Emerald Street Kennels

I had to stay in the Boise area for 5 weeks and needed a place to bring my dog for my long days. The staff at ESK was very sweet, and obviously love dogs and seem good at working with lots of different personalities. My boy can be a lil shy and sometimes needs to transition a little slower in new situations. The people that work here were amazing with him, moved at his speed, and put him in different groups depending on how he seemed to feel on each day he was there. I love that they have fenced outdoor spaces and self-serve tubs. But I loved how at home they made Huddy feel. He gained a lot of confidence coming here and I would definitely bring him again if we were in the area for any reason! Really couldn't have asked for anything better for my lil coconut head!

I did daycare for my dog at Emerald Street Kennels for only about five hours. I expressed to the receptionist and one of the gals in the back that my dog is from the Humane Society and I was extremely nervous about boarding and that my dog might need some extra gentleness. When I picked him up five hours later, he smelled horrible and was anxious. I figured that was to be somewhat expected and brought him home. His front leg was swollen and sore and he kept licking it. His fur on his belly and back legs was very sticky and matted down. And when I moved my hand over his head to grab my water, he dropped to the floor shaking and peed on the carpet. I emailed and called the owner who reassured me her workers all love dogs but that they didn’t have cameras in the private kennels. She also spoke unprofessionally about her employees, saying she doesn’t understand what went wrong with their generation to make it so they can’t speak to people. As a prior manager of a boarding kennel, I cannot imagine speaking to a customer like that about my employees. That was a week ago, and my dog who had never before displayed fear or aggression, has not gotten better. Anytime I move to pet him, he ducks his head and flattens his ears. Tonight, he attacked my other dog while we were playing in the yard. This has never happened. Both my dogs, and myself, have various wounds, some rather deep, from this fight and I’m incredibly heartbroken over how much my usually sweet and cuddly dog’s behavior has changed after boarding for only five hours with this establishment. I’ll likely be seeking training from a behavioral specialist now if this new aggression and fear continues. And also tacking on vet bills from the dog fight tonight. I do not recommend boarding your dogs here for any amount of time.

Edit: Monday Vince reached out to me. It was extremely unprofessional, telling me how much he dislikes his ex-wife who is his co-owner and telling me how crazy she is after letting him know that I had sent an email addressing my concerns and he didn’t see it. He also made a comment of oh I need to fire my receptionist also. Vince on Monday said he was going to pay for my vet bill due to their negligence. Sent him a copy of the receipts , my vet sent him the invoice. I had to reach out every day this week. Today is now Friday and he decides that he doesn’t want to pay for part of the vet bill and sends me a message. Doesn’t have a conversation. After calling their location multiple times And getting no response. I just get an email saying I’m acting like a two year-old after they’ve been jerking me around all week. I just have to say the lack of professionalism really shows. A little advice if I was, Vince is keep your personal business to yourself when dealing with customers cause nobody wants to hear about what your ex wife has excused you of. Please learn how to communicate with customers regarding their hurt and traumatized animals after staying at your facility. I just have to say how disappointed I am. I boarded my dog Odie there for a week for vacation. I pick him up the lady had a bit of an attitude cause she thought he was being pick up a day later. They bring him out to me and he is so scared, they had his harness on backwards and it was squeezing him so tight it left marks. Neither the employee who checked me out or who gave him back said anything to me about his stay. I would have like if they were honest and told me that he wasn’t doing well. After bringing him home I noticed his front paws had dried up blood and cuts on them are swollen. He is limping and cried all night in pain. I reach out during my stay to ask how he was doing, they responded “he doing wonderful here” clearly not. Lastly he smelled horrendous. I’m one who likes to reach out before posting a bad reviews and got no response from them. They were so quick to take my $400 but can’t reply after I expressed my concerns about his stay. Now I’m at the vet and have vet expenses on top of his stay.

We have never left our dog with anyone before but we couldn’t take her to Seattle for our Christmas trip. We choose Emerald Street Kennels to board her. We were hesitate of course but they have webcams and I admit I watched them more than I should have. But even our little scared Bella was nervous the entire time, they made her feel safe! They even called her “Scared Bella” when we picked her up but it’s legit. She is very timid. The owner was there when I picked her up and they couldn’t find her collar and leash at first and I promise he felt so bad. But they did find it and I would take our dog there again and again! Amazing kennel! Sorry it took such a long post to say5 stars!

Staff is great! The owner is always open to suggestions. The girl who works the front desk that owns the husky really goes out of her way to make our Puppy Ava feel comfortable and at home. They really are a staple in the animal care industry. Thank you all so much!