03/31/2025
AreaK9: a brief history ( 7 June 2010 to 31 March 2025) and appreciation.
The impetus to move into the dog boarding/care business was driven by the difficulty we had in finding facilities to care for our two dogs, Cain and Abel, when we needed to travel. Essentially nothing came up to the standard of care that we wanted for them while we away. Fortuitously, we found an existing business for sale, on Kijiji, and Looda loved it so much that she transitioned her career yet again leaving behind her IT experience and all her degrees (she’s had several careers, in different countries and in different languages; this business was the hardest to leave).
We opened for business on 7 June 2010 under the original business name. As the business and home were integral to each other we moved into the house as dog boarding and care carried on from the previous incarnation that existed at the time; we had 8 dogs under our care on the first day.
During that initial period there was some chaos as we unpacked into a new home and learned a new business. The bulk of that fell on Looda as Gary was still working for Health Canada (often travelling for up to 3 months per year) until he finally retired from it on 31st Jan 2013 only to start a full-time career in dogs!
Yes, we bought an existing business and renamed it to AreaK9, which happened in October 2010. During the early days of operations many changes were made to the way the business had been previously run and to the infrastructure of the property. We built a large garage and a receiving lobby for incoming/outgoing dogs. We removed all doors inside the house and replaced them with gates (which remained open as default), the floors were made dog-resistant, special cleaning products were used for the occasional accidents that occurred. Later on we introduced a backup generator so that we would not lose heating/cooling or water during grid-power failures as did occur a few times prior to its installation (our record was about 36 hours without power one summer).
Services were expanded to include grooming, bathing and nail care and we offered free training advice to all our clients when dogs were picked up. As an extra service, specialized training was offered in a few cases. Looda’s advice saved relationships more than once. Occasionally we had a drop-off and pick-up for dogs. And for a few years we had K9-club, an effort to give back to the community with greatly reduced day rates.
Both Gary and Looda have a European background. In Europe the price is the price, tax is included and we used that philosophy at AreaK9. There were no extra charges for petting, companionship, playtime, medication or anything else. The only extra charges were for grooming, and tax was included in those prices too.
We introduced an interview process for new clients. Typically interviews took about an hour but we did have one that lasted 2 hours and 24 minutes. Only two types of dogs typically failed. Aggressive (only once) or a dog so fearful that it would run away. This triggered a pack-hunting instinct and would result in a chase followed by the fight part of “flight or fight”. Fortunately, this only occurred a handful of times. The other interview failures were the dog’s owners.
Never once did we consider separating or caging dogs. That was our philosophy - dogs run free, interact with each other and us (or staff) and have a great stay. Dogs would be together all the time both inside and outside, except at meal-times (we did not want to find out who had food aggression). Our outings were basically on the hour with time spent outside depending on the weather. If it was too hot, wet or cold for us then it was for the dogs also. We ended up as the gold-standard of dog boarding in the North Grenville area.
Regrettably, AreaK9 closed its doors on 31st March 2025 after 14.8 years of operation. A sad day for all concerned. Over the period we operated, we were privileged to share our lives with so many dogs of all breeds, all sizes and all ages. There are many untold stories that would fill an entire book and will continue to make great dinner conversations (like the time we ended up with 14 dogs in the bedroom). A couple of the stories did get published in the book we wrote: AreaK9 - How To Thrive With Your Dog. It’s available from us or on Amazon.
Because of the high throughput of dogs through AreaK9 both Looda and Gary have amassed a great deal of experience in handling a dog. It amounts to 171 yrs! Both of us have, simply through exposure and observations, become adept Dog Behaviourists - a qualification neither of us could ever have dreamed about when we were younger.
AreaK9 introduced an Honour Roll for dogs early in our operation. To get on the Honour Roll the dog had to have perfect marks on their Report Card (14 A-grades). Typically only 10 dogs per year, sometimes much less, made the Grade. All the dogs were mentioned on our website, their pictures posted in the AreaK9 Honour Roll photo album, and their owners given a certificate. A few dogs made the Honour Roll year after year.
The longevity of AreaK9 means we have lost many clients over the years, some because the owners moved away and some because a dog’s lifespan is too short. Each of these wonderful animals remains in our hearts and minds. Some, if we knew about them, were memorialized on our FaceBook AreaK9 “In Memoria” photo album. Each picture has an untold story that will stay with us forever. Thank you to all our human clients for the privilege of spending quality time with so many special dogs. We literally lived in a sea of love at home as did our own two dogs Cain and Abel (Shetland Sheepdogs) who have also since passed away.
During our operation we have had many staff. Some did not complete the six-month training session, two turned out to be thieves (with substantial police involvement in one case), one was fired for insubordination, four went on to open their own dog businesses, and some were exceptional. The difficulties in staffing was a prime reason for finally closing.
No dog boarding business is injury free but we were fortunate to only have 7 over our almost 15 years of operation. Each one required a vet visit and then we had to provide special care for the patient before the owner’s return. Sometimes this required dressing change, special clothing, a cone, separate activities, and medication.
We remained open during the COVID pandemic, being deemed an essential service. It was during this period we had our most dogless days but only 12 were dog-free! The average number of dogs during that period fell substantially to about 6 dogs per day and that period began for us on the 16 March 2020 and lasted until August 2021.
Now for some more statistics!
Maximum dogs in the house: 28 (26 guests plus two grand-dogs, it was only once, we did not like it).
Over the period of operation, the average number of dogs per day was 11.15 +/- 4.47. On a yearly basis, excluding the pandemic, the average number of dogs per day in each calendar year varied from 10.4 to 13.9 with Standard Deviations varying from 3.66 to 5.33.
The most frequent number of dogs per day was 11 (for the scientifically inclined, this is the mode of the data set). And to be complete, the median value was 11. The close agreement of the mean, mode, median shows that the data was normally distributed; the statisticians amongst you will appreciate this fact.
The total number of dog-days was 62,323. That means over our operation we have interacted with that many dogs times the number of days in operation. Yes, many involved the same dog.
A smallest dog was Coco, a teacup Yorkshire Terrier.
Polo (Chihuahua) removed the only breed restriction we ever had (October 2011).
Our largest dog was an Irish Wolfhound called Firby.
Our longest stay was Toffee an American Cocker Spaniel (111 days).
The biggest group of same breed at the same time was six Golden Retrievers (31 July 2015).
The longest advance booking was 1 year and 15 days.
Our last booking was for Harley (American Labrador) on 31 March 2025..
Cash (Great Dane) made the AreaK9 Honour Roll in four different years - a record.
There is essentially a tie for two dogs who qualify as the ones that have been coming to us for the longest, essentially 13 years: Grady (mini Golden Doodle, and the inspiration for our daughter’s 1st dog) and Cosmo (Frengle: French Bulldog - Beagle).
Our furthest client came from Victoria, British Columbia.
Our very first booking was from Sasha, a boxer (25 June 2010).
Our very first booking as AreaK9 was Maya, a Golden Retriever (October 2010) and she was the epitome of a sweet female Golden Retriever.
Our last day of operation (31 March 2025) we had Arloh (GSD), Bullet (Beagle), Harley (Yellow Labrador) and Maddie-May (Golden Retriever) as guests. The first two are Honour Roll dogs. Our last Grooming was for Bullet (Beagle) and was a nail clip and a bath. The last dog to leave AreaK9 was Maddie-May in the late afternoon of the 31st March 2025.
We have been privileged to spend almost 15 years with dogs who have enriched our lives and brought us so much pleasure. To remember them properly, I should name each and every dog that ever stayed with us, but of course I don’t have space to do that, but here are just a few of the dogs that we have really enjoyed being with.
I start, of course, with our own two dogs, Cain and Abel (Shetland Sheepdogs), Max (German Shepherd-Rottweiler-Doberman mix), Banff (Potcake), Bentley (Golden Retriever), Bailey (Collie mix), Belle (a brindle mix), Ketchup (Golden Retriever), Ruby (Mini Golden Retreiver), Tristan (American Catahoula), Bullet (Beagle), Cosmo (Frengle), Cash (Great Dane), Grady (Mini Golden Doodle), Guido (Boxer), Cooper-Ellen (GSD), Arloh (GSD), Jake (Australian Sheepdog), Zivah (the most energetic GSD we have ever met), all the Border Collies, all the German Shepards. It pains me stop naming names, but space does not permit.
We loved loving your dog and getting that back 10-fold.
Thanks to all of our clients for your support over the years and the privilege of sharing in your dogs’ lives. It’s been a true joy.
Farewell.
The Cage Free Dog Boarding Facility near Ottawa Canada. Official site http://AreaK9.com
