Saturday, January 15, 2000
Dog day care fetches clients
Dog lovers 'want to spoil their pets just as they do their children'
BY KEVIN ALDRIDGE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
At Dog Day, Every Day, manager Martha Cupp plays tug-of-war with Max while Leo waits his turn.
(Dick Swaim photo)
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UNION TOWNSHIP — Every workday morning, Phil Klug gets dressed, eats breakfast, drops the dog off at day care, then heads to the job.
Drops the dog off at day care?
“I'd never heard of anything like it before, either,” says Mr. Klug, 39, who owns Max, a black and gold German shepherd. “But as it turns out, dog day care was a godsend for me and Max.”
Mr. Klug is one of a growing number of working people who pay for a service once reserved for their kids.
Dog day care started in California, expanded to New York and has quickly moved to other cities across the nation. Two dog day care centers just opened in the Tristate area — in Mason and in Union Township. A third debuted last March in Avondale.
For about $15 to $18 a day, doggy day care offers everything from exercise to mas sage for pampered pets. From Dog Day, Every Day in Union Township, to K-9 Country Club in Mason, to Puppy Camp in Avondale, the centers cater to busy people who want to make sure their pets are living, if not the Life of Riley, the Life of Rover.
A prosperous economy is making life good for many people in the Tristate, and often, for their best friends, too. The nation's 62 million dog owners are spending 35 percent more today pampering their pets than they did four years ago, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association.
Dog owners spent an estimated $23 billion on their pets last year, up from $21 billion in 1998 and $17 billion in 1996. Industry experts predict that by 2001, pet spending will have jumped to $28.5 billion.
Increased pet spending has spawned dozens of pet superstores like Superpetz and Petsmart. Medical insurance for pets and magazines aimed at pet owners are growing in popularity, too.
But dog day care is more than a luxury, insists Suzanne Ivers, owner of Dog Day, Every Day, which opened Dec. 20 on Ohio 747.
“Sometimes it can save a pet owner hundreds of dollars and months of frustrations,” she says.
Some dogs can get so lonely and bored at home alone that they shred the couch or chew up the shoes.
“The pacing that they do, the barking that they do, the howling that they do is unbelievable,” Ms. Ivers says.
The Cincinnati-area dog centers all offer day-care service from 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. K-9 Country Club and Puppy Camp provide overnight boarding, too. All three have spacious facilities with brightly colored, climate-controlled playrooms and huge outdoor play areas.
Two to three workers care for 10 to 15 dogs at each center most days. And dogs are exposed to a variety of activities ranging from playing fetch, to obedience classes, to confidence-building games.
The centers even offer perks such as bathing, hair brushing and combing, nail clipping, med ication and monthly flea treatments.
To be admitted, all dogs must be spayed and neutered, have their shots and be on heartworm and flea prevention year round. Most dog owners have to fill out lengthy applications and submit their dogs to aggression tests before they can join.
“We don't allow certain types of dogs like pit bulls or other really aggressive dogs for obvious reasons,” says Kevin Sweeney, co-owner of K-9 Country Club.
Dog fights may be the biggest risks of dog day care. Put a few dogs in the same room and sooner or later there's bound to be some growling, says Jim Krack, executive director of the American Boarding Kennels Association.
The Colorado Springs, Colo.-based organization accredits kennels but not dog day care centers. The idea is still too new, Mr. Krack says.
He says the most important component of dog day care is hiring experienced workers.
“There are many signals that dogs send out that aren't obvious to people who don't handle dogs all the time,” he says. “The whole dog day care business depends on doing that well.”
Ms. Ivers, an obedience trainer, canine massage practitioner and licensed pet first-aid instructor, agrees.
“You just don't want anybody who (merely) says they love dogs to be doing this,” she says.
At her 3,000-square-foot center just five miles north of the Tri-County Mall, dogs have the run of a large playroom filled with chew toys, play equipment, couches, chairs, bean bags and mattresses.
Two small televisions sit in opposite corners of the room, so the animals can watch dog-show videos or even tune in Jerry Springer. A huge boombox is available for Fido's listening pleasure.
“In the morning, when they first arrive, we put on a little light rock music for them to listen to,” Ms. Ivers says. “Then in the afternoon around nap time we kind of tone it down a little and maybe put on some jazz.”
Five days a week, Mr. Klug sends Max to play with canine cronies at Dog Day, Every Day.
Mr. Klug, a Bright, Ind., resident, isn't a painted-paw-nails, bow-in-the-fur dog type. He just doesn't want to leave Max at home alone when he works 10-hour days.
The center is ideal for letting Max vent his energy and end each day, well, dog-tired. Max was so hyper before he started day care that Mr. Klug's wife once threatened to get rid of the dog — and her husband, too.
“My wife lets him in the house all the time now,” Mr. Klug says of Max. “He's like a completely different dog.”
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