OUR STORY
How It All Began
No matter what type of support you and your pets need, you can count on us to not only meet them, but also exceed your expectations. This is because Playful Pups Doggy Daycare was created for one single purpose - to provide all pets and pet parents the services and personal care that they need and deserve.
Since being established in 2019, under Lacey Hotte's ownership, we’ve proudly served the Richmond area and continue to open our doors every day with a smiling happy team. Browse our site to learn more about all that we offer, and feel free to contact us with any questions.
What Makes Us Different?
We are an open concept facility! This means that while your pup boards with us, they will have the company of other boarding pups and an overnight handler to sleep with and give them all the love and cuddles rather than kenneled! We have a multitude of human-sized and dog-sized beds for all our pups to enjoy, including other rest areas for our pups who enjoy their solitude.
Our facility is also consent based! This means that we listen to when any of our pups are uncomfortable with something, whether it be touch, grooming, etcetera. We do not force pups with anything they are uncomfortable with as building a safe and trusting environment and experience is vital to our values at Playful Pups. We utilize tools like slip leads if a dog is uncomfortable with touch or perhaps struggle with collar reactivity. This allows us to create that distance until they become more comfy being handled or as an alternative to direct handling, because just like humans, they can be touch sensitive too! Slip leads are also used by staff for training purposes, whether it be to help with reactivity, or helping a puppy learn manners within a groups setting.
Another tool we utilize is crates. Again, as we are consent based, we never force crate rest or utilization of crates with pups who are uncomfortable, We have worked with pups who have experienced crate traumas in their past and so building that safe environment, listening to their needs, is of upmost importance. That being said, we also have pups who prefer to rest in a crate as it is their safe space, so we always have them on hand for when a pup would like to have their own space or prefers to eat their meals or raw bones and lick mats without disturbance.
At Playful Pups, your pup is our top priority and we treat each pup that comes through our doors as if they were our own! Our handlers are also experienced working with a variety of breeds and a variety of breed specific and behavioural needs, such as reactivity, high anxiety, stranger danger, and touch sensitivity. Our mission is to provide pups with a safe and fun place that they can call their second home and rest assure to pet parents that each experience will be tailored to your pup as an individual!​​​​​
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Daycare Shenanigans & Special Events
We not only run playgroups, we also throw our daycare pups' birthday pawties and throw special events!​​​​​
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