PupStars Services Breakdown

Below is pivotal information that you’ll need to know to have a better idea of how PupStars operates as well as some specifics about our services.

Contact Us:

Phone: (773) 322-3160Address: 2337 W. Lake StEmail: [email protected]

Facility hours of operation:

Monday-Friday6:00-AM-7:00PMYou can drop-off/pick-up your pup anytime within our
operating hours. 
Saturday-SundayBoarding pick-up/drop-off times are either 8:00AM or 5:30PM sharp.
No Daycare on Saturday or Sunday

General PupStars information

•It is required that daycare and boarding dogs must be altered (Spayed/Neutered) by the age of 1yr old.  If getting altered isn’t a consideration, please feel free to utilize our Dog Walking & in-home Pet Sitting services! 

•Every dog being left in our care MUST have a flat collar and identification tag or these items will be charged to your account from our retail.
•Please be sure that all information remains completely up to date in your dog’s profile on Gingr. If there are any changes to food portions, medications, eating habits, etc. please update your profile immediately and make us aware via email ([email protected]). This greatly reduces the chances of any mistakes that could take place during the services we provide.
• We do not accept verbal requests. All requests must be submitted to the office via email for quality control ([email protected]).
• If you receive home care services, per our policy we need two sets of keys to your residence (if you have a doorman that can count as one set). Doormen can be inaccessible; we cannot rely on them alone to gain access to your unit. If your building requires a key fob to gain direct access to your residence, we’ll need that as well. Please contact your building management and advocate on our behalf to get one. Our goal is to be able to gain entry to your residence expeditiously. There are no exceptions to this policy because we want to get your pups back to play as soon as possible.
• We offer dog walking every day of the year and care for our facility pups each day but we are closed to the public
on the following federal holidays & are open half days on the Eve’s (Only open until 12pm & no shuttle services are available on Christmas Eve & New Year’s Eve)


o New Year’s Day
o New Year's Eve (Half Day/ No Shuttle services)
o Martin Luther King Day
o Presidents Day
o Memorial Day
o Juneteenth
o Independence Day
o Labor Day
o Indigenous Peoples Day
o Veteran’s Day
o Thanksgiving Day
o Christmas Eve (Half Day/ No Shuttle services)
o Christmas Day

Facility-Based Services

Daycare

• No need to bring anything except your dog (lunches are not necessary unless for puppies or medical reasons).

• Emails you receive regarding your pup being checked in or out don’t indicate what time they arrived at our facility
(it’s merely our office staff doing administrative work).
• Even though we’re not at capacity it’s imperative that you book your pet care services ahead of time. This helps us
accurately plan our day and staff adequately.
• Our protocol for daycare dogs that aren’t picked up by our 7pm closing time is to call twice, email and wait 20
minutes after closing. If your pup is not picked up, they are transitioned to a boarding stay and given a serving of
house food.
• Dogs that are on sedative-based medications such as Trazodone/Fluoxetine/etc. and are exhibiting behaviors that
may put them at risk are not allowed in a group social setting.
• As much as we love your pups, if your dog is exhibiting unexplained symptoms such as diarrhea, coughing,
lethargy, etc., keep them home for the day for observation so that we can keep the rest of our pups safe. Once
your pup seems back to their normal healthy state, we’ll be happy to have them back.
• Dogs receiving lunch are put up to rest 30mins before feeding. After their meals are finished and bowls are
removed, they are given 30mins of rest before being allowed back into group. This ‘helps’ minimize the chance of
bloat and regurgitation. It’s important to our program that all dogs remain safe throughout their stay.
*Bloat is extremely dangerous and needs to be taken seriously. Vets recommend a minimum of 2hrs after a meal before physical activity. Please google ‘bloat in
dogs’ to learn more about the medical condition and how it relates to your dog

Shuttle Transportation (Daycare/Grooming Services)

• We normally arrive at our first residence at 7am and return to our facility by 9:30am. In the evening we depart the
facility between 2pm – 2:30pm to begin the process of taking our pups back to their residences.
• Please be sure your dogs are walked and fed before our arrival to avoid potty accidents and potential vomiting on
the shuttle (if your pup gets carsick, feeding earlier or skipping breakfast on daycare days may help the issue)
*If your pup consistently gets car sick, feeding earlier or skipping breakfast on daycare days may help the issue. If not then we may remove your pup from shuttle services and suggest alternative options

Boarding

• On the last day of your boarding reservation if you pick up after 10am there’s a daycare fee applied to your visit.

• Every dog should come with their own food to minimize stomach upset.
• Please limit comforts from home to blankets, t-shirts, or small washable items. (NO LARGE BEDS, we use
orthopedic cots for comfort).
• If trying to contact PupStars after our hours of operation, email is the best way ([email protected]).
• The chews and toys you pack should be large enough not to fit down our 2in trough and should also be something
you feel safe being left unsupervised.
• If your dog has medication or vitamins, please make us aware through email and verbally upon drop off. Please be
sure we have the names of every medication that’s being given, the dosage, and how it’s being administered. Also,
please keep medication separate from food. If you’d like to separate the food on a per-meal basis that’s
completely fine but combining the medication with food could result in missed dosages depending on if the food is
eaten or not.
• Please be sure your pup has ample food for their stay.
• Please be sure to label/notate your pup's food using standard measurements to be sure that when we are
distributing your dog’s food we are giving the appropriate amount (no scoops or random ‘cup’ sizes).
*Please do not combine medication with food. If your dog doesn’t eat a meal, they’ll miss the much-needed medication which could have very serious repercussions.

Illnesses and Injuries (Giardia/Kennel Cough/Etc.)

On occasion dog daycares tend to run across parasites like Giardia or respiratory viruses like Kennel Cough. Whenthat happens it can spread very quickly and even for the cleanest and most upkept facilities. To avoid the spreadof these illnesses we ask that the moment your pup exhibits any symptoms out of the ordinary (coughing/huffing,diarrhea, constant licking, lethargy, etc.). Make us aware of your pup's symptoms immediately so that we canmonitor and determine the best course of action to keep our pups safe. We understand this can be aninconvenience for you but rest assured have we have dog walking, pet-sitting, and overnight services available atyour disposal. We thank you ahead of time. Keep us informed!

• If your pup has an injury or encumbrance, we need to know about it ahead of time. We need to be able to keep
track of when incidents happen inside or outside of our care. Our environment is like any other daycare (human or
dog), at times during play your pup may get a nick, scratch, or bump, & sometimes the occasional bite. It’s a
priority of ours to convey this information to you in a timely matter.
Grooming
• Longer-haired dogs require daily combing of their hair. At PupStars we believe in ‘Humanity over Vanity” & we
don’t want to put them through mental and physical strain (we must keep our groomer's health in mind as well as
our pups. Having dogs on the table for hours with their hair being pulled is not good for the dog's skin, the
groomer's wrist, or the groomer/pup relationship). Frequent & consistent grooming helps make the experience
more pleasurable for both parties involved and a more desirable outcome for you. We have services such as
weekly Brush/Comb’s that can help tremendously with dogs that get matted easily.
• If your dog requires medication for their grooming experience, we require that you allow us to administer it.
Grooming is a time-based operation, and we must be sure the medication takes effect throughout their grooming
experience and doesn’t wear off by the time we begin grooming. For safety, may not allow dogs that are on any
sedative-based medications (Trazodone/Fluoxetine/etc.) in group settings.
• If you choose to have your pup groomed throughout their day at daycare please plan to pick up your pup
sometime after 6pm. We aim to have them play before their grooming takes place. If you receive a text message
stating your pup is finished with their groom beforehand then feel free to pick up when you’re ready.
• Rain, snow, or shine, your pup must be potty’d before coming in for your appointment. If your dog soils
themselves after they’ve been groomed, you may be charged for a rewash.

Home-Based Services

Dog Walking

• If you’d like to prevent wet paws from snowy or rainy days we ask that you leave us with a towel at our disposal so
we can dry your pup's feet upon returning to your home.
• Emails you receive regarding your pup being checked in or out don’t indicate what time they were walked
throughout the day (it’s merely our office staff doing administrative work)
• PupStars has three ‘peak’ time frames Morning, Midday & Evening (listed below). The time slot you indicate in the
appointment you schedule is the ‘time frame’ in which your dog will be walked (emails you receive regarding your
pup being checked in or out on the day of service don’t indicate the time your pup received those services).
Dog Walking Time Frames

Morning6:00am-9:00am
AM Mid9:00am-11:00am
Midday11:00am-2:00pm
PM Mid2:00pm-5:00pm
Evening5:00pm-8:00pm

*In the case of scheduling multiple walks within a 24hr period we will be sure there is a minimum of a 3hr gap between dog walks for Morning, Midday and Evening
walk time frames

Overnights

• Our overnight sitter will arrive at your residence at 7pm and stay until 7am. We will walk your pup upon our arrival
and departure.
• An additional midday walk can be scheduled at our normal dog walk rate.
• Please have your home in an orderly fashion with anything harmful out of the reach of your pup (plastic
bags/small objects/any papers/things you don’t want damaged/etc.)
• Please have enough food for your pup for the entire visit and anything else you plan to have given to your pup
labeled and accessible to the sitter staying at your home. Please provide clean linens. Snacks for the sitter are also
appreciated.

GINGR ISSUES

• If you’re looking to be picked up and dropped off, please schedule AM and PM transportation services for each
day you reserve. Our goal with signing with Gingr was to streamline our training and to stop second-guessing what

our reservations are telling us since the best way to eliminate clerical errors is for the scheduling process to be in
the clients' hands. As of now, there is no shortcut or way around this rest assured in 2024 we are making a big
push for Gingr to update the scheduling process. While Gingr is making tons of improvements to the software feel
free to reach out to them for any troubleshooting or to apply pressure for feature requests (Gingr: 833.614.4647).


    

Location

Find us on the map

Email Clicks Tracking Code