The Dog Dive

05/02/2023

This is how I start every Monday morning. Meet my standing 8 o'clock swim appointment, 13 year old Kona. His mom brings him from Grand Rapids so he can come into the Dog Dive, sniff a tour of the play floor, go up the deck, pick out a toy, come down the ramp, and kiss me good morning - every Monday! Pitties know how to lay one on! ,

12/27/2021

The Dog Dive staff says good-bye to longtime friend and customer, Susan Perkowski. Susan and her dogs Mills, Scotia, Fast Eddie and Robbie were beloved members of the local dog community. We got used to cries of, "Fast Eddie - we know Fast Eddie!" whenever his name was on the swim board. Robbie developed her love of water here. We already miss her sense of humor, book discussions and gentle kindness. Good-bye for now, Susan.
Mary, Darryl and Beth

We have been asked to post her obituary on our site:

Susan E. Perkowski, 70, passed away peacefully with friends at her side on December 21, 2021, at North Woods Village in Kalamazoo.

Sue was a left-leaning liberal and a fiercely independent soul who lived a simple life and was quietly committed to her heartfelt beliefs.

Susan entered this world in Kalamazoo, on March 5, 1951, the middle child and only daughter of Virginia (Baxter) Cleworth and Joseph Perkowski, both deceased. She spent her early years in Plainwell, Michigan, where her commitment to her beliefs were first exposed. She was an active participant in protest efforts against the war in Vietnam and in high school was expelled from the National Honor Society for refusing to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Susan graduated from Plainwell High School and went on to earn a degree in Anthropology from Western Michigan University. She put that Anthropology degree to good use in her 40-plus-year career as a cashier/customer service professional at Meijer in Kalamazoo. Through her career at Meijer, Sue made many lifelong friends and weekly acquaintances and inherited carpal tunnel, sore feet, and two new hips.

Upon retirement from Meijer, Sue was able to follow her passions. She was happiest reading a good book, watching Masterpiece Theatre on PBS, walking a trail, or throwing a stick or tennis ball for her dogs on the beach. It wasn’t long after retirement that Sue was able to act on her newest passion: DOG AGILITY! Susan and “Mills,” “Fast Eddie,” and “Scotia” had many hours of joy and earned numerous ribbons in agility and nose work.

She is survived by brothers Michael (Jean) Perkowski of Sedro Woolley, Washington, and Steven (Sue) Perkowski of Plainwell; niece and nephews Amy, Andy, and Tom of Washington and Steven of Michigan; and close cousins Terry Baxter of Kalamazoo and Judy Stevens of Indiana.

Susan leaves behind wide and varied groups of friends whose concentric circles continue to cross paths. No matter which circle you find yourself a part of, she leaves us all with these adages to live by:

Read a Book, Take a Walk, Call Your Family, Cherish Your Friends,
Share a Smile with a Stranger, and Never Pass Up the Opportunity to Pet a Dog

In her true style of unselfish causes and as per her wishes, Susan’s body has been donated to Western Michigan University’s Homer Stryker School of Medicine.

No services are scheduled at this time. Memorial donations may be directed to:
The Dog Dive, LLC, 1613 Riverview Drive, Kalamazoo, MI 49004, or to an animal shelter/rescue of your choice.

12/11/2021

The end of the day was about to arrive
As activity wound down at the holistic Dog Dive

Mary was home – her morning swims done,
Now into the evening I was on my last one.

Then Otto and I heard far away chatter.
“Just us talking,” called two clients. “There’s nothing the matter.”

My schedule done, I closed the warm pool,
And walked to the office toward air fresh and cool.

Where to my amazed eyes through the day’s light now dusky,
Stood a fully lit paw tree well topped with a Husky!

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07/15/2021

The Dog Dive will be closed for the remainder of this week. We will re-open Monday, July 19. Our favorite nationally certified pool and spa operator spent this week adding 2 new stents to his heart collection and dealing with a very small stroke.

Darryl always laughs when Mary or I ask him to help with a dog in the pool. He explains to the dog and owner "I'm the 3rd string." Well now it's Mary and Beth's turn. We have to learn how to do the filter and other tasks he is restricted from for a week or so. We will be busy updating our task lists and redistributing jobs.

We will also use this "down" time to post about different issues, activities, and dogs we have worked with over the last years.

See you all Monday!

06/20/2020

Dog Nail Trimming Fundraiser to Benefit Michigan Search and Rescue! June 20 9-1

Do you dogs have Covid-19 shut down nails? Saturday, June 20, Lori Sauceda will trim nails at All the Best Dogs, 817 East M-89 in Plainwell. (Going out of town toward Richland side).

All proceeds go the Michigan Search and Rescue.

The event will be held outdoors for lots of safe distancing. Please bring your mask.

Lori is a WaterWork certified regular at The Dog Dive. She not only works with our clients in the pool, she and other members of Search and Rescue bring their dogs for recreation and cross training. http://www.michigansar.org/body%20of%20pages.htm

06/15/2020

Thank You! Because of your support, The Dog Dive is now fully re-opened! We survived the Covid-19 shut down because of a successful Go Fund Me campaign,!

To prepare for re-opening, we have intensified our cleaning routine, added an exit, and practiced our traffic flows. We met with Tracey Wade of TNW Therapeutic Massage and Dr. Kelly Lester of Foundations Chiropractic for People and Pets, to make a cohesive plan all three businesses follow. We practiced with customers and dogs last week and received positive feed back on our how our plan is working.

We are now booking returning and new customers! Please call 269-459-9393 to make your appointment. We are so excited to see you all again!

Darryl, Mary and Beth

06/02/2020

The Dog Dive opened in 2016 when the owners (retired special education teachers) decided to provi… Suzannah Z. needs your support for The Dog Dive Relief Fund

05/26/2020

A not so funny thing happened on The Dog Dive's route to enjoying its most successful year. Unfortunately, we closed due to the Michigan Stay at Home order in response to the Covid-19 crisis. Being a serviced based business, it has resulted in over 2 months without income. For perspective, at this time of May, we would expect to already have June and most of July's expenses covered instead of still owing.

Then a joyful thing happened! Dog Dive customer, Suzannah, was determined not to lose Juno's services. She started a GoFundMe for us, and we are now on the campaign with her. Due to the response to the drive and other contributions, we have made significant progress on utility payments.

We love what we do with dogs that come for recreation, cross conditioning, and responding to physical issue such as arthritis, dysplasia, and recovering from surgery. You may remember Kongo, the Neapolitan Mastiff with severe leg deformities. We were in his The Dodo episode at 2:28 min. in: https://www.thedodo.com/videos/close-to-home/huge-dog-is-so-gentle-with-all-his-siblings

Here is what Dr. Jill Kitson, DVM of Canine Rehab in Ft. Wayne said in his report, "Kongo should continue swimming 2-3 times per week. His water therapists are doing such a phenomenal job with him and are helping him to have the most normal and pain free gait he can have. It is great to have such a wonderful place in Kalamazoo. I will definitely refer there in the future with my Michigan Patients!!!!"

Thank you to all who have contributed to help us close the financial gap! We continue to seek other grants and sources of income.

1. In these hard times, please consider donating to help us continue helping dogs who are in need or here as part of their healthy lifestyle if you are able.

2. Whether you are able to donate or not, upload your favorite picture of your dog at The Dog Dive on the community sharing part of our GoFundMe page The Dog Dive Relief Fund. https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-dog-dive-relief-fund

3. Tell your dogs to get ready, because we will be opening once we finalize our Covid-19 safety compliance procedures!

Huge Dog Is So Gentle With All His Siblings

04/28/2020

Kobee, a Dog Dive volunteer, is also a self advocate for himself and others on the spectrum. We are sad we can't be in person with him to celebrate April as Autism Awareness Month. So, instead, we are highlighting a small portion of his work here. What you can't see in pictures is Kobee's accepting, calm presence which is why owners with very nervous or highly excited dogs ask if their appointment can be at a time when he will be in the building.