Unleashed

We used Unleashed to board our two pups a couple of times because the trainers we used (and loved) use the facilities at Unleashed. Our experience over Thanksgiving was extremely frustrating and the owner’s (Brigid) unprofessionalism and rudeness has chased away yet another customer (which seems to be a trend if you look at recent posts).
My initial interactions with Brigid via email were pleasant. She was accommodating and responsive. We had agreed to use one suite to board our two dogs that spend all of their time together and love each other.
Our experience with Unleashed changed when we picked the dogs up after 4 nights and our bill was almost $ 600! We did not receive an itemized receipt so I had to email Brigid to request a break-​down of the fees
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I was told that one of our dogs ruined the flooring in the suite they were in (I was told she is only the 3^rd dog to do so — we have a superdog on our hands!) so they split them up.
Because of the holidays, they didn’t have any smaller suites, hence they both had to be put in the larger suites. We were charged for the larger suites but not for the damage out of courtesy, we were told.
I would totally understand the situation if we had received a phone call to alert us about 1) the damage our dog allegedly caused or 2) that our cost at check-​out would be very high. But we did not. And I did not see the damage nor did I hear about it until I asked Brigid for the break-​down. My husband was not told that anything was amiss when we he went to pick up the dogs (and he didn’t look at the bill when he paid for it, which is a bad habit of his …)
I asked Brigid to cancel our Christmas holiday reservation. She kindly informed me that I would still have to pay the 50% fee. I agreed to that since that policy is stated on their website, but asked her how much we would owe. The amount she quoted me was $ 50 more than what I had calculated. I asked her what caused the difference and she said that was due to needing to put the two dogs in separate suites going forward (not the same one as we had planned) because of the destruction that was caused over Thanksgiving. Two smaller suites cost more than one large suite, of course. This was not communicated to us either, so had we boarded the dogs there again, we would have been surprised by yet another high bill.
I never did receive a response as to why we were not informed immediately about the destruction or the change in their boarding status. I also do not understand what the rationale is behind separating two dogs that spend all their time together outside of boarding. The only way our dog would have been destructive is if she was left in an enclosed environment for an extended period of time.
Needless to say, due to the her rudeness, lack of communicating changes which I feel were important enough to let us know about, and lack of transparency, we will never do business with Brigid again.

I have decided to take my business elsewhere for the following reasons:
1. Difficult to contact — rarely do I receive a call back
2. I provided my credit card information up front for them to keep on file but have never seen a receipt following services
3. When I picked up my dog following our first boarding experience, she had severe conjunctivitis with an eye that was practically sealed shut and green discharge. It was so bad that I took her to the emergency vet that night. I noticed she couldn’t open that eye right away when I picked her up from boarding, but the staff never said a word and never notified me of any concern. It makes me wonder how much attention and care my dog received while boarding.
4. They’ve lost some of my dog’s belongings while boarding, were difficult to contact in regards to tracking them down, then ultimately couldn’t find them and didn’t offer to replace or refund me anything from her stay.
5. Inconvenient pick up and drop off times and limited flexibility for last minute emergencies. Once I had an emergency at work and had to stay late — I asked if I could pick up my dog the next day and they were absolutely unable to accommdate that. I ended up having to inconvenience my neighbor (who isn’t a dog person) to get her but I wonder what they would have done with my dog if that wouldn’t have been possible as they did not seem to have any back up plan for situations like this.

We purchased a 10 pack of daycare sessions at the Unleashed facility for $ 310 back in February. At the time of purchase we were not told anything with regards to any expiration or limitation of use of the 10 session pack. Towards the end of February CIV was reported at multiple daycare facilities across the city. After using only 3 of the 10 sessions we discontinued bringing our dog to Unleashed to avoid exposure to CIV. As recently as the middle of August CIV was still being reported in the Chicagoland area. On Monday August 31, 2015 I browsed the Unleashed website to find any information pertaining to CIV at that particular facility as no information on the virus was ever disseminated to us. It was at this time that I noted the expiration of the daycare sessions as per the website. I promptly emailed the owner and was told that even though we held our dog back due to health concerns we would not be granted an extension on the daycare sessions. In addition, the owner told us if we were following them on facebook we would have been provided with updates (never relayed that to us before this exchange). Lastly, in the last 4 months I have called the facility over 20 times and never has anyone picked up the phone (doesn’t matter what time you call good luck getting somebody on the phone)
If you are into placing your dog in a facility that does not have your dog’s best interest or health in mind and you’re interested in working with a business that does not value customers then by all means go for it. Otherwise, Stay Away! There are many daycare facilities across the city that better align with your dogs’ needs, your budget, and need your business.

Unleashed has just opened a GROOMING department– FANTASTIC. Jessica has been our solo groomer for quite a while & we followed her to Unleashed. Could not be happier with her professionalism & perfectionist qualities. She treats our dog Debs like she would her own. She takes time to ensure a perfect cut & is very gentle so our sensitive pup doesn’t have any discomfort. Somehow, all that care & time still allows our girl to get a full groom in the time it takes for us to run our errands around town. Unleashed is very fortunate to have acquired such a conscientious, enthusiastic professional.

I agree with others in that they never answer their phones and they never get back with you. I have brought my dog here a number of times, but the last time she was there in the fall, she seemed to couldn’t wait to get out. Would not bring my dog here again.
Funny how Bridgid ONLY responded to a 5 star review and NONE of the one star reviews. Not surprised at all…

I have never tried to get ahold of another company that so routinely ignores the phone! They don’t answer it during business hours. You’re lucky if you get a call-​back. Even email is hit-​or-​miss.
The owner has been quite helpful in the past (let me board last-​minute), as well as one of the employees (who fitted my dog with a great harness). One of the employees I encountered was very rude and acted as if I was really putting her out.
I get the impression that my dog was well taken care of here. But as a customer, I can’t keep begging them to call me back.

I love Bridgid. I love Unleashed. My wife and I take out dog there twice a week and little Nina can’t wait to run upstairs to her office. Every time she comes home after being there she passes out on the floor at home. We’ve seen her behavior around other dogs improve dramatically and she is just a happier dog.
On a very human note, Bridgid and the staff are amazing and accommodating. Most importantly, they give a damn about our dog and us. Recently I was in a pinch and needed to board Nina for the night Bridgid didn’t really have space but found a way to help me out. I will never forget that.
On yet another occasion, my car battery died when I was picking up my Nina… WHY DID THEY HAVE A PORTABLE CAR BATTERY TO JUMPSTART MY CAR?! Who are these people and how did they become so great?

I have my two dogs in daycare here, and I love it! My one dog is blind and my other dog is extremely hyper. Brigid, the operator, has been wonderful with both dogs. I work in the animal care industry myself, and I’m normally extremely nervous leaving my blind dog at any facility. Thankfully, both dogs love it.
I would definitely recommend this daycare/​boarding facility to anyone looking for some extra exercise or socialization for their dog.

I have called here multiple times, sometimes more than once in a day. I leave a message and they have never returned my phone call. I have also Emailed them numerous times and they again, did not get back to me. Who would have thought it would be this hard to give someone your money?

I love this place but more importantly my dog, Layla loves it!
I bring her here once a week to run around and play with the other dogs. Its like a full day of recess for her. She is so excited everytime I take her, she pulls me all the way to the door. Sometimes, it is hard to get her to leave.
When Layla gets home she eats fast and passes out from a long day of running around. Its great excersie, great for scoailizing and a gat way to tire out your dog.
Layla is an 80 lb Rhodesian Ridgeback with lots of energy. This place is a god send. I highly recommend you check it out. The owner, Brigid, let Layla try it out for a day for free and we havent stopped going since!

Not happy with this place at all and would not recommend it. My primary issue was their pick up and drop off hours and general inaccessibility. For pick up on New Year’s day they would not allow me to get my dog until after 4 p.m. and then charged me for a day of daycare on top of it! No one informed me that they were going to do this and I had told them that it was inconvenient to come after 4 pm. There was no way I should have been charged for essentially being forced to keep my dog for a full day of daycare. I also agree with other comments that the staff seems rude and unavailable for most of the hours of the day.

DO NOT TAKE YOUR DOG HERE!!!
They have a wretched staff that has absolutely no manners and continuously fails at service. I will never take my dog here ever again even if it is within a mile of my house.
They refused to let me pick my dog up in the morning because «they weren’t staffed» which makes me wonder if anyone is watching over the dogs and then like the previous review mentioned charged an additional fee for «day care». My dog comes home anxious and full of energy which also makes me wonder if they even get exercise.

I don’t know how this place has ANY stars, or even how this place stays in business.
I bought a DealADay (just like Groupon) for $ 40 for three nights. First, when I called to find out if we could split up the nights — because the coupon does not say they have to be consecutive — the woman on the phone was straight up NASTY. But we had already bought the deal. So we sucked it up and dropped our puppy off for one night.
BEWARE — THIS PLACE DOES NOT PICK UP THE PHONE. EVER. And they SAY they’ll «Call you back within the hour» but they never called me back. I left 4 messages through this whole ordeal.
The pickup times are insane. Sunday they are open in the morning till 11. I was there at 10:50 and stood there calling and calling, ringing and ringing the bell — in tears because I was now going to miss a flight I had scheduled and my whole week is a wreck. Still nothing.
So when I came back at 4 to pick my dog up it was still a disaster! First they brought me my dog without her harness, then they had to go back for her toy I had brought with her. And she acted like I was doing her a disservice for being in her space.
I brought up the whole being there at 10:50 thing. And the lady was totally unapologetic. She copped the BIGGEST attitude and did nothing but stare at me.
We love Out You Go and other dog hotels — but we will NEVER being using Unleashed again.

I bought a YouSwoop (maybe Groupon, I don’t remember) for two nights for the price of one. Perfect! I was boarding my dog for three nights and I would have to pick up after 11:00am. Additional fee. I picked my dog up a little before 3:00pm and they charged me an extra $ 30 for four hours! And the girl at the desk couldn’t tell me the reasoning for that. If I would have known it was that much I would have waited until 7:00 to pick her up and at least I could have ran some errands. I also wasn’t pleased that it was hard to get anyone to answer the door when I rang it. I’ve brought my dog to Canine Crews many times, and I love that place. It’s much further out of the way from my house, but when you factor in the terrible traffic near Unleashed and the higher prices, I’ll gladly drive the extra miles.

We were taking our dog here per recommendation and it started as a great experience, however one day she sat outside and pulled against going in. I thought maybe it was nothing and then she did it again when my boyfriend brought her the next day. Little did I know that while we were paying for her to be in daycare supervised playing with others she was actually in a kennel for the day separated from the group. I found this out with an email a week after the fact. She also went from being friendly with other dogs to fearful, while the staff was not outright with this information I’m certain it’s because of her experience while there under the care of Unleashed staff. She will never be back and I would highly recommend taking your dog elsewhere.

I don’t really mind that much if someone who works at a place like this is curt and unpleasant (or in Unleashed’s case, REALLY unpleasant). I can deal with that. It’s that they don’t seem to like working there either, which makes me wonder how they treat your dog after you drop it off.
You get a really lame vibe from the people at Unleashed.
Go somewhere else…

I really wonder how this place gets such good ratings. The owner and staff were cold and unhelpful and I will NEVER bring my dog to them again.
When my husband and I came to pick up our dog, they treated us as if we were bothering them. Make sure you check their specific drop off and pick up times. We had arrived 4 minutes before their pick up time and the owner told us curtly that we «would just have to wait». We didn’t mind waiting, of course, but agreed there were friendlier ways to say it.
Right on the dot, we were buzzed in. The woman at the front desk was sitting there the whole time. Guess it’s just policy not to let anyone in before official opening time… even if it’s a matter of a couple minutes.
The woman at the front desk was also unfriendly. no ‘hello’ or smile. Just a «what do you want» sort of stare. A friend had dropped our dog off for us and we were a little confused when the dog was returned to us with a prong collar 2 times too large for her. It was just hanging there like bling jewelry. They had obviously mixed and matched leashes and collars and couldn’t bother to help us figure out which one was ours.
If they were such dog ppl, wouldn’t they notice that the prong collar put on was WAYYY too big for her? Shouldn’t they be concerned that she would slip out of it? They obviously don’t know our dog at all because she is a bolter (we just got her). Both owner and staff did not strike me as warm or kind people and I worry about the treatment of the dogs behind closed doors. This concern comes not just from this incident, but from stories I have heard from close friends that have overheard or witnessed harsh treatment of dogs that misbehaved. I will push them to write a review on their personal experiences with this place.

I have continued taking my dog here for the past year or so and I still feel just as comfortable and satisfied as I was in the beginning. The owner Brigid is great with dogs and they are very accomidating to my sick little dog that needs to take pills morning and night. I ask that he not play with the big dogs while he’s there and so he spends some time with some of the other little ones in the small play area downstairs. It just makes me feel better. In general, I wish the cost of boarding my dog wasn’t so expensive, but that seems to be the going rate in Chicago. This place is well worth it!

I have tried several facilities for boarding my dear Labradoodle, and none has come close to the service I expect for Dewey, EXCEPT UNLEASHED. Brigid gives unparalleled service — she obviously loves the dogs and loves her work — these dogs are given personalized service and over the top attention. This is my first review on Unilocal — I’m pretty critical of other service businesses, but I cannot say enough good things about this company!!!

LOVE em LOVE em LOVE em! I can’t say enough good things about Unleashed and the people that work there. When the school year started this year, I realized that I needed to spend more time there to get things done. Not having someone to help me out with Bailey at home every day, I looked into Unleashed. I had heard great things about them already, so I checked it out and found that the facility is HUGE and kept really clean.
Brigid and everyone there were so welcoming and willing to let my little 18lb dog try it out for a few days and see if it was a fit for him. Every time I pick him up now he is asleep in the car before we even turn the corner. He plays and plays all day long, and now looks forward to his two-​days-​a-​week visit there! I always love walking in to pick him up and hearing about all the fun he had that day. (I also love the exhausted dog I get too!)
Unleashed has been amazing and I feel very confident leaving him in their hands. All staff is helpful, friendly, very professional, and caring. I never worry about leaving him there those two days a week. He loves his new friends & playmates :)