The other weekend I went to a grand opening event for a Los Angeles based pet store chain that had opened its first San Francisco location. The event was amazing: well-staffed, beautiful store, crowded, lots of vendors giving away samples, and SWAG that was outside the budget of most family-owned businesses (read: better SWAG than Pet Camp gives out).
In the very back of the store, facing the street, was the doggie daycare area. Someone had clearly spent some time trying to make it look cute. It was concrete floor with a fake fire hydrant in the middle of a 2 square meter fake grass area, some small climbing toys, etc. The room was pretty small – probably about 12’ by 12’, so smaller than the Pet Camp lobby – and the pet store chain is only marketing their doggy daycare to “small dogs.” I asked at the open house and checked their web page but I still can’t find out what “small dogs” means, but suspect it is an “I know it when I see it” standard for all you Supreme Court decision aficionados out there.
Anyway, this blog is not about Supreme Court decisions (though with what’s going on around the country there could be lots of blogs on this too) but rather on why some doggie daycare places think it’s acceptable to make “small dogs” play all day, indoors, on concrete in a small room. I completely get that these doggie daycare facilities lack outdoor space but that’s not an excuse for making these dogs play like this. Big or small, dogs need to be able to romp about, play with friends but also have enough room – and hopefully some private space – for them to get some alone time during the day; they should have access to fresh air and sunshine; and they should not be forced to play on concrete all day.
While we think you should pick Pet Camp for your doggie daycare needs (we, of course, provide daycare for both large and small dogs), before you choose any doggie daycare (or any pet care facility) PLEASE visit it. No flashy name, no amazing branding, no really cool SWAG matters if the play space is small, concrete and lacks fresh air.
Pet Camp, as you know, will never have a flashy name, amazing branding (sorry Spritz) or really cool SWAG (sorry Jibe), but our play areas are spacious, full of fresh air and sunshine, and never, ever on concrete. We don’t like to brag, but really, our play areas are second to none in San Francisco! Come on over, meet the counselors, check out the Meadow and the Savannah and see what makes Pet Camp so different.