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Community Corner

This New Hotel is a Howl

Man's best friend now has his own luxurious home away from home.

They’re suite accommodations likely to earn you a big sloppy lick and some wild tail wagging.

The Hotel at Doggie Depot, which held its Grand Opening last Saturday, features individual suites for canine guests looking for more luxurious accommodations, as well as standard crate boarding. 

Doggie Depot,  605 Rogers Ave., opened five years ago offering a safe and fun environment for dogs to play. It expanded to its current 7,200-square-foot site in the original facility, offering day care, boarding and training.

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At 9,000 square feet, the new facility mimics the original site which sits across the parking lot. Both have three large contained play areas with climbing equipment and rubber floors. They also both feature outdoor playgrounds with artificial grass and climbing equipment.

In addition, the new site will host boarders in 10 individual suites and two kennel areas with crates. Owners of dogs boarding at the Hotel will have the choice between booking crates or suites.

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The Hotel’s Founders’ Suites, are named for the founding dogs of Doggie Depot, the first and most loyal of its canine clientele. “There are customers who have been with us since the beginning and are still with us today," said Colleen McLachlan, who co-owns the facility with her husband, Brian.

The owners of the founding 10 dogs have decorated their namesake suites. The individual décor includes collages of the dogs, favorite tennis balls and more. The suites, each of which feature a raised dog bed, come in three sizes: deluxe, standard and junior.

“A lot of people out there will appreciate having another option than a crate,” Colleen said.  “We’ve been doing this a long time and our boarding business is phenomenal, so people have been just fine having their dogs in crates overnight. But there are customers who have expressed an interest in having this option as well.” 

“We knew we wanted to offer the hotel concept," Brian said. "We’d heard about it in the business, and thought it would be something that would be well-received by our clientele. There’s not another place in the area with the same thing that we’re offering.” 

Colleen said that some of Doggie Depot’s current boarding customers are likely to upgrade to suites, while other long-term customers “think we’re crazy, since their dogs have been boarding with us in crates for five years.”

Colleen said that the new facility more than doubles Doggie Depot’s capacity, while also providing more options for compatible play groups in their day care.   “Since we’ll now have the option to run six play groups, we’ll have an easier time separating different personalities and sizes of our dogs,” she said.  Both sites will be open every weekday; the Hotel will operate weekends and holidays, as well.

Since they opened Doggie Depot five years ago, the McLachlans say that their business has grown by leaps and bounds. “We’re a huge relief to a lot of people,” said Colleen. “Especially people who work, and love dogs.

"They have a place that they can completely trust. They know that their dogs are well taken care of and they don’t have the guilt of leaving them at home all day," she said. "And I think that trusting us and knowing that we’re always going to do the right thing for their dog is really important.”  Since the couple opened their original site, she estimates they have cared for more than 1,200 dogs, either as boarders, in daycare or both.  Approximately 700 dogs are active clients.

Although their customer base is huge, the McLachlans and their staff know each of the dogs in their charge. “We know every dog, even ones that came once, years ago. When we get the call to book a dog, owners are shocked that we remember who the dog was,” Colleen said.

“The Hotel comes off as an upscale kind of facility, but at the end of the day, it’s still Brian and I owning and operating it," she said. "It’s a mom-and-pop kind of place. We’re here every day running the show and taking care of these dogs, and now we have the suites to add to it. We’ve become successful by being regular people who take good care of animals.”

In addition to day care and boarding, Doggie Depot offers canine training. “Fun things in the works for training include K9 Nose Work,” said Colleen. “This is a scent class; a very basic search and rescue type thing.”  They are also planning to introduce a tricks class and canine freestyle (dance) class. For further information visit www.doggiedepot.com or call 630-969-7529.

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