Skippy the goldendoodle has been using our doggy daycare and hotel service for over 3 years. When he gets dropped off, he always turns his head and smiles in excitement… Then he gets even more excited when we take him into the play area where he gets to hang out with all of his doggy friends. Skippy auditioned for the Sandy in the musical Annie and we gave him a pre-audition bath so he would look his best. He did not get the part, but if we were the judges, we would have picked him! Skippy’s parents love to send him postcards when they are out of town (we think it is pretty cute as well). Our facebook fans will remember this video of the postcard Skippy received last spring.
Skippy
Bean
Bean is an ex-puppy mill breeding dog and is sometimes shy around our doggy daycare staff. Bean is really comfortable in the play rooms and enjoys the company of the other dogs! This past week, Bean spent a few nights boarding in our dog hotel and did great with it! I am always excited when we see dogs that have been rescued from such poor conditions like a puppy mill, and then the succeed in doggy daycare! It really is a cinderella story!
Have a great afternoon!
Keith
Chicago Trip and Daycare Visits
While in Chicago, we made a quick visit to see my brothers new puppy!! What a cutie!!
The past 2 days, Trycia and I were in Chicago visiting her family that was in from Poland. Tuesday afternoon we had about 2 hours to kill and decided to check out some doggy daycares in the area. I can honestly say that I was not impressed.
The first one that we visited is one of the “premier” dog daycares in Chicago. We walked in and the lobby was super clean, granite counter tops, and flat panel tv’s.. Wow, the lobby looked good! Then they took us on the tour of the building where we saw one employee sitting and reading a book (to herself, not the dogs) while one dog was eating puke on the floor. The worst part was that she did not even get up to clean it (we were in there for about 5 minutes). In their big dog room, it was the same deal. The guy was sitting watching the dogs and there was a pile of poop on the floor. Wow!!
Then we walked down the street and visited another place. There it felt much more like the PPP when we walked in…. Until we talked to the staff. I asked the guy behind the counter what types of shots they require and he did not even know. They also told us they don’t limit the number of dogs, and you can show up anytime. The guy behind the desk did say that the owner was out, and he was just covering, but still…Wow!
On the way to the airport we talked lots about what we saw and how we can improve our own daycare! I am really happy with how we run our business. We don’t have granite counter tops, designer lighting in the lobby or big college degrees behind an executive desk in our office, but we have lots and lots of love for the dogs, our customers and our employees!! It is important to remember that our daycare is built for our 4 legged customers and we do everything with them in mind (I would rather save the money on granite counter tops and designer lighting and buy better play equipment, dog toys r make things easier for our staff). This is why we have been working hard on remodeling our grooming area (which will be completed this week).
Maybe we were overly critical, and never told the employees that we owned a doggy daycare in Minneapolis, but I was not impressed by what we saw at these “premier” and “posh” places. Both of the daycares we visited had more than 1 location and I honestly feel that when you start getting big like that, the quality and care declines… My point was proven 2 times today.
As always, if there is anything we can do to improve please let me know. We want to be the best dog daycare in Minneapolis.
Keith
What a great weekend at the Dog Hotel!!
Elsie (right) is relaxing on the couch next to Jeepers (left)on the 4th of July in the Canine Cove.
This past weekend was a packed weekend at the Pampered Pooch Playground – Dog Hotel! All of our overnight guests had so much fun staying over and enjoying our large outside area, and then running back in to the great air conditioning. All the dogs were so behaved and it was kinda sad to see so many of them go home today! This morning I was helping to do baths, which is my new favorite past-time. I really enjoy doing baths! We do a free bath after 5 nights in our dog hotel, but you can request a bath anytime your pooch is at daycare or spending the night.
I hope everyone had a great 4th of july weekend!
Keith
The Newest PPP Family Member
Jamie, one of our staff members (of over 2 years) just adopted a new puppy from Metropolitan Mutts! Today was her first day at doggy daycare and she had so much fun! She is such a sweet girl that loves attention. Jamie is still thinking of names, once she comes up with one, we will let you know what it is!
This past weekend our dog hotel was packed with dogs boarding for the holiday weekend! Everyone had such a great time playing outside (and inside when the weather was bad).
Have a great night!
Keith
Customers helping customers
We want to be more than just a business (heck, sometimes I forget we are a business), we want to be a community of pet lovers. Yesterday everyone came to my help when I was working on finding the best vacuum for pet hair at our house and today everyone is helping our customer, Chuck, with advice on the Thunder Shirt. If you want to be part of the fun, make sure you are our facebook friend and if you ever need help with anything, just send me an email. If I can help, I will… Otherwise I will pose it to our PPP community!
Have a good night!
Keith
Severe Weather
Thanks to LoriHarderFitness.com for this amazing picture from tonight.
I have been very busy watching the news and weather radar because we take storm season very seriously at Pampered Pooch Playground. We get breaking weather alerts from the National Weather Service by text and email, and I always stay on top of what was going on. Tonight as the tornado sirens kept going off, I was talking with Katie and Dana at the daycare to make sure that they and the dogs are ok. We do have a set of procedures on how to react when there is any type of severe weather warning, or tornado in the area. Our first priority is to keep the dogs safe. If there is severe weather overnight, I am always on call and have plans for someone to spend the night at the doggy daycare if needed.
Have a good night and stay safe!
Keith
PPP 4th Anniversary Week!
Bindi and her "friends".
This is a big week for Pampered Pooch Playground…. Because it is our 4th anniversary! It is so hard to believe that we have been open 4 years and we look back to how everything has changed and we have grown. I still remember the first day that we were open and we were not sure if anyone would come. I came into the building at 6:15 (because I was so excited), and kept waiting and waiting…. Finally at 6:45 in walks our first dog, Bindi. Bindi was so excited to come in and meet everyone. At that time we only had myself and one employee working. Then 2 more dogs came in… 3 dogs on the first day! I was so pumped and I knew that PPP would be a huge success! Bindi still comes to doggy daycare, and is one of Roxy’s best friends. I was going through our customer list and many of our first dogs still continue to come on a regular basis (and I can remember many of the dog’s first days). Now, almost 4 years later, Pampered Pooch Playground is often looked to as an example of how a doggy daycare should be run and lots of daycares have even tried to copy our style and feel (but you can’t).
We want to thank everyone for being such a loyal and valued customer. We really do love all of the dogs that come and are proud to have them as part of our extended family.
Out technical anniversary is on April 20th, but we will be celebrating all week on our Facebook page. Make sure you check every day to see what you can win!
Again.. Thanks to all of our great customers and employees as we could never have made it 4 years without you!
Keith and Trycia
Dolly
Dolly is one of the older girls that really enjoys spending the night at our dog hotel. She really enjoys staying with us, and really loves attention. She can often be spotted on the webcams in the Canine Cove laying on one of the beds! Dolly get really excited when she sees her food or if someone has a treat in their hand. We really love having dolly spend the night with us.
Have a great night!
Keith
Dog Park Fun
Matilda after a recent bath after her hotel stay.
This past weekend Trycia and I were at Roxy’s favorite dog park in Minneapolis. Well, it is not an official dog park, but it has turned into one. I don’t want to tip the whole world off to where it is, but feel free to contact me and I will let you know. Anyway, we were walking through the park and we saw Matilda the vizsla, who is one of our daycare dogs running and hopping through the snow! She played with Roxy for about a minute and then Roxy laid down! I really enjoy seeing all of our dogs and customers outside doggy daycare.
Have a good day!
Keith
