Hi Clayton area neighbors! My name is Eric Davis and my wife is Karen. We just moved to the Flowers Plantation area, and we love it here in Clayton. I know this seems like a "Dog Cat" category thread (I have a thread there too), but it's a business question also and I need as much feedback as possible from people who live near Clayton. We are thinking of pursuing our life's passion of opening a dog daycare/boarding business. We know a few of the local vets offer boarding, but we don't know of a dedicated boarding/daycare business in Clayton. It would be for screened, well behaved, and social dogs in an open kennel, free roam, climate controlled environment (with separate kennels overnight). Location: somewhere on (or just off) Business 70 between 42 East and I-40. I guess our biggest questions are: -Demographics- Do you feel Clayton area residents would use this type of facility? If you have a dog, would you patronize us? How regularly? (I know price is a factor, but figure similar rates to boarding your dog anywhere.) -Economy- Is this something you've recently cut from your budget because of the economy? Or perhaps, is it something you need MORE now because you are working longer hours, or perhaps your spouse picked up a job and you don't want your dog home alone so much? Any thoughts you could share with us would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks so much!
ABSOLUTELY!!!! I would love for a doggie day care to come to Clayton. I currently use Bone Voyage and love them! But they are about 30 minutes from the house. If you were to have a facility comparable to where I take my dogs now and the facility was here in Clayton I would most definitely use it. I would like to be able to take my dogs to day care once or twice a month; but it is just not convenient. We use the Bone Voyage for boarding because they have extra large indoor-outdoor kennels; large play yard; and frequent play time for their "guests"!
I work from home, so I wouldnt have a need... but I work with a lot of animal folks. If I was interested, here is what I would want. I do my own vaccinations and most local places wont accept that (I have labels from bottles and dates administered) My doggie also needs air conditioning and a room for only small dogs. I would also like camera's where I could watch my baby on line. (yes I expect a lot) I would love added features to be available, nails trimmed, bathed etc (for a fee of course.) Let's see a 40/42 discount is always nice too. LOL Good luck! Any investment is scary! LOL
There is a kennel I have used once on Buffalo road called Adorybulls. The owner lives right there. I had a pretty good experience there. I have also used Bone Voyage and love it there!! It is very pricey though especially if you add in play time, etc. I do not believe that Adorybulls charged for outside time. That being said, I do believe there is definitely a need for affordable, quality dog care in the Clayton area. I have been boarding 3-4 times per year but at the moment have great neighbors who semi-adopt my pet while I am away so it has worked out great. I would also like the grooming services so at the end of a stay, a bath and nail trimming at the least can be done. Good luck!
That's awesome feedback. Thanks to everyone who has responded so far. Any more comments? They are welcomed and appreciated!
We take our dogs to Walltop Kennel in Four Oaks because they are the only place we could find that has HUGE runs for the dogs. I'm not sure of the size but guess they are at least 6x6. My 70 lbs dogs have plenty of room together and could probably fit two friends and still have plenty of room to move around. I cannot stand the thought of my dogs being crammed into a 3x3 kennel while we are traveling. I do wish Walltops kennels had a more solid barrier between the kennels (not just chain link) and indoor/outdoor runs. Their prices are the most reasonable I've found and they charge by the night ... not by the day. They have great hours with Sunday night pick up from 4-7 ... which gives us flexibility when returning from a trip. They will bath the dogs for a small fee and often brush our dogs during their stay. They don't charge extra to give medicine. Having an opportunity to play with other dogs would be fun for our dogs. However, they are older and after about an hour at a doggie park usually have had enough. So, an open environment all day with other dogs ... especially spunky ones, might not be a good fit for them. So ... our ideal kennel would include ... LARGE indoor/outdoor runs with solid barrier between kennels more than 2x a day outside to play/potty/ etc... a little supervised social time with other friendly dogs each day A window of time for Sunday evening pick up Charge by the night No extra charge for putting meds in foods willing to feed food brought by owner Competitive pricing A facility that looks and smells clean Vaccines required for all clients GREAT owners and staff who love dogs!!!
Sorry, Eric, but I am dedicated to Bone Voyage. My dogs love them, and they seem to enjoy my dogs too. The only thing that would make me change is 1) they close down or 2) they open another place closer to my home in Clayton. I use them weekly for daycare and occasionally for boarding. Regarding the economy, yes, I may have to make some changes soon. I will probably alternate my dogs (one goes this week, the other goes next week) - or something like that.
Smallone and BostonRedHead, Thanks for your feedback. I am glad that you are happy with BoneVoyage and it's good to hear they love your dogs. I hope that we can attract loyal customers to our business when we're open.
