Springbank Pet Resort

I wish I had taken before and after photos of our dogs as proof of neglect! We now call this Springbank Pet Prison and Guantanamo Pet Prison. They don’t even deserve a single star!
We boarded 2 Westies for 11 nights, we pre-​toured the facility and liked what we saw. I filled in the online profiles and sent a follow up email, and gave specific directions on check-​in. It’s clear to us that none of this was followed.
Charlie: we were told he hardly barked, yet even 4 days after coming home, his voice is still raspy. He had yellow pee stains on his shoulders and reeked of urine! On the bright side he’s still his usual self.
Toby: we were told he ate 100% of his meals and had 100% normal poops. On pick-​up his entire bum was wet and color stained. His ears and tail were tucked down and he wouldn’t make eye contact with us. Turns out he stopped eating on Day 9 and vomited 8 times on Day 10. They did not call our vet, which we requested for ANY medical issues, and they left a message on the 5^th of 5 contact numbers we provided. He was seen by their vet and given a very strong anti-​nausea and an ulcer prevention drug and then was sent back to his cage. We asked prior to them closing to pick them up after hours when our flight landed, since he was sick and we were refused. They said they would email us the records and only sent the invoice, not the copy of the $ 115 treatments they billed. Within 30mins of getting home he was having diarrhea, an hour after that I realised it was bloody and kept getting worse. He was so tired he could hardly walk and refused all food/​water. We went to the CARE Center and after 6 hours and $ 500 he was diagnosed with stress colitis (HGE
) and a possible parasite. He is now on an Antibiotic, Dewormer, Antacid, Probiotic and special bland diet. I had to make him diapers because he was oozing blood for 2 days! Finally after a total of 4.5 days he ate 1 tsp of food and now today has had a total of 6 tbsp. His diarrhea stopped but now hasn’t pooped in 1.5 days. He normally weighs 20lbs and has lost 2 lbs in 4 days.
We now have follow-​up tomorrow with our normal vet and when he is done all his meds after 10 days, he will need more blood work and a fecal test.
The vet at the CARE Center said the 2 drugs used were lazy and ‘old school’ with very little research or evidence to support their use. He felt that they gave him a high dose of a general anti-​nausea instead of figuring our why he was sick in the first place. He also agreed that it was irresponsible of them to force the dogs to stay in care for 12 more hours just because their usual closing time is 6pm. That rule may be in place for general pick-​ups, but not a clearly ill dog.
I emailed SPR Saturday and got a call from a trainer Sunday. She still claimed he had 100% normal poops even when i said his bum was wet and the white fur was stained yellow/​brown. Jessica had the nerve to offer us a week of free day care to help with his meds and new food routine! I explained why this would not happen and requested the vet records be emailed and explained that I wanted a call from the vet and a manager Monday. It’s now 8pm on Tuesday and we haven’t heard back from them.
The amount of stress that this caused our dog is heart breaking. I truly hope my Toby comes back to normal but I am worried we will never even get him to daycare again!
After a scheduled $ 920 stay and currently $ 650 in vet fees, which will still go, I feel very strongly that they are responsible for these costs. We dropped off a completely healthy, lively dog and brought home a dog that we honestly thought was dying. Had they been paying more attention or actually followed our instructions, this could have been avoided.
I truly hope that no one else ever has to go through the stress that we have experienced these last 5 days!

I loved the Springbank Pet Hospital. I even liked the staff at their Resort What I did not like is the condition of my dog when I received him back. I brought my Chi-​pin to their resort bathed, clean, and in good health. What i received:
sores just below his nose, sores on his ear tips, nervous, not the vibrant personality I left with them. It’ll take him about a week to get past whatever he went through but I guarantee it won’t happen again.
Their Receptionist Debra was less than professional and should pay more attention to how she speaks to customers. I was treated when I came in not knowing about their rule for paying with a credit card.(If i knew that I would have prepaid for my dog’s stay) I don’t like Debra telling me to watch how i speak to her as if I snapped at her when I did nothing to deserve her behavior towards me. If you have a good relationship with your pet, have relatives that could watch them while you’re gone, please do that before you take them to the resort.
The handlers and care staff were nice but their front office person really needs to get some training and learn this isn’t a warehouse mentality, I am not a warehouse worker, I’m a customer. I was told they put one of their own dogs in with mine into his crate to see if that was comforting, I don’t like that idea, I don’t know their dog.
I called to complain about Debra, and i received excuses back from their upper management. They offered some compensation in the form of daycare but I would not take my dog there again. I was highly disappointed in that portion of Springbank.
I was appalled that Debra can speak to customers any way she chooses and not be reprimanded for that ridiculous behavior. I will not even now go to the hospital as to avoid her again. I’m sorry it had to be that way. It’s my opinion and I’ll not retract it

This place rocks! I’ve been taking my dogs here for years and they LOVE IT! I only have to say the word daycare and they won’t shut up until i drop them off. That shows me they have a great time there! I live in the city but if springbank was on my way to work they would be there every day. The staff is also great :) thanks guys for taking such good care of my babes.

Terrible experience for our little pup. They are basically in cages the entire time they are at this ‘resort’ and I think Springbank Pet Jail would be a better name. Yes, you can ‘buy’ time for socialization with other dogs… even if you buy as much as you can… it works out to 3 hours over a 24 hour period. The rest of the time… cage.
Our dog hasn’t been the same since we took him there. I had to physically pry him out from under our vehicle and peel him off me and hand him to the ‘caregiver’. When we picked him up he was absolutely frantic. I had a bad feeling about this place from the start and I wish I had never taken him back.
It might be OK for cats who are more solitary.
With all the staff they have at that place — there is no reason they shouldn’t have the dogs outside playing and interacting the whole day.

Whenever we are lucky enough to get away for a few days, we of course put our pets up in the Springbank Pet Resort! Just outside of Calgary on the way to the mountains, which is usually where we are headed, it’s a pretty convenient spot.
Both the dog and cat have been to Springbank, and seemed to be loving it when we picked them up. The building is quite big, big outdoor play space for the dogs, and very nice when you walk in the front door. Very nice layout, much nicer than expected. Staff there is very nice.
We first took our cat in, and they let us come up to the cat room and see where he would be staying. Decent «houses» for the cats. Multi layer for a place to jump and sleep, and a hole in the wall leading through to another side where the litter box is. Now, my cat is a bit larger than the average cat. Think Garfield, minus eating only lasagne. He was a bit big for their average cat rooms, so they gave him his own space in a dog crate! He has been on a diet since. When we arrived to pick him up, we went into the cat room, and he was laying out on a carpet covered stoop taking in some sun by the window. There were other cats out in the room too. To our suprise he got along with other cats and had made some friends there!
When you check in, the front desk staff radios the dog staff and they come out and meet you in the parking lot. They do not let people into the kennel area because it would just wind up the dogs in there. Harley is always happy to go with the staff there, as he knows how much fun he has! Springbank is also a daily dog daycare so they have the option to have your dog take a full day or half day of daycare in the play area while being kennelled. We always do some daycare time for him while he is there.
Of course he is always happy to see us when we come pick him up and go home, but he is always exhausted and seems to have had a great time.
Always trust a dogs intuition, and by his reaction by going to Springbank, I would say it is a pretty good place!
We were also told that they are expanding their facilities and outdoor play space in the near future.

I had an emergency with my cat Thor. I moved to Calgary with the agreement that I could have him in my rental. Shortly after I got here the landlord changed his mind. Thor is like a child to me so I called every kennel in Calgary. This place was the only place who understood my circumstances and helped me out right away. I am so thankful for them and helping me find a place for him to stay until I found a pet friendly place to live.