Dogs benefit from odd couple’s firm friendship
FROM just meeting each other in the pub to realising they are neighbours and now living together as business partners, Maria Church and Scott Halfpenny, have created an adorable hotel for small dogs.
Maria, who is mum to singer and TV personality Charlotte Church, and Scott have created this new business, The Little Dogs Hotel, from scratch. Twelve weeks ago, the hotel did not exist.
The idea behind the hotel is simple and heartfelt – Maria, 55, and Scott, 43, want the dogs to feel like they are on holiday too, giving them the best experience possible.
Specialising in small dogs only, The Little Dogs hotel is a place owners can drop off their pets for doggy daycare, a weekend, or the entire time they are away.
Scott and Maria met in the pub and their strong friendship is obvious as they recounted the story of how they became friends, without even realising they were neighbours.
Scott said: “It is a funny story... we just started chatting and that was it, added each other on Facebook...” Maria added: “I stalked you” It wasn’t until Maria invited Scott over that they realised they lived on the same street. He said: “Literally we were across the road! And we didn’t know it! So that was like fate.”
The pair soon became firm friends, with Scott’s partner Jack and Maria’s husband James also getting along, and before long the four started to go on holiday together.
Then the first lockdown hit and Maria, who had just got Doris the dachshund, let Scott and Jack look after her, which reignited Scott’s love of dogs.
He said: “That then gave me the taste for, ‘You know what, I actually love having this dog.’”
This worked alongside Maria’s longterm dream of opening a dog hotel.
She said: “It is something I have always wanted to do for many, many, many years.”
Currently Maria owns five dogs of her own – Gertie, Doris, and Ruddi the dachshunds, and Mosby and Molly the Pomeranians – and has always had a passion for animals.
The idea for a dog hotel struck after her own experiences of trying to find care for her dogs when she went on holiday.
She said: “I never have put them in kennels... there is no way I could ever, after looking around them [the kennels].”
“We have always had to get someone in, it has always been a bit of a minefield if we go away to get someone in to look after them, someone I trust.”
“So I thought, ‘Let’s do a place that is like a home’ and I do treat them like my babies, I want them to feel at home like they are on holiday.”
With the realisation that he loved dogs and the pandemic giving him some breathing space, combined with Maria’s passion for dogs, Scott began to consider giving up his managerial job.
He said: “Then reality struck and it was time to go back to work and then when I got back to work I thought, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore but I have to pay the bills.’
“As the year of Covid went on, me and Maria were hatching a plan – ‘What can I do so I can give up my job? How can we start a business?.’”
“It made me think and change my priorities whereas before I was very much ‘work comes first before anything’ and I started thinking, ‘I need to put myself first, I need to actually think what is right for me.’”
Both had strong personal reasons for starting the dog hotel, as Maria is also caring for James, who has an illness, and needed to look after her mental health.
She said: “I felt I needed to do something because with James’ illness, I needed to do something that I am on hand in the home.”
“I just felt that my mental health as well was really going downhill, I needed something to motivate me and get me back, to help my condition.”
The pair then took a brave step and with their partners bought a house together and began building the hotel in the grounds.
Doing most of the building work from scratch themselves, in 12 weeks they transformed what was an overgrown space into a dog salon, hotel, TV room and play area.
Decorating the hotel wasn’t entirely plain sailing, however.
“Me and Maria painted it and we had to get a painter to come in and repaint it,” laughed Scott.
He added: “We thought we had done a great job!”
What is clear to see is the passion and love that Scott and Maria have poured into the hotel and the dogs that will stay there, although they are only hosting 10 dogs at a time.
Maria said: “We are only taking 10 because I want it to be as personal as possible and make the dogs feel comfortable.”
“They are like my babies, they are great therapy for me, for my mental health.”
Both of them say seeing the dogs and owner happy after their stay is one of the best parts of the job.
Maria said: “It means the world to me, it means that I am doing it right... I want the dogs to be happy and the owners to feel comfortable as well, so
I get really chuffed.”
While at the hotel the dogs fall asleep to classical music, have their own room to watch TV and relax, and are with Maria and Scott for most of the day, with dedicated play hours.
Having the hotel in Cardiff is also important to Scott and Maria, who is Cardiff born and bred, as they want to give back to the community.
Maria said: It is just brilliant, I wouldn’t have done it anywhere else. I just love Cardiff, I love my home city and being Welsh.”
Scott said: “Hopefully now we will be able to give them a service they have been missing. The people of Cardiff deserve to go back on holidays but when they go on holiday they should be able to go on holiday and relax and know that our dogs are safe with us.”
Charlotte is also a big supporter of the hotel, offering advice and encouragement every step of the way.
Maria said: “We have had a lot of support, Charlotte thinks it is wonderful. She says, ‘Mum, it is the best thing you could ever do for your mental wellbeing’.”
The pair have big plans for the hotel as they hope to expand and grow the business into a lifestyle brand and partner with a local charity to carry on giving back.