Pampered Pooches

Health at heart of many trendy pet services

STAFF PHOTOS JASON IVESTER 
Dog Party USA owner Chaddie Kumpe Platt sits on down in one of the outdoor play areas and is immediately surrounded by “clients” at the doggie daycare.

STAFF PHOTOS JASON IVESTER Dog Party USA owner Chaddie Kumpe Platt sits on down in one of the outdoor play areas and is immediately surrounded by “clients” at the doggie daycare.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

At the absolute minimum, a dog needs "some sort of shelter, a bowl full of food and a water bowl," said Sarah Hantz, a doctor of veterinary medicine at Crossover Veterinary Clinic in Springdale. "But animals have moved from being yard dogs and barn cats to where they're family members, sleeping in your bed. And that dictates what the basics would include.

"Back in the day if you even let the dog in the house, that would be pampering!"

Now, pampered pooches might enjoy daycare, gluten-free food, aromatherapy, pedicures and their own parks dedicated to canine contentment.

"I'm not sure what's responsible for that shift in mentality, but that shift in mentality is responsible for a boom in the pet care business," said Rachel Brix, owner of Percy's Grooming & Pet Spa in Eureka Springs. "People consider them family members, and they want to take care of them like they take care of their family members. People are even providing for pets in their wills."

At Brix's establishment, open almost two years, dogs come for grooming -- considered essential by most pet owners, everyone interviewed agreed. But they get much more than that.

"We offer pet massage, aromatherapy, movies," she said. "We've got a spa room with TV, blankets and toys and a playroom to wait for mommy and daddy to come get them.

"The difference between a spa and grooming is the services that are offered," Brix elaborated. "A spa day can include mud treatments, masks, nail buffing, nail polish, different types of shampoos for different types of skin conditions, and we always do tooth brushing, because the most important thing to me is dental health. Dogs experience life with their mouths."

Brix said the whole idea of a doggie spa is to "promote overall wellness," and in her view, that includes "mental stimulation." That's why her clients can lounge around in an environment scented with chamomile or lavender and watch "Hotel for Dogs," "Lady and the Tramp," "Marley & Me" or a dozen other doggie-friendly films.

"'All Dogs Go to Heaven' is my favorite," she said. "Do dogs actually watch? I think sometimes they do. But so many of us leave our TVs on for our dogs, as some kind of white noise, so I think that it at least creates a more homelike environment here."

To Brix, another essential component of "overall wellness" is time outdoors. That's why she spearheaded the plan for a dog park in Eureka Springs. The Eureka Springs Bark Park is scheduled to open in April in Harmon Park, she said.

"It's important for a lot of reasons, but the main reason in our little town is because we don't have yards, and doggies don't have anywhere to be off leash – not only to exercise but to socialize. A well-behaved dog is a better neighbor and a better pet," Brix said.

Both exercise and socialization are integral components in doggie daycare, said Chaddie Kumpe Platt, who opened Dog Party USA eight and a half years ago on Maestri Road in Springdale.

"The industry started changing radically about 15 years ago, going from traditional kennel structure to this group play mentality," said Platt, who was a member of the American Boarding Kennel Association -- now the International Boarding Pet Care Services Association -- before her daycare even opened. "The traditional kennel takes very little staff. One or two people could run a kennel the size of my facility."

Instead, Dog Party has at least one daycare worker for each of six play groups.

"Every group has to have somebody supervising at all times," she said. "Just like kids, dogs don't play that much unless somebody is watching them. And very much like children in daycare, they have their cliques, their friends, enemies, romances -- and boy, can some of them hold a grudge!

"It's much more labor intensive, but it's a labor of love. And there's nothing more fun than watching dogs having fun."

While daycare isn't necessarily cheap, Platt said "you can pay for daycare or pay for new furniture," particularly with young dogs. And, she added, if you've been gone all day, your dog won't be waiting by the door with its leash. "You pick them up at daycare, and they're passed out before you get home."

Older dogs, she admitted, may not need daycare for the same reasons, but "they're going to love it for the rest of their lives. They have their friends, their favorite people and their favorite dogs."

Meg Brandt, a Rogers pet owner, said daycare -- complete with "video of their play yard streaming all day" -- was one of the ways she provided for her "once in a lifetime dog," Summer. A shepherd/collie mix, adopted from a shelter when she was about 8 months old, Summer had epilepsy and other health issues.

"For her, I know that the special care made her more comfortable, and it did extend her life by two to three years (she was 5 when she died)," said Brandt. "I think, though, that from her perspective, all the special aspects of the care were a whole lot less important than the time spent together.

"Unless I was at work or asleep, she was rarely more than the length of a six-foot leash from me," she remembered. "It was a huge financial hardship, but there was always this knowledge that it was temporary, so that made me much more willing to pay more and do without in other areas."

Among the "pampering" that Summer received was homemade food.

"I would buy chicken leg quarters, beef or chicken liver and fresh veggies," Brandt said, "and put them through a hand-crank meat grinder, then either feed it to her raw or bake the goo on a cookie sheet. The vet said I could put her on prescription food, but making it myself was actually a lot cheaper."

"Food can be a huge component in overall health of a dog," Platt agreed. "It's only been in the last five years we've been able to buy premium brands around here."

Julie McQuade-Heyes, owner of The Whole Pet in Fayetteville, said "we've researched pet foods for four decades, followed who the company owners are, where they get their ingredients, read the research and followed the trends -- which run five to 10 years behind what people hear about in human food."

Right now, a pampered pooch is likely to be dining on bison, salmon, venison, pheasant or lamb -- "single-source protein," without so many fillers.

"Food allergies are the biggest thing we hear about," McQuade-Heyes said. "And a lot of times, it's grain related."

"I have personally seen dogs go from miserable to radiantly healthy with a food change," said Platt.

In the end, said Hantz, real pampering is "making sure they're eating good quality food, have plenty of access to water and get annual exams where you're doing your best preventive medicine, making sure you're heading off any major health issues early."

And, she added, whether a pet owner spends thousands of dollars on chemotherapy or tens of dollars on annual vaccinations, "it just goes back to quality of life" for both man and beast.

"Pets make us feel good, and that's a huge part of the relationship."

NAN Life on 03/05/2014