The Lodge

Very professional. The staff is amazing! My dog loves that place! Never disappointed!!!!

Never ever bring your dogs to Lodge, they do not care about your four legs buddies.

I took my dog there at regular basis. Recently, I just could not notice my dog playing from the pool camera and I called to check how was my dog doing. The receptionist said she was doing fine. When I picked up my dog, one receptionst ( I think she was one of owner's daughters) was very rude and complained about my dog shedding too much so that they have to change the swimming pool filter. She implies that it is my dog causing the problem without any proof.Your guys open the business for dogs and that is the thing you should already take into consideration. if your guys condescend dog breeds, open other business. Now I can see my dog is prohibited to play in pool although they still try to give me the impression that she still can access to it. Honestly, the facility is nice, but owners' way of managing business really sucks.I will not bring my dogs there anymore because she just loves the swimming pool. I do not want to pay for nothing. Not worth of my money and there are other places that do care about your dogs.

Our dog is a 1-year old, Shiba Inu who has never had health issues nor an health issues when boarding (i.e. failing to eat, bowel issues, etc). In fact, we had previously boarded our little guy with The Lodge on a couple other occasions without incident. However, this time was MUCH different.

This time we boarded our boy for 5-days while we went on a cruise. He was supposed to be in a suite with 3-hours of outdoor playtime. The Lodge staff had pushed to bathe him prior to pick up but we declined as he is a handful with bath time and assumed we would handle it once he settled in back at home. When we picked him up around 2:00pm, he got glowing reports for his stay and no mention of any problems with anything. At that point, we were made aware that due to poor weather, the dogs had only gotten limited time outside and had been confined much of the time we had been gone. We weren't happy about the confinement but popped him in the car and headed home which is a 15-20 minute drive.

On the way home, he was whining but it was hard to tell if there was a problem or he was just excited to be back with us. When we got home, he bolted for the backyard and EXPLODED! He had uncontrollable diarrhea at least 6-8 times throughout the evening and night. By morning, he had transitioned to exploding from both ends, not eating, and not drinking. Needless to say, we were on our way to the animal hospital.

We called The Lodge on the way to the animal hospital to see if there was any information they could share with us. They pulled his file and noted no issues his entire stay. Then, they informed me that he "must have gotten into something once he got home"!!!!! REALLY!! He got into something from their door to my backyard!

Long story short: 4 animal hospital visits, 3 days of IVs, 10 days of prescriptions, and 2 weeks of prescription food (and $600 after pet insurance, would have been $2,000+ without the insurance) - and our boy is pretty much back to normal. We are still weighing him, monitoring his water intact, restricting his food intact, and observing his output but he is on the mend.

Diagnosis - SEVERE inflammation of his entire GI Tract caused by either ingestion of bacteria in their pool water or cleaning agents.

Either problem seems possible given there numerous reports I am now reading about their pool water. While our boy isn't a swimmer, he is known to drink their pool. Additionally, when we picked him up, he smelled like someone had dipped him in heavy duty disinfectants and cleaners.

Beyond the harm to our boy and the expense associated, I am also frustrated with their lack of follow up. We picked him up on a Monday, notified them of the problem on Tuesday morning, updated them on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning - but NO ONE has even contacted us since. They, of course, deny any responsibility or make no efforts to refund our boarding. But the bigger issue is they don't even care enough to check to see if our boy got better!

Needless to say, we are telling EVERYONE we see about this incident and their follow up service (or lack thereof). We are also filing reviews such as this one everywhere we find their name listed.

Our Shiba is going to be OK. But they don't even care enough to call to make sure. He won't be going back there - EVER!

Assolutly the best care available for daycare , boarding and grooming ! Have taken my precious rescue there for over two years now and I can't say enough about the love and care she is always given. It is the one place she looks forward to going to ! I love watching her on the webcam when boarding , I see first hand how happy and well teamed she is

i have been banned from coming to this place because i canceled a couple appointments. VERY ridiculous. i was going to make an appointment for my dogs and they said i missed a few appointments so they said they wont service my dogs there anymore. apparently they black list you if you cancel appointments. all in all the place isnt very quality anyway. go to petco or petsmart.

Well, I read the negative reviews both on Google and Yelp before I boarded my dog, and decided to ignore them after receiving fabulous open house tour one Sunday. We were in a bind as one other facility where he was usually boarded lost a reservation and was full. We have a large dog, giant schnauzer that was boarded multiple times in PetSmart at new Tampa without ANY problems. Lodge was extremely courteous, that is why I do not give 1 star, but ... My dog was boarded for almost 3 weeks, and according to the receptionist, he was great for two weeks, but went bananas last week. Apparently they have given him a "mild sedative" without ever calling me or the emergency contact since the owner "used to be a veterinarian". She did mention that my dog being agitated might have been due to 4th of July fireworks, having 200 dogs on site, etc. We brought his own bed as there would have been a $200 charge if he destroyed their bed. At the pickup time, receptionist told me that there is $5 extra daily charge because my dog peed on the bed every day, and they cleaned it every day (3 weeks! - and my dog has not peed in the house after he was 3 months old, and did not poop in the house even with diarrhea). I told her that since we did have a camera in the dog suite we were observing him daily and for the last two weeks, the bed was NOT in the room, and I assumed that he destroyed it. She assured me the bed was there (?). I also monitored dog pretty closely with the cameras at the facility, and besides the days that the tour was given I've never seen dogs in the pool, and have seen my dog constantly in the room. I was originally assured that my dog will get 3 hours of exercise each day. I cannot say for sure, but it did not look like he was getting that. Then she told me that my dog destroyed the door of the suite?! and there was extra ~$200 charge. Plus he ate some molding in the room! Additional $25. And your dog is aggressive! How, I asked. Apparently he was trying to hump some dogs at play time, so they limited his play time. It is a dog - deal with it! My dog NEVER did anything in any facility (two others) he was boarded at. He does not do this stuff at home. Then, I was told that my dog will be welcome back only for short stays, not long ones, as owner cannot deal with this. When i got home, I noticed him biting his paw - he had an infected growth next to his front toe, that my vet first treated with antibiotics, then surgery. Extra $500 out of my pocket. Total charges for our 3 week vacation ended up, together with the vet bill, around $1800!!! I could have flown the dog to Europe with me for that. I paid, did not argue, and left.

In summary - promised 3 hours play time per day, did not happen, limited that even further because of "humping" - got injury to the leg, that was not picked up (but the dog was sedated) - and there were various charges that I cannot check. After discussing this with my neighbor, he said that his dog was bitten by a brown recluse spider while there, which was not picked up, and he lost a toe after that.

My recommendation is to stay away from the facility. I usually do not write bad reviews, but this is just unbelievable. I felt like a character in one of the comedies or at the hidden camera.

I have been a customer of this facility for the past two years. I thought, if it looks this nice and the people appear friendly to my dog, then it must be great. However the last time I picked my dog up she had a large injury on the side of her face. I did not notice it until we were driving down the road and by the time I noticed it, they were closed so I could not go back. I called the following day to see what had happened to my dog and why I was not notified. They stated they did not know any information about an incident with my dog and would have one of the owners call me back that day or the following day. I waited three days until I decided to call them back and see what had happened. It basically was a "Nobody saw it so therefore it did not happen here." The girl on the phone was EXTREMELY rude and made comments that I need to take better care of my dog. One statement she made was "Since none of the employees saw it, we can't even confirm it happened here." Seriously?? I made this up?? Not at all. I had to get off the phone I was so upset. Later I e-mailed them stating that I was upset about her injury, but more importantly how RUDELY I was treated over the phone. This was their e-mail back to me:



Upon reviewing your photo with Dr. Judson it is very obvious that we were correct about the self-inflicted hot spot. I’m sure when you consult your veterinarian they will inform you of this information as well. There is no puncture or bite mark; this picture shows a red, dispersed infected moist area. She did not have this hot spot when she left our facility. When you leave her in the house unattended while you are at work she probably had a lot of time to scratch away making the area even larger than it may have started out to be. Hot spots have a tendency to get very large if not treated and if you do not stop her from making contact with the area. Her nails had just been cut so they might have been rough causing her to make the area worse by scratching so hard. When doing her nails we did not see anything on her face. Some dogs are also just more prone to hot spots than others and this may be her case. If you do not want to pay for your veterinary visit you are still welcome to come to The Lodge and we will treat her for you even though this is not something that any dog or The Lodge has caused. We hope she gets better soon and we wish you luck with her.



I wish there was more I could do than just write a review about them. All I asked for was an apology and instead I got "You work and leave your dog home so therefore it's your fault not ours." Even though I noticed the injury in the car after I had just left The Lodge.

Do not be fooled by the look of this place - there are MAJOR pet health concerns we have with this dog spa! We had to take our Golden to the vet again after only a 1/2 day of doggy day care. This is the 4th time he has been sick from this place. Their pool has to be loaded with bacteria and creates a horrible rotten sour smell on our dog that requires 2-3 baths to get rid of and still smells. Our puppy gets diarrhea for several days after being there even if there for only a few hours of daycare without an overnight stay. This time he had it severely and throwing up and would not eat or drink. The vet confirmed gastrointestinal infection from eating or drinking something with bacteria. I'm sure it was their pool water that he consumed from swimming all day. I called to let the owner know out of concern for other pets and thinking they would want to know so they can clean up their pool and whatever is causing this horrible smell and bacteria for dogs to get sick. I was told one owner not in office and the other was grooming and they would give them message. I never received a call back. He also got pink eye after a couple night stay there and when I called I was told they had no reports of it and they would have told us if they noticed anything with his eye as they are very observant. Well obviously you didn't since I picked him up with a bloodshot red eye fool of eye goop - thought maybe from swimming but got worse quickly and vet confirmed conjunctivitis. I never received call back from owner to discuss as concern for other pets. They also do not use their indoor play area which is desperately needed in the hot Florida sun - makes no sense. We found a nice place in New Tampa that does and has their pool professionally maintained and tested and not the complaints that this one has. We were fooled by the appearance and have given the Lodge their final chance and will not be back!

I have been bringing my dog to the Lodge at New Tampa for almost a year now. When we first starting coming we tried to do daycare with her and she just didn't do well. She was showing some signs of aggression towards other dogs and the Lodge was really supportive in letting us know our options. She now comes all the time, but they consider her a NO CONTACT; she loves coming in and they take really good care of her. She gets all of her playtimes, but they are just with the people and not the other doggies and let me tell you what- she loves people- everytime she comes in she is giving kisses and wagging her tail. We wanted to take the time to let everyone know that I couldn't think of a better place to take care of my dog! The staff is very friendly and I can tell that they love her like she is one of their dogs!

We had the worst experience ever boarding our dog at The Lodge. He developed a massive ear infection within days of us picking him up after 5 days of boarding. Once the second ear culture confirmed highly contagious bacteria, I called just to let them know in case any other animals might have been exposed. I was accused that I wanted something, which I vehemently denied. The only reason I called was that my vet recommended letting the boarding facility know. We decided to give The Lodge another opportunity. After we faxed in our reservation I was called and rudely told that since we supposedly “accused them” that they didn’t want our business at all. I was treated so rudely by Kathleen – the owner’s daughter and she refused to have the owner call me. She continued own with her belligerent comments accusing me that I should have provided ear cleaner with instructions and stating that I need to be better pet owner. When I asked to have the owner speak with my husband because I was so upset at her accusations- she refused. I called my husband about the situation. He calls The Lodge and Kathleen answers and when my husband asks to speak with Dr. Judson the owner. Kathleen asks who is calling, my husband gives his name and Kathleen responds I already knew who you were by looking at caller id. Kathleen asks why do you need to speak to him and my husband says that my wife is in tears by how rude she was treated by you. Kathleen then starts laughing and says that my husband isn’t allowed to speak with the owner. She continued to speak rudely to my husband also.

I am not someone that goes online to make negative comments, but I feel that everyone needs to know how rude, unprofessional, and downright offensive The Lodge staff is. If this is how they treat humans, I wonder how they treated my dog .

I've been taking my Pug and my Shih Tzu to The Lodge for over a year now. They come for boarding, daycare, and grooming. I have never had a bad experience! The staff is very friendly, the services are exceptional, and the groomers are very experienced. When I turn the corner in the car- my dogs know that they are coming to The Lodge and they get sooo excited! I would recommend this place for anyone.

At first glance the Lodge at New Tampa appears very quaint and pleasant however you may quickly realize that looks can be very deceiving. Picked our dogs up today and was told "You won't be able to bring your dogs back, because they "pee a lot" Seriously?? That's what animals do when they're inside a room all day. Point taken that we have 5 small Chihuahuas that bark a lot, however we didn't feel proper time and dedication was spent with them as promised; as this was they first time they have ever been boarded and 3 of the dogs are only 10 month old puppies. While we were away and viewed our dogs on the Video Camera inside one of their Ranch rooms, we never saw our dogs taken and provided play-time, once. This facility, in my opinion, fits the moniker A Wolf in Sheep's clothing! Facility looks nice, but that's about it; Fake and Phony staff that appear to be nice, but don't follow through on promised pet experience. Don't take your pet here! A perfect example of an organization that places profits before the customer. Because The Lodge is busy and appears to be successful, they pick and choose which customer they want to do continue doing business with due to their small-business coffers currently over-flowing with cash; however persistent arrogance and a "take it or leave it" attitude may eventually catch up to them and lead to their demise. Although The Lodge at New Tampa reserves the right to do business with whom ever they choose; promising playtime for your animals and not following through on that promise, and then complaining that they "pee a lot" is unacceptable. Maybe as an experiment, they should stick one of their employees in a room all-day and open the so called outside door and see if they don't "pee a lot" in their precious little rooms. Your dog is worth so much more than to leave them here. Look around and do your research first!

If you care about your animals, DO NOT board them here!



Our two cats stayed there over the 4th of July holiday for three nights. One cat was supposed to receive her thyroid medicine once per day. When I got home, I discovered that only one pill was administered but we were charged as if three doses had been given.



Called to ask why only one dose was given (because nothing had been said at check-out that it hadn't happened) and Dr. Judson said he'd decided not to give the medicine because one of the cats had been vomiting. He never called to ask me what we wanted him to do but just made the decision on his own. He had no explanation for why the 3rd dose wasn't given.



Fast forward a few days and my other cat, who had lost some weight during the 3 night-stay, is still rapidly losing weight with no apparent explanation. Took her to the vet and discovered she'd dropped from a healthy 11lbs at the time we first boarded her to now only 7lbs. just 9 days later! The vet ran bloodwork and found nothing wrong except for one thing - her thyroid levels were in the basement. This is unheard of for cats unless they've received thyroid medication.



So, not only did they screw up the number of doses but they gave it to the WRONG cat!



It's now been another 2 weeks and although her thyroid levels are back to normal (proving there was nothing really wrong there to begin with) she now has critical issues with her kidneys and pancreas. She still has been unable to gain weight and has in fact still lost another 1/4 lb. At this point, the vet doesn't know if she's going to survive.



The lackluster response to my complaints about the mis-medication is stunning, especially from people who claim to love animals. At no time have they shown any remorse or sympathy for what my cat is going through.



Please, if you love your animals, do not board them at the Lodge and share this story with anyone else that is considering going there.

Nice facility but incredibly rude, arrogant owners and front desk staff. They provide minimal care to the pets boarded on the weekends. Don't even think about asking for any type of personized care or accomodation.

i was wanting a tour and they have certain tour times that you have to go and i was 5 minutes late and i had to come back. their prices are way high and every little thing you want cause more money. i now take my pets to new tampa pet resort on county line road. east of livingston. they are the best. the staff there are super nice. dont bring your pet to the lodge. you will be sorry.