Ruffin’ It Resort

I used the place for 12+ weeks for my dogs playgroup Saturday. Was good… until last week.
They do the playgroups every saturday, provide nice coffee + donuts.
I moved over to them from Taby and Jack’s which is very good but far from my new house.
Out of 12+ weeks I went there, I and my dog had a good time,
I was expecting the same last saturday but was just the opposite.
There was a new lady managing the playgroup and she wanted to bring some new rules, such as «dog owners always watch dogs», which I usually do, except when I have to step out into their hallway to grab a coffee.
When I took off a few seconds and came back, this lady (she calls herself management) was standing there staring at me, and she almost shouted saying I needed to stay with the dog. I understood she is having a bad day, but decided to be compliant.
My dog is a teddy bear pup named buttercup, he is 16lb does not hurt anyone (or cannot). But he loves to mingle. He was trying to get on top of another dog, owned by a pregnant woman (and I am asian Indian male) — just get on top, not for any other intentions. Usually, in such cases the people around (especially managers) gently pull the mounting dog so nobody is annoyed. And I always encourage them to do so.
However, this person, who, for some reason (which I do not understand even now), was already annoyed with me, says to me, «you need to keep your dog under control otherwise he needs to be on leach». This is the very first time my dog, out of 3 years he has been with us, received such a comment. Puzzled, I asked her, why? isn’t this what many dogs do? (In fact there was another small dog always trying to mount my dog)? At this point, she escalated the altercation towards asking me to leave. She even offered me full refund, after I reminded that my dog is not violent to demand such an action and, also I earned the right to be there.
The only reason she gave me was she wants to give the pregnant customer’s dog a pleasant time. Which, I totally agree, but not by evicting a compliant customer like me!
I decided to exercise my right to be there, rest of the hour and I stayed there with my dog. I made sure he does not mount the pregnant woman’s dog. I in fact told that woman that she can feel free to let me know if there is a problem (and she was not really complaining to my knowledge)
My dog has been there 12 weeks and has never been perceived as someone who needs a leach.
And I never received such an invitation to leave the place for such compliant behavior.
I am Mano Mohanram and can be reached at 608 886 7682, to validate the details.
I intend to visit this place one more time test if this was a one-​time thing, or if I need to need to take this legal.
I was going to recommend this place, and also possibly hire them to board my dog this summer, but it may not happen due to last Saturday.
I do not want people to like or appreciate me, but they had no right to ask me to leave.

This is long overdue. My wife and I had a terrible experience at a different boarding facility for our dog, so I was hesitant when she wanted to bring our dog here while we were on our week-​long honeymoon. To say that this place exceeded our expectations is downplaying it. They truly treated our dog like a queen (and she got used to it).
The welcoming process went smoothly. Since she was switching rooms the last couple nights of her stay, they showed us where she would be sleeping. We told them about her arthritis and they provided her with not one, but two plush beds to sleep on and a rug in her kennel so she wouldn’t slip and fall trying to get her balance. We got a chance to see her in the webcam while we were in Hawaii and my wife was so happy to see how our dog was being treated and making friends.
When we picked her up and took her home, you can tell she had an amazing stay. She was very energetic so my wife played with her for a while in the backyard. She even had a glowing report card. I can’t express how much we appreciate this place and how they treated our girl.

What a complete difference from our first experience with a different boarding facility!
We were dreading leaving our dog behind while we went on our honeymoon because she’s old and sick. She’s got her share of medical problems, so we were weary about leaving her again. After many of my friends shared their experiences with Ruffin’ It Resort, we thought we’d forget the past and give this place a chance.
As soon as we entered the place, we were all greeted cheerfully by staff. My husband and I immediately felt a sense of peace. They took the time to listen to our concerns and show us around, even assuring us that she would be given a plush bed to help her arthritis. While we were gone, we were able to catch her on the webcam roaming around and seemingly enjoying herself.
The biggest surprise was when we picked her up. As soon as I brought her home, she was full of energy and didn’t seem as weak as usual. You could tell she was genuinely loved and cared for by the staff. Her report card for her hotel stay even made us smile.
This will definitely be the only place she will be staying at in the future, whether overnight or in daycare. Thanks for taking care of our baby!

My husband and I adopted our very first dog about a month and a half before we brought her to Ruffin’ It for a playgroup. We had taken her to various dog parks and while she had a lot of fun and never physically attacked any dogs, we were concerned that she barked very aggressively and seemed toy possessive. None of the owners at the dog park seemed concerned about it (she’s half lab, half beagle so she has a very loud «hound» bark) and had been very reassuring, but we wanted an expert’s opinion just in case. That’s what led us to Ruffin’ It.
When we arrived at the play group there were two other dogs there. Our dog picked one to play with and left the other, more skittish dog alone. Our dog did bark and tried to get the other dog to run around with her. We played a bit with the toys. So far, so good.
The problems started when the play group supervisor showed up 10 minutes after the session began. My husband and I told her that our dog was newer and that we weren’t sure if it was a problem but she seemed a bit bark-​y and toy possessive. The supervisor said «Well we have toys at this play group so it’s probably not the group for you.» Then she led our dog out of the group.
At no point did she observe the behaviors we had just spoken of. She literally showed up, we asked a question, and she led us out. My husband and I just stood there dumbfounded for a moment then followed her out.
She did not offer any advice. When we prodded her for some she said to find a group with no toys (but couldn’t tell us the name of any such group). Then we asked about how to correct the behavior and she handed us a card for a behaviorist. When we asked about how the behaviorist worked she couldn’t tell us anything. Anything. At all.
When we got outside we found the skittish dog from the group and her owner. The owner told us she had left because she had seen a dog who had twice bitten her dog entering the play group (and it seems weird to me that we had to leave because of potential behavior issues but they let in a dog who they know bites other dogs). We told her what happened to us and she asked if they had given us our money back, which is when we realized they hadn’t.
I realize it’s only $ 4, but seriously? You show up 10 minutes late to the group, escort us out immediately just because we mentioned that there might be a behavior issue, and then keep our money? And I mean I didn’t expect her to sit with us and train our dog, but we were hoping that as an «expert» she would at least observe the behavior for a moment and offer some kind of actual advice.
I didn’t get the impression at all that the supervisor was interested in her job.
We were originally going to use this place as daycare twice a week for our dog because it’s only a block from our house. Now though I’ll be driving 20 minutes out of my way take my dog to a day care that cares about my dog and her issues.

I have always been nothing but impressed with Ruffin’ It Resort. We have a very timid vizsla who needs daycare regularly to keep socialized. She is a very high-​energy dog and we always know she will be exhausted after a day at Ruffin’ It! Not only is it great for socialization, but it helps with the winter blues when it is hard to get your dog proper exercise. After 5 years of sending her to Ruffin’ It, we are firm believers!
The staff is nothing short of wonderful, calling all «regular» pups by name. They really do pay close attention to the needs of every dog while they are in their care. They’ve given my dog a jacket to wear on cold days (when I should have been more prepared) and they always give you a great «report card» as a recap of the day. I would recommend Ruffin’ It to anyone and always do when talking with friends.

After having a last minute trip come up I decided to visit the Ruffin it resort to see if I could board my small dog for the 5 days I was away.
I asked about the availability of the bungalow ‘room’ but they were full so it would have to be the next grade up at $ 5 a night more. I thought this was fine until I viewed the rooms and the only difference was that it had access to a patio, which would be sealed off due to the cold weather. Turns out that means there is no difference in the rooms at all.
Due to lack of other options, I booked my dog in.
When I booked her in I paid the $ 14 charge for 3 check in emails. For somewhere that claims to treat your animal like their own, it surprised me as most boarding places that I have been to, tend to just send pics without a fee to put the owners mind at ease anyway.
The check ins that I got were ridiculous. What I expected as a concerned pet owner was a rundown of what my dog has been doing, has she been eating properly, going to the bathroom regularly, playing with other dogs well etc. What it turned out to be was a careless, blurry photo with an email written from the perspective of my dog that sounded like an advert for the resort.
e.g. ‘I miss you so much but I’m having a fabulous time at the Ruffin It resort, It feels like a home away from home. I love my spacious rooms and all of the staff are so wonderful, I’m so glad you booked me in here.‘
Really? That’s what I get for $ 14. Such a joke.
When I picked her up I was happy that she was in one piece however she had a scrap of fabric tied around her neck as a cute gimmick whilst her harness was on the wrong way so it was far too tight, her flesh was bulging around it and she looked very uncomfortable — they also had not attached the leash properly even though I’d told them she was a bolting risk so checking that kind of thing is essential.
Overall — far too many gimmicks and not enough care.
They also charged me much more than their online pricing.

For the last seven months I’ve been bringing my miniature pinscher to the weekly one-​hour playtime. They earn two stars for helping her become more social. But, we will no longer be going and I will not continue to recommend their one-​hour playtime to my neighbors and colleagues.
My dog is high-​energy, independent, and very inquisitive. She usually spends most of the hour session investigating the outdoor area, watching the big dogs on the other side of the fence, or coming to me for treats. She did develop a few buddies that liked to mutually chase.
In the past month the moderator has been increasingly pointing out behaviors in my dog that I also saw occurring in other dogs. At first, I trusted her since she’s the dog expert. But then I realized she isn’t correcting the behaviors of dogs who get boarded there on extended stays. Because of her bias, she neglected to correct the behavior of two aggressive dogs that decided to approach and corner my girl on her back, pushing her up against a fence. My dog is eleven pounds and was Unilocaling to be let up. I was angry and horrified. I though, «How could this happen?» There was no intervention on the moderator’s part or corrective suggestions offered to those parents. I was furious, so I picked her up, debated whether to say anything, and just left.
I would suggest to Ruffin’ It that they have more play times. Separate puppies, first-​timers, aggressive midsize dogs, and high-​energy dogs. Throwing everyone in to the mix and not having a strong moderator who can handle all of these types is a recipe for disaster and bad business.

My dog and I are new to town. I had to travel for business and needed a place to board my 15 lb poodle mix. I was excited about Ruffin’ It based on their brochure. I was still a little nervous about dropping my dog off in a new place.
She stayed four nights. when I brought her home, I immediately noticed two large scabs on her breastbone. I was horrified going through the scenarios in my head of how they got there. The marks are most likely bite marks from another dog.
I called Ruffin It back and left a voicemail asking what might have caused this injury. Four hours later I received a return voicemail from a manager. They obviously had no clue how the injuries were caused.
I know stuff happens like this when dogs are around each other. I just can’t believe no one on the staff knows what happened to my dog under their care. When it happened, there was probably a lot of noise and, judging by the scabs, there had to be
probably happened during the two hours of day care she had each day.
I used to take my dog to PetSmart for daycare in another state twice a week. Nothing like this ever happened. The staff was very diligent about watching for this kind of thing and if something happened, I’m pretty sure I would have received a report.
I paid extra for my dog to be well taken care if during her first saty in a new place. This is not the first experience I was hoping for. I don’t plan to return to Ruffin It.

We have taken our chocolate Labs to Ruffin It Resort for the past six years. Before our current dogs, we took our elderly Black Lab to Ruffin It. It is, without question, the premier boarding facility in Madison.
Our dogs run into Ruffin It Resort when we arrive. We have boarded them for up to two weeks at a time, and without exception they come home and settle back into their normal routine without missing a beat.
The staff at Ruffin It Resort is exceptional. Renee (the owner) is a very caring person who takes the responsibility of caring for our dogs very seriously.
I recommend Ruffin It Resort without reservation.

Previous review was filtered, but I encourage people to read it (scroll to bottom of page). For some reason, recent positive reviews all appear filtered.
I absolutely love Ruffin’ It Resort, and my lab loves it more. The quality of care she gets at her bi-​weekly daycare visits is always outstanding. She plays hard, so a few bumps and scrapes here and there, but never anything serious. The dogs always look happy and the staff has been wonderful. Anyone in the area in need of daycare visits should definitely take the tour.

Although it is one of the higher priced pet boarding places in the area, I truly think it is worth what you pay for. Our pup always has SO much fun while she is there and comes back home exhausted after a long weekend. The staff are all very friendly and seem to really enjoy working there. Added bonus: They have cameras that you can access through their website to see the dogs playing during the day! This is the only place I trust that my dog will be happy and stay healthy when we have to be out of town without her.

I’ve been going to Ruffin’ It for nearly two years, so I feel like I have a pretty good body of evidence to rate the service and the staff and both are great. My wife and I have two very high energy dogs, Daisy, a German Shorthair Pointer (2.5 years) and Jordy, an Australian Shepherd (10 months). My wife and I both work a lot and travel for work, so our two pups spend a lot of time at Ruffin’ It in both daycare and the hotel.
I’ll start with the daycare. Daisy, my GSP, quickly «graduated» to Yosemite, the park for big, high energy dogs. She currently goes 5 days a week and I can’t say enough about the daycare. Daisy has two modes — full speed and sleep. I can’t even imagine what she would do to my home if she didn’t get the chance to spend her energy all day at Ruffin’ It. Daisy is also a little OCD and has issues with light and reflections. The caretakers do an excellent job of distracting her or redirecting her if she gets caught up chasing a reflection. She [obviously] has a short coat and is fairly skinny and they do a great job of bundling her up in the winter when necessary. Jordy, our Aussie, spends 2 – 3 days per week in the Yellowstone park. They keep our pups separate so they don’t gang up on other dogs (which they would), but Jordy gets plenty of exercise and play in Yellowstone. Both of our dogs are zonked out in the back seat of my truck by the time I get onto the belt line.
Now for the hotel. Our dogs may be the most frequent fliers in the hotel and they love going there and we love taking them there. The customer service is amazing. One time we didn’t bring enough food for their stay, so they went to the store and got a bag of their brand and flavor of food. Another time we didn’t have enough of Daisy’s anxiety medication, and they had someone stop by our vet to pick up the prescription. They call us if there are any concerns with our dogs. I’ve never had an issue with the dogs getting fed the wrong food or the wrong amount (they keep the food you bring in your dog’s kennel). I also love that they get a free bath when they stay three nights. It is so nice to pick up a clean, happy and tired dog at the end of a long week on the road.
Ruffin’ It isn’t cheap, but I believe that you get what you pay for at Ruffin’ It. The staff care about the dogs as their own (many bring their own dogs to the daycare). We went to another daycare and boarding facility when Ruffin’ It was full. The dogs came back dirty and didn’t seem happy when I picked them up. Daisy had lost about 5 pounds (she is a skinny dog and it is tough to keep her at a healthy weight), while Jordy was about 5 pounds heavier. They obviously did not follow our request to feed the dogs separately and at specific times. That would never be an issue at Ruffin’ It.
Renee, the owner, is great and does an excellent job with her pack leaders. You can see that she leads by example as she greets the dogs by name and with a pet when she is at the front desk.

I had a horrible experience with this place. My dog was 4 years old, and occasionally I’ve sent him to the daycare there. One day, he was dull when I’ve picked him up and went home. After sometime at home, I’ve realized that he was bitten by another dog and was bleeding. The situation was handled so badly by the management, I get nightmares even to think about the place.

The first time we boarded our dog, we brought her here. We did a visit, a sample day visit, and the staff was all very considerate and excited about her being there. We brought her for an overnight stay, and left specific instructions on her diet, her treats (and brought her food and treats for her) and paid for her to be in day care (out playing with other dogs instead of locked up.) We did everything we could to make it clear to the staff that this was her first time being boarded, and that she was a cuddle butt and would need to be with people and dogs.
When we picked her up, instead of being out in daycare playing, she was in the back in a kennel. When we asked why, they said since she was overnight shed gotten put back in her kennel (even though she wasn’t spending the night that night.) We got no report card, no photo, and were charged way more than we’d expected and been quoted (over $ 100 for an overnight stay with 2 days of daycare). The teenaged girls at the desk were unable to explain it to us, and didn’t really seem to care to.
Once we got home, though, I was unpacking her bag and found all of her food and treats in the bags I had sent them in. My husband called and asked them if that meant she’d been given the wrong food (that would consequently make her stomach upset) or if she hadn’t been fed at all. They told us that someone had called in to work that day, so in the shuffle, she hadn’t been fed. Her first time being boarded, she was kept in a kennel, not played with, and not even fed.
They refunded all of our money, and gave us a gift card, and a letter saying how sorry they were. As a business, they did everything they could do to make it right, but as a place to care for my dog, they did everything wrong. She’s totally antisocial now, and we haven’t boarded her since. After thus experience, we’re too scared and not willing to put her through that again.

When our «baby’ was just a few months old we had to go out of town unexpectedly. I called Ruffin’ It and they didn’t have any rooms available. I explained the situation and they asked us to come in. They kept her in the managers office so she was with someone ²⁴⁄₇. She absolutely loved it. I loved the report cards telling us what she did and the pictures of her getting lots of love. She had so much fun. We are going out of ton for a week and are completely confident in leaving her with them for a week this time. I HIGHLY recommend them to anyone.

When my dog was about 5 months old, I needed a place to board him for a week while I visited a friend in Seattle. Ruffin’ It Resort was recommended to me by my vet (Lakeview) and based on its website, it seemed like a doggie palace — a swank, overpriced place for neurotic dog parents to bring their pampered fur-​kids. In other words, exactly what I was looking for.
I chose to put my dog, Lenny, in the «Presidential Suite.» At the time, this meant that Lenny would be living in the manager’s office and have her companionship all day long. Because he was so young, and because he’s always been the kind of dog who craves human attention, I figured this would be ideal. The price also included a couple of hours each day in a play group with other dogs.
At first, the staff seemed genuinely concerned with getting to know Lenny and accommodating his individual needs during his stay. I filled out forms about his habits and personality. All the staff that I spoke to were very reassuring, as I’m sure they’re trained to be, and as the day of my trip approached, I felt confident that they were going to follow through with these reassurances. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Because Lenny was experiencing some gastrointestinal issues at the time, I gave the Ruffin’ It staff members specific, written instructions about his food. He was to be given a bland diet and NO TREATS. Furthermore, because Lenny is a bit skittish around other dogs and much prefers human attention, the Ruffin’ It staff and I agreed that he would have one trial daycare period and then determine whether he was too afraid to continue. Both of these thing are important to note in understanding why Ruffin’ It only deserves two stars at best.
The day after I dropped him off, I called Ruffin’ It to check in, and was told that he had indeed acted scared in the play group. I asked them to cease bringing him to the play group and to substitute extra human playtime instead. I was told this was fine. However, the following day, I called back to check in and was told that Lenny was currently in a doggie play group! I told the staff member that I had instructed them yesterday to CEASE bringing him to those play groups, and was told that he had been brought to the group mistakenly and it wouldn’t happen again. At this point, I started to get really nervous, but resolved to let it go and enjoy my vacation.
A couple of days later, Ruffin’ It called me to say that Lenny had developed a hot spot (an open lesion that is caused by the dog scratching, licking and otherwise irritating an area of its skin until that area is raw and weeping). What causes them? Could be allergies (to food or the environment), could be STRESS. I’ll leave it to you, the reader, to determine which of these caused Lenny’s hot spot. I should mention that Lenny had never had a hot spot before, nor has he had one since.
The Ruffin’ It staff member told me that my vet couldn’t fit Lenny in, so he was brought to their vet (adjacent to the resort), who couldn’t determine the cause of the hot spot, but prescribed antibiotics and an Elizabethan collar to keep him from continuing to chew it.
At this point, between the play group incident and the fact that my puppy was clearly very unhappy, I’d had enough. I managed to convince a friend to go to Ruffin’ It to pick Lenny up so that he wouldn’t have to be in that stressful environment any longer. Here’s the kicker: when my friend arrived at Ruffin’ It, he tells me he found Lenny cowering under a bench in the manager’s office. The manager then tried to lure him out with a treat, saying, «Oh, these are his favorite.» As you’ll remember, I specifically instructed them IN WRITING to withhold all treats. Clearly, they had disregarded these instructions, just as they had disregarded my instructions to stop bringing him to the play groups.
To top it all off, Ruffin’ It had the GALL to try to charge me for the remainder of his stay even though he was picked up four days early by my friend. True, their policy does clearly state that once the stay has been booked, you’re responsible for paying the full price if you don’t cancel within a particular time period, but don’t you think that policy should be contingent on their actually doing their jobs and taking care of my dog per my instructions? To their credit, after I pointed this out to them, they decided not to charge me.
Please take this review with a grain of salt. I understand that my dog is needier than most, and that I am more nervous than most. But that’s exactly the point of a place like Ruffin’ It: for spoiled dogs to get spoiled while their owners are away. Overall, I’d say if your dog loves other dogs and has an iron stomach, Ruffin’ It is fine. But don’t expect them to respect specific needs.