CAGE-FREE DAYCARE

(Intellectual Stimulation for Canines)

At Sasha’s Pet Resort we take great pride in practicing the three essentials necessary to the successful operation of a doggy daycare and overnight boarding:

Safety. Comfort. Entertainment.

Safety is first and foremost, the top tier metric.  Safety comes in many shapes and forms including protection from illnesses, accidents, dog bites, escape, run-in with cars, poisoning and more.  All those factors must be, if not accounted for, at least minimized.  At Sasha’s we conduct ongoing visual inspections to ensure our premises are as danger-free as possible from parasites, fire, unruly guests, sharp objects and falls.  And air quality is improved upon by incorporating an ultraviolet purifying system within the 4,000 sq. ft. of our daycare area.

Safety. Comfort. Entertainment.

A close second to safety is the issue of creature comfort.  This includes a focus on continually sanitizing premises to minimize the proliferation of viruses, bacteria, spores and fungi.  As well, we offer air conditioning in our overnight boarding area while our first-floor daycare area benefits greatly from the cooling effects of our two towering maple trees in our green-space dog run.  Finally, we carefully evaluate the temperament of our guests on an ongoing basis to ensure that potential adversaries are separated into different rooms, away from their foes.  Oh, and let’s not forget hydration.  At any given time we have up to 25 gallons of water readily accessible to our guests.

Safety. Comfort. Entertainment.

Dogs definitely appreciate the safety and comfort that awaits them at Sasha’s Pet Resort—but at the same time, they enjoy the bonus entertainment including indoor wading pools during the summer months–those same indoor pools loaded with snow come winter—and ice cream and watermelon socials along with the old standby of tennis ball chase.  We also offer daily nap and cuddle times. For the more cerebral pups, we provide pro bono storytelling and music hours (Bach to Beatles, Steppenwolf to Three Dog Night).

Safety. Comfort. Entertainment. Intellectual Stimulation. 

At Sasha’s we’ve come to the realization (as has much of the canine world) that a good number of our fluffy guests possess the desire and intelligence to communicate with humans on a higher plane–an ability to speak English using a system devised by a pediatric speech-language pathologist named Christina Hunger—in what we classify as Intellectual Stimulation.  The development of this exciting curriculum utilized Christina’s skill sets and experiences from working with children afflicted with significant language development delays.  She taught her new puppy, Stella, to acquire an understanding of some 45 core words including “outside,” “play” and “water” coupled with the newfound ability to create two- to three-word sentences. Since that time, Stella has expanded her vocabulary to include “love you,” ”beach” and “bye bye.”  Utilizing talking buttons, the dog learns which buttons to push to convey their thoughts.  No longer trapped exclusively in a present-tense world, they demonstrate the ability to conceive and communicate in both past- and future-tense sentences.  As well, the dog is no longer locked into a one-way path of communication, able to initiate dialogue on her end rather than just fetching commands from her owners.  Much more equitability in their conversations and a two-way street of dialogue.

In an effort to bring greater intellectual stimulation to our guests at Sasha’s, we are initiating no-cost agility training as well as free instruction in talking-with-buttons.  Due to the labor-intensive nature of these initiatives, we are limiting both trainings to just one student each for the first three months. Dedicated to the belief that everyone has a voice and the potential to share it, Ms. Hunger has combined the fields of animal psychology, speech pathology, and AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) to pioneer an innovative approach to canine communications.

In the spirit “of don’t try to teach an old dog new tricks”, our first talking-with-buttons student is the 2 ½-year-old beagle named Charlie.  In addition to his relative youthfulness, Charlie also is a preferred student since he typically visits Sasha’s three to five times a week.  This training requires a high level of patience and rote, thus students should be ubiquitously present at Sasha’s.  It is also incumbent upon the dog’s owners to religiously continue their dog’s training at home incorporating the same exact button board, layout and words.  We have confidence that Charlie will be a quick study.

We have yet to select the first dog for agility training but are seeking a pup with similar characteristics to Charlie, including two years of age or younger, demonstrated ability to follow simple instructions, non-violent with people and other dogs and intent to visit Sasha’s three to five times a week in first two months. If you’d like to place your dog on Sasha’s wait list for either button-talking or agility training, please send an email to Dan at danm@sashaspr.com. Only dogs registered for Sasha’s daycare or boarding are eligible to participate.  Please provide name, age and breed of dog along with the specific class you are interested in.  There is no cost, but we need the parent’s commitment to training at home during the time we are teaching at Sasha’s.  As well, in that both these curriculums are experimental in a sense, there is no guarantee that your dog will learn these skills.  But we’ll do our dog gone best!