Fido's Farm

Great idea for dog boarding, but I was unimpressed with how they handled some issues with our dog. Our pup gets pretty easily overwhelmed by new people and dogs, and this led to a few incidents with him chasing after other dogs. Thankfully, nor he or any other dogs got hurt (mainly just play fighting from what it sounded like). However, we were not contacted once about this over the four days he was there, nor was their explanation of the events very clear.

It was very frustrating to hear about this for the first time when coming to pick him up. I understand the concern for safety of the other dogs and people, but to ban a dog on his first stay for being overwhelmed by all the new stuff, without any discussion with his owners who know him best, seems kind of unfair. This place is such a great idea for boarding dogs, but probably should be avoided if your dog tends to get too excited around new dogs and people.

We had our first herding evaluation with Misti this past Sunday and are excited to get our Border Collie in for more training and daycare/boarding. The staff have been very responsive to emails and answering questions about boarding/training, and Misti has been very helpful for getting us set up with ongoing herding training. It was so great to see the instinct kick in with our pup when she was in with the sheep. Misti did a great job explaining our dog's behaviors and walking us through what she was doing with her in the sheep pen. We are excited to continue coming back to Fido's for all herding/boarding needs!

This looks like a great place to take the dogs for an adventure or if you need boarding. We only did the day care just to give our dog a chance to work with the sheep. Our dog loves this place. It's a beautiful place too.

We took our dog here last November and I've been hesitant to leave a review but I worry about other animals being injured. Our dog was there 11 days and we'd checked in and they told us he was having fun and doing great. When we picked him up and got him home we noticed a large scab on his side. We ended up taking him to urgent care where they had to do surgery to removed all the damaged tissue and treat the infection that had started.

He needed a drainage tube inserted, a cone on his head and had to take meds for weeks. The vet said it looked like he had been impaled on something. I called Fido's and finally got through, but they had no idea or knowledge of what happened. It was a very stressful ordeal :

THEY PHYSICALLY ABUSE ANIMALS. A friend took her dog there to train and was taking a video of it. In the video there is a man, that works there, kicking a sheep very hard. If you love you pets I would not take them there. How can anyone abuse a poor animal. The sheep was just standing there and the guy just kicked it for no reason.

I have to say that I am extremely disappointed in this place. After reading reviews and all of the details on their website, I was very excited to bring my dog here while our family went on vacation. I have a very high energy dog, and this place seem like a great fit. A little over a month ago I had reached out via email to get details on the process of boarding a dog at the farm.

I got a reply and was told to call the number to set up a trial day of day care. Getting closer to our trip, I called and left a voicemail with all of the details they asked for and left a few questions as well. I got a phone call back from somebody. They left a voicemail that I could not understand at all. It was muffled and sounded like it was from a distance.

I called back immediately only to be transferred to voicemail again. I have since left numerous voicemails requesting a call back but nobody has returned any of my calls or emails. This put my family and I in a really unfortunate situation nearing holidays, and scrambling to find a new place to board our dog last minute. As a business owner myself, I will never give this company my business after the poor customer service they have given us.

I love Fido's! The staff here are great with my dog, help with discipline, and he gets plenty of room to run around with other great dogs. He is always so excited to arrive at Fido's. Worth the 30 minute drive from my house.

My day at Fidos was wonderful! I worked four Bordercollies on sheep and bathed all four of them. All of this for $20. I did leave a $5 tip for use of the wash stands. Thanks Fidos!

Excellent place for herding lessons. You get get a full half hour of quality private instruction aimed at letting you work your dog on your own. You don't just watch someone else work your dog for ten minutes like some other places.

I've taken my dogs over the years and the staff is great. I had an older spunky cairns terrier who LOVED going. Our crazy chocolate darts out the car to get in and play! I think they are great and have lots of cool and fun things for pets! I love that my dogs can get a bath at pick up as well! It's a farm but I have always found it clean and maintained!

A daycare that allows dogs to be dogs, on top of it being a play based facility (not many daycare or boarding facilities even offer this) they are reasonably priced. Want to learn a new hobby with your dog? Fido's is the place to go. Farm life is a happy life. Can't say enough good things about this place. Herding, agility, dog boarding/daycare, huge fields you can take your dog to run. Need some fresh air with your best friend who has 4 legs? Fido's always satisfies.

Fido's Farm is excellent. For more than a year we have been taking our dogs for both daycare on a semiweekly basis and boarding while out of town. I cannot say enough about the care and enthusiasm of the staff and the love they clearly have for our dogs. Their rates are very reasonable, especially compared to other dog daycare centers in the area.

I am dismayed to see the one star reviews for Fido's that have populated this space recently. I have no doubt that each and every dog that spends the day (or longer) there is given the best possible care. Do not listen to the trolls.

Great place. The family, including Red, loves this place. We normally do once a week day care but hope to do more while the parents are working. Prices are decent and staff friendly and attentive. Red normally receives one "time out" per visit due to excessive barking. Relieved that it's not something more serious. My only negative comment, and looking at reviews one agrees with me from years ago, is the staff don't normally answer calls or return them. We do use Fido's day and kennel services when we travel. Red loves coming here and is always eager to leave his person behind.not even looking back at us. lol

Do not trust your dog with these people! They called us while we were in California saying that our dog got bit on the leg but not to worry no big deal. well I'm not the type of dog mom not to worry. We asked for pictures of the wound and they wouldn't send any. We called our vet and she told us all dog bites need to be looked over and the dog needs to be on antibiotics. Fido's refused to take our dog to the vet because it wasn't a "life or death" situation.

When I picked him up this is what the wound looked liked! They originally told us it was on his leg and not that deep. There are two holes on his rib cage! Their story didn't add up and our vet and breeder believe it's a suspicious "bite" if it's even a bite at all. I'll leave it at that.

I have been taking my JRT to Fido's Farm since she was 6 months old, first for training classes then for boarding and I can't say enough positive things. My dog runs around and has fun and comes home exhausted. Don't get me wrong it's a dog place and not a people place.it's a farm where they can run and get dirty and just ask for a bath before you pick you pup up. I am so thankful for Fido's Farm I know my quirky dog is well attended to and she doesn't want to come home. Thank you FF!

I have been going to Fido's for ten years. The owner and staff are very friendly. My pups love going to the farm. When we pull into Fido's they get excited. My pups love herding, agility, flyball or just running in the big field with other dog to play with. People that goes to Fido's are so friendly and being out on the farm with my pups is always a good day even in the rain.

I've tried multiple times to have someone call me back with no success. I'm not sure what's going on but their customer service leaves much to be desired. I've had a very disappointing experience.

I never write reviews on Yelp but I felt compelled this time. Extremely disappointed. Bad experience all around. Woman who checked my dog in was rude and condescending, and when I picked my dog up they indicated he needed more services the next time because he would 'not stop barking.' I have no reason to doubt this since he is a puppy, but that seems like a general hazard of the dog boarding business.

I have boarded my puppy multiple places already and have never received a report like this - maybe Fido's competitors understand that dogs bark from time to time. I will be taking my dog elsewhere.

I found Fido's over 10 years ago with our first dog Sergeant. We were going to another herding place that took a very different view on discipline. That place used yelling and scare tactics to get obedience. When I started going to Fido's, it felt so much better. Their idea on discipline was a reward system, which seemed to make Sergeant much more willing to behave.

We herded, and they taught me how to be effective in herding. We also used their daycare and boarding services. Sergeant was always happy and well cared for. The staff loved him and he went with them willingly. About 10 weeks ago, we became the adoptive parents of a beautiful but willful 2 1/2 year old Lab/Whippet mix. He goes to daycare 3 or 4 times a week and is having the Foundations training as well.

All of the staff are very patient and are very helpful with his training. They are very supportive and give us updated daily on how he did. He loves all the staff. I highly recommend Fido's to everyone I speak to about them.

We have taken our cattle dog here for many years. She started out doing the basic obedience and did well. Even though she typically doesn't care for other dogs, we started bringing her for the day so she could get more play time and she actually started to like it. So then we started boarding her here while we were away. We know that she will be taken care of.

The staff know how to handle dogs. This is a farm - a working farm - you might get dirty and your dog WILL get dirty, so be prepared for that. Your dog will probably run around in mud. Maybe splash in the water, maybe get slobbered on, or even have a lot of fun. I think Fido's is better for big dogs and working dogs in particular. Not recommended for little dogs with bows in their hair!

I took my Australian Cattle Dog, Jack, here since he was three or four months old and they have just been incredible. The staff is very knowledgeable and congenial. Every time I go to pick Jack up I can count on the staff to tell me how he is doing and give tips on how to do the right thing by him at home. We regularly use the daycare service three or four days a week.

He gets valuable socialization time with the other dogs and has become a perfect gentleman. I also did the beginning foundations class with Shannon and Jeremy. They are amazing to work with, very patient, and willing to go the extra mile to get your dog on the right track. Additionally, we boarded Jack overnight twice and had no issues; and had him evaluated for herding by Corrine.

Even though they are located on Yelm Highway, it is worth it for either my wife or I to drive the extra distance (We live in Lacey, I work on Ft. Lewis, she goes to school at Evergreen) to take Jack here. If you are worried about the location, it is totally worth it. I truly can't say enough good things about Fido's Farm. Their staff is incredible, the services they provide are top notch and reasonably priced. I recommend Fido's to everyone I know with dogs.

We've probably boarded our dogs here 10 times or so over the past few years. I like that the staff is friendly and they're very flexible with drop offs and pickups (after hours). I like that my dogs don't seem to mind going. I also like that the dogs get to play all day in the fields. They've explained before that they group dogs by temperament and size, they don't give them toys because dogs tend to fight over toys, and if the dogs don't get along, they rearrange the groups. Sounds reasonable to me. What I don't like, though, is that my dogs sometimes come back with goopy eyes. I'm not sure about the cleanliness, but it's a good backup.

I have taken my dog Rollie to Fido's Farm for boarding several times now and feel confident in giving them a strong review. The staff at Fido's are good people that take good care of my dog, and that is the bottom line for me. Rollie never got into an altercation with another dog here that resulted in any scrapes or other injuries, but if that happened I would trust that the staff was involved, aware, and looking out for all the involved animals after an incident. While, like at other dog boarding places, you have to pay extra for them to play with him, unlike other boarding places in Olympia the dogs are outside for a large portion of their day.

I have compared the services here with other boarders in the Olympia area and have concluded that this is the best option for Rollie. Rollie, a sensitive dog, never came home indicating that he'd been given the wrong food, or been left without water or human and dog interactions. Rollie and I have also taken herding lessons from the owner of Fido's.

She can come off as quite curt, but while she doesn't immediatly seem a warm individual, she was efficient and encouraging every step of the way in our lessons. Once your dog is deemed ready to herd with you without supervision, you can come anytime you want for ten dollars a day and spend as long as you want working with their flocks of well cared for sheep.

I would give this business less than one star, if possible. It is a dilapidated dump. Nothing like the pictures on their website. Its filthy, dirty, run down, in need of major repairs. I would advise not to ever board your beloved pet at this horrible place.

Agility: Your dog does not have to be a border collie or boxer to do agility. All types of dogs find out that they can actually walk across a teeter-totter, go through tunnels, jump, weave through poles, etc. I've even taken a stubborn Siberian husky here for some lessons! And they'll love doing all these things, especially since they will get really high value treats (cheese, bacon, etc.). It's better not to feed the dog before you go for the lesson, they'll love the treats even more and learn better. Classes are $20 per lesson, or $100 for 6.

These may change, but in any case they are a great deal. And you can show up any time a lesson is not going on and practice on your own for a nominal fee. The instructors are really excellent. They are patient, very observant, and full of good tips. They are great at remembering dogs and their abilities, and make sure to challenge them just enough so they keep on improving without getting burnt out.

I live in Seattle, and there are several agility places I could go to that are closer, but the whole experience here is just so great, that I don't mind driving all the way down here. They will divide the class in two if there are too many dogs, and they are really great at training you (the human), so that youll be able to train the dog. Herding: I found Fido's Farm in April 2012, and started by contacting Chris Soderstrom about a herding lesson for my high energy border collie.

After the lesson, Chris said we could use any of the fields to practice on our own, for $15/day. That's an incredible deal! For my border collie, herding is the best thing he could be doing, and it has resulted in great behavior and obedience improvements overall. There are several fields and different levels of sheep (easy to herd, harder to herd) to choose from.

And it's easy to get an appointment for one-on-one instruction - these instructional sessions are extremely helpful. Remember to wear waterproof boots, because you will get muddy. So will your dog, but there's plenty of water and hoses around the place.

I'm rating two different services from Fido's Farm--agility and boarding: 1) Agility: 5 Stars! My husband and I have been going to Fido's Farm with our rescued Border Collie since October 2011, and it's the best thing we ever decided to do! It helped us grow leaps and bounds in our relationship with our dog. Not only does it give him a needed brain and physical challenge, but it has also greatly improved the way we communicate with our dog.

They really help you focus on rewarding and praising, rather than telling them when they mess up or do something bad--a really powerful tool for getting your dog to do what you want. It's cool to see our dog understand (seemingly) almost every word we say to him as well--all part of the strong bond they help you build with your dog. Corinne is such a knowledgeable and positive instructor! Fido's Farm is blessed to have her. Boarding: 2 stars.

I took my dog once for an overnight, and there were no issues. Yes, he was dirty, but that's to be expected when they're playing outside most of the day. In the summer of 2012, I left my dog there for an extended stay--5 days I think. I dropped my dog off really early before they open in the drop off kennel--super convenient! You fill out a sheet and put it on the dog's kennel, detailing feeding, how long the stay will be, & extra services. They'll even take your dog to an agility class if they aren't too busy.

I also marked for them to give him a bath before I got him so that I wouldn't have to deal with a smelly dog right after my trip. I thought everything went quite well, until I got him home and realized that he had scratches all over his body. Maybe those happened when he was playing, and maybe he loved staying there--I'm not sure. All I know is that at the dog park, my dog never comes home with scratches from other dogs.

The other thing is that the boarding staff is a pretty "rough" looking crowd. not people I'd hand pick to watch my beloved dog. I don't think I'll leave my dog there again for boarding unless it's an emergency and I can't leave him anywhere else.

Boarded both our dogs there for a weekend camping trip. Both dogs came back lethargic and filthy with cuts and scrapes. One needed to be taken to the vet. Turns out he picked up a staph infection as well. Just the simple fact that they don't let you see where they keep them should have been a red flag, but we had to leave and we were stuck.

I recently adopted a small dog, Ruby Dee, and she's tiny. 5 pounds tiny. I decided to enroll her in obedience classes as I have no desire to own a stereotypical yappy, annoying little dog. After 6 weeks at Fido's farm our dog knows basic commands and is a far less nervous animal. The instructors at the farm (and it really is a farm) are some of the most patient people I've ever met, and not just with the dog but with a bumbling owner like me as well.

The classes are reasonably priced ($130 for six weeks) and the student to teacher ratio is about 3 to 1, so there is tons of specific instruction for each dog/owner. I just finally took the puppy in to be boarded for a day. She played outside in the sun, there is also a huge barn for them to run around in if it's raining. All of the have their behavior evaluated by the trainers before they are let out with other pooches, so I imagine that fights are rare. Trainers are happy to continue obedience work with the dogs, so the amount of exercise they get is insane. Ruby was so exhausted when I picked her up that she went to sleep in my lap as soon as we got into the car. I adore this place and can't say enough about it, take your dog - it's worth the drive.