“While my husband and I lived in Michigan, when we were traveling, we would board our dogs in a luxury facility that had cameras, TVs, and things like that,” shares Anne Dysinger. “When we moved here, there really was nothing like it in the area.” To fill this niche, Anne and her husband, Eric, opened Paws in Paradise in 2018 to offer luxury pet services including overnight boarding, daytime care resort visits, dog training, and grooming. The community response has been so fantastic that this spring, Paws in Paradise expanded by adding two new buildings which will open up an additional one hundred and sixty-two rooms for dogs and numerous new play yards.
As the name implies, these are not simply ordinary pet services…. they offer the next level in pet care. “Inside our facility, the spaces look like a room and have a glass door with a handle, which allows the dogs to see each other across the hallway,” says Anne. “Dogs room individually unless they have siblings, meaning dogs from the same family can room together. Each room has a TV and a camera which has private access for viewing. The parents get a password so they can see their dogs 24/7.”
For boarding, Paws in Paradise supplies a comfortable pet bed and encourages parents to bring whatever they feel will help their pet be comfortable during their stay, as long as the items do not become a hazard. They also offer add-ons for boarding which include snuggle sessions, facetime sessions with parents, brush and massage, ice cream, bedtime story, and a special birthday package full of fun extras.
The dogs also enjoy interactive play dates with other guests. “We take them outside for play groups for about twenty minutes, depending on the weather,” says Anne. “The playgroups are made up of ten to twelve dogs and they're always monitored by an animal attendant. The groups are matched based on size but mostly temperaments - so we have the ones that play rough, the old timers, and the puppies in different groups.”
“The playgroup rotation works well because it's better for dogs to have a burst of activity and then just chill for a little bit rather than being stimulated the entire time they are here,” she adds. “There are also cameras in the play yards that are public so everybody can see those video feeds on our website.”
For pets of the feline persuasion, Purr Paradise serves a place made especially for them. “It's separate from the dogs,” explains Anne. “Cats have three-level condos, with the bottom having a place where they go potty and then they can go up in the condo and sit up higher.” The cat condos also include glass doors for the cats to be able to see activity in the surrounding area.
Pet grooming and dog training services focus on convenience for pet parents and a one-on-one experience for each pet, with an intentional focus on positive interactions. “We offer pet grooming because it's very easy for parents to drop off a dog for the day care in the morning, have them groomed while they are here, pick them up, and go home - that saves a second appointment to go somewhere else to have your dog groomed,” says Anne. The groomers also work with pets who have anxiety about grooming by slowly acclimating them to each step of the process.
“With our dog training, the goal is to promote a relationship between the dog and the parent,” explains Anne. “We focus on basic obedience and on specific behavior like food guarding, being fear reactive, pulling on the leash when they're walking, and things like that. We also have a 30-minute add-on where if the parents work a lot and they don't have the time to continue with a training, we will work with a dog while they're here.”
Paws in Paradise is staffed twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week with an overnight staff who cleans the entire facility and checks on all the guests staying overnight. The lobby is open seven days a week 7:00am-7:00pm for drop-off/pick-up, which allows pet owners great schedule flexibility. Tours are also available during those same hours and no appointment is necessary for a tour.
Paws in Paradise is located at 4319 Evans to Locks Road in Evans. For more information or to book services for a pet, visit www.pawsinparadiseresort.com or call 706-750-9042.