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Downtown Dog Lounge Go Solo, an online resource for small businesses, interviewed Elise to find out more about launching and maintaining a business as a single mom. Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in pet care business, but not sure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Elise Vincentini, owner of Downtown Dog Lounge, DDL Bakery, and Dog Yard Bar, located in Seattle, Washington. I started my business in 2002, wanting to create a better way for people to connect and care for their dogs.
Services
Victoria has been grooming since 2007 after training at Petsmart Academy. She loves spending time with her 3 kids, James, Gabby and Emery, her 2 cats Po and Cleo, her mini aussie Itty Bitty and her boyfriend Cory. She's a Broncos and Seahawks fan and looks forward to family movie and game nights. On the weekends you can find her out hiking or adventuring in the Pacific Northwest.
We provide a list of comprehensive and generous services to pamper your pooch all day long. Or, all night long - if you need. Feel free to peruse our list below to learn more. Dog Daycare is a great way to help your pup socialize with other dogs and give them a fun outlet for their sometimes boundless energy.
Dog Daycare is a great way to help your pup socialize with other dogs and give them a fun outlet for their sometimes boundless energy. At Downtown Dog Lounge, we strive to offer the best daycare service in Seattle for both pooch and parent. We ensure safety by providing 24/7 human monitoring, making sure all dogs are vaccinated, and by having each of our pooches undergo an evaluation with one of our staff members to make sure that the environment is right for them.Best of all, you can watch your dog play on our live webcams!
Leaving Seattle for an upcoming vacation or business trip? No matter how long you're gone, we'll make sure your dog receives the best care possible with our overnight boarding services. Daycare play is included with boarding stays and we offer walking services for additional fresh air and exercise.
Reviews (15)
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Alyssa Sismaet
May 16, 2022
AVOID NAIL TRIMS HERE! Our dog was at daycare and we signed him up for "nail trim/dremel". Since they say trim/dremel we first assumed it'd be grinding which is what we want if we are paying $16 for it, but they seemed to clip them. They nicked his quick and didn't try hard enough to let us know what happened immediately. I had to email since I couldn't see him on cameras and then they told me.

They should've left a voicemail to both parents and checked the phone number they tried to text was correct. Also they said "During their nail trim our bather accidently nicked their quick and caused it to bleed." in the email to us, but once we got him and checked all his nails we found at least THREE nails that were bleeding. They did not mention to us that they had nicked the quick on MULTIPLE nails.

Also I'm not sure why you wouldn't figure out a different technique after you nick the quick the first time, or get someone else to help you. They claimed that it happens when dogs are excited, but he has gone to nail trims every month and this has never happened. Even if he is excited they should realize that and figure out how to still do it safely.

Also they said "bather" so I'm not sure if they had a dedicated nail groomer. It was incredibly disappointing and I don't want that nail experience to happen to any other dogs. They tried to help by comping everything after we asked, but we would've preferred for this to never have happened since now our dog is injured until all his nails recover.
Jordan Simons
May 10, 2022
They take great care of our dog! Love the webcams to check how she is doing during the day!
Evan Thompson
Apr 19, 2022
The lengths to which I've tried booking my first appointment with these guys is incredible. I've been told multiple times I will receive a call back, and they never call back. They don't respond to emails. It's as if they don't want new business, which is truly bizarre.
Thad Caperton
Apr 16, 2022
When you can get a grooming apt, the staff are all friendly and skilled, however trying to book an apt through a terrible web portal is a nightmare. There aren't enough groomers working enough days, so booking far in advance is required, however the website won't allow you to book far in advance, as one or the required shots for my dog is always due by the time I can book an apt, and the system won't allow the apt to book because it assumes I don't vaccinate my dog properly. A terrible system that has me looking for groomers elsewhere, which is a shame because my son's groomer here is great.
Wen Zhang
Feb 20, 2022
Am very angry about this place! If you care about your dogs then don't pick this place because if anything happens the only thing their manager will do is to play the balme game and imply that you are faking the injury and try to get money from them. My pup's nails are bleeding after the daycare. I did not notice it up front when I picked him up from the dog lounge.

But when I got back home, I found his nails not only bleeding but also looked like someone trimmed them deeply. It must have happened at their facility because I did not go anywhere else. My dog was in my car all the time. I've tried to contact them and all I want to know is what happened to my pup. What I got back is that they refuse to admit it happened at the dog lounge and imply it happened outside because there is no report saying my dog is injured from their staff.

This is ridiculous as nobody is going to prove they are guilty of something. They told me all they can do is to offer a complementary bath and day care but who will go there again after all these.
Layla Z.
Feb 15, 2022
Very annoying to get an appointment with. Called multiple times, did a walk-in, but they said to use the website, and then the website doesn't allow new client evaluation, so we sent numerous emails back and forth in January just to get someone to see us. Finally booked one, took our dog in, they wouldn't take him because he wasn't neutered. So we tried again after the surgery.

Again multiple rounds of calls and emails just to get someone'e attention. I understand that this place is popular located in the rich tech hub, but geez the attitude! Wouldn't pick this place if it weren't the only choice we have in the area.
Elise Castorina
Feb 02, 2022
I am changing my previous review after learning about the working environment and how employees are treated at DDL. The high attrition/turnover rate of staff speaks for itself too in my personal opinion. I have never had any issue with the DDL SLU staff themselves though - they've always been wonderful and caring toward my dog. They did always seem short staffed though and it was a bit concerning to see so many dogs in the parks with maybe only 1 human to monitor them.

I feel like the ratio should be higher for more humans to dogs for safety. Reviews by employees on sites like Glassdoor and Indeed seem to substantiate what I've heard about the poor working environment. I'm going to choose to support other dog-related businesses at this time.
Rinky Dutta
Dec 18, 2021
This was my second visit and I'm very disappointed. I brought in my 1.5 yr old yorkie couple weeks back for nail trimming and a woman (can't remember her name) took care of him perfectly well. So the next time I bought their full bath and haircut package. Adam was the assigned groomer. I specifically told him that i didn't want his hair around his face and ears trimmed too much as he's very nervous and I love it that way.

But when i came to pick him up I saw the body hair was not shortened much but exactly the face and ears were almost shaved. I could barely recognize my baby. When I asked him he replied "yeah I like it proportionate so I did this". First of all when i give specific instructions you tell me if you can't do it but he had agreed and later said he decided so did it which is ridiculous.

He akso had nail trimming in the package. I'm not sure what Adam did but I noticed my baby was limping and I feel his paws are paining. Coz he loves when I pamper his paws but now he's not letting me anywhere near them. I am never trusting them with my pup again and neither should any of you.
October Tiger
Nov 12, 2021
Needed to board my dogs this weekend but couldn't reach anyone by phone for 2 days. I will never consider this place as I'd be in a panic if I couldn't get a hold of someone when they had my animals.
Sung-Ju Ji
Oct 13, 2021
I had my dog at DDL for daycare. First evaluation session seemed to have gone well, staff friendly, but I have not received any report card. I sent them an email through their portal inquiring if this was part of the first evaluation, but no response was received. I wanted to send my dog on additional daycare, but I found out that they require bordetella every 6 months so I couldn't complete booking online.

I sent them an email through their portal about this to find out my options (right now, normal vet appointments are 3 weeks out) and have tried calling them for 3 days straight, but no response via email nor I couldn't reach them through the phone. No one picks up the phone. I wish they were more attentive and available to answer these inquiry.
Tracy Wang
Apr 11, 2021
I chose this place for boarding because they have camera, but they don't have camera for normal boarding. If you want to see see your dog sleeping, you need to pay more to upgrade to premium room where has cameras. After 4 night boarding, my dog became sensitive when he is sleeping and aggressive when I want to touch him. Also, he was a nice dog every time he saw dogs or humans, he never barked before. But now he keeps barking every time he go outside for a walk. Not sure what happened to him during the boarding. I won't choose this place anymore.
Anna H.
Feb 25, 2021
DDL has all the things my puppy loves: other dogs, balls, and a ton of room to run around. If you don't drink it maybe isn't worth paying for (it's $12 for a play session) since it's essentially the same thing as a dog park. However, it does have an area for quieter dogs, a dog treat bakery, and they sell food and drink. You're responsible for your pup(s) while you're there just like at the dog park - no employee supervision or anything like that.

I haven't had a chance to take Loki for day stay, but I think that will really be what takes it from a 3 star joint to a 5. It's kennel-less and they really focus on entertaining your dog all day long! I'll have to update once we do that!
Ken Musser
Dec 31, 2020
Victoria does an amazing job on Jake my dog! She cares and attends to his needs as he is a senior dog.
Ozge Suer Cetinkaya
Oct 02, 2020
We needed a half day daycare for our 11 week old puppy on July 20th. As per the procedures we first needed to book a full evaluation day which was totally fine. Before that we were asked to create an account and share all vaccination and additional info on our pup. Evaluation day went well and we wanted confirm our actual half day daycare booking.

But we were not able to. The reason is that our pup's vaccine is due for the same day of daycare and our Vet appointment is 2 days later (the earliest we could get). So as a result our whole plan failed. They should have talked about this before having us bring our pup for evaluation so that we wouldn't bother wasting our time and would have looked for other options.

Now we ended up with no option! This makes it hard to rely on this place. Additionally, they offer some discount for a specific company employees and we are eligible for that. Despite reminding this 2-3 times, they didn't apply the discount for the charge of the evaluation day so for us, Downtown Dog Lounge failed twice! I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone if you are looking for reliable service.
Gigi P. Carter
Jan 17, 2018
Our dogs love going to DDL in South Lake Union. We were out of the country for a company retreat and the DDL team took excellent care of our three pups. I was able to log in and watch them on the webcams, and I caught one of staff members loving on my sweet Maya who was soaking it all up. They kept in touch with us by texting us photos and updates which helped put our minds at ease.

When it was time to check out, all pups were washed, sweet smelling and ready to go. They snoozed the whole way home. Thank you DDL team for all you do to provide great service!