Noah's Arf

as a former employee i thought it would be helpful to let people in on the true goings on at the " number one dog kennel in portland" the owner seems only to care about how much money she makes rather than actual care of the dogs. in my time there i have seen dogs horribly injured while the management tells the owners there is nothing wrong and no need to take them to the vet all becuase " we are not quilified to make that judgement" i have seen helpless dogs locked in small boxes for entire days becuase no one wanted to deal with them. many dogs with diahrea and others that are all too happy to clean it up before workers can get to it. over crowding of large unwieldy dogs that leave employees no hope but to manage. training for employees in proper dog training is always promissed but never comes. and if you do go and everything works out great and you feel like you want to thank the hard working employees with tips make sure to put it in thier hands out of eye shot becuase tips are absorbed into the main cash flow employees will never see it. the turnover rate is very high instead of working with thier top[ employess they hold interviews and trainings weekly so that they can hire and fire and the drop of a hat.

As a former employee of Noah's Arf, I urge you to go elsewhere. \t\n\t\nI'm aghast by one of the reviews below that mentioned "the promise of 2-3 employees watching the dogs at all times" -- is this a joke made by the owner? The entire time I worked there only one employee was ever inside the kennel managing the dogs -- the numbers of which could be 35+ per day! \t\n\t\n"Techniques" utilized that you won't know about: \t\n\t\n-Constant use of squirt bottles in the dog's faces\t\n-"Gentle Leaders" left on the dogs ALL DAY (research the Vegus nerve and find out what this does)!\t\n-Over stimulation to the nth degree; MOST dogs had diarrhoea every day -- while potentially a sign of health issues, I would wager a digit that this is stress induced. \t\n-Yelling and screaming at the dogs to get them to "shut up"\t\n\t\nAnd the worst: I have to concur with those below that the staff is EXTREMELY under qualified. During the interval of my employment I saw people quit, only to be replaced with employees I wouldn't trust to handle ONE dog by itself, let alone 30 together in a room.\t\n\t\nWhat ultimate caused me to leave -- aside from the awful treatment of employees -- was watching two dogs become seriously injured (not in my care, thank god). Sadly, I believe that both situations could have been prevented ... but here is truly shocking constituent: The manager AND the owner were notified of the injuries and in BOTH case the owners were NOT CALLED -- they were told when they came in to pick up their dog! Imagine getting off of work, believing your pet well cared for, only to find out that earlier in the day your Italian greyhound had sustained three large puncture wounds (open and seeping!!!) from a crush bite, or that your Australian shepherd was missing a 1/2 inch from the tip of its ear due to a fight.\t\n\t\nI stayed as long as I did because I fell in love with the dogs I worked with; I quit after expressing my outrage at all of the above -- probably before my termination for the same.

My dog was given back to me after four hours in daycare with ick on his back, which no one seemed to notice. I checked and found him bleeding, took him to the vet for stitches for a dog bite on his neck.\t\nI called to ask what had happened and no one had a clue.\t\nI was told the owner would call me and it's been months and i'm still waiting.

We've left our very spoiled dog here a few times for trips of no more than 4 days and nights. When we took him to the place we used before he would always get very upset and not want us to leave but at Noah's Arf he never seems upset and is excited to go in and be with the other dogs. Once they forgot to clip his nails and charged us for it but were very nice and returned our money with no problem. The staff is courteous, the dog likes it, there's easy parking. It's a bit expensive and if you don't pick your dog up before 10am they charge you for all day. We haven't watched his interactions there but he does come back quite exhausted, hence the recommendation for a short stay, but has never gotten sick from being there. You have to bring food. The facility appears clean and they have onsite grooming. Recommended.

The indoor/outdoor facility is big and great. And they add a splash pool when it gets hot. Their gift store has unique items and their special event planning is clever and fun. Not so great part is in the care of the dogs. They are allowed to just pee anywhere on the floor which doesn't seem the best plan. Many of the staff don't seem very well-trained and turnover is frequent. They do some breed discriminating (kick out dogs instead of managing their interactions better) and they don't always give the dogs needed breaks from the over-stimulating atmosphere.