Testimonial: Last year, just after Thanksgiving, my husband Rob and I decided that it was time to expand our family and get a dog. Macy, a pug/beagle cross (puggle) came to our home at 10 weeks of age. It was an emotional first few weeks with Macy, who ended up being very sick, had a lengthy stay at the Animal Hospital & then required medicine a few times per day for a couple of weeks. By the time she was healthy we were too nervous to leave her at home all by herself while we went to work each day. I began calling "doggie daycare" places throughout the county. I contacted Carolyn at Love Dogs Camp (LDC) and was immediately impressed at how promptly she called me back, informed me of her screening process and really listened to our situation to see if it would fit with her program. To make a long story short, Macy was enrolled in the daycare at LDC. I cannot begin express the amount of gratitude that my husband and I have for Carolyn. She treated Macy like a member of her family and her facilities at LDC are perfect for any dog. With room to run and play with other dogs, places to take naps and lots of yummy meals, it is easy to say that LDC is Macy's favorite place to visit! Carolyn takes the time to make sure that your pet is treated just as wonderfully at LDC as they would be in your own home. After about six months of Macy attending daycare, we ended up rescuing another puppy, Chili, who was abandoned at my workplace. While this new addition to our family got along great with Macy, things weren't so smooth with other people or dogs. Chili was very nervous in new situations and scared of other dogs and people, certainly a sign of a dog that had been abandoned and possibly abused. Once again, we turned to Carolyn at LDC to see if she could help us. Carolyn welcomed Chili into her daycare and gave her the extra love and attention she needed. Within a very short period of time, Chili was comfortable at LDC and now runs and plays with all of her new friends. Rob and I have been able to count on Carolyn to not only take care of Macy and Chili during our working hours, but also for trips out of town. Because we don't like to leave them at home alone for extended periods of time, knowing that they love staying at LDC gives us great peace of mind. In fact, Macy howls in excitement each time I turn up the road to Love Dogs Camp! We have told all of our friends with dogs about the wonderful environment that Carolyn has created at LDC. She is organized, thoughtful and it is obvious how compassionate she is towards animals. Macy & Chili would agree...it is definitely a dog's paradise! - Jennifer and Rob Well, the best thing about coming home from a trip is seeing your dog. After a surf trip to Nicaragua in 2004, I came home to a happy, but slightly injured Gonzo. I had left him with friends, and in a bizarre accident, he had badly cut his leg, requiring $550 of stitches. It was then I vowed to put my best friend in professional care the next vacation. After being stood up by a rival kennel just days before my next trip overseas, my local pet shop suggested I call Carolyn. When we went in for our interview, I knew immediately that Gonzo liked Carolyn and was stoked to roam around her property, hunting the plentiful lions, tigers, and other kitty-related creatures that no doubt prowl about the premises. The day I dropped him off before my flight, I knew he would be happy by the way he disappeared into the grass without so much as a good-bye. When I returned home, he seemed happy and no worse for wear. But the real proof for me regarding his feelings about the camp was revealed by the way he greets Carolyn whenever we return. Gonzo is not a very emotional dog and reserves big, wiggly greetings for a select few special people. His howling and carrying on when he sees Carolyn proves to me he loves the camp. That's all I need to know. - Jeff Poel Lucy entered my life when she was only 8 weeks old. She was to be the family pet for my employer and his two boys. Their lives were very busy so very soon Lucy was spending her days at the office with me and most evenings would go home with me. Even short visits with her other family soon stopped. With the constant contact she became very dependent upon my presence for security and was uncontrollable if I left her with anyone. She could not be left alone at the office or my home as her separation anxiety caused her to chew anything she could get her teeth on. She is a Golden Retriever with all the issues of a Golden Retriever - food allergy so bad she can not eat any animal protein and ear issues that require twice weekly cleanings. When my job ended Lucy came with me. I am so grateful that I found Carolyn and LoveDogsCamp. Lucy started with Carolyn as a dog that needed lots of medical care, emotional support to come out from under the table and join the crew, and assurance I would return. With Carolyn's kind and caring approach she is now a dog who whines from the minute I turn off 101 until I open the door of the car. She leaps out of the car and runs to the front door without a thought about me. She now can go anywhere and meet any group of dogs and/or people with confidence and a wagging tail. When Lucy had a serious medical issue, Carolyn was right there with emotional support and physical care for Lucy above and beyond what any other care facility would provide including our own veterinarian. I firmly believe that had I not found Carolyn and LoveDogsCamp, Lucy would not be the healthy joyful companion I have today. How I wish the businesses I deal with in my professional life operated under an owner with the commitment to quality and ongoing education that Carolyn provides. - Barbara So this goofy boxer dog comes into my life. I didn't even really want it. My daughter is the real animal lover in the family, and so I gave in to getting another dog a couple years after ours of 14 years had passed away. But this one was going to be an "outside" dog, and wasn't going to upset my life, or mess up my house, after just having remodeling done, and wood floors refinished. Then a friend loans me a book called "The Art of Raising a Puppy" by the Monks of New Skete. What a different philosophy they recommended in raising a dog. Like, we're their pack. They love us and want to be with us. If you want an "outside pet", then get a horse, or cow, or goat. Well, Tobie is awfully sweet, so I gave in and let him live inside with us (actually from day one). It's amazing how dogs respond when treated like part of the pack. Then one evening while watching TV, with six-month old sweet Tobie sleeping at our feet, we talked about our upcoming ski vacation, and the fact that we had made a reservation at a kennel for Tobie. Now, with our new attitude toward this new dog, we just couldn't imagine putting him in a cage for six days, this sweet dog who was part of our pack now. That's when we did research and found out about Love Dogs Camp, right here in Arroyo Grande. What a blessing to meet Carolyn, and find that she would take Tobie in and treat him like part of her pack. Of course he had a wonderful time, and didn't even want to leave. Now when we take him there, he runs in the door without even looking back. Love Dogs Camp is perfect for Tobie, because he's just a big, goofy Love Dog, and he knows that Carolyn loves him too. - Christy, Jim and Melissa Hoxter There are three things that come to mind about Love Dogs Camp. First, he really likes being there. When we turn onto your drive he gets very excited! Second, since being part of Love Dogs Camp, he gets along with other dogs much better. The third thing is he really likes you. As long as there is Love Dogs Camp with Carolyn at the helm, we will be customers! - Miday & Joe Johnson Carolyn-Ever since I read those books a year ago on how animals communicate, I have had such an interesting time "talking" to LadyBug. When we are going home and I tell her Hal will be there, she starts barking the minute I turn into my street and then leaps out of the car and runs barking through the house and yard looking for Hal. If I tell her she is going to have to "stay down" before someone comes over, she will park herself at the front door because she knows visitors are coming--no doubt just to see her! When Ladybug first started daycare at Love Dogs Camp, she was terrified of other dogs - primarily because her litter mates always picked on her and she was born partially blind. Now when we pull up to camp, she runs as fast as she can to the front door;, she can barely contain herself, waiting to get to camp every day, where her friends greet her with lots of kisses and she has so much fun playing every day. What I really love is the excited bark the minute we turn up your driveway coming to camp--it's a special bark that she doesn't do any other time. You know she LOVES being at camp! - Sandy Smith We feel really lucky that we can enjoy our vacation even more with the thought that our dog Sparky is going to have fun with his doggie-friends and Carolyn. When we drop him off and leave we see him either at the fence running around, or saying hello to his friends. We also think, it's very special that Sparky gets to eat healthy, home-made food at Love-Dogs-Camp. - Jason Cromer (12 years) Vacations have always been a problem with our family because we didn't want to leave Sparky anywhere. But a reassurance sweeps over me when I see how happy our dog Sparky is when we drop him off at Love Dogs Camp. There I know he has friends to play with, good food cooked with love and a comfortable house where he can sleep at night time. It is truly wonderful to have this feeling so we won't have to worry. - Kenny Cromer (12 years) Recently, our 2.5 year old Jack Russell Terrier (Daisy) stayed at Love Dogs Camp. It was a very positive experience for both Daisy and us. As we were planning our 10 day vacation, I was very apprehensive about leaving our precious baby. Daisy has never stayed in a kennel and even the idea made me want to cancel our trip. As I was researching different options, a friend told me about Love Dogs Camp. She shared with me that her dog loves to be at LDC and she often treats her dog to day visits, as well as overnights. I was very impressed with Carolyn and her staff at LDC. When we initially met, Carolyn was very detailed with her questions and assessment of Daisy. Because of her attention to detail, I immediately felt comfortable with Carolyn and knew she would take wonderful care of Daisy. Most importantly, Daisy seemed to connect with Carolyn right away and I could tell that she trusted her. Each time I have visited LDC, there have been approximately 8-10 other dogs there. I am always impressed with how well all the dogs seem to get along. I have never seen any of the dogs be aggressive or appear to be unhappy. In fact, it is just the opposite. The dogs are playful, happy, and are obviously enjoying themselves. I believe this is a true testament to Carolyn and her staff as they obviously make the dogs well being a top priority. Knowing that Daisy was going to be well cared for and given plenty of TLC, allowed my husband and I to truly enjoy our vacation. Of course I missed Daisy while we were gone; however, I did not worry about her. When I picked up Daisy, she greeted me with excitement, but then resumed playing and running around the camp. She was in no hurry to get in the car and go home! Carolyn gave me a detailed report regarding Daisy's visit and shared with me that she allowed Daisy to sleep on her bed with her. This brought tears to my eyes, as I knew how much that meant to Daisy. I'm sure Daisy felt very special during her stay at LDC and probably didn't miss us at all! I am truly grateful to Carolyn and her staff. I highly recommend LDC to anyone who is looking for a loving, safe, and fun place for their dog. I know Daisy is looking forward to her next visit! - Emily Pakulski Thank You so much Michael & Carolyn! Love Dogs Camp has surpassed our expectations! We NEVER leave our dogs & I was very nervous before we interviewed Michael & Carolyn. Michael & Carolyn assured us our dogs would get so much love & attention that when we picked them up they wouldn't want to go home. Well, we took that with a grain of salt, because we thought no one could possibley understand the bond we have with our dogs, (they are our children). We did choose Love Dogs Camp because we felt our dogs would have fun, get the most attention & exercise, the sleeping facility was indoors, they could be together, they would medicate our baby & we felt they truly cared! We were gone for 10 days, Carolyn emailed us & reassured us they were all having a blast, not to worry. We were so happy to be coming home & getting our babies back, but picking them up was devastating! Our sweet angels barked at us!!! It took THEM a few minutes to warm up to US. They were so happy & content with Carolyn & Michael. WE ATE OUR WORDS, Michael was right, they didn't want to come home. As our ego's are recovering, our hearts are overjoyed that we have found a place to take our dogs that they love, but most of all that loves our dogs. We will definitely bring our dogs here again. Now we feel like when we go on vacation, so do our babies! - Nick & Becky Rangel Carolyn, Just wanted to let you know how we feel about LDC. We havent vacationed in years because we havent found a place to leave our littles ones that we are comfortable with. When we heard about LDC we were anxious to give it a try. I was very pleased with the care and love our dogs received while at camp. You were right on when telling me about each dog and how they behaved, you were very "in-tune" with each ones personality. That leads me to believe that you spent time with them, watched them and truely cared. Any place else would just "cage" them and wait for us to pick them up, but at LDC they seemed to be part of your family while there. Thanks again and we look forward to bringing Giuseppe and Isabella back to camp for a stay in your loving care. Thanks Again, Dan & Dennise Gello When we moved to the Central Coast about a year ago, we were concerned about what we were going to do about our boys' care, since we travel a great deal. We have two beautiful labs, 2 1/2 who we absolutely love like children. When we heard about Love Dogs Camp, we decided to try it. Since we had always had someone come and stay at our house with our dogs when we traveled, we were not totally sold on leaving them with someone outside our home. Well, what can we say - we have found a second home for our boys - who jump out of the car when we arrive and have to be coaxed back in every time we pick them up. They love their LDC camp experience and we can travel confident that they are in the care of people who take care of them like their own children and love them absolutely. We and our "Boys" truly love "CAMP" and would recommend them highly to anyone who is looking for a special place for their dogs (children). Thank you Carolyn and Michael for taking such good care of our "boys"! Steve and Sheri Hauck Hello, my name is Bonnie Petrusky and recently my dog, Dakota, spent four pampered days at Carolyn Leighton's Love Dogs Camp. I had heard about Carolyn's dog camp from a local newspaper article explaining the type of dog camp Carolyn owned and ran. I was so impressed with what I read that I called her explaining that I needed to make arrangements for my dog while we were away. We arranged a time for Dakota and I to visit her camp. From the moment I let Dakota out of the car, Carolyn was extremely attentive to Dakota. She explained about her camp and asked me pertinent questions about Dakota's routine, things she enjoyed doing, and how she would go about making Dakota's experience at Love Dogs Camp a positive one for Dakota. I was impressed by Carolyn's sincerity, and warmth, how much she openly demonstrated her love for the dogs in her care, and her desire to make sure each dog who stayed at her camp had an enjoyable experience! I also appreciated the fact that Carolyn had me fill out a detailed information packet explaining all about Dakota, and we went over it together on the day I dropped Dakota off for her stay at Love Dogs Camp. To me, this conveyed Carolyn's sincerity in wanting to genuinely accomodate Dakota and her routine. Her camp is spacious, allowing for the dogs to run and play safely, clean, and also offerred a very large enclosed area for those dogs whose owners wanted or needed their dog to be "fenced-in." Because Dakota was not used to being around smaller dogs, I wanted Carolyn to know this fact if any small dogs would be at her camp at the same time as Dakota. Carolyn suggested how she would initially introduced Dakota to the smaller dog that would be there two days when Dakota was going to stay with her. When the date arrived that I needed to leave Dakota in Carolyn's care, she made sure that Dakota was feeling good about being there before I ever left. As I drove away, Dakota was out on her deck, sunning herself (which she loves to do). She told me that I was welcome to call her at any time to see how Dakota was doing and in fact, she called me about two hours later to let me know that Dakota was doing beautifully. When Carolyn asked me where Dakota usually slept, I explained that Dakota was a real people dog and needed to be with us. I told her that she always slept in our bedroom. Carolyn then shared that she would take Dakota's bed into her bedroom at night so she could sleep with her. Bonnie Petrusky I am so glad I found Love dogs camp. I have had to leave my sweet little Shih Tzu Mya twice at love dogs camp. She is very happy staying there. I can tell that Carolyn truly loves dogs and treats them with lots of attention. it is so nice to have peace of mind that my sweet Mya is happy and cared for when I have to go out of town. Carolyn is definitely going to heaven in my book. Joyce Quaglino We recently left our two dogs at your ranch for five days. When we picked them up, we dreaded the usual first day after boarding because the dogs alternate between frenzied, manic behavior and clinginess. Imagine our surprise when our dogs acted as if they'd never been away from home! They were calm and happy and, if anything, better behaved than before we left them with you. We also appreciated the detailed report you gave us concerning the dogs. It was clear that you really spent time with them and got to know them individually. We'll never take our dogs anywhere else. Donna and Harry Hellenbrand Dear Carolyn...thanks for the great two days at your camp..it was really fun...my dad and mom said they really missed me but knew you would take good care of me at your neat house...I was a little shy at first , but when I saw how caring you are and the nice dogs there, I joined in the fun and games....have a great New Year...Love Joyful In the 4 1/2 years we have had Austin, we have never left him at a kennel. They all appeared to be cold and impersonal. It is also difficult to find people to stay at your house to house sit. I am so grateful for the referral I received to Love Dogs Camp! As my friend described it, it is like taking our dog to Grandma's house to visit! Austin is very attached to people, and had not spent much time with other dogs before. I was concerned that he would not get along. I knew my concerns were over when we visited you and saw not only how well he got along with the other dogs, but how comfortable he was to just lay at our feet with other dogs around. I can tell from your "report" of his visit that Austin had the time of his life! Dogs to play with, large areas to run around in, and a very comfortable house for him to lie around in. I never felt as if he would be confined to a kennel, just roam as he would at home. I am sure he enjoyed it much more than someone house sitting, since he had dogs and people to interact with. It is a great comfort to know there is a "home" he can go to whenever we need to leave town. Maybe now we'll take more vacations! Thank you Carolyn for your love and devotion to our pets. Julie & Mark London Home | About | Checklist and Fees | Pics | Ranch | Contact | Refer Our Site | Application