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By JANET COOK
News staff writer
May 3, 2006
Okay, campers, here’s the schedule. Rise
and shine around 7 and have breakfast. Play group mid-morning for an
hour or more — outside if the weather’s nice. Nap time around noon. If
you’re staying in a cabin, you can watch “Animal Planet” on TV.
Campers staying in a patio cabin are welcome to snooze outside on the
patio. Soothing classical music will play from the stereo speakers in
the bunkhouse. Depending on what your parents signed you up for, you
might have some “comfort time” in the afternoon, or “buddy time” —
one-on-one play time with a camp counselor — or even “sniff-n-piddle,”
a special walk with a counselor. Dinner is served around 5 and lights
out about 8.
Sniff-n-piddle?
“Campers,” above and below, frolic on
the extensive
fenced grounds of Cascade Pet Camp for an hour or
more each morning. During bad weather, the camp’s
6,000-square-foot indoor training facility serves
as the play area.
Yep. This camp is for dogs. And although
there’s no place like home, if you must board your four-legged friend
while you go out of town, you can rest assured that at Cascade Pet
Camp he won’t be lacking, well, anything.
That’s exactly the way owner Jenni Lott planned it.
“We want people to be able to go on vacation and relax,” said Lott,
who, with her husband Brad Amer, opened Cascade Pet Camp last
November.
Lott, who calls herself “a dog person at heart,” has long been
interested in dog training and showing. She began teaching dog
training classes in Hood River nine years ago, renting space in a
horse arena, while maintaining her day job as an accountant. Her
classes ranged from puppy training and socialization to advanced
agility training, in which dogs maneuver an obstacle course.
“During that time, I had a lot of people ask me where they could board
their dogs,” Lott said. “It sort of piqued my interest.” About four
years ago, she began looking in earnest at ways she could expand her
dog business, and decided that combining her training and classes with
a first-rate boarding facility was the answer.
She and Amer, who has since left the real estate business to join the
pet camp business, spent a couple of years finding the ideal location
which also had the correct zoning (industrial), and set about creating
their vision for a pet “camp” as well as a first-class training
facility.
Jenni Lott, shows off a cabin at Cascade
Pet Camp.
Cascade Pet Camp is located on five
acres off Highway 35 near Odell. The main building has the capacity to
accommodate 100 dogs in three different settings (for three different
rates): a bunkhouse, indoor cabins, and patio cabins. A separate cat
room contains kitty cabins.
So, for example, if you’re feeling a little guilty about leaving Fido
behind when you head for that Caribbean vacation, you can pony up $40
a night for him to have all the amenities — a patio cabin complete
with a TV which shows “Animal Planet,” a toddler bed for sound snoozin’,
and a slider door for access to the outdoor patio.
Even the cheaper bunkhouse offers pretty nice digs. Each dog has his
own space, complete with a comfy cot for snoozing. Music plays through
stereo speakers for the canines’ enjoyment.
The entire facility has heated floors and is kept squeaky clean by
daily scrubbings — called, of course, maid service. Even the bedding
is washed every day. A kitchen area provides a neatly labeled space
for each dog’s accouterments, such as medicine or special food.
Detailed instructions on every camper’s special needs are detailed
here, as well as on the door of their quarters.
Play group — frolic-time with other dogs and camp counselors in the
large fenced yard — is standard. But you can pay a little extra for
things like “cuddles-n-hugs” — 20 minutes of individual petting — or a
20 minute swim in the pond located on the property.
Ashlie
Draper plays with dogs during “play group.”
Cascade Pet Camp also offers doggy and
kitty day camp, for pet owners who work long days or who just can’t
offer their furry friends the TLC or exercise they need.
Cascade Pet Camp’s overnight facilities are impressive indeed, but
they’re not to be outdone by the training facility, located in an
adjacent building. A 6,000-square-foot training room, complete with a
¾-inch thick recycled rubber floor, is the highlight. Garage doors
open at one end onto a fenced yard — a.k.a. the potty area.
The massive training room also serves as the doggy play area during
bad weather.
Ongoing classes include agility training, a “basic manners” class and
puppy kindergarten.
Cascade Pet Camp may seem like overkill to some, but probably not to
most pet owners. On a recent mid-week day, the camp had five dogs
attending day camp and 20 boarding. Several cats purred contentedly in
the cat room.
According to Lott, the camp has been home-away-from-home to about 30
dogs on most recent weekends, and she expects that number to rise as
summer arrives.
“It’s all part of a trend around the country over the past 10 years,”
Lott said. “Pets are treated as part of the family.”
Lott and Amer’s goal is to provide a truly good place for pets to be
while they’re away from home.
“It’s not just a place to store your dog,” Lott said. “It’s a healthy
place where dogs can have fun, get plenty of exercise and a lot of
human contact.”
So rest assured when you go on vacation. Just don’t be surprised if
Fido doesn’t want to leave camp when it’s time to pick him up.
Cascade Pet Camp is located at 3085 Lower Mill Drive. Call (541)
354-2267 or go to
www.CascadePetCamp.com. |
