Dog owners love their pets. Correction: They love their four-legged family members and, when able, they’ll take along their canine companions wherever allowed.
But not every business, not every vacation destination is pet friendly. For those times, when “no dogs allowed” is the rule and family and friends aren’t available to provide temporary care, there are boarding facilities across the Ohio Valley for such an occasion.
Some offer fanciful accommodations, with multiple steps required before your pampered pooch takes its first step inside the building. Others are a little more straightforward. But one thing is for certain, those offering boarding facilities for your animals, above all, care about the dogs they take care of.
That seems to be a universal truth. But one gets a person interested in owning a boarding kennel, and how does it come about.
Bethesda’s Alan and Susanne Bretz are the owners and operators of Hidden Meadow Boarding Kennel. After their first child was born back in 2003, the Bretzes were hunting for a way for Susanne to keep working whilst also being home to look after their daughter.
“We finished our first building in the fall of 2004,” Alan said. “Our intention was to have a boarding kennel business, to give Susanne the ability to work from home, have the business and still be here with the kids.
“At the time, I was working full time in Cambridge. That first building, we filled it up on most weekends and so we immediately made plans to build a second one.”
The Bretzez’s second daughter was born a few years later, as was the second building. It was at that point that Alan joined his wife in working and running the kennel full time.
Nearly 18 years later and business is still going strong. It’s been a pleasant surprise for Alan, but one he admits he didn’t envision when the first building opened.
“The vision of our future I had at the time didn’t involve me working full time with my wife, but that’s what we do,” Alan said with a laugh. “It’s definitely not a one-person job, I can tell you that.
“We completed our addition right before COVID hit and now, post-COVID, we’re getting back to normal. It’s a lot of work from early morning until late at night.”
Total Accommodation for All Dogs
The two buildings contain a total of 56 enclosures, with varying sizes of kennels depending on breed and size. Each indoor kennel features access to an individual outdoor kennel with a doored link between the two.
The dogs are also given recreation time inside each building’s larg, fenced-in-yard attached to the facilities. Dogs are given individual time in those area four times per day.
Aside from dogs from the same family who are requested to be housed and exercised together, no dog is sent out for recreation time with another dog. They are kept separate.
This policy allows the Bretzes to accommodate all breeds, sizes, and temperaments of dogs. There’s not vetting process beforehand, or meet and greet. Have a dog that’s considered aggressive? That’s okay. Have a male that’s not fixed yet? That’s okay too.
Hidden Meadow only requests proof of up-to-date vaccinations and food for the dogs. Does your dog have an unique feeding schedule? That’s okay. Perhaps your dog is diabetic and requires insulin shots twice a day. That’s okay too.
Needing daily medication or unique feeding isn’t an issue. Hidden Meadow gladly accommodates and does so at no additional charge. Boarding rates currently are $17 per day, with the cost eventually going up to $20 later in the year. But special requests will be honored without extra compensation.
And because there’s no pre-boarding meet-and-greet required to utilize Hidden Meadow, the facility is a great option for potential customers needing last-minute accommodations when something comes up or plans change.
“My wife’s business philosophy is to provide the best value at a fair price and no charge extra for anything else,” Alan said. “We charge a fair price to care for your dog every day. We’ll administer any medication, follow whatever instructions you have.
“I think we’re the only public boarding facility that will board any dog, any breed, size, and whether or not they are fixed. We believe we have the most professional care. We don’t go home at 6 p.m. and lock things up. We close to the public at six, but the day doesn’t end until late at night. That works because we’re able to split the day up between the two of us.”
Boarding 365 Days a Year
Yes, Hidden Meadow is open 365 days per year. There are daily hours open to the public, and they ask that you call to set up a both a drop-off and pick-up time, but throughout the summer, holidays, there are always dogs boarded at the kennel.
Because it’s only Alan and his wife working at the facility, they’ve taken to excluding Christmas Day for drop offs and pick-ups and not taking anything after 3 p.m. on Christmas Eve. The same goes for Thanksgiving. That allows the Bretzes some family time at the house. But otherwise, the hours don’t change throughout the year.
“We still work with the dogs those days, but it gives us a block of time where we have no customers coming and going,” Alan said. “But we’re open every day of the year.”
Alan and Susanne can be reached via phone at 740-484-1773 or by visiting them online at www.hiddenmeadowboarding.com. Bretz did mention that it gets extremely busy around the holidays and throughout the summer, so when possible, try to call weeks ahead of time to reserve a spot.
That being said, Hidden Meadow doesn’t have a cancellation policy penalty, so if last minute accommodations are needed, call just to check as a cancelation may have freed up a spot.
