Taurus Academy

We have been a Taurus family for about a year and a half now and look forward to another 10 years with them. Blu goes to daycare and board there regularly which is so awesome for him, but what really changed our life was the Board and Train. Initially, I thought it was pricey, but after all they did for him I’m shocked it wasn’t 3 times the price. I know dog daycare and training for some is a luxury, but for our family, Taurus is a necessity. We have a well trained, social, silly dog that I know is safe because of the foundation they laid and the structure they taught us how to maintain. The staff up there are such dear friends of ours after seeing the love and care they pour into Blu every day. They are truly amazing people and I am happy he has a second family there. When it is time to go, Blu knows what, «Do you want to go to daycare?» or simply, «Taurus?» means. When he sees Taurus folks in public he freaks our he gets so excited. It’s his favorite place on earth. They have been so transparent since day one letting me see the facility and calling to check in him. I have even peeked in on him playing and to see my boy so happy brings so much joy to me. We will be moving soon, and we have discussed continuing to drive him to McNeil since he has such a close bond with them, though if they were ever full, we have met Taurus staff from so many locations and I’d trust any of them with Blu’s safety and happiness without thinking twice.
I could rave on and on. Thank you, Taurus Academy! You have changed our lives for the better.

Oscar Wilde said a long time ago, «I don’t know where dogs go when they die, but I want to go where they go.» While Taurus Dog Training Academy is not officially doggy heaven, it may be the next best thing. My experience with this business was prompted by a crazy white Schnauzer named «Boku». Boku, I often lament, has «issues». Separation anxiety, kid anxiety, vacuums, other dogs, and people wearing unusual shirts or hats often set him off. His frantic shrill bark is akin to nails on a chalkboard and elementary school musicals. My neighbors look at him with murderous eyes. Allowing a canine sacrifice to keep the peace in my neighborhood is of course out of the question. Besides, I love him like the scared and confused teenager that he is! At least he’s not doing drugs or sneaking in and out of the house in the middle of the night (that I’m aware.) I presented my troubled friend to the Taurus Dog Training Coordinator Kristin Reno for a Board and Train evaluation. She was quick to explain dog psychology and to kindly let me know that I’m an idiot (my words, not hers). She patiently explained that my behavior with Boku greatly increased his stress level. He barks so I bark (yell), rewarding him for bad behavior, and a laundry list of other things that I do because I didn’t know any better. I agreed to trade money for training and hope for the best. While I was vacationing, and Boku was going through intensive training, I got text updates and even a video of my little white friend at an excursion to Home Depot. After 2 weeks, the result was fantastic! Grant it, my neighbors still wish him dead because he barks his head off at every falling leaf, but they suck anyway. What’s important is that Boku behaves and since I have also been trained. I behave too. When I mentioned I wanted to get a new puppy, Kristin offered to help me look, (how nice and thoughtful is that?) Her passion and dedication to making pets and peoples lives better is uncommon and more than a little inspiring. When I got my newest family member «Jackpot» (little baby Westie) there was absolutely no one I would trust accept Kristin Reno and Taurus Dog Training Academy to board and train. Not only that, all the staff are super duper pooper cool and friendly. The only thing that could make their business better is to offer free craft beer… but I say that about all businesses. Keep up the great work! On a side note, for the best pet odor stain removal I highly recommend Peace Frog Carpet & Tile Cleaning.

Absolutely LOVE this place! I trust them completely with my dog and know he’s loved on while at daycare. His first day at camp I received a progress report card telling me about his day and a photo showing me his day of fun!
I had a concern that his personality of being so shy wouldn’t agree with the lifestyle of daycare, so they sent me a video at work of him playing with friends to assure me he enjoyed going. Never been more comfortable leaving my furchild with anyone else!
HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!

I LOVE Taurus. Even more importantly, my dog LOVES Taurus. I can’t pack his bag until we are about to walk out the door because he gets that excited. He loves his doggy play-​days but I know when I travel, I can entrust them with my fur-​kid.
I’ve had two situations where they literally reduced my stress level from a 10 to a 0 regarding my dog. First, was when I was told I needed to pack a bag and rush to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy. The second was for a trip home due to an unexpected death of a younger family member. They took great care of my baby and even sent me pics and videos to cheer me up while I was home. Even without that, I would still give them a great review just based on how excited my dog gets when he is there and how happy the other dogs are.
You guys are THE BEST. Thank you for all that you do.

Fun fact: thats my dog in the thumbnail! Bear, the Australian shepherd in the picture, absolutely loves Taurus McNeil! He goes for doggy play day every Wednesday and gets super excited when I ask if he’s ready to go to «school». I’ve had nothing but pleasant experiences with the staff and management. I’m always confident that they will take care of my pup when I drop him off. We’ve used similar «doggy daycares» in the past, but Taurus is the best. Highly recommend trying them out!

We have a high-​energy, fairly difficult lab + German shepherd mix that regularly goes for daytime play at this Taurus location. My experience with these folks has been that 1) they’re knowledgeable in their domain (i.e. dogs); and 2) they legitimately care about the pets they’re sitting for and playing with.

OMG I had the worst experience at Taurus. I took my Goldendoodle in for a day evaluation. I told them she did not like men & was skittish, I wanted them to work with her. It was total craziness when we arrived. I left Clover and within 15 minutes they called that she had bitten a male trainer. Taurus had 2 male trainers with her within 15 minutes of arrival. I feel like I set my dog up for failure. Afterwards, I was told they had NEVER had a animal bite there before. Devastated, I immediately called a trainer that only deals with aggressive dogs. I also started looking for a possible placement since we have a 7 year old. Today, Animal Control came out and placed Clover under quarantine. Austin Animal Control told me he has the address memorized, they are out all the time for animal bites!!! I almost got rid of my dog & had many sleepless nights. I set my dog Clover up for failure at Taurus. BTW Clover is 8 months old and has never bitten anybody.

I’ve been coming for awhile now and it’s great. Minka loves it and is always excited to go play with her buddies. The staff is always super friendly and most of them know her and me so it’s a super easy drop off and pick up. Minka is usually pretty tired after she gets home so it’s wonderful for me.
I love their report cards and a few months into taking her I got a picture frame of Minka while she was playing. I definitely like the personal touches they add when they have a chance.

Our pups LOVE it here! Adam is an amazing trainer and has been vigilant in making sure the training programs transfer and progress at home. We will definitely do play days in the future. Our babies seem to love the staff like they are their very own family!

Above and beyond these guys went. We had a special need and they helped us through it with pure patience and a wonderful attitude. They’ve taught us so very much about ourselves and our dog’s behavior issues. We truly appreciate and really like these guys! By the second call I had made to them, they knew my name, my dog’s name and my situation as if they had all been discussing it. I truly appreciate their help! Thanks everyone at Taurus (if you’re reading this).

Do not take your dog to Taurus Dog Training in Austin.
Dirty.
70 dogs barking in kennels stacked up like lab rat cages.
(1) 20-​minute outdoor break AM. (1) 20 – 40 minute outdoor break PM.
8 hour day in a kennel with 70 barking dogs and only the two potty breaks.
We stopped in a grassy area on the way home because she was shrieking and panting in the car. She had to pee and poop immediately.
Last $ 35 they will be getting of our money.
Did not give us a tour before we checked her in.
No streaming video so we could see what was going on.
Don’t insult me by filling out this stupid report card. Of course she was an angel, even though the environment was horrible!
Maybe you should have been «PLAYing with my dog instead of putting stickers on a stupid report card.
I feel completely guilty for not touring the back-​room facilities before leaving her there.

Clean, friendly and knowledgeable staff make this place the perfect place for me to board the apple of my eye (a young Boston Terrier) for a week or more at a time. I can call and check on him and they don’t get annoyed with all my over-​protective hyper-​vigilant «will-​he-​be-​ok» fussing.
I love the daycare option, it seems like they are really in it for the dogs. The staff knows all the dogs by name, they all looked happy when I got my tour. I like how you can bring your dogs own blanket, food and toys.
Yes, they are a bit pricey for a daycare place, but you really get what you pay for in this business. Do I want to take my dog to a mediocre place who may not keep such a close eye on him? Or will I shell out the extra $ 10 and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he will be as loved at Taurus as he is at home.

I called in early November to book boarding over Xmas for my dog, spoke to April and was told that they were full, but I would be first on the waitlist. I took my dog in for the day of evaluation that is part of the signup process.
The staff was not very friendly, and even though they schedule the review of how your dog’s first day went, noone was available when I arrived and I had to wait 15 –20 min. They rushed me through but I assumed they were just busy that day.
I called 12 days before Xmas to see if my dog was still on the waitlist, spoke to April again, and was told that now there were people ahead of us and that as it was getting closer to Xmas, I should look elsewhere.
I had heard good reviews about other Taurus locations from friends and neighbors but am NOT impressed with the McNeil location at all.

My puppy is pretty shy. With that said, he LOVES going to Taurus. His tail wags a mile a minute (yeah I know that saying doesn’t make sense, it wags FAST). He had a great time at daycare on his first day. They do ask that you come in for a trial day.
More recently I boarded him there for 4 days. I picked him up today, and I’ve been noticing the differences already! He’s been much more outgoing with people and animals. He’s just all around happier!
The only reason why it wasn’t 5 stars is that I requested a bath and nail clipping for him and they didn’t actually give him one. They didn’t charge me for it though.
Edited: they recently raised prices significantly and I can no longer afford to send my dog to Taurus. Stinks because it was great place for him, but $ 23 a day was a stretch…$ 35 a day (for daycare) is just way too much.

I needed a boarding kennel for a few nights and since I’m new to town, I asked for recs from friends and family. They raved about this place so I thought I’d try it. Nothing but the best for my beagle.
I called twice for information and, never getting a call back, I went to the place to ask for more information because I was then getting short on time to find a kennel. The staff couldn’t have been ruder, and wouldn’t preview/​evaluate any dog except for Mon/​Tue or Tue/​Wed, I don’t recall which. That info would have been very helpful to find on their website, as it was now Thursday afternoon and I needed a Friday drop off.
Needless to say I did not use them. I found another place that actually likes dogs and takes good care of mine when I have to leave town.
Maybe it’s just the staff at this location, but I couldn’t recommend any stronger to avoid Taurus Training.

The staff seem nice, but I just get the impression that the dogs don’t get any direct one on one contact (other than shampooing or being led out to play) that would benefit them during their stays. I also feel like I see a new face each time I’ve been in there, and in that respect the service has appeared less and less personal. I get the feeling that they are going the route of Austin’s Pizza and Toyota, expanding too quickly and worrying more about $$ than customers. I actually heard that the management told one of their employees to seek out professional counseling in order maintain a better attitude at work! What kind of crazy management style is that? I wouldn’t want my boss to tell me that I need to see a mental health professional. Not the most professional management style I’ve heard of. If they treat their people this way, just think about how the dogs must feel…

When we adopted our Annie (a huge sweetheart of a Golden Retriever) six months ago, she was a BIT over aggressive toward other dogs: if one looked at her wrong she was ready to throw down and kick ass. A little bit of the Deniro «you talkin’ to me?» attitude followed by teeth, claws, automatic weapons fire, etc.
Our trainer recommended Taurus so she could spend some pack time and socialize with some other fur balls, and maybe tone it down a bit.
We noticed a difference immediately– while in obedience class she was more relaxed around the other dogs although she’d still react if someone challenged her.
We kept up the weekly play dates and she got better and better. We boarded her here for 5 days in April while we were in Key West, and now she wants to play with all the other dogs as opposed to kicking the living s***t out of them.
Last night (she’s now in the ADVANCED training class) she met and trained with FIVE Pit Bulls… and got along GREAT. She was all kisses and smiles with these «dangerous breed» (my ass!) dogs and had a fantastic time. I couldn’t have pictured this 6 months ago. Pack exposure has made an amazing difference in my darling Annie.

We love Taurus … so does Austin Dog (twister) & Boy Howdy (thumper). It’s clean, friendly, organized and nicely geared towards making the humans feel good (they sent us a report card the first time they stayed for daycare … it’s all about the parents, right?). On day one they had better control over our guys (one is nervous, one a puppy jumper) than we did. They’re popular so schedule ahead especially around the holidays. To qualify for overnight, the dogs have to have a one-​day daycare test run … makes sense. woof.