This holiday, some furry companions may be treated better than you Watch video
After a few spirited minutes of trotting on a small treadmill designed for dogs, tail bopping around like a busy lambswool feather duster, a bright-eyed, snow-white pup gets a sweet reward in the form of a treat.
Then it's time for some rest ... and a bedtime story.
But this dog, a 6-year-old American Eskimo named Angie, isn't ready for sleep and doesn't seem to care all that much about the woman sitting on the dog bed with a storybook. She barks loudly, seemingly more interested in any potential morsels still in the human's pocket.
Angie isn't at home, but she might as well be. On days when no one's in the house to take her out and give her attention, she spends most of her time here in Morristown at Morris Animal Inn, a sprawling space dedicated to pet care and one in New Jersey's expanding fleet of upscale pet boarding facilities.
Often called "pet resorts" or "hotels," these businesses, a far cry from the dull, sad kennel pens of yore, offer the usual grooming, training and daycare, but also sell pet owners on luxury suites, swimming pools, in-room TVs, massage and gourmet meals.
A family or pet owner who wants to keep their dog busy while they head off on a five-day vacation could spend upwards of $400 for a luxury suite at a pet resort, but at many such businesses, there is little in the way of a ceiling for what they could shell out for "extras," like bonus playtime ($42 at one resort) or a turn on the canine treadmill ($19.95 per session at the inn).
While some may scoff at the notion of luxury experiences for animals, pet owners who have the money to do so will board their dogs or cats at these high-end facilities when they're away for weekends, holidays and vacations. And for dogs like Angie, boarding can be a daily affair. Some say these upscale pet escapes are less about boarding pets than pampering them, which may help assuage any guilt owners may feel for leaving their companions behind.
Paying a premium for pet care
The American Pet Products Association estimates that in 2016, people in the United States will spend more than $62 billion on pets, with pet services, including grooming and boarding, accounting for $5.4 billion.
After 48 years in business, Morris Animal Inn, which can house up to 250 dogs and 50 cats, was rebranded as a luxury pet resort in 2008. Amenities include special daycare for puppies, a fitness program and turkey on Thanksgiving. Lodging rates run from $44.95 to $62.95 per day for dogs and $35.95 to $57.95 for cats. Premium dog activity and fitness packages that include bedtime tuck-ins, group play and swimming can cost up to $99.95 per day.
Of course, there are a-la-carte options, too. In a cat playroom, staff ploy Vigo, a 5-year-old American shorthair, with a tablet computer on which a digital mouse runs around the screen ($12.95). Cat owners can also get a "painting" of paw movements to take home and display on the refrigerator, like a children's art project ($15.95), or have their beloved furball wheeled outside in covered strollers ($21.95).
"At the end of the day we want them to go home tired and happy," says Debora Montgomery, marketing manager at the inn.
A cat guest relaxes in a private suite at Morris Animal Inn. (Andre Malok | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)Sound like too much? For the inn's staff and clientele, all the fuss is warranted.
"Ethically and emotionally, you want to make sure that people are caring for your pets as if they were their own," says Abigail Stuttard, manager of daycare and training.
Tracey Jennings of Basking Ridge boards her dog Tallulah, a 4-year-old pug "diva," and her cat Jolie, 16-year-old American shorthair, at the inn.
"I have great faith in knowing that they're just going to be fawned over, well taken care of," she says. Tallulah can eat snacks like yogurt with pumpkin and banana chips and Jolie can munch salmon consomme and tuna tartar and watch a tiny TV screen that plays video of a squirrel. Jennings brushes aside criticism for such attention to detail as being over-the-top.
Denise Hancock of Morristown, who calls herself "the craziest mom dog ever," boards her dog Mickey, 15, a smooth fox terrier, at the facility.
"To look at him you'd never known he's 15 and I'm absolutely certain it's because he spends time there getting socialized," she says. Since Mickey is a picky eater, he can get hand fed. Hancock buys him the "prince package," which, at $49.95 per day, includes two "pampered pet" sessions (private playtime, pool wading, petting and TLC), two "business" walks and a luxury suite with raised bed and blanket.
"They do all that stuff and they do it without a hint of irony," Hancock says. "They spoil him as badly as I do."
Pets as family
We've long seen the impact of the humanization of household pets -- the reason why people buy dogs clothes and keep pet photos handy to show friends and strangers, like people once only did with their children. But Hancock can lavish attention (and spend more money) on Mickey, in part because she doesn't have children, a fact that speaks to a larger trend in American demographics, says Hal Herzog, an expert in human-animal relations and psychology professor emeritus at Western Carolina University.
Camp Bow Wow, a dog boarding and daycare facility franchise that has eight locations in New Jersey, offers luxury suites and other amenities like webcams from which owners can monitor their pets throughout the day. (Camp Bow Wow) Though the group with the highest rates of pet ownership tend to be people with children at home, they aren't the ones who are most attached to their pets, Herzog says -- leave that to those don't have children.
"These are people that are really deeply attached to their pets but really don't have kids at home so they're probably traveling more," Herzog says. Pair that with an increase in anthropomorphism and you get things like duck confit cat food and bedtime stories for dogs, he says.
Yet Morris Animal Inn isn't the only facility to approach cats this way, too. Janry Pet Resort in Stewartsville in Greenwich Township, feline luxury suites have four-level staircases, memory foam mattresses, little four-poster beds and a screen that plays DVDs of swimming fish.
"If they touch it with their paw, it'll change to a different station," says owner Jane Dancosse, who opened the boarding facility in 1982 and changed it to a "resort" in 2010 after a compete remodel including imported porcelain tile and glass doors.
Inside K9 Resorts Daycare & Luxury Hotel in Fanwood, which was modeled after the look of Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. (Amy Kuperinsky | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)The first shift was from "kennel" to "boarding," then from "boarding" to "hotel" or "resort," says Carmen Rustenbeck, CEO of the International Boarding and Pet Services Association in Colorado Springs, a trade association for the pet care industry. While pet hotels in the Midwest might not always have the amenities of a New York City business, modernization -- a departure from "the old wire cage look" -- is now often the norm even at traditional boarding operations, she says.
"As the consumer pushes for that in their area, then the facilities respond," Rustenbeck says.
At Camp Bow Wow in Bridgewater, part of a national franchise with eight locations in New Jersey, suites embrace a rustic log cabin motif. Helicopter pet parents, who put down $48 per night, are often "addicted" to live webcam feeds of their dogs, which they often monitor on their phones, says co-owner Randy DeFazio.
While some may see high-end boarding as the domain of the wealthy, DeFazio says that's also changing.
"Now people are just budgeting," she says. "It's part and parcel with dog food and grooming."
Amenities at Green Leaf Pet Resort & Hotel in Millstone ($53 to $85 per night) include doggie massages that cost $1.10 per minute. Owner Donna Leibowitz says the approach is a function of changing attitudes toward dogs.
"Back in the day you used to just tie your dog up outside," she says. "Now it's inhumane."
Steven Parker, co-founder and CEO of K9 Resorts Daycare & Luxury Hotel in Fanwood, with his Rottweiler, Enzo, who stays in a group play area while he works. (Amy Kuperinsky | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)Wrought iron Italianate doors open up to a chic lobby and hall designed to resemble Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. The air is heavily perfumed to obscure any dog smell (luxe packages are $55 to $81 per night). It's a "Real Housewives of New Jersey" kind of dog hotel -- or, as owners Steven and Jason Parker say, "the Peter Luger Steak House" of dog boarding facilities.
In 2011, they franchised the business and now have five facilities in northern and central New Jersey, another opening in Mercer County in February, one in Horsham, Pa. and more coming in California.
The Parkers say Manhattan high rollers have sent dogs to the hotel by chauffeur. A customer with an unlimited budget for upgrades could spend as much as $1,500 for a two-week stay. Whatever the request, they're game.
"They'll be in Hawaii and they'll want to FaceTime the dogs," Steve Parker says.
The ultimate endorsement? One customer's dog ran away from home. Turns out he wanted to come back and see his friends at daycare.
Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AmyKup or on Facebook.