The Green Leaf Pet Resort & Hotel

Last fall I began searching for someone to train my 10 month old GSD. He is pure working line, and has the energy level associated with that. Due to this, I was having a hard time with mastering is obedience so that I could advance him into being a working K9.
I started searching online to find a trainer who had experience with police K9s, and offered an boarding training option. I had exhausted most of the trainers in my area, and didn’t like the methods of the local boarding trainers. I discovered Shelly, and read that he had many years of experience, so I decided to pursue his facility. When I called and spoke with him, he had no doubt he could handle my dog. I traveled the 4 hour drive to meet with him, and am extremely glad I did. The property was one of the cleanest facilities I have seen and state of the art. The trainers understood GSDs inside and out. I was so impressed I actually chose to sign my dog up and leave him that day, which was far from my original plan, because I had several other meetings scheduled with other trainers.
Throughout the 10 week stay for training the staff would call and touch base with me, and allowed me to call and touch base as often as I wanted with them. They allowed me to come up each week to visit. Never once did my K9 show any distress or issues with any of the staff. He loved everyone there.
At the end of his boarding training he transitioned to twice a week training that I commute with him for. Every time we head up he is insanely happy to see his friends (the staff at shellys/​green leaf pet resort).
He is a completely different dog now. His on and off leash obedience is amazing. We are still doing the transitional training (once every few weeks now) and he is still advancing.
The staff takes a genuine interest in their clients. Karen has been our trainer since we started. My mom had surgery this past week, which we informed Karen of. Karen took the time out of her day to call and check on me and my mom, and to make sure everything went well. To me that is amazing customer service and caring and shows the type of people Shelly makes sure he employees. The manager is a retired K9 handler (PD). He knows that’s my ultimate goal once we finish training, so he is always eager to offer advice and help as needed. The front desk staff lights up when every dog walks in the door, and knows each dog by name. When we walk in, 2 receptionists in particular, have fell in love with my K9 and are eager to love on him extra.
If anyone needs the top of the line trainer, this is where you need to be!

SASHA update. Shelly found her in Belgium brought her to me and I believe she is the best GSD I have ever been around. She is one year old today, and the training of both Sasha and myself set the stage for the best behaved dog I ever had. I can’t remember a time I have been out with her and someone hasn’t commented on her training and her looks. She is a large female 95 lbs and still can see her rib cage. Very loyal and loves to play ball. Definitely this mans best friend. Thanks shelly and I will be glad to show off Sasha whenever you need to convince someone of the quality of dog you produce for your clients.

I took my dogs to Green Leaf Pet Resort in December 2014. We did not have a good experience and I would not recommend their services.

I struggle to write this review because it’s difficult to review an experience you didn’t have, and I can’t exactly ask my dog if she enjoyed Green Leaf.
I will start by saying the facility is lovely, it really is a resort. They even have a salt water pool and the lobby looks like a spa. I have a crazy pitbull and she is not boarding material as she does not get along with other animals. Green Leaf was willing to take her when no other facility would and I do appreciate that.
I spoke to the staff before hand listing my concerns and they assured me my dog would never run into another dog on the premises and only supervisors would walk her.
I never received any calls from Green Leaf about issues with my dog so I can only assume she was fine during her three night stay. I do not however believe all of the wondrous things they told me about not running into other dogs and being walked by a supervisor.
While waiting to pick her up I witnessed several dogs pass each other in the hallways. I was told over the phone that it was highly unlikely dogs would pass each other unless they were in daycare. Clearly this is not true.
Because my dog is aggressive, we walk her on a very specific harness and gentle leader combo. When she was admitted they tried to give the harness back and walk her on a robe leash (around her neck) This is very harmful for dogs, because it can damage their throats. I insisted my dog we walked with her harness and gentle leader, both are standard pieces of dog walking equipment. They took the harness and said it wouldn’t be a problem.
I doubt they walked her using the harness or gentle leader. When I was waiting to pick her up we sat for over 30 minutes waiting. They said they were unable to get her harness on correctly and after waiting forever, two walkers came out with Zooey. Her harness was inside out and the gentle leader was wrapped around her neck. Not even close. I wish they would have called me if they had an issue with the harness or even taken a photo to keep with her. I promise it’s not the hard to figure out and you would think dog trainers would be able to work a harness. Sadly not and I was a bit horrified when she came out with it wrapped around her neck.
I do believe the care and facilities at Green Leaf are far superior to those of a regular kennel, but I think they oversell their abilities and services. For $ 100+ a night I would expect my dog to be fed caviar and given turn down service. This place is EXPENSIVE but they are very accommodating with aggressive dogs so if needed I would board her here again but honestly I prefer to hire a dog sitter and keep her home. It’s much more comfortable for me, my wallet, and my dog.

Green leaf looks beautiful and the staff for the most part are nice, but not everyone. I just have concerns with the way they overcrowded the doggy day care, your dog is just a number, they make your dog wear this sticky name tag, and they charge your ala cart for everything. By the time your dog goes home you have paid a mortagage just to have him walked and put to bed. Our dog also didn’t really like the place. I’m not sure if it was because all the hectic dogs just roaming around and he didn’t get attention or because he sensed something there, but we will not bring our dog back there again. I also must add– he got kennel caugh from staying there for the weekend. I brought him to the vet and he said he was also very congested and had a respiratory infection typically caused from anxiety and stress. I understand kennel caugh happens, but when I told the staff they didn’t seen to care one bit. I wanted them to be aware for other dogs, but all they’re worried about is making the almighty dollar. Try other places… you won’t be sorry. Our lambo now goes to dogtopia in oldbridge and he’s so much happier and so are we!

Brought my dog here twice; once for an overnight and once for a non-​overnight boarding. Both times, the experience was HIGHLY DISORGANIZED. The biggest thing is that is VERY IMPERSONAL and I have come to feel a complete LACK OF TRUST in how they must be treating my dog.
The first time, the person processing my intake couldn’t keep the forms straight, couldn’t spell/​type in my last name correctly though I spoke the seven letters 3 times. She kept getting mixed up what she needed from me. It seems she lacked either confidence or experience in her position. Then someone came out to take my dog and they barely acknowledge me and just whisk my dog away; how about a little extra effort to just introduce yourself and some words of encouragement (Hi, I’m Generic Employee #297, we look forward to taking care of your baby.) which would have been nice to have been offered by the front desk or the one who ushers your dog in the back. Then I came back to pick him up and it took 20 minutes for them to bring him out. They had to repeatedly get back on the intercom to ask someone to bring my dog out. Were there other dogs being brought out and I was just in a line of many? No. My dog then seemed oddly unexcited to see me which is very unusual. He seemed out of sorts. May not be anything they did but I have no way of knowing as no one speaks to you about your dog’s visit. And, they do not return your dog’s unused food to you. I pay good money for his food and send him with extra and it apparently disappears.
The second time, we drop the dog off with his bag of food, his collar and harness on. The front desk asked the color of his harness and logged it in from what I could see. We dropped off about 9am and would be back at 6pm. We came back to pick him up and after another 20 minutes of waiting for them to bring him out, he comes out without his harness on, just his collar. An employee went back looking for it 3 TIMES and could not produce it. Finally, another employee, on the 4^th try found it. Add another 15 minutes to our wait for them to find the harness; all the while, an out of control black lab waiting for swimming lessons barked INCESSANTLY for 15 minutes adding more nerve wracking to the ENDLESS wait. Can you imagine – spending 35 minutes to pick up your dog from boarding??? Never in my life have I experienced such ridiculousness. Did anyone apologize for the screw up? No. Did I get his extra food back? No. Did my dog seem out of sorts again when we picked him up? Yes. Was the experience completely impersonal again? Yes.
I firmly believe that my dog was locked up, ignored and not given the 5 walks per day that they claim. There’s no explanation for his withdrawn behavior when I pick him up. On the first visit, I paid $ 30 extra for 30 minutes of one on one playtime and I have no confidence that they actually followed through with it. I WILL NOT GO HERE AGAIN.

Overall a really nice place. We had to leave our pitbull here for a weekend and I especially was very nervous about leaving him there as he gets very anxious and agitated at times in new settings and with new people and dogs. I wasn’t sure how he would react but when I made the reservation the woman I spoke with assured me that the staff was trained to deal with any type of dog and that it would be OK.
I bring him there and a girl comes out and without giving the dog time to sniff and get to know her, she goes right to him to put a special collar on. He starts to growl and everyone went into panic mode after. They told me to put on the collar, which was fine but I told them I would do it when he was more calmed down, and to give him a few minutes. Thankfully, the GM came out and took over the situation and everything went smoothly from there. He really knew what he was doing and was able to calm down the dog and assess him. I was able to leave, enjoy our weekend, and we came back and got our dog back in one piece.
I don’t blame people for getting nervous around our dog, he is after all a pitbull whose growl is pretty intimidating (he has actually never bit anyone) but the staff freaking out was a little disappointing, especially considering that it made the situation even worse. However, once everyone calmed down and the GM took over everything was great. I would definitely bring him back there again. Facility is beautiful.

I brought my rescue dog for behavioral issues. The Trainer Mark was amazing! Mark spent the first month training Wally and the next month training me on how to correctly handle my dog. Wally can now walk off leash and his behavioral problem is under control. Mark taught me to have confidence while handling my dog and in turn Wally felt secure with me. Super happy with the Mark’s service!
I recently boarded Wally for a week I was super nervous to leave him, but he seemed to have a blast. Between the walks, doggy day care, and new friends, I don’t think he missed me one bit!
Thank you!

I brought my 3 Bichons at Green Leaf Pet Resort while I went on a cruise. It looked like a wonderful place for my Bichons to stay while I was away. This way we all could have a great time. What did I get in return? Nasal Mites. All 3 Bichons were sneezing nonstop when my daughter picked them up. The owner said they wer fine while they were there and no one noticed then sneeze once. Unbelievable! It ended up costing a small fortune in vet bills. Keep away from this place. Appearances when you arrive do not always tell the true story.

If you want to come to a place with stuck up employees and equally stuck up dog owners who do not discipline their aggressive, unsocialized dogs, then this is the place for you.
We wanted to bring our dog to a place that has a swimming pool to do something fun with him during this prolonged winter. I called to inquire about their program and to book a session. I was told that first timers require a «swimming evaluation» to which I agree to.
After driving an hour to get to the resort, I was coldly greeted by the staff. We arrived at 11:50 and I told them that we were there for our 12:00 appointment. After 5 minutes of them trying to figure out what happened, they finally gave us papers to fill out. I overhear, Im assuming the manager, telling her staff, that the next time they make an appointment, to initial it— meaning someone messed up our reservation. No apology to us and no explanation. Instead of telling us about the services they offer or give us a tour of the facility (knowing that it was our first time there) I fill out the standard paperwork with the usual «were not liable for anything», they bring my husband and dog into the pool room to get started— you know to expedite the session because they probably had to squeeze us in and had other appointments.
By now it is about 12:15– and we begin. The instructor was very nice. Our dog ended up going in the ramp of the pool within about 5 – 10 minutes. Then the instructor said «Okay and we’ll end there, Id like to see you back again» More words were exchanged but to sum it up— we made her aware we drove an hour to get here. She offered us the 4 lesson package for $ 190 something dollars but said he probably wont need all of it and that if we wanted to, we can make today’s appointment the first lesson… Well if you are going to offer that, then why not give us the full time allotted for first lessons, instead of the 10 minutes it took for us to see my dog get into the ramp of the pool?
So feeling rushed out of the pool area, as soon as we stepped out, we hear her say to bring in the next dog– she called him by name so obviously it was not a first time dog and it was a standing appointment. Meanwhile I had to tell my husband to wait outside because this german shepherd looking dog was aggressively barking and jumping at my dog and got all the other dogs in the lobby riled up. My dog is a year old and here I am disciplining him for wanting to play and meet the other dogs while the owner does not discipline his dog and continues to talk to staff. My husband gets chastised by a staff member to keep away from another dog sitting in the lobby. Not one bark was uttered by my dog while the owners of the others sat with their legs crossed as their dogs were yelling at mine. It took 5 minutes for my payment to be processed because their credit scanning system needs a card to be swiped 6 – 7 times before it takes.
Needless to say, we wont be back, and Im happy that my dog decided to mark the pool by peeing in it before we left. Note the time when we got into the car– 12:32. One hour drive for a $ 48– 10 minute «swimming evaluation» we could have done ourselves in a bathtub.
UPDATE: Greenleaf took the time to contact us and write a letter with a full refund apologizing for our experience with them. Although we most likely will not be back, we were appreciative of the gesture because we know that most companies will not take the time to do this. Changing my rating to 3 stars.

We have left our dog here twice so far and we love it! She is falling asleep the minute we get in the car and is pretty much OUT the next day or so. The staff is friendly at the front desk, although each time she has come to get picked up at the front, these people are the ones that are EXTRA friendly, and she loves it, and so do I! When I have called to check in on her, Green Leaf has kept copious notes on her and activity/​how she is doing. She has done the indoor swimming each time and when I pick her up she keeps dragging me to that door, so clearly she enjoys it. I think that the a la carte is a nice idea so that we can decide what we do and don’t want for her. After not finding the right place for her and then finding one who is now turning her away because she is a Pit Mix, this is def. the place we trust to leave her in when we go away. The prices are more than reasonable for what you get in return which is people who care about your dog and the ability to spoil them without forgetting that they are still dogs and need activities to cater to their needs. We opt for the bath before she leaves and she is clean, her ears get cleaned and nails nicely cut (and no where near the wick which is usually my concern). We also get a daycare report card when we «check out» with her activity level, who she played with, etc. I love it here!

I absolutely love this facility! All of my dogs have been trained here as well as attend day care for socialization and board here when they cannot come along. The staff is wonderful. I feel like when I walk in the door they know me personally and my dogs as well. I feel so comfortable leaving my dogs here because I know they are treated amazing. Any issues that arise while the animal is there the staff calls immediately. They also have a vet that comes in to the facility as well should the animal need vet care while there. I honestly would never take my dogs anywhere else. For training they are flexible with payment plans and things as well.

I left my 2 Cockapoos, Lexie and Penny at the Green Leaf Pet Resort on Wednesday and picked them up today. Lexie is recently blind from cataracts and glaucoma and I was very nervous about leaving them, anywhere.
My first experience with the Resort was emailing for information and the comprehensive response came very promptly. I called and made a reservation and that was handled quite well, also.
I was like a nervous mother, leaving my 2 dogs there, but when I picked my dogs up today, they were fine, no unusual agitated behavior, they were happy to see me, but seemed quite normal
Admittedly, I called a number of times to see how they were doing and my calls were responded to, well and I was able to enjoy my time without them, knowing they were doing okay.
The resort is beautiful, efficiently run and everyone is very polite and customer service focused. I would definitely recommend this resort and absolutely leave my dogs there, again.

This is the only place that I will leave my dog. He loves it there and not to mention when it’s time to pick him up, he doesn’t want to leave. I live in the city so he loves the fact that he can run around like a wild man and be around other dogs as well. I would not /​do not trust any other place to watch my baby. This was the first place I chose after reading reviews for weeks. I must say that this is the only place that had all good reviews.

Both of my dogs (Belgian Malinois mixes) were trained at Shelley’s School for Dogs when they had their facility in Freehold; I couldn’t be happier with the results! One thing many people do not understand is what the dog learns in training needs to be applied at home as well; consistancy is a must! Constant dedication to applying techniques learned only improves upon your relationship with the dog as well as makes for a better companion. Even though I did find the cost for training to be more than what I wanted to spend, I know I can always bring my dogs back for a refresher course at no additional charge.

This review has been a long time coming…
First, I have to say I am on MY second dog. Grew up with dogs, definitely a dog-​person… not so much a fan of kennels and would prefer to stay away from them.
With that said, I wish I could take my dog with me wherever I went, but training/​behavioral issues were always a concern, and then what about the times when you absolutely can’t take your pet with you? Green Leaf is it for both answers.
With my first dog I ended up boarding him with a kennel after decent researching… not that there was anything blatantly wrong with the place, but I’m not too keen on leaving my dog somewhere that doesn’t look comfortable to ME. This was before I found Green Leaf. Unfortunately, my first dog never got to experience it.
The dog I have now LOVES the place! He can’t wait to jump out of the vehicle and go inside. Mind you, this is now a 9-​month old Labrador retriever, but our first experience was at about 4-​months old for training. And that’s what brought us there. He liked to bite, chew and just rip things apart. I attempted to train him at home, but with a cramped schedule, it wasn’t going to do either of us any good. So I decided it was best to seek a trainer. I didn’t have too much knowledge in the way of the owners at Green Leaf, but I did know that they knew what they were doing. And I have to say, Shelly and his staff, particularly Roy, did a fantastic job with training my puppy and I’m more than satisfied I made the decision to go with Green Leaf.
I had my dog pretty much housebroken already at the time we started, but the initial training took about a month and was incorporated into a «daycare» program where you can drop your dog off in the morning and throughout the day they train him/​her, and you pick them up at the end of your day. VERY convenient. At the end of the program I can say there was a completely noticeable difference in my dog’s behavior, but in a good way. He was still a friendly, playful puppy, but also couldn’t wait to socialize with the trainers, staff and other dogs. Very reassuring to see.
The initial training program covers basic commands such as how to sit, lay down, heel and stay. The costs cover the training the dog receives, but also one-​on-​one instruction from the trainer with you and your dog… for however long it takes for you to gain competency over the commands (which is VERY easy).
But I love my dog… and my ideal situation is one where I can bring my dog with me… on vacation… across town. In other words, all the time. I needed a bit more than the basic training and opted for the off-​leash training. This also took about 1-​month and in the same «daycare» style as the initial, but well worth it and what a difference! We’ve just finished with the off-​leash program and I can honestly say, I now have THE best dog.
The facility is stunning as well. To be honest, when I originally learned of the place I heard a commercial on the radio. I had looked at their website and everything seemed to be on par with what you’d expect from a kennel… until I arrived there. I’m used to paying kennel fees and had anticipated this would be the same. When I drove down the driveway and originally saw the facility, let’s just say I was in shock. It looked nicer than half the hotels I’VE stayed in! But aside from the training, that’s what sets them apart from the rest.
It’s a super clean, modern facility with exceptional accommodations for dogs, and in terms of cost, it’s almost THE SAME as the other kennel I’ve used in the past (which was not even comparable to Green Leaf). I’m totally at ease with any of the sized «rooms» my dog stays in when I have to leave him there, and while he’s boarding I have him play around during the day with the other dogs in daycare.
I used to feel guilty about having to leave my dog in a kennel, but this is just a fantastic place. I can go away on business or travel extensively and I know my dog is taken care of as I would. Kudos to the staff, especially Bob and the girls up front who make everything painless. Thanks Teri, Sandra, and Donna!
(*- On a side note, about a month ago we experienced Hurricane Sandy. Being involved with emergency services in my area and not knowing what to expect, I boarded my dog for about a 7-​day period so I would be able to focus on other things. Where I live, we ended up losing power for about a week which was difficult enough, and I’m not sure how I would have been able to take care of my dog with all that went on. Green Leaf’s facility was a lifesaver. The facility is located in the town adjacent to mine and also lost power, but their facility is well equipped with generators and I know my dog was more comfortable than I was during that whole time.)