NEWS
12/31/11 GREAT 2011, LOOKING FORWARD TO 2012
Our second year in our new facility was very busy and we are so very grateful! It was so busy that I rarely had time to update the website. I have a huge photo collection of your pets that I have taken over the last year and just have not had time to post. I look forward to being able to add them once we get into the new year and I have some time to do so. I have also been taking pictures of your pets as we groom them so I can add a grooming by breed gallery. At this time I have worked on a few of the breed pages such as Yorkie and Schnauzer but that is as far as I have gotten. We have had the opportunity to do some creative grooming such as mohawks and some interesting patterns on poodles. We are always excited to evolve and practice new techniques.
We also attended a day at the Pet Pro Classic in Dallas again this year. We are hoping to attend the Super Zoo National Pet Expo and Convention in Las Vegas in September where we can learn under the tutorship of international pet industry professionals.
We thank each and every one of you for your loyalty and the trust you have placed in us in caring for your pets over the last year. Happy New Year! We look forward to building our relationships further with you over the coming year!
Melinda
8/6/11 SATURDAY BUSINESS HOURS CHANGED
Beginning this month we will be closing to the public at noon on Saturdays. If it is imperative that you need to pick up your boarder in the afternoon, Melinda will set a pre-arranged appointment time with you for this. However, if you are due to drop your pet off on a Saturday, please do so by 11:30am. Please understand that we work 12 hour days during the week. We close from 12-2 for lunch so that our actual work hours are closer to 10 hours daily. We need to cut down on our front office hours on Saturdays to cut down on overtime spending. Thank you for understanding!
7/24/11 HEAT WAVE
Due to the current extreme daytime temperatures, we will only be letting the dogs outside for potty breaks. Early in the morning from 7-9am we are able to spend more time outside running around playing, but Splash Hour and playtimes throughout the day are temporarily canceled until we are not in triple digit weather.
6/22/11 SUMMER DAYCARE SPLASH HOUR
We will begin having our outdoor play and splash time with water sports next week from 10:30am-11:30am on Tuesdays and Thursdays as well as Fridays if we have enough daycare attendance. There is no extra charge for Splash Hour during daycare. Minimum of 3 daycare attendees and a maximum of 10 attendees for splash time. We will have a doggie play splash pool, a wet n wild sprinkler, and wet splash balls. Please understand that your dog will get wet and possibly a little smelly from all the fun. We will towel dry them and let them dry off completely during nap time but if you would like us to give them a quick bath before they go home please schedule that ahead of time. If you still want to bring your dog for daycare but want to opt out of the splash hour, your pup will have a little longer nap time.
BOARDING WITH SPLASH PLAY INCLUDED - If your dog is boarding you can schedule their inclusion in Splash Hour for $5 per play session.
6/20/11 JULY 4TH WEEKEND HOURS
We will be open 8-9am and 4-4:30pm on Saturday the 2nd. We are CLOSED as normal on Sunday, as well as CLOSED on Monday, July 4th. Please remember that on holidays when we are closed we still take care of the boarders as usual but are closed to the public since our office staff is off.
4/20/11 EASTER WEEKEND HOURS
We will be open from 8-9am and 4-4:30pm on Friday the 22nd and Saturday the 23rd.
2/4/11 REMINDER
Please remember that we are closed on Wednesdays, however, for your convenience we offer appointments for boarding drop off/pick up based upon Melinda's availability. If an appointment is made for you to be able to drop off or pick up on a day that we are closed, we are able to wait up to 15 minutes past your appointment time, however, anything beyond that will require you to pick up or drop off during the next open business hours. Thank you for your understanding and valuing our time as much as we value yours.
2/4/11 NOTICE OF MODIFIED HOURS
FRI 2/18 No Grooming, Boarding pick/up or drop/off by appointment
SAT 2/19 Closed
MON 2/21 No Grooming, Boarding pick/up or drop/off by appointment
TUE 2/22 No Daycare, Grooming and Boarding drop/off or pick/up by
appointment
2/4/11 WEATHER
Due to the weather issues this week, many groomings are having to be rescheduled and fit in over the next week or so. We ask for your patience as we fit in all the appointments and things take a bit longer to get done.
10/6/10 REMINDER - HOLIDAY BOARDING
There is a 5 night minimum to board over Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Deposits to secure your reservation are due mid October for Thanksgiving, and mid November for Christmas. You must sign a holiday reservation agreement which states that your deposit is non-refundable. If you need to cancel your reservation, you must give us a 2 week notice and your deposit will be placed as a credit on your account. If you do not give us a 2 week notice and cancel within the 2 weeks prior your reservation, your deposit becomes a cancellation fee.
Please remember to book all Pampered Pooch Packages or Grooming at the time you make your reservation so we can get your pets scheduled on the grooming schedule for their baths/haircuts as we will be booked in grooming weeks in advance prior to the holidays.
Thank you so very much and Happy Holiday Season!!!
9/30/10 We do not give refunds! We can exchange products as long as they are not containers that have been opened. Otherwise, if you pre-pay for something like daycare or boarding, and then cancel or come back early, we can place a credit on your account as long as it was not a holiday.
8/1/10 We can no longer accept checks. Please pay with Visa, Mastercard, Discover, or Cash. This is to avoid having to increase our prices due to the overhead and returned check fees. Thank you for understanding!
6/20/10 We are currently booked up 4 weeks in advance for grooming. We have a waiting list you can be placed on for us to call you when we have an opening due to cancellation, but remember, the best way to assure you have a spot with us for grooming is to get your pet on our regular's list so you always have an advance appointment for your next grooming.
6/9/10 Recently Melinda had the pleasure of grooming a Miniature Schnauzer named Sam Darlin' for the first time. His owner, Ruth Bone Rogers, lives in Fort Worth and is a very special lady! Ruth has raised and shown Miniature Schnauzers most of her life and is a Miniature Schnauzer enthusiast. She has written a detailed review about us and I am posting it on our Client Comments section to share with everyone. I am also posting pictures of his "Before" and "After" on our Grooming page. Thank you Ruth, I really appreciate your thoughts about us!
6/8/10 JULY 4TH BOARDING
We anticipate being fully booked for the July 4th weekend. Deposits are required to hold your reservation and are non-refundable without a 7 day notice of cancellation.
HOLIDAY HOURS: Friday and Saturday, July 2nd and 3rd we are open from 8-12 only.
6/8/10 Our current business hours are:
Mon. 7-12 and 2-6
Tue. 7-12 and 2-6
Wed. Closed except for pre-scheduled appointments
Thur. 7-12 and 2-6
Fri. 7-12 and 2-6
Sat. 8-12 and 1-4
Sun. Closed
6/3/10 We are experiencing a high demand for grooming. There are 3 of us grooming and we are running approximately one to two weeks out with booked appointments. If you need to reschedule or cancel your grooming appointment please give us a 48 hour notice so we can schedule someone in your slot that is on our waiting list. If you no show or do not give us enough notice then it places undue hardship on us and other clients and we will not be able to schedule you in advance again unless you prepay. Thank you for understanding.
3/10/10 We are currently grooming as many pets as we can on a daily basis and are running approximately 2 weeks booked out in advance. The best way to make sure we are able to groom your pet is to get them on our "Regulars" schedule. We have a weekly, every 2 weeks, monthly, and 6 weeks schedule. This way, you are pre-booked for your next groom and always have an appointment saved for you.
3/10/10 Here are a few pictures from Saturday, March 6th when we had our fabulous grand re-opening. Over 100 people came and my brother in law John became the valet, parking vehicles over at the old True Value lot.
The ribbon cutting ceremony
Lisa, & Charles and Stephanie Tramp with "Dixie"
The wonderful cake made by Danielle Boutwell of Heavenly Cakes
This was late that evening around 7pm after everyone left
3/10/10 LETTER TO THE EDITOR - JOSHUA STAR
This Thursday the Joshua Star is publishing our ribbon cutting ceremony from last Saturday. In next week's paper, they will publish the following letter I wrote, but I wanted to share it with you here as well.
I would like to take this opportunity to publicly express my heartfelt gratitude to the City of Joshua, Joshua Chamber of Commerce, the community, my family and friends, and the many wonderful clients who came to support us on March 6th for our grand re-opening and ribbon cutting.
There were well over 100 people who attended and I was overwhelmed by the support and excitement shared. I have been operating my pet care services business one street outside Joshua city limits since 2005 and our client base grew to the point that we desperately needed to expand. We were blessed to acquire a large building right on Broadway, in Joshua city limits, at the end of last year and have been in the remodeling stages since December. It has turned out to exceed all my expectations and on March 6th we were able to present it to our community and clients who had been eagerly awaiting.
There are so many people to thank and I was so overwhelmed during the grand re-opening that I didn't get a chance to express my gratitude. I would like to start with the City of Joshua and thanking Nader Jeri who has been so gracious. His courtesy is very much appreciated. I would also like to thank Tana Howell and the chamber for their support as well as the wonderful ribbon cutting. My gratitude goes out to the community for supporting our endeavor. Other local businesses as well as surrounding businesses from neighboring cities provided so much support. They are: Blossoms, The Sign Solution, Heavenly Cakes by Danielle Boutwell, Billy Richardson Construction, Joanne Hickox and Tim Sutherland from Community Bank of Burleson, Christie Hicks and the staff from Pinnacle Bank of Joshua, Kacie Pope from La Vue Salon, and any others that I might be forgetting to mention - I appreciate you all.
One of the key aspects to the success of our move, expansion, remodeling, and grand re-opening is my family. My sister and brother in law, Lisa and John Harwart were instrumental in making any of this possible. The hard work and time they spent helping us can never be repaid. This truly could not have happened without them. My mother Barbara Wimm has also been instrumental in making any of this possible. She has provided support in many ways and I thank her from the bottom of my heart. My husband Lonnie and son Noah have tirelessly supported this endeavor. I thank you and love you deeply. Shannon Dow, one of our first and most loyal clients, has supported us beyond what anyone could imagine. I appreciate her help and am so blessed by her and her 3 Shih Tzu's: Benny, Bailey, and Lena. Our clients are the best clients anyone could ever want. They are so loyal and supportive and truly make serving them and their pets such a pleasure. I wish I could list you all because you have all been so supportive and you are the reason we are where we are. Thank you all so much!
Lastly and most importantly, I thank my Creator and Savior. I am blessed and do not deserve it. The people I get to serve, and the pets I get to love fulfill me and bring me such happiness. I know that nothing in life is deserved, but whatever is given must be appreciated and cherished. Thank you….I love you.
GRAND RE-OPENING : SATURDAY MARCH 6TH 2-4PM
We are pleased to announce our grand re-opening celebration and invite you to join us for our ribbon cutting, tours, hor d'oeuvres, and champagne toast. Well socialized dogs are welcome and will receive complimentary treats. Come tour one of the finest pet resorts in all of North Texas!
Fine Boutique and Natural Health Supplies
Interactive Daycare and Playroom
Holistic Pet Salon
Luxury Boarding Suites
Hello Kitty Cat Boarding
Outdoor Romp 'N Play Yard
2/2/10 We are getting close to being able to move in to our new facility. Some unexpected delays have occurred over the last 2 weeks, but all in all, we are excited about the upcoming move. Once we get closer to knowing an exact date, we will announce our grand opening and we plan on having an open house celebration. There are so many people to thank and we cannot wait for the opportunity to celebrate with all of you who have helped make this possible!
12/28/09 NEW HOME FOR THE PINES PET PAMPERING
As many of you know, for the better part of 2009 we have been through a lot of winding roads on our journey to expand and find a new home. We originally planned on building a new place to accomodate our needs, but we were led to 609 N Broadway which was built in 2007 as a 5,000 sq ft salon suites facility where stylists could lease their own room. It's about 2 miles away from where we are now, and is a short 3-5 minute drive. The building is perfectly suited for what I have always envisioned as my dream facility. There are 16 suites (which were some of the rooms the stylists leased). They all have windows, crown molding, and easy access to the fenced in outdoor play yard that we have added. We have been remodeling for the last month and plan for our grand opening sometime end of January. Here are some of the exciting things we look forward to:
- 6,000 sq ft privacy fenced outdoor play yards
- 600 sq ft indoor day care, play room
- spacious boarding suites from 100 to 140 sq ft
- raised doggie beds and wrought iron raised diners
- quiet cat room just for boarding cats, away from all the dog areas
- large reception area
- 3 semi private salon stations for relaxed grooming with state of the art
Edemco tables
- 3 bathing stations with state of the art hydro-massage bathers
- quiet holding room for groom dogs to nap on plush bedding while
waiting to be picked up
Here are the things a lot of us are excited about that might not make sense unless you are a regular client of ours :)
- restrooms! (a ladies' and a men's....can you believe it?)
- an office for Melinda
- parking......need I say more?!
More Updates to Follow!
9/29/09 HOLIDAYS AND HOURS
We are beginning to prepare for the busy holiday season. We will be sending out Reservation Deposit Forms for Thanksgiving boarding next week. Deposits for Thanksgiving will be due by November 1st. Deposits for Christmas boarding will be due by December 1st. Please remember there is a 5 night minimum to board during these 2 holidays. Deposits are non-refundable with a 14 day notice of cancellation required for your deposit to be placed on your account as a credit for future use. If you cancel your boarding for these holidays without giving us at least a 14 day notice, you lose your deposit. Do I sound harsh? Sorry....but it has to be this way. It never fails that people don't show or cancel right before they are due to arrive, leaving us with an open space that we could have filled 20 times over. This makes us and our clients very sad because someone else would have loved to board their dog with us, but we told them we were full.
HOLIDAY HOURS FOR THANKSGIVING AND CHRISTMAS WEEKS
11/22 Sunday Closed
11/23 Monday 7:30-5
11/24 Tuesday 7:30-5
11/25 Wednes. 8-12
11/26 Thursday Closed
11/27 Friday 8-12
11/28 Saturday 8-12
12/20 Sunday Closed
12/21 Monday 7:30-5
12/22 Tuesday 7:30-5
12/23 Wednes. 7:30-5
12/24 Thursday Closed
12/25 Friday Closed
12/26 Saturday 8-12
9/4/09
Melinda is now a member of the NDGAA - National Dog Groomer's Association of America
9/3/09
Update on Building Project: Burleson City Council gave final approval for us last month, however we are currently waiting for taxing issues with the land to be finalized before we can proceed. Ohhhh the waiting continues.
9/2/09
We attended the Pet Pro Classic this last weekend and our favorite classes were taught by Eric Salas. It was a great time and we look forward to furthering our education with more conferences over the next year. Here is a photo I took during the Non-Sporting over 17" competition.
8/11/09
PET PRO CLASSIC
We will be attending this 4 day educational conference at the end of this month and will be attending classes and learning new techniques in advanced grooming and animal behavior. The instructors are leading professionals in the industry and come from Cesar Milan's dog pyschology program, as well as grooming masters such as Chris Christensen. We are very excited!
8/10/09
NEW POLICY
I have been getting a lot of feedback from other boarding operators regarding a policy about neutering. A lot of boarding facilities are requiring all dogs be neutered. I have been considering this policy, particularly as we approach building our new facility. It is extremely important in a "pack", that all the dogs be neutered/spayed in order for there to be balance and a healthy environment. Unneutered males possess traits of dominance, excitability, and marking behavior which makes them unsuitable for our type of boarding facility. We encourage all pet owners to neuter their dogs.
8/9/09
MEALS
Reminder about Meals for boarders: If you do not bring your own pet's food, Melinda will feed what she feeds her own dogs and cats. There is an additional charge of $2.00 per feeding for this.
7/22/09
Things are going well in our building process. The planning and zoning meeting went well last night and we were approved. We now face a city council meeting in a few weeks and that will be the final step before we commence with building. It's getting exciting!
6/30/09
DEPOSITS are now required in order to book and reserve a boarding reservation. Again last week we had 2 separate incidents of "no-shows". Both clients had reserved a week and neither of them showed up the morning they were due to drop off their pets. One of the clients just emailed me and said they got my phone messages after they returned from their trip and realized they forgot to call us when a family member agreed to keep their pet.
To reserve, we now require NON-REFUNDABLE deposits. If you reserve 3 nights or less, your deposit is your entire boarding reservation. If you reserve 4 nights or more, your deposit is half of your reservation. If you have to cancel or change the reservation, and you provide us with at least a 7 day notice, your deposit will be placed as a credit on your account for future services. If you do not provide a 7 day notice of cancellation, your deposit becomes a cancellation fee and is not applicable for credit.
COMING BACK EARLY
If you shorten your trip or pick your pet up prior to the reserved check out date, you will still be charged for the full reservation. Any changes to the reservation require a 7 day notice. I know this probably sounds harsh, but we cannot keep having these no-shows, or pick ups several days prior to when the reservation was for. These types of issues create hardships for us and other clients who would have booked for that space.
BOARDING IS FROM 1PM - NOON THE NEXT DAY
We charge just like any hotel does, except that hotels usually require 3-4 hours between guests to clean and we only require 1 hour. Please understand that if you need a morning check in, then we need to reserve the night before. Also, if you are due to check out your pet by Noon, and arrive late, this creates a hardship for us in order to prepare the space for the next guest. We are running at full capacity for the summer and need to run a tight ship in order to remain organized and provide the best service.
Thank you for your understanding in these matters. We really appreciate you and your pets.
GROOMING
We are completely booked through August for haircuts that require clippering and scissoring, however, if you have a double coated breed such as a shepherd type of dog or any other dog that does not need a full hair cut, we can usually get them in the same day, or the next day! Please be sure to let us know the breed when you call for grooming.
6/26/09
JULY 4TH WEEK/WEEKEND
We have special hours for the upcoming week.
Mon 6/29 7:30-5
Tues 6/30 7:30-5
Wed 7/1 8:00-12
Thur 7/2 8:00-12 with prescheduled drop off/pick ups available 1-5
Frid 7/3 8:00-12 with prescheduled drop off/pick ups available 1-5
Sat 7/4 CLOSED
Sun 7/5 CLOSED
ONYX
We have decided to keep her. She has turned out to be a great kennel cat. Her favorite thing to do is lie on the front counter and greet every person and every dog that comes in. She's such a sweetheart and so at ease around everyone and everything. Onyx and the kennel rabbit "Teddy" get along great! She's part of our staff now!
6/15/09
ONYX
We have named the abandoned cat "Onyx" and are still looking for a forever home for her. She sure is a sweetheart. Seriously! She is a doll.
Please help us find her a permanent home.
GROOMING APPOINTMENTS
Grooming is currently booked through August. However, we do have the occassional no-show or cancellation. We do call every client the day before to remind them of their appointment. If you need to cancel your appointment, please give us the courtesy of providing a 48 hour notice so that we can have time to call those on our waiting list. If you do not give us a proper notice or "no-show" on us, we do not have time enough to get another client in. Many clients drop their pet off on the way to work so if you wait until the day of, to let us know you are not coming, we have wasted a slot for that day. If this happens more than once, please understand that we cannot pre-schedule appointments for you any longer unless you pay in advance.
BOARDING RESERVATIONS
We seem to be booked full a few weeks in advance right now. If you reserve boarding, but come back from your trip a few days early, please understand that you will need to pay for your full reservation. We also keep a waiting list for boarding, but when we are full, other clients go ahead and make other arrangements for their pets, so the only ones we may be able to get in on such short notice are few. We need a 7 day notice of cancellation or change. I am contemplating requiring deposit of half the boarding reservation in order to even reserve a space. This is because we had 4 separate incidents over the last week where someone either cancelled with just a couple days' notice, or shortened their trip and came back early. We had 11 clients on a waiting list but most of them had made other arrangements because they didn't think we could accomodate them. The ones who came back early created an open space that was not long enough for the clients who still needed boarding. This creates challenges for us as well as our clients in general. We try hard to accomodate changes, but will appreciate your understanding in this matter.
6/4/09
Grooming is currently booked full 4 weeks out in advance. If you need grooming and would like to be placed on our waiting list for openings due to no-shows or cancellations, please leave us your information and we will call you if/when we have an opening.
6/3/09
We had a cat abandoned on us today. The poor thing was just brought and left here without any explanation, no food, and no belongings. She is a female, approximately 1-2 years old, and she is solid black with a little white on her chest. I believe she has been both an indoor and outdoor cat and is a great mouse catcher. Please help us find a home for her....a forever home, that will not abandon her again.
