Why We No Longer Do Tours
There are MANY reasons why we stopped and I will go over that in a minute.
The important thing is that we do have OPEN HOUSE 1-2 times per year when we can take people through to see our amazing space. These are usually scheduled when we have very few animals in the facility and we will make them comfortable for a few hours with a staff member giving them cuddles and love in a special quiet area away from everyone.
Watch out for when we announce our Open House in the future.
So, back to why we stopped do doing tours –
The main reason – the animals.
If you are standing in the Animal Center right now, before you continue reading –
Stop & Listen…..Is it quiet?
Quiet animals are relaxed and happy. We average 30 or so pets per day. Our goal is to have a calm, stress free environment for our guests. We do this in a variety of ways – keeping lights low, playing calming music & much more. Not doing tours, is another.
You may think how hard can it be, just show us what we want…what are you hiding…
We stopped doing full tours of our amazing facility with gorgeous marble and glass suites in 2022. We wanted everyone to see our gorgeous state of the art facility with our breathtaking glass and marble suites and full rooms with beds. After a tour, almost every person would say, I want to stay here, it’s better than some hotels!!
Unfortunately, we saw what was happening to our pet guests. As a person who has worked for over 5 decades in the animal field, trained in rescue, animal behavior, obedience and so much more, I did not like what I saw. Many pets would cower in the back of their suites, cats tried to become small and hide in their litterboxes, some barked incessantly, some growled and more. It would take 2-4 hours for them to be calm and relaxed again. The anxious ones took longer.
For me, the animals will always come first
The only area we can show you is the lobby and retail area on days we do not do an Open House. We have many animals (dogs, cats & sometimes rabbits, etc) staying with us. Pets can be in all areas of the facility.
Try to put yourself in the position of any pet here –
- How would you feel, staying your hotel room, if the hotel decided to give a possible new person a tour of your room, while you were there….it would feel really uncomfortable
Again, our guests’ mental well being and comfort must come first.
Boarding is stressful for any pet but our shy and anxious guests need undisturbed quiet without feeling they are on display. They are missing their beloved owners and their own home.
They do not want strangers walking by and looking at them, It is really uncomfortable.
Having strangers walk through where the pets are staying creates more stress and anxiety for our guests. We simply can not have that.
We want our guests as comfortable as possible to enjoy their stay with us. We work VERY hard to gain our guests’ trust. We calmly sit with them, talk with them, and we give them lots of love. We want them to look forward to being with us as a home away from home.
Here are a few of our amazing guests that would be affected with strangers walking through –
- Lucy
- Lucy is a very scared Burmese kitty. She has a hard time and needs medication whenever she leaves home. At first, she would just hide in her carrier but after sitting with her whenever we could and talking with her, she does come out and explore. She is now comfortable eating and coming to stay with us a few times a year.
- Devin
- Devin is a mixed breed dog, who had a horrible beginning, most of which is unknown. She is extremely scared of strangers. She is on a few medications for this. She too, would hide at the back of her kennel at first. To help her, we give her the quietest kennel where she can relax as best she can. After sitting with her and talking softly, we have gained her trust. She readily goes outside with us but is constantly on alert. We would not want to have Devin regress with strangers walking by.
- Riggs
- Riggs is a Staffordshire, who was abused. This abuse resulted in the loss of a hind leg. He has a very understanding Mom, who used to work for us many years ago and stated that she would not trust anyone else with his care. Riggs was very scared and we went slow with him to gain his trust. Once that happened, he was playing and very lovable but still wary of strangers
- Apollo
- Apollo is our gorgeous aussie, who started our Enrichment Play Daycare Program as a very young puppy. He is true to his breed and has a very high Stranger Danger trait. His bark will deafen you and creates the entire building of pets to become alert
So, what about the Daycare…..same for them. We do have anxious dogs coming to daycare to gain confidence. Our amazing daycare dogs know our routine, love us, trust us and are not happy with strangers coming around.
When a stranger is seen or heard on the other side of the fence, dogs become alert, bark and become anxious. Many of our dogs love us and feel the need to protect us and their friends. This creates the possibility of fights, as aggression is redirected. We simply must protect our animals from any possibility of harm.
We also need to abide by insurance. Non-employees are not allowed in areas with pets for safety reasons. We also have a sign on our entry door for everyone to read that states if you see a pet in our lobby to remain outside.
You are able to see photos and watch our Virtual Tour video, both located on our website. Both are not as good as seeing everything in person and we understand but again, our guests are our priority. You will also see photos of each Suite that you can choose when making a reservation.
You CAN view our videos, just click to view
- Virtual Tour Video
- Enrichment Play Daycare Video
- We do many activities in our Enrichment Play Daycare Program, here is our Howl-O-Ween 2025 Video
You say – But, I want to make sure it is clean…..the best way to ensure cleanliness is smell. When you walk into a facility, does it SMELL clean. Does everything look clean? If it does, then most likely everything is clean.
Again, you mention – But I want to SEE that it is clean where my pet is. Scheduling a tour does not ensure anything. When scheduling a tour with other facilities, before the time you come, things will be washed, put away and made ready for the tour. To run an efficient clean smelling facility, cleaning is essential ongoing.
You say – But it is recommended to SEE where my pet will be. I understand. There have been boarding places that were not good and you want to be careful.
We HAVE had tours in the past and the town of Merrimack has inspected us. When we have Open House we also have tours.
Note – When we do have Open houses with tours, there are no animals for the healthy and safety of all. If we do have any animals, they will be safe and secured in a quiet room away from public viewing.
Look at the owner history – Is there a few sentences or do you see a good long background to give you a good sense of who is running things to ensure great pet care.
Same goes for a website. Does the website just have a few pages? Any pet care articles? This will give a sense of experience and knowledge. Having just a Facebook page is not recommended, and it is best to stay away from rover, wag and care apps. They are just a craigslist for pet care and in spite of what they say, they do not watch over the people they sell space to. Find out for yourself, just do a google search on rover & lawsuits.
One more thing to look for, REVIEWS & TESTIMONIALS. What are people saying about a facility in Google reviews or on the business Facebook page. Go to their website and read testimonials. Long term clients are a good bet the facility takes amazing care of the pets.
So as you can see, simply bringing you through for a tour is not that simple.
All pet care services are based on trust. If you do not trust us or anyone, do not use. The last thing you need is to be away and be worried about your pets.
Thank you for understanding and putting the animals’ comfort, health and welfare FIRST.
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