‘We spend all day with the dogs’
Dog House Doggie Daycare strives to keep South Shore clients and their canines happy
Daycares aren’t just for children. That philosophy is most applicable at the Dog House Doggie Daycare, a Branch Lahave business that celebrated its second anniversary on Nov. 1.
“We offer dog daycare to provide a place for your dog to play, socialize and get out of the house for the day,” said operations manager Allie Bruhm. “There seems to be a fairly high demand, as we are always hearing from new clients and have busy days. People like to know that their dogs are somewhere that they are safe and happy, instead of spending the day home alone.”
The family-run business opened in 2021 “when a local doggie daycare we used for our dogs was about to close and we found there weren’t many other options for the service,” Bruhm said. “Our family has a love for dogs and knew it would be a perfect business decision.”
From its base at 319 Bruhm Road, the Dog House is a home away from home for dogs from across the South Shore, mainly the Lunenburg, Bridgewater and New Germany areas.
“We love to hear the stories from our clients about how excited their dogs are to arrive here in the morning,” Bruhm said. “The dogs are always standing up in the car, looking out the window, some even doing an excited whine in the car once they pull on our road because they know where they are headed.
“After a day of doggie play, clients are happy to tell us what a quiet evening it was for them as their dogs spent the evening relaxing and sleeping.”
Those daytime activities are featured in photographs capturing holidays, birthdays and other occasions.
“We love to keep things exciting,” Bruhm said. “We spend all day with the dogs, hanging out with them inside the barn or out in the pens.
“The dogs get to spend the morning outside in groups to play and socialize with each other. We rotate them inside our doggie barn so that they all have a chance to take a break and relax, typically in the late morning to early afternoon. Or, if they eat lunch, this will also be done during their indoor relaxing time.”
Weather factors into how much time the dogs spend indoors or outside, she said, so they stay happy and don’t become too hot or cold.
“Our doggie barn has heat and air-conditioning. On nice days, (dogs) will enjoy being outside for more of the day.
They have access to fresh, clean water indoors or outdoors at all times throughout the day.”
Located about 10 minutes outside of Bridgewater, the family-run business operates four pens and plans to build a fifth “so that we can keep the dogs separated by size and play style to ensure they are all having the best day possible,” Bruhm said.
The cost for doggie daycare at Dog House is $25 per day for each dog.
The hours of operation are 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, Monday through Friday. Clients can drop off and pick up dogs anytime within those hours.
Every six to eight weeks, the business offers on-site nail-clipping by Breanna of Bre’s Nails to Tails.
Dog House is also certified in Canine Emergency First Aid and CPR.