The Barking Lot

I wonder if The Barking Lot has had a decline in quality, as older reviews are so glowing but newer experiences seem to be sorely lacking. I left my dogs with them for an overnight stay when I was out of town. On the plus side, it was fairly easy to send them vet records and get a reservation. Staff members are friendly. I did notice that their website has a whole lot of rules that they «relaxed» for me, including the behavior evaluation, the 6 month fecal float and the drop off time… in retrospect, it should have been a warning sign.
The website bills The Barking Lot as «an alternative to an average kennel» where daycare is included in boarding costs. Dogs are alleged to only be in their «private rooms» during the day for nap time between 12 – 12:30. However, I returned early from my trip and after multiple unanswered calls, I went to the facility around 2:30 pm to find it completely locked down with no one present. Looking through a side window, I could see the dogs closed in their kennels. Some were sitting in urine. There were no toys visible. When I was finally able to get through to the owner, she claimed that the facility «closes down from 2 to 5» and had to get someone to come out especially to open up and give us our dogs back. My older dog had a urine stain on her side, and she has AMAZING bladder control. From their behavior (hyper!) I doubt they had been out of the kennel much that day, if at all.
A friend of mine has also recently had the experience of her dog appearing to be kenneled for much of its time there. With all of this, I caution any prospective customers to research fully and ask many questions before deciding to use The Barking Lot.

Our beagle (Lady) loved The Barking Lot. She attended daycare 5 days a week and would be boarded here whenever we went out of town. Meg and her staff are terrific and very professional. You can tell they really love all the dogs and make sure the play environment is safe and clean. Even when we moved to the shoreline area, we’d still try and bring Lady to Barking Lot on Fridays because she (and we) loved it so much. I always knew Lady was safe and happy when she was there.
Though Lady no longer attends daycare at The Barking Lot (new baby = no more free time to drive to Hamden), we highly recommend it to all our friends looking for a daycare/​boarding facility closer to the New Haven/​Hamden area.

We bring our puppy to The Barking Lot about twice a week, and we are very impressed! The staff (Meg and Emma) know our little guy by name and always greet him with pets and a treat when he walks in the door.
Little Everest cannot WAIT to go to day care and as soon as he knows that’s where he’s going he gets so excited and starts wiggling all over. But the best part is how relaxed and obedient Everest is when he gets home. He actually seems smarter when he comes home from day care. He jumps into the car and sits politely while I drive us home, curls up on his bed, and watches me make dinner. No jumping all around me, nipping my shoes, or other classic pay-​attention-​to-​me Everest behavior.
Also, before The Barking Lot Everest used to bark at other dogs while we were walking because he was so anxious to play. Now he’s got great doggie manners and waits politely to be sniffed before reciprocating!
It makes me so happy that I can give my dog the mental and physical stimulation that he needs while I’m at work. Like most dog owners, I have learned to trust my dog and his love for Meg, Emma, and The Barking Lot makes me very comfortable about leaving him there.

I will preface my review by saying I understand the owner’s contract but I feel there is customer service that should be practiced above and beyond that if you are a good business owner. I picked my dog, Tyler, up last week and when I got home and discovered that he was in pain and couldn’t sit and had trouble lying down. I also found an open wound that had been bleeding. I was very upset that no one had pointed this out to me so I could contact my vet immediately. I left a message on the answering machine at the daycare that evening and my call was never returned. I called the following Monday (4 days later) and was told by an employee that the owner was out sick and that she, the employee, had not played through the messages. As our conversation continued, I learned that there were times when my dog had been unsupervised while they were elsewhere in the facility cleaning. As I tried to figure out if anyone knew what happened, she said that no one had seen anything. When I went to the facility to ask for a refund (non-​refundable and non-​transferrable), the owner made zero acknowledgement of my concern and instead offered to extend the time for me to be able to use my remaining two visits «when Tyler comes back». Really?
A simple phone call to address my concerns about Tyler and to restate their contract would have been the right thing to do.

I have had a truly fantastic experience at The Barking Lot and now that I am moving away from New Haven CT, I am realizing just how unique and special The Barking Lot is. My dog Tarzan has been here many times for doggie daycare and for boarding. He always bounds from the car to get in and he always comes out happy and covered in dog slobber (which is a good thing in my mind because I know he’s had a fun day of wrestling and play). The things I value most about TBL are 1) Meg’s pre-​screening of dogs to make sure that it’s a safe and fun place for my dog and 2) their requirement that shots and vet visits be up to date. I have had a couple of scary experiences at a local dog park with aggressive dogs, but because of Meg’s careful temperament assessment, I have no concern that Tarzan is guaranteed a safe day of play. I was inspired to write a review because as I look for places in the Boston area, I am hard pressed to find a place near the caliber of The Barking Lot. I also love that there is an indoor and outdoor play area, and for my lab especially, the kiddie pools and water make for a great treat in the summer. I am sad not to be able to continue to bring Tarzan to TBL, but I hope this review encourages others to bring their dogs there!

Of course the dog likes it here but I question the cleanliness of the place.
Every time I pick up my dog he’s covered in urine. It’s quite expensive to leave a pet here and to have them reeking like urine is just unacceptable.
I’ve brought him to other daycares and he’s never left smelling.
It’s upsetting.

Brought our dog Monty here for 3 days and he loved it! We use to go to another place closer to our house but we felt really uncomfortable and it didnt feel right. Im glad that we found this place! Everyone here is so friendly and they love my dog just as much as I do. I wouldn’t dare going anywhere else!

Bad Experience, VERY bad experience. I do not recommend the Barking Lot in Hamden.

I wish I could give an even higher rating. I initially brought my dog to The Barking Lot as a matter of convenience as it was on my way to work. Well, I moved and tried another area dog day care that was on the way to work as well. After one day, I decided to add about 40 minutes to my daily commute to bring my dog back to Meg and her amazing staff. First, they are thorough with their evaluations. This is really important! Second, they get to know each dog, its personality, its NAME and always have a story about some silly thing your dog did that day. Third, in addition to getting to know each dog’s personality, they also work with them with any behavioral issues that may arise. My dog, for instance, used to be very reactive to dogs that would bark at him, especially the smaller breeds. He’s now socially mature, well-​mannered when meeting new dogs and easily falls into a pack (which is amazing to watch when you have friends that have dogs). In short, he’s learned how to be a dog. I would highly recommend The Barking Lot to anybody and wish all dog day care establishments held themselves to the same standard.

I really can’t say enough about how great this place is.
I live alone and I have a one year old dalmatian, Rufio, that I sometimes need to board. The Barking Lot is the best place to leave him in the greater New Haven area, hands down. Rufio had to have an extensive report from the veterinarian and pass a temperament test with the other dogs before he was allowed in. That made me feel comfortable leaving him with the other dogs there.
Every time I drive up to The Barking Lot, Rufio cannot wait to go in. He gets excited as soon as he realizes where we’re going. He obviously loves the staff, as he goes running up to them every time we enter the building.
And let’s talk about the building. It’s spacious, and it looks like a pre-​school. I’m not kidding. It’s got different rooms that are painted in bright colors, and it even has a playground with slides and a jungle gym. This place is ultra-​cute.
Lastly, the price is pretty reasonable. I’ve lived in San Diego and in New York, and the prices there were higher, but the quality was lower. I feel pretty lucky to have found this place.
I highly, highly recommend The Barking Lot for your dog. It’s a short drive out of New Haven (in Hamden), but it is totally worth it. It’s the best thing you’ll find.