Point Cook Dog Training has some very exciting news which is why there have been no blogs and newsletters in the past few months. I am opening up my very own training venue, still local so we are no going far at all, and we are adding in dog day care to provide an even better service. So we will now be known as Point Cook Dog Training and Day Care!
Our new official address is 4/399-401 Old Geelong Road in Hoppers Crossing and our training and day care centre phone number is 8360-7112.
After considering it over the past few years, I decided it was time I moved on from Mutts as I have been getting busier and busier and I realised I needed my own space so I could focus on all the areas I wanted to expand in. So over the last four months, I spent quite a bit of time searching for the right venue and finally found one just in Hoppers Crossing; then came the long wait for permits to come through. After an agonising wait, I finally got the green light from council and then it was time to get the venue ready.
This was no easy feat as the factory was previously used by steel workers so you can imagine how dirty it was. We basically had a dirty, outdated, concrete slab factory. There were walls to be painted, floors had to be sealed, the reception and office had to be fitted out, new lights had to go up, new signs, fencing was to be installed, artwork for windows had to go up, decals needed to be added to all the walls and then the venue needed to be decorated. It was all hands on deck so whatever spare time I had, I was there. My husband Joe took a month off work to come down and do a lot of the work, whether it was painting, scrubbing, sealing, grinding or constructing and even Kristel got into the spirit of it helping out with the painting of the walls and upstairs barriers, sealing of the floors and sticking hundreds of leaves on our tree decals on the walls. Many of you now know Lisa, well she was the ideas girl who gave me so many suggestions on how to make things functional and appealing and I cannot thank her enough, so as you can see, we were a busy bunch. After lots of sweat, patience, time and team effort, we got there and the venue is now squeaky clean, looks bright and fresh and is super inviting for all dogs and owners and we are so rapt. The factory has had a huge make over and now looks like a day care and training centre! The website also has had some major adjustments to cater for our dog day care so there will be plenty of information on there including a booking system so you can book your dog in for a short stay, half day or full day. I really need to thank my web designer Jason as he has worked tirelessly through the night to get it all working smoothly and to integrate it into an already awesome website.
What will be exciting in this new adventure is the addition of dog day care as I wanted to utilise the venue as much as possible. So we thought, why not? Why not provide a place during the day, where clients can bring their dogs, including new pups, to socialise and have fun while being cared for by someone they felt comfortable with and already knew through training. Aside from the play time, they will also get hands on training and enrichment so they go home super satisfied. Kristel, who many of you are very familiar with, is taking charge of the day care dogs and the dogs just love her calm, quiet yet confident personality. Kristel worked at Mutts for almost 2 years while doing her apprenticeship with me and is equipped with plenty of experience and knowledge to run dog day care. We know we will be getting busier in this area pretty quickly so we also hope to add to our team of trainers and day care handlers in the near future so keep an eye out for any future opportunities to work with us!
We will have large spacious pens so dogs can be divided up into smaller groups during day care hours and we will also provide quiet spaces for nap time, especially for the younger dogs who get tired easily from having too much fun and we will ensure our groups remain small and not over-crowded.
In 2017 we plan to introduce agility workshops and noseworks lessons for more advanced training and we will hold beginners sessions to get you started so look out for more info on this one. Agility is well known for its team effort, action and athleticism over obstacle courses yet noseworks is all about quiet concentration of the nose to find that one specific scent; great for dogs that are socially anxious as they work on their own and no obedience training is necessary.
Both Puppy and Canine Classes will continue as per usual however our set up will be a bit different in that we will run everything in a more open plan style so there will be a lot more room to move in. Aside from the increased space, we will also be running more classes with Lisa and Anthony jumping on board to take more puppy classes as well as adult classes. This means clients will not have to wait long before they can start their courses.
We will operate Monday to Friday from 8am until 6pm for dog day care and then have our usual dog training classes every evening from 7pm until 9pm. Private consults, private lessons and BAT lessons will continue as per usual during weekdays.
For more information on dog day care rates and packages, how to book in, requirements and assessments, please click on this link.
For more information on puppy classes or dog classes, click on these links.
Our official day care opening day will be November 2nd which is just after Melbourne Cup. All group classes will commence in the new venue as of this date.
Our Open Day, where you get to come and have a sticky beak and help us celebrate opening our new venue will be Sunday, November 20th from 12pm until 2pm. Everyone is welcome to come and check out the venue and see where their dogs will get to play.
We hope that you come to check us out for day care, training or both and look forward to providing a professional, all round service!
