I’d generally rather leave my dogs at home with a friend to care for them, but sometimes, like this winter when we had some work done on our house, we need to board the dogs. Our guys get their own “suite” at Love My Dog. They get a TV — I’m guessing they watch Animal Planet — and they bring their beds and toys with them. Besides being spotlessly clean indoors, Love My Dog has several well-kept play yards on its 1.4 acre site.
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The dogs play with each other and with other boarders, play ball or Frisbee with the attendants, or go to day care or the water park, if they manage to convince us to pay a few dollars extra. The nighttime attendants write daily notes on their charts. I laughed at the one that called Jana a “little piggy” who ate her dinner very quickly and one that said that Wylie gave lots of good-night kisses.
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The staff are true dog lovers, as is evident in all of their interactions with our dogs. In addition, they are cheerful and accommodating, even when — as seems inevitable — our return flights are delayed and we end up picking the dogs up late. Love My Dog even offers a “doggy limousine” service to pick up the dogs or take them home — what will they think of next?
Sometimes, though, we don’t need to board the dogs but need someone to care for them during the day if we can’t get home. The Tampa Bay area is fortunate enough to have many, many dog day care and pet walking professionals. I’ve had dog walkers from Auntie Lynda’s take Jana out on occasion. Jana seems to have fun, and the dog walker always leaves me a detailed description of their outing. For the last several months, though, I’ve been working at home so the dogs get plenty of attention all day long.
I know there are other great dog walkers, dog day cares, and dog resorts in the area. Write to me about your favorites and I’ll feature them in an upcoming post!
