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New business in Kingsford to offer ‘doggy daycare,’ boarding

Business Spotlight

The Dog Pyle Pet Resort owners, from left, Shawn Bruns, John Bruns, Sara Hadden and Kelly Bruns, at the counter inside their new doggy daycare business in Kingsford. (Marguerite Lanthier/Daily News)

KINGSFORD — Dogs in the area will have a new place to play as The Dog Pyle Pet Resort opens today in Kingsford.

The business, owned and operated by Shawn and Kelly Bruns along with son John and his fianceé, Sara Hadden, offers doggy daycare for half or full days as well as overnight boarding.

Shawn thought there was a need for something like this in town.

“John and I just kinda kept talking about it, since they moved back from Utah,” he said. “There’s nothing like this in town and we heard from people in town that it’s hard to board dogs because they (the businesses) are too busy.”

“Between my dad and I and my mom and Sara, we have four golden retrievers, so whenever we get together we’re basically doing doggy day care,” John said.

The Dog Pyle Pet Resort, 1525 Pyle Drive in Kingsford, offers half- and full-day doggy daycare as well as overnight boarding. (Marguerite Lanthier/Daily News)

They began looking at buildings, slowly investigating the options and costs of running the business.

“This building was for sale. It’s a good size and we got it for a good price,” Shawn explained.

The building at 1525 Pyle Drive is about 5,000 square feet and formerly housed Miss Julie’s Dance Studio.

The space has an indoor exercise area and a fenced outside area in the back. They have a separate area for small dogs. The dogs will be supervised during play times and they will cater to the dog’s moods, age or if they don’t want to socialize.

“We have benches to jump up on. We don’t want to introduce toys because that introduces fights and issues. It’s more about exercise and organized chaos,” Sara said.

The indoor exercise area at The Dog Pyle in Kingsford. There is a separate area for small dogs. (Marguerite Lanthier/Daily News)

They have 20 Midmark Sani-Kennels of different sizes. The kennels are stainless steel, easy to clean and have anti-germ features. The maximum they can accommodate would be about 35 to 40.

Each dog will have its own cubby with personal items such as food, toys and blankets. They also have a refrigerator to store things that need to be kept cold.

Owners will receive a report card of their dog’s visit.

“We wanted to cater to people who want their dogs to get exercise. Our whole thing is we’re not trying to have the dog in the kennel all day. It’s a place where they can come play all day,” John said.

They have two part-time employees and plan to hire more in the future, depending on the number of dogs. They will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Kelly will serve as the manager but they will all work there part-time — Shawn owns NAPA and Ace Hardware in Kingsford, John is a project manager at Smith Metals and Sara is a barber at the Man Cave.

Two of the four golden retrievers owned by the owners of The Dog Pyle Pet Resort play in the outdoor area in Kingsford. The dogs served as the models for the logo.(Marguerite Lanthier/Daily News)

Community interest is already there — they had 10 bookings before they even opened. “The second I started mentioning it to some of my regulars at the Man Cave, they were so excited,” Sara said.

People can book online on their website at thedogpyle.com or by phone at 906-828-1259. They also have a Facebook page.

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Marguerite Lanthier can be reached at 906-774-3500, ext. 85242, or mlanthier@ironmountaindailynews.com.

Some of the indoor kennels at The Dog Pyle Pet Resort, 1525 Pyle Drive in Kingsford. (Marguerite Lanthier/Daily News)

Starting at $3.50/week.

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