Our friends from WCCO-TV and Chuck and Don’s stopped out to Pampered Pooch Playground to talk about dog park safety. You can watch the clips below.
6am Hour
5am Hour
One thing I have noticed when talking with new customers about our doggy daycare is their surprise when we talk about how nice out outside area is. Outside we have about 3000 SQFT of space for dogs to run and play, all made up of recycled sports turf. The turf we used is from an old sports stadium in Arizona! We love the turf and we are able to keep it much cleaner than traditional grass (which gets muddy), woodchips (that always smell) and gravel (that flies everywhere when dogs run). We really did put much thought into what makes an AMAZING outside play area that can hold up to a Minneapolis winter. Now that the weather is warmer we have also turned out the outside webcam so you can check out all the fun. We take the dogs outside about every hour and they all love getting the fresh air! When we were looking for buildings, finding one that could handle a large outside play area was very important to us. I am so glad that we were able to create such an amazing space!
Have a great day!
Keith
We were proud to be chosen for the cover of the St Louis Park Magazine – Pet edition. Below you can read the article that featured Pampered Pooch Playground and Bubbly Paws.
Pampered Pooch Playground
Owners: Trycia and Keith Miller
Services: Dog day care, boarding
The tale:
Trycia and Keith Miller launched their dog day-care center five years ago. They initially opened it for their beloved Bernese mountain dog named Roxy. Today the Millers manage about 95 dogs per day at the Pampered Pooch Playground. They have three separate rooms for canine frolicking, including 11,000 square feet of climate-controlled indoor space and a 3,500-square-foot outdoor area. There are also luxury suites for the extremely pampered pooch.
“Minnesota is unregulated for doggie day care, so it’s a point of concern for dog owners,” Keith Miller says. “Someone could rent any old garage and put 60 dogs in it.” The Millers do everything they can to alleviate worry. Pampered Pooch is the first dog day care in the country to have iPhone, Android and Blackberry apps so owners can watch their pups at play, day and night. There are 11 live webcams streaming from the three playrooms and regular Facebook posts and tweets. The outside play area is made with recycled sports turf, which is ecologically appropriate and, unlike gravel or Astroturf, easy to clean.
“The St. Louis Park pet business network is really supportive,” Keith Miller says. “If someone had a fire or got sick, they could bring their dogs to us or I would go work at their place to help out.” Miller stays current on developments in the doggie care world and is a fan of the “busman’s holiday”: Whenever he travels, he stops by other pet care facilities to take notes on what they’re doing right and what he would like to avoid in his own establishment. “There’s a real difference in big-city day cares,” he notes, adding many have a less than fragrant smell. 7020 Walker St.; 952.922.8183; pamperedpoochplayground.com
Bubbly Paws
Owners: Trycia and Keith Miller
Services: Self-serve or full-service dog washing, grooming
Hangers-on: Roxy the Bernese mountain dog
The tale:
Bubbly Paws is the Millers’ laidback little brother to their high-maintenance big baby, the Pampered Pooch Playground. The Millers opened Bubbly Paws two years ago, mainly as place to wash their own Roxy, a 100-pound Bernese whose bulk and thick hair demand an elaborate bathing process. They nabbed a light and airy space in the busy Excelsior/Grand complex and outfitted it with five elevated step-in tubs with shower hoses, a grooming room and a drying room. Customers can bathe their dogs themselves or pay a bit more for a house shampoo.
The Millers are dedicated to the St. Louis Park community and even use a locally made shampoo, which is actually a reformulated horse shampoo. “I like it because it doesn’t smell fake or overpowering,” Keith says. “I mean, I’m a guy, so I couldn’t care less about smelling like flowers.” Nevertheless Bubbly Paws’ grooming services offer plenty of bling for their canine clients, including toenail polish and in one unusual case, a pink polka-dot dye job.
The couple loves the tight-knit animal owning community in St. Louis Park. “People know each others’ dog’s names. Everyone goes to the Dakota dog park and people recognize each other [from the dog park],” Keith Miller says. “I’ve seen love connections happen here. Seriously, if you were a single guy, why wouldn’t you get a dog?” Miller dreams about opening a pet rental business for hopeful single guys hanging around the dog park. In the meantime, “we just have fun here,” he says. “C’mon, it’s a dog wash!” Each month Bubbly Paws gives back to support a different pet rescue organization, donating $5 from each bath, and hosting creatively awesome occasions like doggie yoga and doggie happy hour. 3730 Grand Way; 952.657.5300; bubblypaws.com
Pet Friendly SLP
We also provided St Louis Park Magazine a list of some of the pet friendly businesses in St Louis Park:
Primp
Hosts fundraisers for a local pet rescue
1628 West End Blvd.; 952.303.3791; primpyourself.com
Lululemon
Stop in with your dog and get a treat
1639 West End Blvd.; 763.545.9069; lululemon.com
McCoy’s Public House
Dogs can hang out and get treats on the patio
3801 Grand Way; 952.224.9494; mccoyspublichouse.com
Yum!
Free house-made doggie treats
4000 Minnetonka Blvd.; 952.922.4000; yumkitchen.com
The Four Firkins
Browse the local beer selection with your discerning pooch
5630 W. 36th St.; 952.938.2847; thefourfirkins.com
Galaxy Drive-In
Bring your pooch while you enjoy a superb burger
3712 Quebec Ave S.; 952.277.7777; galaxy-drivein.com
Frattallone’s Ace Hardware
Great nosing around for dog and man (or woman)
5025 Excelsior Blvd.; 952.456.6630; frattallones.com
Filament Lighting
This business provided the lighting for Bubbly Paws
5007 Excelsior Blvd.; 952.926.5007; filamentlighting.com
Finally! Today is the first day that it really felt like Spring was here to stay! Trycia’s family was in town this weekend and we had fun showing them around the Twin Cities. We always tell them how dog friendly Minneapolis is, but today they got to see it first hand! We took Roxy shopping in Uptown, and everyone had so much fun! The highlight was the Apple Store and I really have to give them credit for how dog friendly they are. They have 2 water dishes right as you walk in! Roxy loved it! Just think.. Only a few more weeks until the dog friendly patios open! Soon, we will give you our reviews of the best dog friendly patios in the Twin Cities.
Have a good night!
Keith
About 6 months ago we asked one of of our good friends, Jessie Marianello from Stray Dog Arts to paint another picture of Roxy. I guess a proud doggy poppa can never have too many paintings of Roxy! Jessie was one of our first doggy daycare customers and she also painted the large picture of Roxy that is hanging in the lobby. Just a few days ago, Jessie dropped off the new painting of Roxy, and it is so AMAZING! Jessie does such a great job of capturing Roxy’s personality and putting into her paintings. I don’t know what else to say, but we are so happy for our amazing new piece of art that is now hanging in our house!
Jessie puts this same about of love and energy into all of her paintings. WE also had Jessie paint a picture of Trycia’s sisters dog, Roman, for Christmas 2 years ago! About 2 years ago I remember when she came running into our lobby to tell us that her work was featured in Bark and Modern Dog Magazine. I am so proud of all of her success and proud to call her a good friend of ours!
Have a good night!
Keith
You’ve probably seen all the viral Harlem Shake videos that have been going around youtube. Our personal favorites are the one at Sea World and the Puppy Edition, but we decided to attempt to make our own version of the Harlem Shake video with our doggy daycare dogs! Check out the Pampered Pooch Playground version below!
Here are the rules to make your own Harlem Shake:
Roxy, Rowdy and Roxy had story time!
Our good friend Amber (AKA Roxy and Rowdy’s mom), just published her first children’s book called Hero Mutts with Wiggle Butts! Can you guess who the stars of the book are??? Yep! Her dogs Roxy and Rowdy who come to doggy daycare! The hard copy of the book is not out yet, but you can download the digital copy from iTunes. Just click here for the link. The other night I read the book to Ambers Roxy and Rowdy along with our Roxy who was sporting the free cape that comes with the book (get it Hero Mutts). I am so excited to have famous dogs come to our doggy daycare!
Have a good night!
Keith
Last weekend Trycia and I went to LA to visit some of our friends that just moved out there, but we also wanted to check out one of the doggy daycares that we have become friends with. The owner was nice enough to take us around and show us the building, and I even got to meet Lil’ Jon’s dog.. (come on, you know who he is.. the rapper who sang Snap Yo Fingers Feat. Snoop Dogg). The owner of that daycare and I have been working on designing something pretty cool for the past 3 months and I finally got to see a demo of it. Hopefully if all goes well in the next 3 months you can see it also 
Other than that, we had lots of fun and even went on the TMZ Tour.. Don’t believe me? Click here for a picture! Ha!
Hope everyone had a great weekend!
Keith
Fox 9 stopped out to Pampered Pooch Playground to talk about a new canine cancer study.
