Doggie Spa in the News!
Roses & Raspberries
Roses to Kirk Korley and Dr. Melanie Smith for increasing the odds of survival for local pets unfortunate enough to be caught in a house fire. Korley, who owns Doggie Spa and Day Care, and Smith, a veterinarian at Four Paws Animal Clinic, recently donated 15 sets of animal resuscitation masks to Orange County Emergency Management for distribution to area fire departments.
The masks, typically worn during veterinary surgery, will be used for animals resuscitation at fire scenes.
Each set contains three masks: large canine, small canine, and feline. When needed, the masks are connected to standard oxygen cylinders carried by fire, rescue, and emergency medical vehicles.
Korley said he wanted to help when he learned that many fire departments aren't equipped with animal rescue masks.
The donated sets were distributed to the local fire departments — one for each of the volunteer departments and multiple sets for the Chapel Hill and Carrboro ones.
There may be some who find the idea of firefighters on a call taking time to try to save a dog or cat a bit silly. We don't think so. Losing your home and possessions is hard enough without also losing your dog or cat. Any pet owner would be grateful for anything that might help prevent that.
Funds to pay for fencing dogs in By Dave Hart, Staff Writer
CARRBORO — With nary a word of comment — if your attention had wandered for just a moment, you would have missed it — the Board of Aldermen recently approved a $3,500 allocation in contingency funds to go toward building a fence around the Anderson Community Park leash-free dog park. The allocation bolsters funds raised privately by dog owners and members of the nonprofit Carrboro Parks Projects, which for the past year has been conducting a fund-raising campaign for the fence. The twist is that the fund raising campaign just a month ago reached campaign its goal of $5,000, two weeks before the town made its contribution. The approximately $8,500 will allow the Parks Project to purchase a more complete fence than it had originally planned and perhaps to add another amenity or two. "We had set our target at the lowest possible level we calculated could pay for a minimal installation, " said Rob Morris, who has spearheaded the dog park fund-raising campaign. "No lights, no benches, no water fountains. Just a chain-link fence around part of the dog park. "Now we can make it a really awesome place. We can fence almost the whole area, except for the entrance where you come in from the parking lot. We'll get that us up as fast as possible." The 4-acre leash-free dog park is a popular destination for dogs and their owners, but it is situated perilously close to N.C. 54, a busy highway with high-sped traffic. The park is buffered from the road only by a narrow strip of trees. There's no physical barrier to prevent dogs from running into or across the road, and even well-trained dogs may ignore voice commands if they pick up the scent of a deer or a squirrel. On more than one occasion, said members of the Carrboro Parks Projects, dogs distracted by other dogs or deer have dashed into the road, and their owners have followed in pursuit. Users of the park asked the town several years ago to put a fence up around it, but the budget was tight and the aldermen suggested the dog owners try to raise the money privately. The then-fledgling Carrboro Parks Project — a group of residents with an interest in improving the town's park facilities — took up the cause as its first project. The town's Recreation and Parks Department gave its thumbs-up to the effort, and the Parks Project began soliciting funds from dog owners and others. Several months ago, Alderman Mark Dorosin suggested that the town contribute some funds to the project, not only because the cause was worthy but as a way of rewarding and encouraging the kind of private fund-raising effort the Parks Project was engaged in. The $3,500 allocation meets that suggestion. It came just two weeks after a big donation by Kirk Korley, owner of the Doggie Spa and Day Care, put the group at its target. "The way fund-raising seems to go is you go along and go along, and then at some point an angel drops out of the sky and says, 'Here's something you can use,"' Morris said. "The town's allocation is the second one of those angels. Kirk was the first. He called and said, 'How short are you?' I said 'About $2,500.' He said, 'I can do that.' He more or less single-handedly put us over the top." The town's funds will allow for an additional feature or two at the dog park, Morris said. "One idea is a dog-washing station, essentially just a little slab of asphalt and a spigot," Morris said. "There's a sort of mudflat in one part of the park that dogs love to wallow in, and after that, you're not so crazy about putting them back into the Subaru. It would be nice to be able to hose them off. Another idea would be a light of some kind for mornings and evenings. We'll have to figure out what would be most beneficial." Now that funds are in-hand for the dog park fence, the Carrboro Parks Projects is turning to its next endeavor: planting trees in the Town Commons and erecting a shade structure over the toddler playground there. "The commons is kind of barren, and that playground becomes a roaster in the sun," Morris said. 'We'd like to spruce that up a little." The Carrboro Parks Project will hold a fund-raising dinner Thursday evening on the lawn at Weaver Street Market, starting at 5 P.M. In the meantime, Morris and the rest of the park people will move forward with getting the fence purchased and up. "We're looking at the town's contribution as a way of saying, 'Jobs well done,' or 'Atta boy,"' Morris said. "We're very grateful. It's been a lot of fun being involved in this. I had never done fund raising before. There's going to be a lot of satisfaction when fence goes up."
Dave Hart can be reached at 932-8744 or dhart@nando.com
Doggie Spa & DayCare Responds to Need August 2004
By Kirk Korley
Kirk Korley, owner (919) 932-4738
www.doggiespa.com
When Kirk Korley started on his quest back in 1996 to find a place to keep his dog, Reebok, he was surprised at the lack of options available here in Chapel Hill.
"Many of the places felt like warehouses, where she would be in a crate all day, and never see daylight. And she was used to having the 'run of the house' at home! So I decided it was time for me to change careers and design a different kind of boarding facility." Doggie Spa opened to the public in November of 1998. At that time it was 36 rooms. Each boarding room is 5'x20', huge by industry standards, and only 12 per building. The entire facility was designed for boarding from the ground up, with the help of an architect and an animal behaviorist. It is fenced in around the perimeter with solid fencing. Doggie Spa now has 48 rooms, six of those with 24-hour access so that owners can pick up or drop off at their convenience. There are also now 6 different play yards inside the facility. This allows for smaller groups of compatible dogs to go out in supervised play groups, which they get 3 one-half hour sessions per day. Owners are encouraged to bring bedding and other items from home so that their best friend has the comforting scents of home with them. They also have the flexibility, at no extra cost, to bring special foods and dietary items for the dogs. Pill medications are administered free of charge. Customers are also comforted by the safety factors built into the facility. The buildings are insulated concrete block construction, with a full-facility generator backup. So the ice, snow and hurricanes will not stop the dogs from being housed in comfort. All of the buildings are completely climate controlled for the maximum comfort levels, and the air is sanitized using state of the art UV filters. The facility has on-site management so that no matter what the road conditions, the dogs get lots of loving, play time and food. And there is an AWD pet taxi available for picking up or delivering the dogs right to your doorstep. For those on the go, you will be happy to know that Doggie Spa is open 365 days a year. Some of those days are by appointment, and there is at least one morning and one afternoon drop off/pickup time every day. Tours are gladly given, by appointment, due to the playgroups going on throughout the day. Give them a call. You and your dog will be glad you did.
Unleashed generosity brings fence to park
By Isaac Groves: The Herald-Sun
chh@heraldsun.com
Jun 10, 2003 : 7:41 pm ET
CARRBORO - - The Long-awaiting fence around the Anderson Community Park leash-free dog field is coming soon.
"We're hoping to have it done in mid-August," said Rob Morris, a volunteer with the Carrboro Parks Project, a group dedicated to helping the town improve public parks with private funding.
The leash-free area is separated from the nearby N.C. 54 by a thin stand of trees. Regulars say the park can have as many as 30 dogs running around on a warm afternoon, and it can be hard to keep track of them and to keep them away from the highway.
When Carrboro residents originally asked for the leash-free area in 1990, they wanted a fence around it, but the town couldn't afford it. In 1997, a group filed a petition asking the town to put a fence around the dog run, but the funding still wasn't there.
Then in 2001, the Carrboro Parks Project made a more modest request of the Board of Aldermen.
"We just went to the town and just asked permission to raise the money," said Laurie Weakley, one of the group's co-founders. "They've been very supportive. They're very proud of us."
Morris, who is heading up the dog park project, said the group had met its original goal of raising $5,000 for the fence.
The project met the goal through private donations. A $2,500 gift from Kirk Korley, owner of the Doggie Spa and Day Care in Chapel Hill, put them over the top, Morris said.
The Aldermen recently OK'd an additional $3,500 for the project in matching funds.
"We actually hit $5,000 about a month ago, "Morris said. "[The money from the town] was a big help, but it was way too late."
Morris says the group will use the town's matching funds for other amenities around the dog park.
"We're looking at how we can use the $3,500," Morris said. More benches and trashcans are at the top of the group's list, but Morris said he is spending time at the park now to find out what else users want. He says a lot of people want some more lights or a dog-washing station.
The fence is still the group's top priority, but its design is still not definite. The plain now is to fence in about 80 percent of the leash-free area, including some trees, to give dogs a place to cool off and do their business in private.
Morris said he hoped his group could go to the board on Tuesday to give the money it raised to the town, so Carrboro can fund the park through the recreation and parks department.
While the dog-park project is near completion, the Carrboro Parks Project has other irons in the fire, such as the effort to get "shade sails" and trees at the Town Commons next to Town Hall. The sails, like the ones at Weaver Street Market and Carrburritos, are a decorative substitute for shade trees, which will take a little longer to grow.
The Parks Project meets monthly at the Carrboro Century Center. The schedule of meetings is available on the group's Web site, www.carrboroparks.org
Weakley said the Carrboro Parks Project wants to establish itself as a local institution with broad constituency, rather than as one that relies on a few individuals. She said the group can function better if it allows people to participate in a flexible manner.
"Carrboro is a pretty transient community," said Weakley, who moved to Carrboro in 1987. "What we really want to be is a smart mob."
EVERYBODY'S BUSINESS
Spa for doggies features play group
By Ann Claycombe Correspondent
Chapel Hill — Good day care is a Holy Grail for working families. Parents yearn to find a place that has comfortable buildings, spacious playgrounds, and offers young ones the chance to play under the care of a loving but watchful adult.
That yearning is no less powerful for those whose babies run around on four feet. "people working longer hours, commuting more, and puppies are high-energy, " Kirk Korley says.
Korley owns Doggie Spa & Day Care, a boarding kennel that also provides day care for dogs. One of Korley's regulars is a student who brings her pet around when she has long days on campus. Another couple work as caterers, and leave their dog with Korley when a big job demands unusually long hours.
The kennel has four cinderblock buildings in bright candy colors facing a large graveled courtyard. Each building holds nine rooms, 5 feet by 20 feet, all of which are air conditioned in the summer, heated in the winter, and equipped with ozone filters.
National Public radio plays over speakers in each building. A mixture of music and talk makes the dogs feel more at home, Korley explains. All of the dogs get let out for three half-hour play periods during the day. They do not all play together, however. The kennel's gravel yard is split into three separate sections, and Korley splits the dogs up according to size and personality. Small dogs are separated from large dogs, friendly dogs from shy dogs, and old and arthritic dogs from the young rambunctious dogs.
Korley has no problem deciding how to divide the dogs up into play groups, as he calls them. During a tour of the grounds he makes it clear that he knows not only the name but also the nature of each of his charges. He points out one medium-sized mixed breed as a real people dog, tells the story of a tiny poodle who has had problems with aggression in other settings but is quite happy around other shy dogs, and softly chides a nearly pony-sized black hound for whining to get attention. "Didn't your mother talk to you about that this morning?" he asks the big dog as it shoves its nose under his hand. "After I've boarded my dogs there, he knows their personalities," says veterinarian Melanie Smith of the Four Paws Veterinary Clinic in Chapel Hill. "I can tell he's spent a lot of time with them."
Smith regularly recommends Korley to clients looking to board their animals. The large size of the kennel's rooms makes a big difference, she says, especially for older dogs that need to get up and move around regularly.
Also, she adds, dogs are much calmer in rooms rather than cages, because they cannot see the other dogs in the building.
Cynthia Smith of Chapel Hill boards her 5-year-old German shepherds with Korley when she goes out of town. "if he did not take them, I would stay home," she says. One of the shepherds, Sasha, has a chronic illness and needs a lot of care. When she stays at the Doggie Spa, according to her owner, Korley medicates her, sits with her and hand-feeds her when necessary. He charges nothing extra for doing so. Neither does he charge clients extra if they bring special food or toys for their pets.
"When Sasha was first sick, he sent us flowers," Cynthia Smith says. "It's just so nice to know your dogs are with somebody who doesn't see it simply as a job."
On the contrary. Korley started his kennel because he had a vision of what pet care could be.
"My style and my lifestyle have changed," Korley says, who gave up a lucrative career as a computer scientist to pursue his dream.
He also used his savings, tapped into his retirement fund, moved into a smaller house and sold some vehicles.
"I did not go into it for the money," the dog-lover says. In fact, he has been reluctant to raise his rates, which have stayed at $15 per night for boarders and $10 for day care dogs. He says he won't increase his prices until next year because he doesn't want to burden those who have already made reservations for the Christmas holidays.
How happy is Korley in his new life? When asked about the worst task any dog lover faces — namely, cleaning up after the dogs — he simply grins. "It doesn't bother me, believe it or not. It's good exercise."
