Zen Dogs Chicago

I absolutely love Zen Dog and very much trust Cynthia with my puppy Duke. After reading many horror stories about various facilities in Chicago, I was very nervous about taking our young pup to daycare. After a few months, he is well socialized and has picked up good habits (that he definitely did not learn from me). When I pick him up from daycare Cynthia almost always has some sort of tip about dos/don’ts which is extremely helpful as a newer dogmom. Her staff is friendly, they are very accommodating if you’re running a few minutes late and Duke is so exhausted after a long day of playing with the other dogs that he gives me 100 kisses and then immediately falls asleep in the car. Cynthia doesn’t just let every dog enter daycare which I very much appreciate. She ensures that the dogs that attend aren’t toy or food aggressive which makes me feel at ease as in my research I’ve found users who’ve had their dogs harmed by others at daycare facilities. I’d recommend Zen Dog to anyone looking for a place they can trust. Looking forward to taking some additional training classes in the near future!

Love this place! Cannot say enough good things about them. I have an 8 month old puppy that is FULL of energy but is still well behaved — thanks to Zen dogs. Boudreaux literally cries on the way to doggie daycare each morning because he’s so excited. I barely have a chance to stop the car before he’s trying to bust out (thank goodness he doesn’t have the ability to open the door!!). I feel great knowing that he’s in good hands and enjoys his days there. I’ve also had a few family emergencies arise since taking him there and Cynthia and the crew are incredibly accommodating and always make sure Boo has a spot — even last minute requests. I’m pretty sure if I ever move further away from this joint I’ll have to get a car to make sure Boo doesn’t have to leave his friends :)

I absolutely would bring your dog to Zen dogs Chicago, for the best care and education your dog can get! My puppy Taco has benefited in many ways since attending, as I call it «camp». He is better trained when it comes to socializing with other dogs. He listens and responds to my voice and body language. Above all, he gets to be as playful as can be in Zen dogs lot!
Charlie and Jon are the best in the yard. They both really love and care for the dogs!

I’m a dog lover. Specifically, I love my 12 year old Miniature Pinscher and my almost 1 year old Doberman. It’s likely that I’ve had many a friend block my Facebook feed due to dog posts. I am not offended as I most likely have done the same as a result of their children posts. But I digress…
The point:
I thoroughly researched my options regarding dog training and dog boarding. There were a few specific and intimidating challenges that a trainer/​boarder needed to be able to address with my pack. Including the following:
Lucy:
1) I found out when my pup, Lucy, was 6 months old that she has severe Von Willebrand, i.e., severe doggie hemophilia. I needed a place that would put the health and well being of my dog first and that I would trust to look after her.
2) In addition to the Von Willebrand, Lucy has had other health issues that did not exactly make me a stern leader that have resulted in behavioral issues. Not aggressive issues. Just naughtiness.
3) She was incredibly submissive most likely due to her being the runt and not being strong enough to compete against her litter mates for nutrition. Resulting behavior: she wouldn’t get off my lap at the dog park prior to me taking her to Zen Dogs at six months, despite me taking her previously for 8 weeks to small group training elsewhere. I literally had to carry her out of the dog park on my hip as she was too scared to walk out on her own. At six months, people thought that this was really cute, but she was almost bigger than all the dogs at the dog park. A clear problem. I didn’t think it was cute but clearly indicated a problem.
4) She was incredibly energetic. As in, Cynthia indicated Lucy is around a 9 – 10 on the energy scale of dogs that she has known. So Lucy will run 10 miles with me and two hours later try to entice me to play.
Now, as for Demi:
1) She’s an old girl who rules the roost, Alpha at 10 lbs and completely fragile.
2) She had never been in a group boarding environment. In fact, the only time she had ever been boarded previously was with her former MinPin friend who she had known since she was 9 months old. With him, she had only been boarded in something akin to a large, private dog run (only a number of times).
I can’t tell you how happy I am with Zen Dogs. Cynthia and Charlie have been INCREDIBLY patient with Lucy. And Lucy is a handful. As in, enormous pain in the ass. In high contrast to her sitting on my lap going to the dog park, she is now a socially awkward (naughty) butterfly and downright enthusiastic about going to see her friends every morning, having found her rightful place in the puppy brigade. I can’t tell you how happy I am that she loves life. Yes, I need to learn a couple skills. But, what a long way she has come.
Demi also loves to go there. In fact, I learned that Demi is perfectly capable of holding her own, self-​regulates and enjoys herself. In the 12 years that I’ve had Demi, I’ve never come back from more than two nights away from her without a visually noticeable loss in her weight. To my amazement, I pick up a healthier and happier dog when she stays at Zen.
Thank you Zen Dogs.

My husband, myself and our pup Watson all love Zen Dogs! Our pup has proven herself to be a handful and (much to the displeasure of our neighbors) hates being left home alone and will cry and cry until somebody returns to her. After going through several daycare facilities we came across Cynthia and her team.
Unlike any of the other places that we tried out, the Zen Dogs team were willing to make room and take our furry friend in for daycare everyday without acting as if we were the worst pet parents in the world. They also offer guaranteed boarding for their daycare pups and can accommodate short notice which has come in handy on several occasions. Cynthia and her amazing team also took care of Watson for three weeks during our wedding and honeymoon without batting an eye — and we were able to enjoy ourselves knowing that our pup was in great hands!
Watson gets excited every morning when we drop her off at daycare and you can really tell that she enjoys herself — she’s become much more manageable around the house since she started attending. We are very much looking forward to some one-​on-​one training with Cynthia to see what we can do to work on the separation anxiety issues next! Given what we have seen so far I’m confident that the results will be stellar!

Zen Dogs is as good as it gets. I had a foster dog who was reactive on the leash and very strong. He would become really excited outdoors and was nearly impossible to control for the average person. Cynthia volunteered to foster him at her boarding facility; and train him to become less reactive on the leash so that we could put him up for adoption. Over the course of him boarding at Zen Dogs, I visited often to check on his progress and give him some loving.
From the first moment that Cynthia took control of his leash he was a different dog. She has the intuition and keen ability to understand exactly what this dog needed: She recommended that we stop using treats to train him because the anticipation of getting a treat made him too excited and impaired his ability to focus on training; and we had to take the prong collar off because it was making him too nervous. Very different from what other dog trainers had prescribed for him.
Cynthia worked with him and taught him how to ride alongside a bike for exercise, taught him some urban agility, and more importantly taught him how to RELAX. She and her staff (Lisa is amazing!) walked him all over busy sections of the City to get him ready for his forever home. Eventually he was able to be walked by several of Cynthia’s staff members and even by the «average person» without pulling or reacting to other dogs on the street. He is a different dog today than when Cynthia first started working with him.
To make sure that his adoption was successful, Cynthia worked with his adopter on proper handling techniques prior to being officially adopted. Cynthia trained «the human» in her neighborhood and home, on how to handle a dog recovering from leash reactivity. She did such a good job this dog is now in an adoptive home in a very busy neighborhood and is doing extraordinarily well. Cynthia’s training methods are fascinating and they work.
I would highly recommend Zen Dogs for boarding, daycare and training. I have seen it all in action on many occasions and it works.

We adopted our pup about a year and a half ago. He was an outgoing energetic little guy who ended up running our lives. We needed help. We brought him to a treat training program and while he loved all the new snacks, without the presence of food, he had no interest in listening to us at all. We explored other options and found Cynthia and Zen Dogs. What a relief. She helped us realize that it wasn’t all the pups fault that he wasn’t learning, that it was also our behavior and the things we allowed him to get away with that could make a difference. After just the first training session and with both of us learning new techniques, he showed incredible improvements. The new dominant pack leader behaviors we were demonstrating seemed to put our dominant minded pup at ease. He was ready to learn.
Today our dog is also a member of the Zen Dog pack and loves attending daycare. It is a reliable, consistent environment that Cynthia harbors and it helps to socialize dogs in a healthy way.
We are now on the hunt for our second dog and Cynthia has stepped up once again. She has personally taken time out of her weekends to join us at shelters across the city to help pick a new brother or sister for our pup. Her knowledge of both our dogs behavior and our capabilities as trainers has helped guide us in how we make our decision and we couldn’t value Cynthia’s opinion any higher.
We can’t say enough about what Zen Dogs and Cynthia did to improve our relationship with our dog. What a great find. Can’t wait to bring this second dog home so we can make him a member of the pack!

We adopted our sweet boy Knuckles one year ago. We tried having him at home with a mid day walker but he just didn’t seem to be getting all the joy in life we wanted to provide him. That was the purpose of adopting a dog. A friend told us about Zen Dogs and we decided to check it out. We brought Knuckles to meet Cynthia for an assessment. What a great place! There is a full play-​lot with chill classic rock playing and dogs in the fresh air being dogs. This is exactly what we wanted. Cynthia the owner gave us really keen insights into Knuckles behaviors and temperament which was so helpful because we were still getting to know him ourselves. We watched him play and he was so happy. We knew that this was how Knuckles should spend his days.
It’s been a year and we couldn’t be happier with our experience. Knuckles hangs out with his dog posse all day under the careful, watchful eyes of the Zen Dogs Staff. Knuckles is now on a raw diet that Cynthia recommended for some of his tummy issues. We pick up the food when we come to get him each night which is very convenient and healthy for him. The staff is really friendly and are clearly meticulously chosen. We went on some short trips out of town and we knew Knuckles would be just fine playing with his friends and having a doggy sleepover. We have done some private training and Cynthia has taken so much time to listen to all our concerns and questions (we’re first time dog parents so you can imagine we are a bit nervous) and really helped us understand more about dog behavior. Knuckles is now as relaxed at home as he is in the play-​lot with his dog friends.
Long story short, I would recommend Zen Dogs as the only place to take your dog if you want them to spend their days happy and relaxed and just being dogs. Fantastic.

During the first visit to Zen Dogs for the temperament assessment of our then, recently rescued pup, I knew this was the best daycare to send our Stanley. Cynthia’s (the owner’s) wealth of knowledge about canine behavior, and the spacious, safe play area won me over. Cynthia’s passion and advocacy for dogs really shows through in how she manages the daycare and ensures that Zen provides a positive social environment for the dogs. I was also impressed in the care she takes to help transition new dogs into the existing Zen pack. She flat out helped cultivate our crazy rescue pup into a better dog. I highly recommend Zen for daycare and boarding.

It’s time for my periodic effusion of love for Zen Dogs. Since my last update, we have added a member to our canine family with the help of Cynthia. On her own time, she scoured the internet and made multiple visits with us to area shelters to evaluate potential sister candidates for Emmett. Now we have CJ and she’s been a great addition to our family. Both dogs are now full time at day care. My husband commutes to and from the south suburbs and Cynthia and her staff are really patient with him when he is running a few minutes late to get the fur kids.
Since we’ve gotten CJ, Cynthia has been great about doing training sessions with us so we learn the individual needs of both dogs and techniques for keeping them balanced and happy. She’s never charged us for any of our follow up training sessions and is always really patient with answering questions and explaining the reasoning behind her techniques.
We also now get all of the dogs’ food through Cynthia, which is really great. Both dogs love the raw diet and the difference it’s made in their health and appearance — especially in CJ — is really remarkable.

Five stars for sure and I would give Zen a sixth if I could!
Please take note that reviews posted by actual CLIENTS of Zen Dogs have only positive comments. WE are the dog owners whose canine family members are recipients of the incomparable high quality of care offered by Cynthia and her staff. Long story short, I have a Malamute I thought I knew how to handle but whose aggressive behaviors proved differently. My pup, Jax, began with some personal training sessions with Cynthia and then entered daycare at Zen. Within six months, Jax went from having aggression issues at home and being unable to play with dogs to being a dog who can play off-​leash and who knows his place in the pack at home. Cynthia is a holistic trainer who educates and trains people as well as dogs. Jax is now also on a raw diet and he is much healthier than he was previously: a shinier coat, less waste, healthier teeth, more energetic. Zen Dogs also offers extremely reasonable prices for the quality of services. I just can’t say enough positive things!
Many many words come to mind to refute the negative reviews posted by the non-​clients. But they are obviously miserable enough if they post such reviews of a place they haven’t even experienced.

I have nothing but good things to say about Zen Dogs. We’ve tried other dog facilities and nothing comes close to Zen, especially in terms of the staff’s knowledge of dogs and their behavior.

Along with daily daycare for over a year, we’ve utilized their training services and boarding, and have been extremely pleased with everything. Our 2-​year-​old lab comes home happy and exhausted everyday, and we’ve never once worried about her.
what i love most:
–Cynthia (owner) really is a dog whisperer and all the dogs completely respect and obey her, which means the environment is calm and under control
–the dogs spend the vast majority of their time running around outdoors and not cooped up inside
–prices are very reasonable, especially considering they pick up and drop off your pet
– we’ve noticed a drastic improvement in our dog’s behavior since we became clients, and more importantly Cynthia has taught us how to be better dog owners
I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Zen to anyone.

I have never taken my dog to this place and I never will! I happend to be walking across the street from Zen dogs with my dogs a few days ago. There were a lot of dogs in the front yard and some obviously started to bark when we walked by. A woman with dark hair (not sure if she is the owner) came up to the fence and started to fiercely yell at the dogs. Then, she took two dogs in particular and started what looked like twisting their ears. It was obvious that the dogs were in pain because they were Unilocaling. I waited for a few minutes until I couldn’t watch any longer. I yelled across the street, «Is that someone’s dog?» She replied with, «No, these are my dogs,» as if that explained everything. If someone can treat her own dogs this way, I wonder how she treats the dogs she doesn’t like. I hope that everyone stays away from this place. She clearly has no idea what «zen» means!

So I have not actually taken my dog here, but was considering it and had a lot of questions.
I called Zen Dogs and no one picked up. I left a detailed message about why I was calling, specific questions about prices and availability, what size my dog was, that I wanted this, this, and this, etc. etc. — would appreciate the call back.
Truly my biggest pet peeve is when I get return calls after leaving these kinds of detailed messages where I clearly took the time to lay out a, b, and c, and on return, the person talks to me as if I left just my name and number: «Is this Jeanne? How can I help you?»
How about, «Is this Jeanne? My name is X calling from Zen Dogs, returning your call. I know you were wondering about this and this. The answers are…» Could I get some kind of acknowledgement, as if you didn’t just copy down the number at the beginning and then delete without listening to it?
I don’t know — you know should know what my questions were, and then answer them professionally, instead of making me rehash my inquiries all over again.
Others may disagree on how petty this is, but I expect more from a business, and this kind of disregard truly annoys me to the core.

No one loves dogs more than Cynthia (and Lisa too). Only place I’ve found that lets dogs play outside all day long until their hearts are content and will provide pick up and drop off at good prices!
Not sure if Unilocal deleted my other review but just in case, here’s a second one.

This place is really a find, it has no peers. Every place Ive ever looked at was extremely institutional. Rows of cells and mindless barking. Not here. I have 2 hard to manage dogs. Cynthia was intuitive and educating. When my pups do not get their Z dog fix, they are very unhappy. Thank you to Cynthia, Lisa and Sally, your quite a team :) I like «Open Play Saturday!»

I couldn’t be happier with Cynthia and Lisa and the whole Zen Dog gang. I visited other daycare/​board facilities and it seemed like the dogs were cooped up in cages much of the day. At Zen Dogs, I know my dog is spending 5 hours a day playing with his buddies in a safe, structured environment. The pack at Zen Dogs know each other well an respect each others boundaries.
Zen Dogs is different because Cynthia is always watching the dogs and training them… even when they are wrestling or swimming in the pool. She knows my dogs personality quirks and gives me actionable feedback on how to to train him.
Her pick-​up service is amazing. I know I can always text her or call her cell for any behavior related issues. I think her services are very fairly priced and I know my dog is in good company with the Zen Dog pack.

ENLIGHTENING! I have tried several shwanky daycare facilities in the area and finally found what I have been looking for: a LARGE outdoor (and indoor) facility where dogs can run around, owners who truly care about the dogs well being, FREE delivery and you can’t beat the price! I love that I can bring my dog here on Saturdays and use the outdoor park… especially since they’ve closed Bikerdike! This place is easy to get to, not overwhelmed with train noises or overcrowded with dogs and Cynthia, Lisa and Sally really are exceptional.

Your dog will love this place! You will love Cynthia, Lisa, and Sally. Our dog, Buck, goes to Zen Dogs for daycare and for boarding. I absolutely trust this place with Buck’s well being. It is so nice to go out of town and know that my dog is being well cared for. In fact, when I am out of town and start to miss Buck so much, Lisa will email me pictures of Buck playing. It’s wonderful. On top of being well taken care of, he is having the time of his life. The second I park the car out front, Buck can’t wait to get out of the car and go play with his pack. He loves Cynthia and as someone noted before, she is a real dog whisperer. She just «gets» dogs and they love her. I highly recommend Zen Dogs. It is a dog’s dream play space with lots of room to run and dogs to play with. As an owner you will have peace of mind knowing that your pup is in the best of hands.

Why hasn’t anybody reviewed Zen Dogs yet???
What can I say… Cynthia is amazing… a real dog whisperer. I was referred to Cynthia by a dog park friend, and then I by chance met her at the dog park.
I adopted my nervous cattle mix dog from PAWS a couple of years ago. She suffered from extreme separation anxiety («accidents» in the house, high pitched barking, difficult to walk on leash… you get the picture). She immediately responded to Cynthia at the dog park. After a couple of sessions with Cynthia, I could see a marked difference. Cynthia also pointed out the behaviors I was doing that reinforced my dog’s negative behaviors.
My dog now spends three days a week with Zen Dogs doggy daycare… She is happy, relaxed… My life with my dog has definitely changed for the better… Wasn’t ever sure it would be normal, and now it’s totally enjoyable.
I cannot give enough kudos to Cynthia and Zen Dogs… She works miracles, as far as I’m concerned!