Small Business Spotlight: Little Red Doghouse
I arrived early to my interview with Christine Spangler, co-owner with Cheryl Ruddy of Little Red Doghouse pet daycare in Clarks Summit, for a chance to watch the dogs. It proved to be very entertaining. Some relax on couches, and a few meander in packs, while others run around playing with one another reminiscent of children on a playground. As I finally met Spangler and she took me on a tour of the facility (available to anyone interested), I met longtime customer Pat Brown and her dog, Ophelia. “I can’t say enough. My dog loves it here. I love it here,” Brown relayed to me. “I’ll be leaving [Ophelia] for the night and I have absolutely no worries,” she stated — a confidence very easy to understand after taking a moment to appreciate what the owners have created here during the two years the business has been open.
Ruddy and Spangler do their very best to make dogs (and cats) and their owners comfortable, and one of the two proprietors is on the premises at all times — something that earned them the 2013 Reader’s Choice award for “Best Doggie Daycare” from the Scranton Times-Tribune. Talking about the business Spangler says, “[It’s] your dog’s home away from home. ‘Welcome to the family!’ It really is like that since we’re going to be spending so much time with them.”
The pet-loving employees do everything in their power to make sure your dog or cat is eating the same food that they do at home and receiving their medications at the proper times. Staff even take pictures of pets in action and upload them to Facebook and Instagram for owners to be able to see their lovelies while at work or on vacation.
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- Christine Spangler
Pet “parents” can also rest assured that their furry friend is safe and healthy, as well as comfortable. Before any dog is introduced into the community permanently, it must participate in a free two-hour trial, to ensure that all animals present can play well together (if one cannot, there are individual kennels available). This will allow you to determine whether Little Red Doghouse is a good fit. Owners fill out a guest profile with all relevant information about their pets, and provide proof of vaccinations against rabies, distemper, and kennel cough. Dogs are segregated based on size, so that none can be injured or unsettled by intimidation, and kennels of different sizes and constructions are present, suited to each breed.
Little Red Doghouse also offers several other unique benefits that similar businesses don’t, such as employing an in-house professional dog groomer with experience up to the show-dog class, being housed right next door to a 24-hour animal hospital, and housing cats as well as dogs. Other extras offered to owners include access to a certified dog trainer, and savings of 50 percent for care of each additional pet from the same household.
Should you be looking for a new “family member,” the daycare also runs a service (sponsored through One Life to Live Pet Rescue and Adoption in Scranton), in which it always has a foster dog available for adoption. You can rest assured that all fostered dogs are well tempered and friendly, thanks to their time in doggie daycare.
For more information and for a link to the business’ Facebook page to see plenty of pictures of the facility, go to www.littlereddoghouse.net. They may be reached by phone at (570) 586–6364. I can assure you that if I had a pet that needed care while I was away, Little Red Doghouse would be the first and only place I would consider.
