three employees greeted us and explained their process and plan for slowly introducing our dog to both the employees and other dogs. The workers were polite and friendly and clearly loved dogs. We emailed while overseas to check how things were going and they replied back within minutes. When we picked her up she was happy and exhausted. If you're like my wife and I and are paranoid about leaving your fuzzy friend with strangers for an extended period of time, give AJD a shot.

They were super nice and helpful when I brought my dog

Wonderful staff, clean facilities and great real time video.

Awesome place, my dog has been going here for years and they always take great care of her. The staff there are wonderful, they are always friendly and don't mind it if you call multiple times a day for an update. Overall a nice place to take your pet.

We boarded our dog for 3 nights. The staff was extremely nice and followed our instructions with our pup. It was great being able to check in on our dog using the webcams. We will definitely be coming back!

Good place that will care for your dog.

Had a trip to NYC and they took very good care of my dogs, fully recommend. Also much cheaper than other places.

Friendly and considerate dog boarding

Our dog head been here both for boarding and daycare. He gets so excited and runs right back Everytime. The people that work here are friendly and you can tell they love the dogs. Always had a good experience. Have been using them due almost two years.

Awesome place. Staff greets you and your dog at the door, and eases your pup into the experience. Staff is extremely responsive to emails when boarding. Highly recommend - not just another franchise

Smelled badly. There was a group of dogs in a small gated area by hot window panting. No water bowl available either just a bunch of gross, smelly blankets wadded and twisted up together. We waited for a bit til someone walked out. I have 4 pups and wanted to try out a new place because it's right around the corner and I heard they were LGBT friendly, so I brought my most chill pup in to be the guinea pig. I was told they don't do walk ins and they don't express anal glands. Probably for the best because I was unsure of the place upon entering.. I was hoping all the negative reviews would be false, sadly I was mistaken.

Nice place to leave your dog

Super kind and amazingly supportive staff. So knowledgable with training as well! My dogs are so lucky we found them!

A safe, caring home away from home for Beau and Lily. Would give 5 ⭐ but would love more to see them grow bigger and offer more lux/comfort for the dogs - soundproofing, larger home-like room/space accommodations with rugs, furniture, toys etc. Improved grooming facilities. More room to run outdoors. We love the place, and they're so capable, I know they can do it!

A joyful dog is wonderful. Highly recommend.

Very nice and friendly staff that is knowledgeable. Fair pricing. Good location for us and our boys love going there. They also offer services whole your pups are in their care such as bathing. Every trip out of town, we leave our boys here, their home away from home. These wonderful people have our full trust.

When I pulled up and seen the place my first mind was to not go in for the meet and greet. I wish I would have followed it, upon entering the building I was hit with an overwhelming stench . It was so bad that even after an hour of leaving I still had that odor in my nose where as I had to use nose drops to get rid of it. The floor was all cracked where they introduce the dogs. Watching the camera in front I noticed that there was nobody in the rooms supervising the dogs. Most of the toys that were there were toddler toys for the dogs to jump on, the beds were dirty looking and the dogs were not placed according to size. Needless to say I did not leave my dog there for day care. it's my opinion whoever is leaving their dog there for day care or boarding is not a real animal lover as there are many more day cares that run clean supervised facilities. THIS WAS NOT A JOYFUL EXPERIENCE

They limit the number of dogs they accept to 40, which assures they can care for them well. My dog loves this place.

Great location, amazing owners and employees. They are wonderful with my dog and are so willing to help answer any pet related questions you might have

I have attended classes with my fur baby here as well as boarded him. I knew he was in capable caring hands.

Great people who understand dogs.

My pup spent a week here while we were away. He was treated like the spoiled brat that he is. They do a great job here and the webcam feature is so fun to watch.