Monday, April 27, 2009
Doggie day care at Salem's Six Wags
Photos by Eric Brady | The Roanoke Times
Lake (left), Miah (top) and Sophie play at Six Wags Dog Park in Salem. At left: Lily plays in a small temporary pond that fills up when it rains.
Apollo (from left), Tank and Chili take a break with day-care attendant Kristi Lilly.
Ribsey kisses Six Wags' owner Katie Halsted. "It's a safe place to let your dogs be dogs," says Halsted.
Karma (top), Murphy (left) and Ellie play at Six Wags Dog Park in Salem.
Tank, a burly yellow Labrador retriever with soulful, tear-stained eyes, needed a power nap.
On a recent spring morning after a soaking rain, Tank and his fellow pooches had spent hours patrolling the clover-covered lawn of Six Wags Dog Park, tussling occasionally over sticks, diving headfirst into a muddy hole.
Long after the other dogs had moved on, Tank kept trudging the rain-swollen bog as if he were searching for treasure.
Now his wet head was lying in my lap as he caught a lunchtime snooze.
Romp, rest and repeat is the daily routine for the pooches that attend doggie day care at Six Wags in Salem.
"It's a safe place to let your dogs be dogs," owner and operator Katie Halsted said.
The 6-acre fenced facility is tree-lined on three sides with rolling terrain that is a mix of meadow and marsh. It used to be a golf driving range, then a paintball field.
Now it's a paid-admission, supervised dog park with a weekday day-care operation.
I spent a day with Halsted and her staff, learning about group play for pooches and chatting with park members and the pet parents of the park's day-care dogs.
In a tough economy, what motivates people to pay for play time for their pooches?
Peace of mind
Halsted said that besides not having to worry about daytime potty breaks for their dogs, working people are happy to have tired dogs ready for a quiet night at home.
Chris and Karen Rucker send their cinnamon-colored miniature poodle, Chili Dog, to day care two or three days each week and bring him to the park for weekend Yappy Hour play time.
Chris Rucker said Chili's time spent at Six Wags helps him burn off excess energy.
"It's like sending a kid to play soccer," he said.
For Kristi Psimer, a frame shop manager, doggie day care gives her peace of mind for Layla, her epileptic golden retriever.
"I started bringing her here after her first seizure so she wouldn't be alone all day," Psimer said. "I know they take care of her here and make sure she gets her medicine."
The park can have from 30 to 60 dogs in day care each weekday. Halsted said spending time in a supervised group setting with other people and other dogs helps pooches learn manners and social skills.
Halsted said she aims for a 15-to-1 dog-to-employee ratio. Day-care attendants walk the dogs off-leash in packs, taking care to make sure they have a harmonious group dynamic.
"Dogs have moods and sometimes their moods depend on the group combination," day-care attendant Kristi Lilly said. "And some dogs just don't like each other."
Rules must be followed
I first met Halsted last year when she came to my house to give us training tips for our puppy Stormy. Last fall Stormy was enrolled in a five-week obedience course at Six Wags.
Video: Six Wags Dog park
Video by Eric Brady | The Roanoke Times
Halsted earned certification as a dog trainer at the National K9 Learning Center in Columbus, Ohio. At Six Wags, rude canine behavior is dealt with quickly and firmly, using various disciplinary tools from spray bottles to time-outs.
"We have set rules," she said. "We don't let them bite us or jump on us. We will make them behave and we will maintain control and stability. If you don't like your dog to do it at home, we don't like it here, either."
The day I was at the park there were about 35 dogs in day care. Small pooches like Chili played easily with bigger buddies like Tank and Lake, a hound-retriever mix with a deep and abiding love for fetching tennis balls.
Halsted and her crew keep an eye on each dog's body language. They are ready to step in if tempers flare.
"Tails wagging, ears back, hackles up can all mean different things in different dogs," she said. "And dogs play with their teeth. They usually let each other know when they don't like something."
Occasionally the day-care dogs are corralled onto the concrete patio attached to the park's office so park members can use the park alone. But usually the two groups mingle.
Paula Eager brings her rescued Dalmatian, Maude, to play in the park in the afternoons. I chatted with Eager as she relaxed in one of the park's resin chairs.
Eager was telling me how much Maude loves Six Wags when Tank, my new best friend, wandered over.
He lifted his leg to relieve himself on the chair where Eager was sitting.
Unfazed, she just shooed the urinating Lab away and he went off to play with Maude.
Time to rinse off
By late afternoon, the day-care pups need to be made presentable for their parents.
"No one wants a muddy dog in their car," attendant Matthew McMillan said.
He brought the dogs into the park's dog wash area one by one to rinse off the remnants of the puddle play.
McMillan tried to coax Layla, the epileptic golden retriever, into the tub. She flopped onto the concrete floor and refused to budge.
McMillan took pity on the prone pooch and gently rubbed her down with a wet towel as she lay on the floor.
"I really don't want to stress her out," he said. Layla was clean and happy when her pet mom arrived to take her home.
Tank and his buddy Lake were rinsed off just in time for Lake's owner, Layne Brumback, to pick them both up.
Brumback shuttles Lake and Tank, who belongs to her friend and fellow teacher Morgan Stanfill, to the park three days a week.
Brumback said without day care to help Lake expend energy, life would be difficult.
"I don't think I could keep him without this place," she said. "It's wonderful."
And for Stanfill, whose busy schedule also includes coaching soccer, Six Wags is worth the investment to keep an active young dog like Tank physically exercised and emotionally balanced.
"If I didn't have day care for him, he'd be miserable," she said.
