It's doggy day care Everything's grrrreat for these furry playmates

[bigdoglover]

Contra Costa Times

By Ann Tatko-Peterson

Kate wanders among the play equipment at Happy Hound Play and Daycare in Oakland. Dogs can romp and play in areas divided by the dog's size and temperament.

DOLLY WADDLES up the plastic steps of the play structure and skids on her belly down the slide.

Shelby holds tight to her favorite toy, a rubber Kong.

Spike lies on a nearby bed looking both regal and relaxed, watching his day care mates play in the yard.

To hear it described, it sounds like a typical morning at day care -- until you hear the part where Odi tips back his head and lets loose with a heart-rending howl.

With its nap times, midday lunches, play yard, even daily report cards, the Cromiers' Kamp K-9 in Castro Valley has all the trappings of day care. Only here, Dolly is a bulldog, Shelby is a Rottweiler, Spike is a bichon frise and Odi is a very vocal beagle.

"The first time I looked at Kamp K-9," said Shelby's owner, Margaret Kelly, of Livermore, "I came home and told my husband it literally looks like a kids day care."

Eight years ago, Chip and Betty Cromier sold their home in San Leandro and bought one in Castro Valley, all so they could start Kamp K-9.

After five years as a dog trainer, Chip Cromier saw a need for the business. Too often, his clients' dogs would regress in their training when left home alone all day. Doggy day care gave them a place to reinforce what they had learned and to expend their energy, Cromier said.

Yet, that doesn't fully explain why doggy day care has taken off like a collie after a Frisbee.

Lauren Westreich is the voice of experience, having opened Every Dog Has Its Day Care in Emeryville in 1997. Her business averages more than 100 dogs a day and staffs 17 employees.

She is not surprised by doggy day care's popularity, considering the overall pet business boom in the last 20 years.

"The idea of day care has really grown, especially in the areas where commute times and work times are up," Westreich said. "To safely own companion animals, you have big needs to fill. That's not to say you can't safely own an animal, work all day and not bring it to day care. This just provides resources for people who realize it's hard to do it all."

Some owners spare no expense in pampering their pooches. They can end up spending anywhere from $20 a day to $705 a month to enroll their dog in day care.

It's worth far more to owners such as Laurie Kline of Oakland.

Kline faced a dilemma when she rescued a French bulldog named Jacquo. She didn't want to leave Jacquo home alone, but she worked full time.

That's how she and Jacquo landed at Happy Hound Play & Daycare in Oakland three months ago.

"He really loves it here, which takes the pressure off me," Kline said. "I know he's socialized, exercised and just happy. Plus, he gets a bath before he comes home. He's definitely living the good life."

Like traditional kids' day cares, the canine variety provide a little something for everyone.

Kamp K-9 operates as a small, home-based day care, averaging 20 dogs a day and allowing no more than 25. Small and large dogs play together to help them learn to interact with dogs of all sizes.

"Segregating them can make a little dog too bold. They can end up with a Napoleon complex," Cromier said. "They might not know when to back down if they cross a larger dog on a walk."

But not every owner is comfortable having his toy poodle share space with a greyhound.

That's where places such as Happy Hound and Every Dog Has Its Day Care come into play. Averaging more than 100 dogs a day, both warehouse-based day cares divide the dogs into separate play areas, based on size and temperament.

Trying to bone up on their clients' needs, most area day cares are offering them extra treats:

• Live video feeds provide puppy-fixes any time of the day at Puppy Playland in San Ramon and Happy Hound. It's like a nanny-cam, where owners can watch their dogs play from across town via the day care's' Web sites.

• Despite its warehouse setting, Every Dog Has Its Day Care opens into a large outdoor play yard, complete with play structures and a water fountain designed especially for dogs.

• With large stuffed animals and a sign that reads, "Quiet, puppies are napping," Every Dog also offers a special disinfected nursery for puppies 8 weeks and older.

• At Kamp K-9, clients can host birthday parties for their dogs -- and 10 canine friends -- in a side-yard pasture.

• Overnight sleepovers take on a new meaning at Happy Hound, where canine guests sleep on Kuranda beds and receive Kong toys filled with peanut butter just before lights out. "That's our version of the mint on the pillow treatment," owner Suzanne Golter said.

• And for on-the-fence owners, Club K-9 in Castro Valley offers a free first-time visit and welcomes drop-in clients.

As doggy day care owners have discovered, there's more than enough room for each to collar their share of the market.

Golter started Happy Hound in March 2004 with 6,800 square feet. Today, her business encompasses the whole warehouse, and she is negotiating to take over the entire building.

"When I opened the doors, it was just me and my dogs," she says. "I had no clients. Two years later, we have 2,000 clients and we're still growing."

Golter calls to each dog by name. She laughs as an owner arrives to pick up her dog, setting off a chain reaction of barking.

She reaches through the fence at the Big Hound area to pet the muzzle of a Dalmatian.

Two Great Danes, Kate and Spencer, lie on an old sofa, their heads hanging over the edge.

Here, Golter sees validation for her business -- in a Doberman.

His name is Quincy.

"When he first came here, he would stand in the middle of the room and howl," she says. "He couldn't stand to be away from his parents. Now, he acts like a dog should act."

As if on cue, Quincy mouths at the neck of a bulldog. The two dogs scamper in a game of playful wrestling.

"He's a happy, playful dog," Golter says. "And that's what this is really all about."