San Diego has always been ranked high as one of the most dog friendly cities in the United States mostly because of the nearly perfect weather all year long, the endless outdoor activities from dog beaches to hiking trails, and also the large amount of dog friendly businesses. If they say happy cows live in California, we definitely think the happiest dogs live in San Diego – you can’t walk past a coffee shop or restaurant patio without seeing a tail wagging. We will be featuring several dog friendly San Diego businesses on the Dog People Are Cool blog so let us know in the comments or on social media if there’s a favorite pet friendly place we must check out.
Today, we want to introduce you to The Animal Keeper, one of our favorite doggy daycare spots in San Diego. The Dog People Are Cool founder, Matt Allen, takes his dog, Buster, to The Animal Keeper and the staff there always goes above and beyond to take extra special care of him – treating Buster like family and giving him personal attention. The Animal Keeper has three different locations throughout San Diego: Encinitas, Oceanside, Poway, and a fourth pet boarding spot called Pet Suites in Orange County. The Animal Keeper has been a local favorite since 1979 and offers more than just pet boarding, they also offer doggie day care and camp, pet grooming and pet training.
DPAC: What motivated you to start your business?
THE ANIMAL KEEPER: Dr. Costello, a San Diego Veterinarian, saw a need for safe, quality comfortable care for your pet while you are away. We consider your pet part of The Animal Keeper family……it’s like home away from home. Attention to detail is extremely important when you have entrusted your beloved family member to be in our care.
DPAC: How many dogs do you see a year? How many dogs can you board at maximum capacity?
THE ANIMAL KEEPER: Across our 4 facilities we can board on average 300 plus dogs a day. In 2015 we boarded over 14,164 animals across all 4 facilities. This does not include our guests who come in just for a day of fun or grooming and day training.
DPAC: Why do your customers (and their dogs) love you?
THE ANIMAL KEEPER: Because we love them…
As you’ll hear many times, “we consider your pet part of The Animal Keeper family.” We are fortunate to be in a business where it’s all about unconditional love and our pets are the perfect example. Whether it’s boarding, camp, grooming or training, we have the pleasure of showing our clients constant love and affection.
DPAC: What is the most important thing every dog owner should know but doesn’t?
THE ANIMAL KEEPER: I wish there was just one! But in order of priority, being able to read your dog’s body language is at the top of the list. Since they cannot speak our language, this is the best way to determine what our dogs are trying to tell us. Times of anxiety, fear, happiness, and many others become clear if we learn the meaning behind the signals they give.
DPAC: Do you have any promotions or specials you want to highlight?
THE ANIMAL KEEPER: Frequently we run boarding, camp, and grooming specials on our website, social media, in email promotions and in some local magazines.
DPAC: What is the most memorable dog experience you had at The Animal Keeper?
THE ANIMAL KEEPER: Rocky, one of our campers who attends outdoor socialized play, managed to escape from home and ran all the way to The Animal Keeper to be with his dog buddies in camp and it wasn’t his scheduled day to attend camp! Luckily his parent’s home was not that far away………a very flattering compliment in that he enjoys The Animal Keeper to that extent.
As one of managers says “our reward is to see the wagging tails of our happy pets.”
DPAC: Talk about the type of people that work there. What kind of people do you like to hire?
THE ANIMAL KEEPER: Our employees are family and each have compassionate, soft hearts….they’re the best! Our managers go out of their way every single day to ensure the health and happiness of each pet that enters the doors of the Animal Keeper/Pet Suites. We invest in all our employees with monthly education on pet care, safety awareness, American Red Cross Pet CPR training and/or pet behavior.
DPAC: We have to give a special shout out to Kayla and Michelle from The Animal Keeper, Encinitas! They always take good care of Buster. They even threw a “birthday party” for Buster while Matt was in Brazil, it was great to see he was in such good hands!
DPAC: Do you have any customers who have done amazing things in the local dog community?
THE ANIMAL KEEPER: Many of our clients work with organizations like rescues and the military to help sponsor fund raising events for shelters, canine cancer and numerous other causes.
Toy Drive for Military Working Dogs
Our customers are amazing when it comes to supporting the animals in our community as well as on a national level. Every year we host Toy Drive for Military working dogs deployed overseas. This past year our customers donated over 100 Kong toys to be shipped out in care packages to the handlers and their K-9 officers.
From time to time we have the privilege of boarding some of these very special creatures as they transition from foster to permanent home. The really beautiful part is once they have been adopted many come back and stay with us or go to camp and play groups. It is amazing the transition we see. The haunted, longing look they have when they first come in amazingly gets replaced when they are adopted, with these shining eyes and open mouthed smiles that you know only comes from an abundance of love and affection.
Vincent Rouch- Staffordshire
He was found severely wounded and near death because someone had cut his ears off with a pair of scissors. Fortunately, there was a happy ending. He was adopted and rehabilitated to this wonderfully happy, loving dog that loved camp and all the play and activity it had to offer. His owners named him Vincent Van Gogh after the famous artist, who during a bout with depression cut off the lower part of his own ear with a straight razor.
Animals are incredibly resilient creatures capable of giving so much love, affection, devotion and companionship and yet ask so little in return. Many of our employees have the privilege of owning a rescue dog. I haven’t spoken to any of them who regretted their decision. Many of our clients who have rescued dogs did so because their previous pet passed and they felt they were honoring that pet by adopting another one and giving it a loving home and possibly saving its life.
Hank Lally “Scratch my Belly”
Hank came in to board with us after being rescued and his foster parents had to leave town. He was abandoned in a junkyard without food or water, extremely dehydrated and malnourished, he was losing his hair and was mostly skin and bone. After being rescued, over time we watched Hank grow his beautiful coat back in, put weight on his bones and find trust in his new friends and family at The Animal Keeper and ScratchMyBelly.org. We continue to watch his progress and enjoy seeing him revel in his new life!
If you’re looking for a dog day care in San Diego – be sure to check out The Animal Keeper as one of your options – we can speak from first hand experience that they’re one of the best places to take care of your pet (when you can’t) in the city! For more information about San Diego pet boarding, visit The Animal Keeper on their website: theanimalkeeper.com and by following them on Instagram and Facebook. Be sure to leave a comment below if there’s a dog friendly business you think should be on the Dog People Are Cool blog!
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