Canine Cabana’s ten year anniversary was recently celebrated by both employees and dogs during Spirit/Customer Appreciation week. It’s no surprise why Canine Cabana, which opened May 1, 2008, has thrived offering day care, overnight lodging, training and more.
Co-owners Angie Pickren and Kendall Duncan are not just small business owners. Their passion for animals is obvious from the first moment you meet them. They met in 1997 while zookeepers at Busch Gardens, and both have more than 30 years of experience. The two helped open the Busch Garden’s ‘Edge of Africa’ when it opened in 1998, working with a wide variety of exotic animals. As animal care specialists, not only did they care for them, enrichment training and behavior modification was also provided.
They took what they learned there and applied it to Canine Cabana.
Prior to opening, Pickren and Duncan trained extensively with Dog Gurus and now train every employee the same way.
Canine Cabana has over 20 people on staff. It offers large indoor climate-controlled play areas and over one half acre of beautiful outdoor tree-covered play areas. Dogs are always accompanied by someone on staff, and are rotated through the day for exercise and rest time. “We like to keep the dogs mentally and physically stimulated,” Duncan noted.
The level of the staff’s knowledge sets them apart from other places. Duncan said, “We do behavioral assessments on every dog prior to going into a group. So not only do we do group activity, but we do individual activity, so they don’t have to go into a playgroup. Some dogs are like us; some people are more social and then others like to be more by themselves.”
Your furry family member will receive superior care whether they are there for the day or spending extended time lodging while you are out of town. The staff constantly trains the dogs to feel comfortable and relaxed. Walking through the suites, you will hear classical music providing a calming atmosphere.
FishHawk resident Amanda Boston has brought her dog Jarvis there since he was a young pup. She said, “I trust their extensive background in animal behavior and that provides me with peace and assurance that my dog Jarvis will be well taken care of.”
Canine Cabana also offers training programs that are tailored to your dog’s individual needs. According to Duncan, “We do training plus we are experts in our field. That’s what sets us apart. We are not just small business owners who own a dog lodging, daycare or training facility, we are experts and we hire people who are experts.”
There is a Puppy Social Training Program for dogs who are under six months of age. They specifically work on what puppies need to learn in their first couple of months including handling, doing small playgroups with them, some potty training, socializing them and more.
Pickren noted that, “As our customer needs have changed and the needs of their dogs have changed, we have developed new programs for that so enrichment is higher level daycare program for dogs that need a little more interaction or a little more one on one time, and it provides a lot of mental stimulation for them as well, so they still get traditional playtimes. We have an event-of-the-day that we schedule every month and that can be anything from Red Rover to Hide & Seek, Duck Hunts (scent work), and more.”
Canine Cabana is open daily and is located at 9708 Carr Rd. in Riverview. Tours are given any day of the year. You can book a service anytime through the online reservation system at https://caninecabana.biz. Call 672-9663 for more information.
