Sometimes there’s something special going on in your community, right under your nose. Entrepreneur Stephanie Cook combined her love and knowledge of animals with her to desire to give back, and she found a way to help people while helping pets.
Pampered Paw Resort opened in April 2016 as an all-in-one resort offering doggie daycare and overnight boarding for both dogs and cats. Owner Stephanie Cook explains: “We offer a do it yourself dog wash, professional grooming, personalized dog walking, and beginning the summer of 2018, yard waste removal.”
Stephanie believes a nurturing environment with active, mental, and physical stimulation leads to a happy and healthy life for dogs, just like people. “Dogs can run free to promote healthy exercise and foster essential socialization skills. Our dogs are fully supervised at all times,” she says. All their new clients are given a thorough temperament evaluation prior to attending dog daycare, to ensure all their clients are safe and happy while there. Along with working in the resort every day, Stephanie employees one other full-time person and has a special volunteer, her mother, who is there every day. “We are all family and consider our clients and their owners family, too. “
Pampered Paw Resort also offers homemade dog treats and specialty cakes that Stephanie’s mother makes with love. “The treats and cakes are made with all-natural ingredients. Linda prepares them out of her own kitchen and gives them her very own personal touch. We have many flavors to choose from,” says Stephanie proudly. The treats are sold both in the resort and at events within the community.
Pampered Paw Resort not only proves a safe, fun loving environment for dogs, but for people too. One of the main reasons Stephanie choose her location was because she wanted to give back to her community. Stephanie offers job training skills and experience to those who need it most, whether they are new to the idea of working, or looking for a first step towards a new life. Using her own business and support skills, she gives a hand up to people from local organizations such as Turning point, Blueprints formerly Community Action and students from surrounding high schools. The volunteers learn the ins and outs of a business, from customer service to accounting to hands on clean up. They get a chance to see all the behind the scenes work that goes into running a business, as well as learning job skills that will prepare them for the grown-up world
For some, getting an opportunity to start over is life changing. “Working with people who need someone to give them a first chance is where my heart is,” says Stephanie. “Witnessing healing through animals, and watching people blossom and start their new lives is its own reward.” As each person starts a new life journey, they need guidance, supportive care, and positive opportunities. Women that have suffered in previous situations get a chance to learn new skills, and work towards being a productive member of the community. The job skills and training provided is tailored to each person’s individual needs and enhances motivation and strengths with tools for growth. Volunteers work on a team, under supervision, to accomplish day to day tasks, and get the bonus of leaning some animal husbandry if they are interested in that field.
Reaching out to the community again, she is looking to offer discounted dog walking and in-home services to the retirement communities. We can all use a little help sometimes, and Pampered Paw Resort wants to be the facilitator that brings everyone together. Stephanie is also thinking of ways to pair retired persons as volunteers with small animals to cuddle. Sometimes people living in retirement communities give up their pets when their living situations change, or they still enjoy spending time with animals but can’t have an animal live with them. The resort is working on programs that fill that need. Imagine someone who likes to read sitting in front of a kennel and sharing a story for an hour or reading the newspaper. Both dogs and people enjoy company, and the two can share some social time by just visiting.
For the dogs, the resort takes pride in giving each dog a fun filled day during their stay. While they start with play time in groups and cuddle up in comfortable quarters, they are also provided with extra social time and comfort. When you place your fur baby in Stephanie’s care, she can offer extra love that’s helping people, too.
The resorts hours are:
Monday 6:30am-6pm
Tuesday 6:30am-6pm
Wednesday 6:30am-6pm
Thursday 6:30am-6pm
Friday 6:30am-6pm
Saturdays Daycare10:00am-5:00pm, Overnight Boarding Pick up 8:00-9:00 am
Sundays Overnight Boarding pick up 5:00pm to 6:00pm
Pampered Paws Resort is conveniently located at 254 North Main St Washington, PA 15301
