BlackPaw

Today was my first time at BlackPaw and I will absolutely return. I came here to self wash the 2 Giant Schnauzers that I have been watching for Thanksgiving so that they were clean when their owners returned. Staff was so nice and the facility was very very nice. I even work at a big chain pet store and thought this was much better quality. The dogs were nervous at first but the calm environment really helped them get comfortable. At checkout, the lady was very nice and one of my dogs took a bone from the shelf and didn’t want to let go. I finally got it from her and the lady actually let us keep it! That kind of customer service was top notch and makes me want to return. So great and so close!

Such a great place to get top quality, premium grade food for my furbabies. They have a lot of great toy selections that you can’t get at other larger retail stores. The staff are super friendly, knowledgeable and accommodating — so grateful for this place!

Love love this place I have a large dog where most places wont groom him They do an amazing job and he loves going We buy our food there as well and everyone is so helpful and loving

I am SO GLAD we found this place! I had stopped in once before and found the perfect winter coat for my 65 lb. pit bull mix – most places don’t carry coats large enough to fit my tender girl, so I was immediately impressed with their selection. The associate in the store also showed me a Gold Paw fleece jacket that they had on sale, which I ended up getting because the price was so good. The fleece turned out to be too large for my girl, but it was no problem to return it even though it was a sale item and I was able to exchange it for a correctly sized one (though alas, not another sale one).
We returned yesterday for our second visit to the store to get some grooming done. After an incredibly disappointing visit to the Petsmart grooming department, I decided to stop in here because it was on our way home and I recalled that they had a DIY dog bath. I am SO SO GLAD that we stopped. The staff was kind and helpful right from the start. The did a nail trimming on the spot and they allowed me to hold my dogs while they did it so it wasn’t too stressful for my two weary rescue dogs. And I was so impressed with the dog wash as well – they have the whole area gated in, so it was ideal for me as a multi-​dog owner. One of dogs was able to roam around the washroom while I washed the other, which was perfect. They have a full selection of Earth Balance shampoos and a conditioner is provided as well. They also gave me all the brushes and towels I needed, and even provided free treats to keep my girls happy while they got washed! The two associates checked on us multiple times to make sure that everything was working alright and we didn’t need any help.
I also purchased a beautiful new collar for one of my girls (they have an incredibly large and varied selection) and the store associate was kind enough to help me get her tags off of the old collar and onto the new one. For being so good, the girls got a new elk antler (their favorite chew ever) and some delicious new treats – while neither one was cheap, but the dogs love both and I was happy to find such high quality products. Nothing in the store is cheap, so if you’re looking for low cost dog supplies this probably isn’t your place. But, if like me, your dogs are your children and their health and happiness are priceless to you, make sure to check this place out for high quality products across the board and excellent customer service!
Thanks Blackpaw!

We had a slight snafu with pricing, but they were super quick to respond. The dogs looked great afterward. I am pleasantly surprised about the customer service.

Love this place. They always give my Pomeranian a great cut without fail. Staff is always friendly as well. I usually call a week or two in advance to make an appointment and have never had trouble getting her in.

waited over 2 weeks for an appointment, but waited because I heard great things about this place. Unfortunately, my GPS took me the wrong way & I was 15 minutes late. I did call to tell them, which on the phone they said not a problem. Then I get there & they wouldn’t take me. What a great way to get new customers! Will not be returning, nor recommending!

Absolutely amazing groomers! They are really experienced dog handlers and groomers. My dog loves going there. I drive from North Boulder to Louisville for Black Paw’s grooming expertise is so worth it. I have tried all the grooming options in Boulder and I am so thankful that I have found Black Paw. Thank you!!!

I am the owner of All in One Pet Services and Teak Time Pet Services. I have referred many of my clients to Bernadette Phlug for training. The results are AMAZING! She has transformed my clients dogs into off leash well behaved safe pets to care for and enjoy. We specialize in off leash dog walking adventures and with Bernadette’s assistance and training my clients are living their best doggy lives. I highly recommend Black Paw to all my clients. A well trained dog is a happy and healthy dog.
Michele VanFleet
Teak Time Pet Services
303−665-Pets

These guys are awesome! Love their facility. Friendly staff. Most are knowledgeable. Good hours. A little on the expensive side, but most products they carry are high quality & you can’t get most of the food products at big box competitor stores.
Only missing one star because they recently started taking dogs in the back for simple nail clippings. They used to do it right there in the wash room on the table, or in the back hallway. I appreciated being able to be there & keep my dog calm for them. When places change their process to go behind closed doors, it makes me suspicious about changes in quality and how they are treating my dog. They are under new management (but not new ownership) and I can’t help but wonder if this change is the result of bringing someone onboard that has less concern for hands-​on relationship management. That’s my only critique.

I’m very new to Colorado and was delighted to find such a great local dog shop so close to my home.
The store is small but jam packed full of awesomeness. They have my dogs special grain free food and even carry these handmade designer leather collars which were hard to get my hands on in California.
They only carry high quality products which I can really appreciate. I never feel like I waste my money on something that is going to break in a few weeks.
Staff has been courteous and very helpful whenever I have questions and even squeezed my dog in for grooming on a day they were fully booked. It was a great experience all in all.
Most definitely recommend this shop

What an awesome experience! I have used several do-​it-​yourself dog washes over the years and this place was the best I have been to! They have a very clean, bright and cheery, semi private area for the «do it yourselfers»! Had everything I needed to get my sheltie looking his best! His fur is SO soft and smells great! The different shampoos are actually pumped in through the water hose. Yes, there was warm water too! The staff was so friendly and helpful and checked on me a few times to see if there was anything else I needed. One other thing that really impressed me was the air quality. Seemed very well ventilated and didn’t smell like a wet dog! Fur wasn’t flying through the air either. My daughter and I have had asthma attacks at other places and had absolutely NO problems at Black Paw! I would HIGHLY recommend this facility and the price was fair at $ 15! Totally worth it!

1^st must say that I love the DIY dog bath– great for after a weekend camping sure beats trying to wash my dog in my bathroom and all the mess. (But I found another place that is only 10… so)
I have 2 dogs both are mixed I have taken them here multiple times and GAVE SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS as to HOW I WANT THE END RESULT…(and I have taken her to another «chain» groomer and was perfect spot on and took 2+ish hours to complete) 1 hr and 15 mins later get the call that she is done… get there and HUGE disappointment… nothing is done to my request and then when I asked to fix one thing OMG I got attitude??? Tried em again and STILL not happy. The other dog THEY NEVER EVER get her face right. I love to spend my money at local places and try to avoid chain stores. But I have tried to give them the benefit of the doubt countless times grooming wise and its been a eeeh multiple times :(
On the customer service note there was a time I went in there to use the DIY dog bath, went to ask for towel and the 2 ladies at the desk wouldn’t even look at me? Finally got a groomers attention and got my towel… then went to pay and the «trainer» was on the phone again would not look at me turned her back to me and walked away then another person came up to the desk and then rang up a person who came in AFTER I had been waiting 10 mins to pay. I never heard a «we will be right with you», «someone will be out to help you» NOTHING… Am I not good enough to get customer service but I am great for you to take my money??? Poor form!
As for the training, IDK I would recommend reading ALL the posts, just saying.

2012 Review #121:
Things I like about BlackPaw/​Unleashed:
Open on Sunday
Answer their phone very quickly
Do anal gland excretion for $ 10. This isn’t the cheapest I’ve heard but it’s a good price.
Things I don’t like:
Everything is pretty expensive, including treats and snacks
Nail clipping is also $ 10
So, on one account, when Dunkmaster started to smell rather… unfortunate…BlackPaw was invaluable because they took care of it on a Sunday afternoon for $ 10. If you’ve ever had a dog with this particular «issue,» you know that you would pay nearly any sum of money to make it go away.
A few months later, though, Dunkmaster really needed a nail clipping, again on a Sunday. I was really surprised to hear it was $ 10; $ 5 would have seemed very reasonable to me but $ 10 for 2 minutes of work seems sort of excessive. Additionally, they cut too deeply into one of Dunkmaster’s quicks and made him bleed. They kind of blamed it on me/​my dog/​not them, and although Dunkmaster didn’t seem hurt I thought it was a weird situation.
I browse around every time I come here but I never really see anything. I’ll definitely return if «that» situation turns up again, but for nail clipping, I’ll probably just stay at home.

Unleashed is just down the road from where we live, but that’s not the reason for why it’s so awesome! (It does contribute, of course). The retail portion of the store offers a great selection, especially for such a small space. They have great bulk treats that are extremely competitively priced (I think it’s 4.99 or 5.99 for a pound). I’m not kidding, these treats are great! They have a huge variety that you can combine so you aren’t stuck with 5 bags of different treats. They also have bulk bully sticks that are also pretty inexpensive. Our dog loves them!
We haven’t used their grooming services yet, but have repeatedly used their self-​service dog wash. This area has your choice of natural pet shampoos, raised tubs, and lots of provided grooming tools. It makes washing my dog sooooo much easier than doing it at home; too bad it’s so expensive! I wouldn’t say it’s more expensive than any other self-​service (15 $), but just more expensive than washing at home.
All in all, Unleashed has great staff who are always friendly, great retail options, and a great self-​service dog wash.

I like this little store and I try to give them most of my cat and dog related business. They have a good selection of top-​end pet foods and seem to be fairly competitive in price. They’ve hooked me up with a number of samples when trying to settle on what works best for my pets. Plus they will do you the favor of tracking the buy 10 get one free promotions of some of the food suppliers. The toy accessories, bowls, and bones are priced on the high side versus Pet Smart so there is room for improvement in that area. Since it’s a boutique store I would appreciate an effort to eliminate suppliers who manufacture or source anything from China. That’s generally not an issue with the foods, but I’d rather not see any toys or treats come from there either. I’m a religious label checker and those Made in China labels might as well read «Don’t buy Me».

I have been in here twice and experienced the same thing — poor customer service! Both times I went in and the staff did not greet me, did not greet my dog, and didn’t ask if I was needing assistance. Thanks, but I will go elsewhere.
Selection is ok, but both times I was unimpressed and left without buying anything.

I’m a big fan of high quality, grain-​free dog food & products so I checked out Unleashed after they moved next door to Smiling Moose in Louisville. They have a very large selection of dry & canned foods very neatly organized with helpful pricing charts on all of their racks. The back of the store is reserved for frozen raw food and they carry the standard selection of Nature’s Variety in various quantities. Their food prices are competitive with other specialty pet stores and so are their grooming rates.
I was also impressed with the selection of dog toys, treats, and collars/​leashes.

Got Mud?
Take your dog here to bathe him/​her YOURSELF if you’re feeling energetic or if you wanna save a dollar. Plop them in one of the cute bathtubs and they’ll supply everything you need to do the job and it’s only $ 12 a pup ($ 10/​second dog.)
Feeling Lazy?
They’ll groom your pup professionally as well ($ 25/​dogs up to 50lbs, $ 35/​dogs over 50 lbs, $ 45/​long-​haired dogs.)
Dog’s Got Issues?
There are a million options. Group classes. Private Classes. Even Behavior Counseling!
Unleashed is located just outside of Boulder so the prices are super reasonable and the owner, Bernadette is friendly and sooooo knowledgeable, you might just think she’s a dog whisperer.
Oh and they have natural food, all the toys you’d ever entertain buying, and it’s fun to take your dog here and talk to the other owners looking at the organic food or thinking about starting a group session. And the walls are so bright and cheery!
The next big thing will be the person who offers dating mixers for dog owners. DOH! Maybe I should keep that under my hat?