Tails are wagging as downtown dog daycare and pet supply store, Barks and Recreation Pet Services, has moved to a new larger facility this week.
Business owners, Sarah Fulcher and Cameron Dixon, purchased the former Emmanuel Baptist church on Pine Avenue, and have spent time renovating the building into a suitable retail and dog care facility, as well as renovating the attached living suite with plans to move in shortly.
“We’ll be closed over the next few days getting things finished for a Dec. 2 opening,” Fulcher said last week. “Everything has gone well, although the zoning was time consuming, mostly because city council doesn’t meet through the summer, and it had to be changed from institutional zoning, which is for churches and schools, to commercial.”
The new space provides double the retail and daycare space for the team to continue to offer dog training and grooming, with a u-bath service for customers who need a convenient place to clean up their larger canine friends.
The couple is also hoping to expand services to make use of the extra space in their new building.
“We’re considering offering select boarding for some of our regular daycare clients and a boot camp program where we board and train the dogs,” said Dixon. “We have three certified trainers on staff so we’re looking to offer play groups for the dogs, specialized puppy classes, and scent games, that our dogs seem to particularly enjoy.”
Barks and Recreation will have special sales and prizes this week and a special Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for pet photos with Santa offered in conjunction with the SPCA.
“It’s been a lot of work the last few weeks trying to get everything ready for the Christmas season,” said Fulcher. “But we had a lot of help from friends and family. Moving a home and a business in one month, we couldn’t have done it without them.”