Dogtopia of White Flint, MD Blog

Dogtopia of White Flint is celebrating it’s 3rd Thanksgiving with all of your wonderful dogs and we couldn’t be more thankful!

Many of our customers have expressed an interest in how we’re doing in this unpredictable economy…

The answer is great! Tails are still streaming through the door and we’ll have a full house this week! Nutmeg and Jasper will have LOTS of friends to play with.

As always we are absolutely thrilled to be entrusted with taking care of your furry kids while you are away, but are especially appreciative this year when we know some have been faced with making tough financial choices. Each dog will go home with a small “Thank You” from us.

Remember to check-in on the fun via the webcams and have a happy, safe holiday!

We’re pretty certain Dogtopia dogs are the biggest superstars walking on four legs and it just so happens the media has (yet again) agreed with us!

Buckaroo Jewel, a gorgeous Belgian Tervuren, participated in our Bark the Vote campaign and found himself featured in the Bethesda – Chevy Chase edition of The Gazette.

Buckaroo has been attending daycare with us since the very beginning 2 1/2 years ago. In fact, he is one of our Founding Fidos. He’s as true to his breed as it gets. Extremely energetic, friendly and very intelligent – always looking for something to do. A job.

Not long after he started gracing us with his presence, we learned that Buckaroo absolutely needed something to do and if you didn’t give it to him… he’d find something.

Eventually one of our genius employees noticed he was totally in love with Kong toys. Those wonderfully durable rubber toys that can survive in even the most adverse environments – daycare playrooms.

If you check out our webcams regularly you may have noticed there are days when we have lots of toys bouncing around and days when we do not. Each day’s play group has a unique make-up and we do our best to cater to it. Some days are full of playful pups who want to chase toys all day and others are full of dogs who’d rather chase each other.

Turns out Buckaroo is happiest when he has a Kong and we are happiest when he is happy. He hooks it on his bottom tooth and carries it proudly around the playroom. He drops it every now and then, but will quickly circle back around and pick it up. Taking care of that toy is his job, so if Buckaroo’s at play, there’s definitely a Kong in the room! Check out the Gym webcam for the show.

Our K9 Support charity has been one of the most rewarding things about working at Dogtopia for 3 1/2 years now.

Its mission is to create awareness and support for K9 Handlers and their dogs working overseas. In particular we hold fundraisers (our annual dog wash being the biggest!) through-out the year to raise funds for care packages. Sending a box full of goodies for human and canine seems like the smallest “thank you” we can offer when they are facing some of the most dangerous conditions in the world each day.

We were thrilled to see this story on a brand new, 15 million dollar facility built on Lackland Air Force Base to treat combat-wounded working dogs. We could all point to things in the federal spending budget that may raise an eyebrow, but taking care of the dogs that risk their lives to protect our troops definitely isn’t one of them. It’s great to see the military feels the same way.

Click here for the full story and if you’d like to help these awesome troops and dogs, by making a donation to K9 Support, click here.

It’s amazing how the dogs that attend daycare with us and their parents really do become like our own family. Amy (our owner) mentioned yesterday that the relationship is very much like the one you have with the teachers and staff at a child’s daycare and that those relationships are few and far between these days. Basically, how many businesses do you walk into where they actually know you? Sadly, there’s a lack of individuality to service in today’s Big Box/Big Discount world.

The wonderful thing about our business is that we are genuinely interested in you and your dog.  Knowing that Emmy and Jaxson are best friends in the Romper Room and sharing that with you at the end of the day is actually fun!

We also find a good deal of that time at the end of the day is just spent chatting and getting to know you. One day we’re talking about how horrible traffic is in the DC area and the next it’s where you’re going for Thanksgiving. We’ve had watched families grow before our eyes!

It starts by dropping the dog off for a long weekend… going away with a new boyfriend/girlfriend. Then the new counterpart begins picking the dog up every now and then. Before you know it they’re booking a week long stay because they are honeymooning in Hawaii. Fast forward and they’re letting us know they may be dropping they’re dog of with short notice, because they’re expecting a baby and are unsure of when their first human child will arrive. We get especially excited when they phrase it this way: “Max is going to be a big brother!”.

Some months ago we received word that one of our sweetest girls was going  to be a big sister. Maggie Mellman is a gorgeous Doberman who started at our Tyson’s Corner location and now spends her time romping around our  enormous Gym here at White Flint. The entire staff was so excited to hear her Mom was pregnant… with not one baby, but TWINS!

After a bit of an extended vacation with us while her Mom rested up prior to the arrival, Maggie is at home with her new baby sister and brother!

Having this type of relationship with our clients is absolutely awesome and we are so privileged! Congrats to the entire (now bigger) Mellman family!