One thing that most dog owners can agree on is that we hate having to leave our furry family members behind. Whether it’s for a day at work or a week away, seeing those sad puppy dog eyes in the rearview mirror is enough to make you turn around and stay home. Even worse is when we have to book them into a boarding kennel; somehow it always feels a bit like doggy prison! Having worked in such an establishment, I can assure you that nothing could be further from the truth, but even so, there has been increasing demand for a wider variety of options. When the consumer demands, the market provides, and throughout America, we are seeing a whole new approach to canine accommodation taking shape.

One of the few benefits of COVID-19’s tedious lockdowns was that we got to spend more time at home with our pets. On the flip side, our pets became accustomed to spending more of their day in the company of humans, and in the years that have followed, vets, behaviorists, and animal shelters have been inundated with cases of dogs suffering from separation anxiety and the destructive and antisocial behaviors that sometimes go along with it. As a consequence, the demand for doggy daycare has shot through the roof, but so have the standards of many discerning pet owners.

Gone are the days of small pens, crowded exercise fields, and strict opening times. This new breed of doggy lodgings is giving our four-legged friends the four-seasons treatment, with flexible opening hours, memberships, training, and grooming as standard. These facilities have more to offer than some day spas! Two companies that are making a name for themselves in new wave dog care are Central Bark and DogDrop.

Central Bark

Central Bark, the brainchild of co-founders Jackie Jordan and Chris Gaba, has actually been around since the mid-1990s. Their dream was to create the type of dog boarding facility that they couldn’t find themselves, one that offered more options and services for dog owners with hectic schedules and busy lives. The primary mission at Central Bark is to provide a ‘whole dog enrichment experience,’ where your dog can be cared for, socialized, trained, and groomed. With access to an online booking system and even a doggy shuttle service if needed, Central Bark now has over 40 locations across the US, a number which is increasing all the time, thanks to franchising. Central Bark also offers longer-term boarding, so if you need to go away, your dog can stay at a location they are familiar with, with people they already know.

Dog Drop

A more recent entrant in the realm of doggy daycare is DogDrop. Created by Shaina Denny and Greer Wilk, this women-led company is taking flexible daycare to a whole new level. While many other day boarding facilities are limited to typical workday hours, like 8 am to 6 pm, with whole or half day bookings as standard, DogDrop is open 7 am to 10 pm every day, with bookings made in 30-minute increments. Much like Central Bark’s whole dog philosophy, DogDrop offers clients a place where their dogs will receive positive redirection, mental stimulation, and personal attention.

Reservations are not required, but all dogs need to have passed a basic behavior and fitness assessment. DogDrop has membership plans to cater to different needs, whether you’re looking for somewhere for your dog to stay and play for a few hours or five days a week. Based in Los Angeles, DogDrop only has a few branches so far, the most recent opening in Austin, TX, but with franchise opportunities, we can expect to see this highly flexible doggy daycare becoming a nationwide presence.

So if you’re looking for a place that will treat your dog as an individual, provide a positive experience, and cater to both the needs of your dog and your schedule, there are options. With companies like these changing the face of doggy daycare, we can stop feeling guilty about leaving our dogs behind and start feeling guilty when we don’t need to take them in!

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