In This Edition:

— Latest Events at Kamp K9
—Info Feature: Reflections After the Survey
— Photo of the Month
— Links

WHAT'S HAPPENING

Getting the most difficult out of the way first:

It is with the greatest sorrow that I report the passing of one of Kamp K9’s counselors.
Bogey Bergeron was helped over the Rainbow Bridge on Monday the 28th, after bravely fighting a hard battle against a massive infection. If you like, his obituary can be seen by clicking on the link below.

www.mykampk9.com/bogey.html

On much lighter notes:

Furry friends who have been boarding here of late have gotten just a little less Animal Planet and just a little more football in their TV diet thanks to the playoffs.It’s good for them. Trust me. And Jen tells me it’s a good thing for them all to see as much Tom Brady as possible. Somehow I suspect an ulterior motive here.

Referral Reward!

Refer a friend and get $$ taken off next time you use our services! It’s as simple as that!

Another opportunity to see the Bob Charest Band: February 23 at The Gold Room, in the Joker’s complex on Warren Ave, Portland from 9-12.

 

INFO FEATURE:

Post Survey Reflections

Thanks to everyone who took the time to complete our survey! Your feedback was very thoughtful and honest, and greatly appreciated. We’ve reviewed your comments and would like to spend a little time addressing some of the issues that came up.

ISSUE 1: Weekend availability, particularly on Sundays, is too limited.
Saturday and Sunday used to be 9am-or-5pm-appointment-only days. This arrangement was created under the previous Paw Prince B&B ownership, and it continued once Luc bought the business, up until this past summer. To help alleviate some of the issues created by road construction, and to increase the available hours for our customers, weekday hours were increased, and Saturday were increased from simply 9am or 5pm to appointments available between 9 and 5, a jump from what was basically two short periods to a full 8 hours. This all adds up to total available time for drop-offs and pick-ups to 63 hours every week (not including the Sunday time slots). This was done with no increase in price to any of Kamp K9’s services (more on that point later).

Now, I’ve compared the hours of other facilities around here, and what I’ve noticed is that Kamp K9’s available hours are right on par with, or more than, other similar businesses.  Also, some facilities don’t even have any weekend or Sunday options at all.

A lot of effort has been made to be as accessible as possible, but everyone has to have limits between their professional and personal lives. It’s easy for those lines to get blurred or even swept away when your business is where you live, but we need time off to ourselves, just like you do from your jobs (while still caring for our guests; that doesn’t stop) , and so we’re comfortable with the personal boundaries we’ve established.

We have decided to get rid of the $5 Sunday service charge. It made sense once upon a time, when home and business were not one place and there was travel involved, but it seems to us now that dropping the Sunday service charge is the right thing to do.

ISSUE 2: Boarding at $5.50/hr after 24 hours doesn’t make sense to me.
The concern is that a full 24 hours’ worth of boarding is charged when 5 hours beyond the original drop-off point is reached. Again, this was the billing structure set up by the previous business’ ownership, and I’ve been considering changing it for a little while. Hearing this as a concern gave me that final little push to implement the change.

Beginning February 1, boarding after the original 24-hr point will now be billed at $3 per hour for a single dog, and $2 per hour for each additional dog. This will bring the cost of boarding extra time a little closer in line with what someone would pay for day care. (There is also a rate drop for cats and other critters going into effect: Cat boarding after 24 hours is going to be $1.50/hr until the full day rate is reached.)

It was observed that, while our services are very good, using them turns a cheap vacation into a very expensive one. Having been on your side of the fence as a boarding customer long before I started doing this line of work, I understand that completely, and bringing up that point enables me to talk a little about costs.

We’ve done our research here, and as far as what we charge, we’re in the median for dog day care (the range is $20-$25), and while for boarding we might be more expensive than a place that offers your pet nothing more than a single cage and maybe a couple of trips outdoors during the day, we ARE on par with boarding fees for places who offer your dog some freedom during the day but still put them in separate enclosures/cages/crates at night. Kamp K9 goes beyond that by offering a completely cage-free environment, with freedom of movement and a huge amount of outdoor space. That freedom, according to your responses, is very high on your list of important things about Kamp K9. Freedom of movement also means that there’s access to the outdoors that stays open all day, while trying to keep things nice and warm inside, which uses up an awful lot of heating oil. Aside from the ever-rising overhead, though, and the costs of upgrading and maintaining the facility itself, there is also the fact that your caregivers are giving your dogs personal attention throughout the day, and during the evening as well, which we know is worth a lot to you; otherwise you wouldn’t bring your loved ones here. In other words, you are getting a great deal of value for your dollar.

It’s also worth noting that while costs across the board have gone up, the prices of Kamp K9’s services have not been raised since January of 2007, and the hourly rates for all kampers here are dropping.

ISSUE #3: I really wish I could see all the areas the animals stay in.
Typically when we have dogs here it’s tough to let someone see the “inner workings” of the place, because I just KNOW that they’re going to get jumped on by the pack when they get out there, and I’ve had some occasional bad luck when I’ve let people into the interior rooms and the yard. I’d still like for people to see where their dogs and cats stay, though; I would want that for myself.

The solution: this spring you will be receiving an invitation to our first Open House, where people who are established customers (or potential new ones) can come without their dogs and hang out and get a good look at the place, and perhaps clink a glass and socialize a little. (Jen is to be thanked for this idea.) Sounds good to us!!

A friendly reminder: Believe it or not, as cold as it gets these days, fleas and ticks are a year-round issue. Keep in mind that it is a requirement of attendance at Kamp K9 that your pet be on a flea/tick preventative (such as Frontline, Zodiac, or other similar product). For your convenience, we sell single doses of Zodiac here, which are good for a month. We expend a lot of effort to keep our facility clean, and we change bedding frequently; please do your part! Here’s a hyperlink to some great information on fleas. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/IG132

 

PHOTO OF THE MONTH:


Not only are these ATM thieves crafty, but they’re arrogant, having made themselves some super-villain uniforms!