Just Like Us

 

JUST LIKE US

Our dogs are members of the family.  Children are not kept at home to protect them from colds and tummy aches, skinned knees or broken bones.  People are encouraged to play and explore.  They require socialization and experience in order to mature and have a complete life.   Our dogs are just like us.

When I was a child our dogs stayed home all day waiting for our family to return, they did not interact with other dogs or have proper stimulation.  We did not board our dogs because overcrowded, caged boarding was the only option.  Today with Daycare, Social Boarding & Dog Parks, our dog’s life experience has changed for the better.  Our dogs are exposed to a lot more than they used to be, both intellectually and physically.  Although the positives vastly outweigh the negatives, there are some things that we need to be aware of.  Socialization increases the risk of catching a cold, a stomach bug or anything else that can be passed along from one dog to another.  Preferred Pet Care (PPC) was designed and is maintained with health and cleanliness in mind.  However, our dogs are just like us.

Preferred Pet Care provides a clean and safe environment for your dog during their stay with caring professionals to supervise them, play with them and give them love and attention.  Some of them are graceful and full of energy, some are clumsy and goofy, some of our dogs move carefully around as they play, and some of them are like bulls in a china shop.  Whichever category your dog falls into, even with the closest and best supervision, accidents or injuries may occur.  Our dogs are just like us.

Just like us, dogs do not always show symptoms of a cold when they are contagious.  Just like us, even the most graceful of dogs can have a not so graceful moment.  Just like us, dogs don’t always let their families know when they aren’t feeling well and come in to daycare or boarding before anyone realizes it. 

Although injuries and colds are extremely rare here, they do occur.  If we notice a dog with the sniffles or coughing, we remove them immediately to our isolation room and seek medical help for them.  We notify our customers as best we can when we are aware of a cold going around so YOU can make the decision as to what is best for your dog.  This information can be helpful whether you are checking in or checking out from participating in our services.

With all of the ways our dogs are just like us, there is one very important way our dogs are NOT just like us, and that is that they cannot tell us how they feel (although some of our clients will strongly disagree with that).  It is for this reason that we always recommend that if you suspect your dog may have caught a cold, has a tummy ache or doesn’t seem right for whatever reason, bring them to your vet.  Just like us, our pets can get better on their own, or they can get worse.  Without being able to tell us how they feel it is always safest to have a doctor examine them.

Following are some quotes from customers:

1.  If I kept my child home every time we were aware of a cold going around they would never leave the house.
2. We don’t want to put our dog at risk, but at the same time they would be missing out on so much if we kept them sheltered at home all the time.
3. My kids hurt themselves goofing off at home as much as when they are out.  My dog is no different.
4. At least at PPC, unlike the dog park, we know all the dogs are vaccinated and someone is always watching them.
5. My dog can hurt himself or catch a cold anywhere, but my dog loves it here so much he may as well be having the time of his life.
6. My kids caught everything under the sun at daycare but when they went to school, they were the ones that never got sick.

Dogs are better than human beings because they know but do not tell.
—Emily Dickinson

Boarding Reservations...

We have a maximum number of individual dogs that we can take.  Individual dogs are those dogs that are on our “Rotation” program.  Rotation dogs receive individual staff attention for at least ten minute every hour.  Unfortunately once we hit that maximum number we cannot take any more individual dogs, we refuse to compromise the quality of care of the dogs.  At Preferred Pet Care Inc. our motto is, “Dogs come first”. 

Furthermore we have a maximum amount of dogs that we can take for boarding.  Just like a hotel, once all the rooms are booked up that’s it.  There’s nothing else we can do.  We unfortunately can’t just make more rooms. 

Trust us we hate to turn away business.  We would love to never have to turn customers away, but unfortunately we have to once we hit our maximum for individual (rotation dogs) and when we have filled all our boarding rooms.

The best suggestion that we can give is to make your boarding arrangement as far as in advanced as possible.  A good rule of thumb is that anytime the schools are closed (major holidays, school events such as spring break, summer time) to book your boarding stay as soon as you can.  

Featured Pups of the week 5/23-5/31

5/23: Barney- The Commodore Barney can only be described as a knucklehead.  He is a big dopey puppy.  He is only a year old and he has no idea he’s not that small puppy anymore.  He’s now ~100lbs.  Barney loves when he comes for a visit to North Jersey to see all of his friends.  He actually is so excited that he had trouble staying in the playgroup, Barney will often escape from the playgroup just so that he can be the first dog to meet whoever is coming into the group.  When he’s not hanging with all his friends at Preferred Pet Care Inc. he’s gallivanting in South Jersey going fishing, going for mile long runs, or playing in the water. 

5/24: Hank & Frankie-What can we say about Hank & Frankie?  Well let’s see…  Hank like everyone enjoys a good slice of pizza or two.  In Hanks youth he got whatever his little heart desired for what he wanted to eat.  He has the Garfield of the dog world menu.  Unfortunately now that Mr. Hank is up there in age he’s like so many of us and is on a restricted diet.  Shockingly Hank doesn’t mind and enjoys his food just the same.  Frankie or Francis (that’s his proper name) is a quirky fellow.  Frankie takes time to warmup with people there are only a select few that he likes (can’t blame you on that one Frankie).  The most amusing thing about the Hank & Frankie duo is when they’re in their room laying on their beds.  Frankie always feel he should have the biggest bed, and somehow Hank allows it and always ends up on the same bed.  Oh Hank, you’re so silly!  Shockingly I was able to find a picture that we took of them when they’re both on their correct beds. 

5/25: Oscar- So despite that Oscar is no longer with us and crossed over to the rainbow bridge a while ago since so many people remember him I felt we had to make him a featured pup of the day in remembrance of him.  Oscar was our big white Akita mix that it seemed everyone knew.  He was always at Preferred Pet Care Inc., if he wasn’t here for daycare he was here for boarding (Don’t worry he had a loving family away from his Preferred Pet Care Inc. family too).  Oscar retired to Preferred Pet Care Inc. in 2013 and spent his last year living with us at his doggie assisted living.  Besides from being a big white teddy bear for the small dogs to nuzzle his other noticeable feature was his two different color eyes.  Oscar was such a character he would spend his days napping but then suddenly wake up with spurts of puppy power.  Despite that many of us at Preferred Pet Care Inc. only knew about Oscar in his older days I’d like to share with you how the owners actually acquired Oscar.  He was found by the owner’s son when he was away at college.  Their son was living with a bunch of his friends.  A house full of college guys and a big dog what could possible go wrong?  Over the course of living at the house apparently Oscar would get himself into some trouble.  Eventually the owner’s son gave Oscar to his parents.  Of course that didn’t stop him from getting into mischief.  For such a big dog in his youth he was a master escape artist.  So basically what we can gather is in Oscar’s youth he was partying away at college and going on adventures in the neighborhood meeting new people.  What a life that dog led! 

5/26: Maisy S.- Maisy Sassy Lady!  Maisy Sassy Pants is a Portuguese Water Dog.  Maisy absolutely loves playing with the hose.  Of course she also loves tennis balls.  When Maisy isn’t running amuck at daycare she can be found at the reservation.  She’s often there running rampant in the woods, playing in the water, and occasionally I’m sure getting into some mischief. 

5/27: Birdie L- Birdie’s best friend is Daisy G.  Birdie and Daisy are nonstop players.  Birdie loves to smile.  Birdie is an absolute sweetheart! 

5/31: Dallas- To end the featured pup of the day our head of Security, Dallas...  So Dallas decided to write about himself (if you’ve ever had the pleasure of hearing Crystal’s Dallas voice you basically need to read it in that voice): So umm I’m Dalla Beau, also known as Dallas, or my gansta name as D-Bone, you know from my short lived rapping career.  I was born down in Dallas, North Carolina.  By the time I was two I had numerous different owners and five different names (Kenu, Blue, Keanu, Indigo, Indy).  My last owners gave me up right before Christmas, so I spent my first Christmas in a shelter.  I was finally adopted 5 years ago in May by my forever family.  Since then I’ve been getting spoiled nonstop.  I use to be a group dog and would come to Preferred Pet Care Inc and play with my friends, however I got in one (or maybe more) little fight and got booted out to be an individual dog.  Since then I’ve become head of security greeting everyone that comes in the door, taste testing, testing out the merchandise, sometimes I even roam in the back to help check rooms.  Mostly though I’m typically sleeping on the job (shhh don’t tell my boss), I mean it’s a hard job and being as good looking as I am you need a lot of beauty rest.  

Pup of the Day week of 5/16-5/20/2016

5/16/16: To start the week for the pup of the day is... Bella H. has been a long time customer. Before Maplewood she was a regular with her sister Maggie at the West Orange location. (Rip Maggie ) Now Bella H is a regular with her brother Ranger. Bella is a ball fanatic! When we had our first ball day (Yes, there will be more!) her parents said she was one exhausted puppy dog. Bella is like a professional ball boy. Every time we threw a ball she zoned in on it and was determined to fetch it.

 
5/17/16: Our pup of the day goes to... Little Miss Izzy Azalea is a regular for doggie daycare. Izzy has many names that she goes by: Izzy, Azalea, and Little. She is a pint sized chocolate lab with a lot of spunk! Her best friends are Kili and Jagger, the three of them basically all grew up together over the past two years. What more can you say about Little?

5/18/16:For today's featured pup of the day it is Nacha & Stella. Nacha & Stella are a packaged deal. They’re both two of the sweetest dogs that you will ever meet. Nacha absolutely loves to play fetch, she will do so for hours and has no concept of when enough is enough. When she retrieves the ball/stick/etc. she will drop it at your feet, if you don’t toss it soon enough she will gently nudge it towards you to suggest you throw it. Stella is one silly girl she will chase after a ball even though she has one in her mouth, with no plans of dropping it. When they’re not running around playing they absolutely love to get staff attention.

5/19/16: For today our pup of the day is- Teddy F! Teddy is an old soul. He is a wise pup. Teddy always has something to say to the younger dogs. He loves getting staff attention when he’s in with the taxi group. Teddy will often mosey around meeting and greeting all the other dogs that are here for daycare and boarding. When the younger dogs get too rowdy he always polices them to let them know they need to calm down.

5/20/16: Who is our featured pup of the day you ask? Well let us tell you... it's Nika! Bad girl Nika as she goes by at Preferred Pet Care Inc is just that she’s a bad girl. But she loves being bad. Nika can’t contain herself she just loves to get herself into trouble. Nika is an aspiring artist. Apparently we just don’t appreciate her abstract artwork when she destroys her bed. All kidding aside she’s a sweetheart that just has a mischievous side to her.

Featured Pups Week of 5/9/16

5/9/16:

For today's featured pup it's the dynamic duo! Spud & Gritz have been doggy daycare regulars since they first got adopted. Gritz is constantly ordering Spud around, she claims she’s the older sibling. Gritz even tries to walk Spud. Spud doesn’t understand why, especially when she can’t even walk herself. Spud though is a good sport about it. When they’re not playing with their friends they can be found getting dirty having a blast at the South Mountain Reservation.

5/10/16: Today's featured dog of the day is none other then Danko! On Danko’s first day of daycare he actually didn’t pass his trial day. He was nervous and shy. After a couple of introductions he realized Preferred Pet Care Inc. is awesome! Since then he’s been loving coming to doggie daycare. When he’s not here for daycare he’s having a slumber party with all his friends here. Danko demands a big hello when he arrives and has trouble leaving, he just wants to play play play with all his friends.

5/11/16: 

Who is today's pup of the day you ask? Well it's Magic! Magic is one of our “time share pups”, he’s another regular like Rufus. When he’s not here for daycare he’s here for boarding, and sometimes when he’s not here he’s going for walks around Millburn with his other family. Unfortunately Magic can be a little wary of new people, but once he gets to know you he’s a sweetheart.

5/12/16:

It's almost our anniversary! Who is our featured pup of the day today? It's LUCY W! We have a handful of pups who can “smile”, Lucy is one of them. Lucy is one spunky pup! She loves to play ball with the staff, she went crazy over our ball day! Lucy also loves to play with the hose. She is one silly girl. When Lucy isn’t playing with her friends at Preferred Pet Care she’s going on walks with her dad.

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Featured Pups of the Week 5/2-5/6

Our first featured pup is Rufus C.! Rufus has been coming to Preferred Pet Care Inc. for what seems like forever! May 14th 2012 was Rufus’ first day of daycare at Preferred Pet Care, since then he’s become a regular for not just daycare but boarding. Rufus is a border terrier. When Rufus isn’t hanging out with his puppy friends he enjoys playing fetch in the pool

Guess who is our featured pup of the day? Faraday! What can we say about Faraday? He’s a big goofball! When Faraday isn’t playing with all his friends at daycare he enjoys working on his tan.

Who could possible be our featured pup for the day? It's Cody Rainbow! Cody also known as Cody Rainbow is basically a pint sized Golden Retriever, he looks like a Golden Retriever except he’s short like a basset hound. Cody Rainbow has a killer smile, he likes to keep his teeth nice and bright as he hopes to one day follow in his mom’s footsteps in be in commercials.

Our Featured Pup of the day is... Dexter T! Dexter dreams of becoming architect. He will sporadically decide that the playhouses will look better without a door or without a window shutter. Dexter and Jake M. have discussed starting their own architect and interior design company, they’re still currently arguing about the business name. Jake thinks it should be called “Barkable designs”, whereas Dexter likes the name “Bull designs”. When Dexter isn’t pursing his aspirations of being an architect he spends his time as a fashion model (don’t tell him though that it’s just for his parents, shhh).

Finishing for the week is Jake M as our featured pup! Jake M. has dreams of becoming an interior designer. He often spends his days checking out the different playhouses we have for the yards. Despite that dogs are color blind Jake has an eye for detail. Jake’s good pal Dexter and him plan to one day go into business together. Jake has been coming to Preferred Pet Care Inc. since he was a puppy, it’s been great watching him grow up and mature.

Goodbye Paw Pad (Route 22)

We recently learned that The Paw Pad daycare and training facility located on Route 22 is closing.

 

We’re sad to hear that a fellow doggie daycare facility is closing.  You may be shocked to hear that coming from another facility in the business, but competition is a good thing.  It promotes growth, it challenges you to continue to excel.  If you have a friend who is a good tennis player and you’re just an okay tennis player, the friendly competition with them challenges you to improve upon yourself.  On the same note it forces you to become more creative.  What new ideas or concepts can we bring to the facility?  If we want to be number one what can we do to one up the competition.  It makes you stop and think, perhaps reevaluate how certain things are done to make them more efficient or perhaps try new ideas.  Competition teaches you.  Even though we’re in the same industry no two facilities are exactly alike-unless of course it’s a chain or a franchise, and even there I’m sure there are differences.  Just this past summer we went to a trade show.  It was great to speak with other individuals in the business to find out what works for one area and what doesn’t work. 

We wish all the employees and the owner the best of luck on all of their future endeavors.  Additionally for all those pups that may be looking for another facility we extend a welcome to come check out our facility.  We know it’s not your home yet, but we hope once you get to know us it can be.