Monday, March 29, 2010
McClatchy Newspapers
CHARLOTTE, N.C.
Just around 1:30 p.m. at a tidy Charlotte day care, the pupils began emerging from naptime — with a loud, eager chorus of barking. Playtime was about to get under way at Dogs All Day, where four-legged friends frolic while their owners are away at work.
They come small and large, upscale and low-key, chain and independent, with a variety of themes — including a rustic camp and Tuscan. Most also offer boarding, and sometimes other services such as grooming. But it’s day care that has especially caught on, particularly among busy, urban adults who want dogs but can’t or don’t want to leave them cooped up at home all day.
Day care has seen explosive growth over the past three to five years, more than any other area of pet-care services, said Susan Briggs, president of the Pet Care Services Association, a trade group. Even as the economy has slowed new dog-day-care openings, she said, client demand remains strong, and boarding and training centers have been adding the service, too.
“Dogs are becoming more and more like a member of the family, so they’ll spend the money on the dog to go to day care like they would a child,” said Briggs, who has owned a dog day-care in Houston for 10 years. “And they expect the same kind of services and care, which they should. ... As pet owners, we want our pets to be happy.”
The day cares are poised to continue booming, experts say, with additional business owners entering, some for a new start after corporate downsizing. And pet lovers tend to still cut back in other areas of their budgets instead of scrimping on Fido or Fluffy.
“Basically, no matter how many reports we saw of a bad economy, or layoffs at Wachovia, or falling housing prices ... the places where I worked were absolutely packed and busier than ever, and having to turn away dogs,” said Kristen Hall, who worked for a breeder and another dog day-care before opening Puptown Charlotte, a day-care and boarding center, last April. “It was just amazing.”
When Meadows Bed & Biscuit opened in Huntersville, N.C., in 2001, day care was about 20 percent of its business. Now, it’s about 50 percent, and the center expanded last year to add two “gyms” and other amenities, assistant manager Whitney Howell said. Pet Paradise Resort, a Florida-based chain that focuses on airport locations, opened near Charlotte/Douglas Airport last August and has seen strong day-care business, marketing director Lisa Pogue said.
For dogs, the benefits include socialization and plenty of exercise. Owners, meanwhile, get the convenience of leaving their dog in a trusted environment that, ideally, will make pets happier and healthier.
“It’s his home away from home,” said Hayley Hatley of Charlotte as she picked up her 2-year-old shepherd mix, Reames, at Dogs All Day one evening early last week. “You can just say ‘day care,’ and he’s at the door.”
Hatley had long wanted a dog but works long days in sales and lives in a patio home with little room for a pet to roam. She figured she’d hold off until she moved to a house with a backyard, but then she found Reames, a stray that went unclaimed, on Reames Road. Now, she brings him to Dogs All Day twice a week, checking up on him via the center’s Web cameras during the day. Her dog, she said, has made friends, and she likes the facility’s size, cleanliness and prices.
That comes at a price that can add up quickly: Local doggie day cares charge anywhere from about $20 to $30 a day, with lower rates for those who buy day passes in bulk. Most dogs, however, don’t visit every day, and owners say the service is worth it.
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