At this doggie daycare, the big dogs don’t hold all the power

At Cuddle Up Pup, Yorkie owners don’t need to worry about a Great Dane stomping on their pooch while it’s at the kennel.

A new “pet resort” has opened in north Lee’s Summit, giving dog owners another option for daycare or boarding for their animals. One of its features is a “teacup” daycare room for those little breeds.

Cuddle Up Pup was the dream of a Belton couple, Andrew and Stephanie Haddadi, who opened their “luxury” dog care June 28.

Stephanie Haddadi had been manager at a Johnson County facility, where it seemed like there was a kennel on every block.

Andrew Haddadi noticed there was an underserved market out there for the smaller breeds.

It’s a step up from the usual boarding facility, the couple said, offering the convenience of longer hours, drop-off and pickups, and grooming seven days a week with 24/7 staffing.

While some dog daycares split their guests into groups for small or large animals, their facility has individual play rooms to provide space for tiny, small, medium and large dogs, and different personalities. They’ll also soon open a room for “geriatric” animals, which don’t have the zip of younger pets.

The 10,400-square-feet facility is a renovated Montessori School at 951 N.E. Wildwood Drive. Several months ago, the couple approached the city for a minor revision of Lee’s Summit zoning laws to convert the building into their dog boarding facility, because it was in a commercial area. Previously the city only allowed the facilities with outside dog runs in industrial-zoned locations.

Andrew Haddadi said they’d been looking for the right location in Lee’s Summit for several years, while Stephanie Haddadi saved her tips to help finance the venture.

She said she’s been in the industry since she was a teenager, starting by working at a veterinarian office where her mother was a vet technician.

They have a Chihuahua and Irish wolfhound of their own.

Indoors, they’ve upgraded housing from pens to “suites” that have tempered-glass doors, painted walls, bedding and music, a stark contrast to the cinderblock and chain-link fence found at some centers. Daycare rooms are outfitted with couches for lounging; and toys and tents for playing.

Outside there are five play yards with artificial turf, easy to clean and sanitize.

“It feels like being at home, not like being in a pound,” Stephanie Haddadi said. She said dogs spend most of their time in a daycare room or outdoors. “At the end of the day they’re tired. They’ve released their anxiety or energy and they sleep at night.”

This story was originally published July 11, 2017 at 6:01 PM with the headline "At this doggie daycare, the big dogs don’t hold all the power."