Davies Dogworks

Gaye is the ABSOLUTE best person we have found to watch our two dogs. We have tried numerous others trying to find someone more local to us (We are on Bainbridge Island), and we will use her each and every time that we can, even if that means dealing with ferries to get them there. They both just adore her and don’t mind going at all. She handles them fantastically! The set up she has for her dogs is perfect, and they get so much play time. They come home thoroughly exhausted, but have so much fun. Thank you Gaye, from Bandit and Barker!

Our friends went out of the country for a year, so we became the lucky caregivers for their dog. I didn’t select Davies Dogworks, so I didn’t know anything about the owner, the setup, or the other dogs when I went. I was really quite pleasantly surprised and very impressed. The dogs have lots of clean space, clearly organized with doggie fun in mind, and choices for where to hang out and what activities to participate in. More importantly, Gaye had a great rapport with the dogs, and gave them really individualized attention catered to their needs. She also helped me out with lots of advice over the year when I would tell her I was noticing a problem or thought there might be an issue. Gaye genuinely loves the dogs in her care, and unlike one other reviewer commented, I cannot even imagine Gaye hitting a dog! I think it would really upset her, not to mention the dog. Our family is getting a dog of our own next month, and I intend to bring him or her for Gaye’s love and attention.

UPDATE: About a year ago, we adopted a second dog and Rudy also loves going to Davies Dogworks! Gaye is so observant of the dogs, she noticed on an early visit that Rudy had a urinary tract infection (blood in urine). We were able to get him on antibiotics right away because of her noticing.
Since my first review we have also boarded the dogs with her. It was so easy for us and exciting for them to go somewhere they’re familiar with, where they play all day with dogs they know, and sleep in a comfortable and familiar place at night.
I can’t say enough great things about Gaye’s professionalism and love for the dogs under her care.
10/​28/​2012
How great is it to have a small, personalized doggy daycare near our house? We found Davies Dogworks on Unilocal and were so excited to find it. We were concerned about our puppy learning to «do his business» indoors when we were trying to teach him to go outside, and none of the other daycares had a real outdoor area.
Our pup is now a little over a year and has been going here for about 6 month now. Gaye’s set up is wonderful with a tree-​shaded outdoor play area and a basement «lounge» area. The daycare is licensed, Gaye is great with the dogs, not to mention it’s incredibly reasonably priced and her hours are flexible. Gaye really goes above and beyond to make sure your pooch has a safe and fun time, including carefully screening all new dogs. We are very pleased and our dog is thrilled whenever he realizes he’s going to daycare.

When I first got my 8 week old dachshund/​boxer mix puppy from the Humane Society, I had no idea what I was in for. I called around to all of the doggie day cares in my area and got a hold of Gaye. As soon as my rescue dog, Napali, got all of her shots I brought her down for my interview. Gaye wants to make sure that only dogs that will ensure the well being of the other dogs are coming to daycare. Luckily, my nervous puppy, who at the time was terrified of stairs (?!), passed the test. While she had some nervousness issues, Gaye could tell that she was appropriate with the other dogs and was a sweetheart under her fear. She quickly got over her fear of stairs as she realized that was the pathway to go play on the cots (which is her favorite thing to do).
Gaye has helped me learn how to take care of my dog, train her, and is very aware of little behavior changes, good and bad. She always gives me a rundown of the day to let me know if anything peculiar or just plain funny happened. If I am working on a behavior change, she will help reinforce it or will give me guidance on how to handle it.
Over the past year my dog has become much more affectionate with us and Gaye. She is also great at playing with other dogs of all sizes, which I know she learned how to do at Gaye’s. I take Pali there about twice a week and Pali is always so excited to go and sad to leave. We have also boarded her there many times as it is Napali’s second home with all of her friends, especially Gaye.

Davies Dogworks has been a lifesaver for me and my dog! I have a 1 year old pug/​mix who is full of energy and when it came to me leaving him for the weekend for the first time, I was really nervous. Just like most pet owners, my first concern about leaving my dog was his safety. My dog is extremely playful and I needed to find a place where I knew the dogs would be supervised, just incase another dog was less excited about wrestling around. I was so happy to find Davies Dogworks because unlike many other kennels, Gaye is there through the night. The facility is really great for smaller dogs and the fences made me feel reassured, as my dog has quite the vertical leap. My favorite thing about Davies Dogworks is that they worked with me to understand the kind of obedience training I use with my dog. Gaye was more then accommodating learning how to use our vibrating collar so that my puppy would be well behaved and again, safe. It is also very clear from the dogs behavior that they view Gaye as the «alpha» and listen to her. This women knows her obedience training. Again this was a sign to me that my dog would be safe in her care simply because all of the other dogs were so well behaved with her. Additionally, we used Davies for the 4^th of July because we knew that it can be scary for dogs to be alone during fireworks. The level of care for all of those dogs in what is an extremely stressful situation for them to be in was wonderful. It is amazing to me how much devotion this woman has for the dogs under her care. From the young and restless like my puppy, to the very old and tired, Gaye treats all of her dogs wonderfully and makes sure that everyones needs are met. I will absolutely use Davies Dogworks again, and if my human review is not telling enough of her services know this, the second time we dropped him off knowing that we were going to leave him, my overly attached rescue puppy ran to the gate and wagged his tail waiting to get in.

I have used the boarding and day services of Davies Dogworks for the past three years. The support that I have recieved from the owner of this business, Gaye Davies, towards raising our dog, and assisting us with training advice has been invaluable. I am grateful to have this service locally, and in a small, user-​friendly style. I can offer only the highest recommendation for this service-​oriented business.
Gaye is committed to running an excellent facility. She is oriented towards each dogs needs, and personality, as well as the way the group of dogs interacts as a whole in the day-​care setting. She welcomes each dog for a trial visit before they become part ‘of the day-​care family’ to make sure that they will fit in well, and not pose a hazard to the other dogs. The facility is good and very clean, perfect for a small group of dogs, with adequate outdoor space for exercise. If you have the opportunity to use Gaye’s services, you will not be disappointed.

Gaye Davies continues to take wonderful care of our pups! They are still going there every other week. They were going every week until I lost my job, but still, she provides such a valuable experience that there’s no way Mack and Trixie could go without. Trixie, our nervous little terrier mix, did a complete turnaround in her behavior at daycare, thanks to Gaye’s patience and loving direction. I swear both of our dogs KNOW when Friday comes along and are eager as heck to go play at Gaye’s!
The happiness, well-​being and safety of all of the dogs in Gaye’s care is paramount. I’ve watched her assess prospective dogs to see how they play and interact with others and will decline the business if the dog fails in social skills or behavior. This is often due to the dog requiring more one-​on-​one training and supervised interaction than regular daycare allows. Gaye will do gentle correction — usually for barking and marking — but NEVER hits or mistreats a dog for «bad» behavior. She’s like a dog psychologist and outside of her business has worked to rehabilitate dogs with behavioral problems. Even as a layperson, I know punitive treatment makes a dog worse and Gaye is all about helping dogs to be their best, no matter what breed, age, or wretched past they may have come from. We trust her completely every time we drop off our precious pups. We don’t even have a chance to say goodbye because they immediately take off to go play.
Recently I noticed a couple of people giving Davies Dogworks a poor or so-​so review. I’d venture to say neither of them has posted as many Unilocal reviews and is so singularly focused on animal care reviews as I. Most of my bad reviews are about poor treatment at veterinary clinics because I feel it’s important to let other pet owners know about the bad apples out there. Though I tend to be a complainer, I realize it’s just as important to highlight the people and businesses that meet and surpass my expectations. I’m happy to say Davies Dogworks is one of them.

I moved here 2 years ago and before I even arrived in Seattle I spoke to several doggie day care providers. I was concerned because my dog had a history of abuse in his past, so when I adopted him he had very little if any interaction with other dogs. Over the years he got better, but he is still very particular about who he trusts and he needs to be in an environment where he feels safe. He does better with less dogs and someone who will give him some extra TLC. After visiting several day care providers after we arrived in town we knew right away that Davies Dogworks was for us. Now his is absolutely thrilled to go every morning, he happily runs up to the door and waits for Gaye to come out. He is so excited to be there and to see her it always makes me feel good when I leave him for the day.
After reading some of these reviews I have to address a couple things that were brought up. First, Gaye has NEVER hit the dogs in front of me, and I know she NEVER would. Gaye has a long track record of helping sick and abused dogs, there is no way she would ever do that. I also know because my dog is hypersensitive to people and if Gaye was hitting him he would never voluntarily go there. The fact that he loves her and is excited to be with her lets me know that he trusts her and that she is good to him. Second, the place is very clean. I have walked down into the dog area without any prior warning because Gaye would have something to show me and it was always very clean. My dog is also very clean every time he leaves and never has hair on him, etc. I have left him for a week and he she has even cut his nails because she saw they were long and I gave her my permission.
I am very particular about where I leave my dog because of his upbringing, and I couldn’t be happier with Davies Dogworks. To me it is like I drop my dog off at his second home each morning. He has a feeding routine, he sniffs the same plants and happily plays with his friends. He has blossomed since he started going and that is in a large part to Gaye and how wonderful she is with the dogs. I am so happy to have a place I know that is safe, clean and fun for my dog to stay when I am at work or on a trip. FIVE STARS!

I’ve been taking my pup Oscar to Davies Dogworks for over a year now and am absolutely thrilled with the care and attention he receives. It’s a very clean and inviting facility and Gaye, the owner, has a true passion for the «kids» she cares for. Hands down the best doggie daycare around!

This is review is not of the actual daycare or boarding stay, but of my first meet and greet with Davies Dogworks (prior to actual daycare).
I have to say that the property is nice, surrounded by beautiful trees and dogs can hang out inside and outside. I can see that dogs can have a very nice time there so I would recommend people go and check out for themselves but my own experience was highly negative.
This is my first experience with private daycare, so far my dog was going to commercial daycare and boarding places. During the conversation at Davies Dogworks I asked if the place is being cleaned, meaning to understand more about their cleaning process, and oh boy I got in trouble by this simple question. I assume the owner has a good cleaning protocol because it looked clean and well taken care of. However I like to know details as I am extremely detail oriented. The owner told me my question was rude, and she felt insulted by what I asked etc. She asked if I wouldn’t be insulted if someone ask if I clean my house or not. I probably would but we are talking about finding more information about the place where my dog was going to spend entire day, the dog daycare and boarding facility. They have blankets and throws and knowing about cleaning protocol is the right of the customer, if I am to pay. Owner should be ready to answer uncomfortable questions and not get all fired up. I am not their friend, guest, I am customer who came to inquire about service. I asked many uncomfortable questions in few places my dog was boarded or daycare and no one ever was insulted and especially calling my question rude or unacceptable. I felt I was calked a rude person for trying to find our more information. I had other questions in mind to ask but with this reaction I just didn’t feel it. I was really so upset and disappointed as a customer that I was treated this way when I drive all the way to inquire about the place. I honestly was so shocked by her reaction that I was speechless.
With all that said I still think facility is nice, it looked clean and well organized but my experience (miscommunication or not) was really negative and I left feeling really sad and disappointed that I was treated like this.
However I would like to be objective and assume it will work for many people. I think the owner has everything under control and has a good thing going on but I just can’t give any other rating for what I experienced. Hope it works for others.

My trips out of town are always so bittersweet. Love to travel. Hate leaving my dog behind. Last week I finally went on a trip without a cloud of dog worry hindering me. Gaye is a complete gem! She made us feel so taken care of. The pooch was comfortable, perfect set up for dogs (even squirrel visitors in the yard to chase). I got an email and text letting me know how she was doing. Perfect customer service!

Gaye Davies is the only person I will ever trust to take care of my dogs! My wife and I have two labradoodles and we were leaving for Hawaii for 8 days. I was nervous about finding someone to watch our boys and give them the same love and affection they would get at home.
I found Gaye’s website and set up a time to tour her boarding facility (her home). She has created a dog area in her basement consisting of couches, chairs, dog beds, crates and baskets full of dog toys. Her basement door opens directly into a big fenced yard that is great for play time. She prefers to use the crates only for feeding times and allow the dogs to sleep freely in the room unless the dog (or owner) is more comfortable with crating at night.
While we were gone she spent countless hours playing with our boys. They had stopped wanting to eat the food we had brought for them (separation anxiety) so Gaye personally cooked meals for them to make sure they were comfortable. She was also perfectly fine with me calling often to check up to see how they were doing. When we picked up our dogs after our trip, they were excited to see us but they wouldn’t stop going back to Gaye to lick her face.
Gaye has been a dog trainer for many years and is also certified in dog first aid and CPR (I didn’t even know that existed but I was impressed). Her prices are very reasonable. Anybody who considers their dogs to be true family members should contact her for their next trip.
Thank you Gaye!