Local couple opens resort for pampered pets

Page 4 — THE LACONIA DAILY SUN, Saturday, November 26, 2011
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Lakes Region Pet Resort in Meredith opened earlier this month, with the business plan of offering the highest quality of pet boarding in the
Lakes Region. Left to right are daytime supervisor Katie Dunn and owners Cindi and Mike Ingalls. They’re pictured with Lakeland terrier
“Abby” and golden retreiver “Captain.” (Laconia Daily Sun photo/Adam Drapcho)
Local couple opens resort for pampered pets
By AdAm drApcho
THE LACONIA DAILY SUN
CENTER HARBOR — A new business opened
earlier this month, offering pets a level of comfort
and attention heretofore unseen in this region.
Lakes Region Pet Resort, founded by Cindi Ingalls
and her husband Mike, solved two problems.
The first problem Cindi had was that, after working many years in sales, she was ready for a new
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challenge. The second was that she and Mike had
gone for many years without taking a vacation
together because they couldn’t find a place to board
their dogs that was acceptable to their standards.
The idea to start an up-scale boarding facility
came to Cindi a couple of years ago when she was on
a business trip to Wales and she met a woman who
owned the Royal Pet Resort in State College, Penn. “I
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THE LACONIA DAILY SUN, Saturday, November 26, 2011— Page 5
from preceding page
just said, I wish you were in New Hampshire,” Cindi
recalls. “She looked at me and said, ‘Just open a pet
resort.’ It was an epiphany, it was an ‘a-ha moment’.”
Over the next couple of years, the Ingalls, who live
in the Lakes Region, researched the local market for
posh pet resorts. They spoke with local veterinarians and pet store owners, who told them that there
were many others like them, who were uncomfortable leaving their pampered pets in conventional
kennels. They received particular help from Mary
Blain, owner of the Mountain View Pet Resort in
Canaan. “Mary let us roll up our sleeves and work
right next to her,” Cindi said.
With the demand for the service established, expertise gleaned from Blain, and financing from Meredith
Village Savings Bank and the Belknap County Economic Development Council, the Ingalls were able in
September to purchase a property on Daniel Webster
Highway, just north of Meredith village, and begin
renovating the land and buildings to offer the highest
quality of pet boarding in the region.
Lakes Region Pet Resort offers boarding for dogs
and cats for when their owners are out of town, as
well as “doggie day care” for owners who don’t want
to leave their dogs home alone while they’re at work
or running errands. The resort will also offer training session with locally-known experts.
The facilities on the property, which include a
farmhouse with attached carriage house as well
as a large barn, have been renovated to include 21
“suites” for medium and large dogs and 10 rooms for
small dogs and cats. There is also a fenced-in play
area, which is critical to the Ingalls’ boarding philosophy. “It’s activity-based,” said Cindi. “Dogs get
out and play, they get one-on-one attention.”
Katie Dunn, the daytime supervisor, overlooks
playtime and will allow dogs who get along to romp
together in the dog run. Cindi said the business
had several doggie day care clients waiting for their
opening day. After a week of operation, she said
their day care dogs, most were just growing out of
their puppy stage, spent so much time playing that
they went home tuckered out.
Cindi said the resort will be run with strict standards. There won’t be more than six dogs playing
per human supervisor. Dog and cat “suites” will be
kept clean, and dogs won’t be sent home dirty. At
least one human will be present on site every hour
of the day and night. “This is a very serious business
for me,” said Cindi. “This is run as professionally as
I can... We take it very seriously that dogs are safe.”
All dogs boarded at the resort have to be neutered
or spayed and must be up-to-date on their shots.
Owners must supply the resort with food for their
animals. No dogs with aggression issues will be
accepted. She strongly recommends that, prior to
leaving the animal for an extended period of time,
owners bring their dog to a “transition day” during
which the dog spends a short amount of time at the
kennel before the owner returns. This is intended to
minimize the trauma or abandonment a dog experience during its first kennel stay.
As might be expected, boarding fees at Lakes Region
Pet Resort are moderately higher than at conventional
kennels. Cindi expects there will be many clients who
won’t have a problem with paying the premium. “The
customers that we have are people looking for the
very best care for their dogs,” she said. “Dogs today are
not what you hook up to a doghouse in the back yard.
They’re part of the family.”
For the Thanksgiving season, the Ingalls and
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Dunn decided to set an artificially low capacity ceiling of eight dogs so they could see how things went.
They will accept a dozen dogs over Christmas and
will expand their capacity as they feel appropriate.
Response from owners seems to underscore the
market research they performed prior to opening,
as they have had far more inquiries than they are
yet able to satisfy. “We’re full to the level that we’re
comfortable with,” Cindi said. “I knew we would be
successful, I never thought we’d get the calls we did
for Thanksgiving. I was shocked.”
Lakes Region Pet Resort will pick up and deliver
dogs within a 15-mile radius. Owners who want to
treat their dogs can pay an additional fee for their
pet to stay in a home setting or to receive a massage.
Cindi plans to offer training seminars and classes in
the near future.
Before opening their new business, the Ingalls
couldn’t find a boarding facility suitable enough for
them to take a vacation. Ironically, the creation of
such a place is now keeping them too busy to take
time off. However, Cindi said she has no regrets. “It’s
been going great, it’s so much fun,” she said. “It’s like
a dream come true.”
For more information about the business, visit
lakesregionpetresort.com or call 250-8001.
www.laconiadailysun.com
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