Pooch Palace in Lilleshall near Newport, is about as good as it gets when it comes to luxury for doggy day care or boarding. We visited to take a look.
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00:00So welcome to the Pooch Palace, this is where we are, Lillashall, and introduce yourselves ladies.
00:06So I'm Zoe, and I'm Hattie, and it's a mother and daughter, this is a family affair. Yeah.
00:11So what is the Pooch Palace? It's a luxury boarding and doggy daycare facility. So what
00:19kind of numbers can you cater for then, and do you cater for? So we average 100 dogs a week for daycare
00:25and about 50 to 60 a week for boarding. And it's full-on for you girls, isn't it? We were having
00:32a little chit-chat off camera, you know, you've got dogs in over Christmas and... Yeah, Christmas
00:37and New Year, New Year's Day, New Year's Eve, all the way through. So this all started with,
00:43this is your little dog there, Ralph, isn't it? Ralph, yeah. So Ralph was kind of the inspiration,
00:47so just fill us in on, because it just started as a hobby, didn't it, this thing? Yeah. So go
00:52on, fill us in where the idea came from. So we went to have a look for doggy hotels for Ralph
00:58before we went on holiday, and there just wasn't anything that got the homely, warmly feel,
01:03especially for a chihuahua. So I had the idea to set up four rooms, luxury suites, just to see how
01:10it would go, and we've now increased to 15, and we're heading into our eighth year next year.
01:17Fantastic. And we're going to do a little tour on site, we'll show that on camera,
01:21but just talk us through some of the facilities we've got here. So we're currently in, this is
01:25doggy daycare. So this is doggy boarding. Doggy boarding, this is doggy boarding. That's right,
01:32I'm testing you. So we've got five suites off here, and we've got a lounge area with a little
01:37garden area as well. And then you've got an agility, you've got a nice run where they can
01:42do the jumps and stuff, and we'll show that. And then you've got the daycare as well. So you've got,
01:49you employ a few members of staff now, don't you? So there's seven of us all together,
01:54and we all do different shifts ranging from half seven in the morning till 10 o'clock at night,
01:58seven days a week. So if I hadn't been here and someone was saying, well, what's special about it?
02:05I mean, hopefully people will be able to pick that up on the video, but it literally, I mean,
02:10you know, people could stay here, couldn't they? Never mind dogs, it's that quality,
02:14isn't it? Quality of finish. We have a lot of men really that will come around and have a look
02:20with their wives, with the dogs, and they'll often say, oh, can we book in? Especially in the four
02:25paces suite. But, you know, we've worked hard to get our five stars. We're all first aid trained
02:33as well, and all the dogs are treated as if they were our own. So we love them just as much as
02:39we love our own dogs. So you've got Ralph there, Chester's your little one, isn't he? Yeah,
02:43Chester's my little one. And they all seem to be, I mean, they all seem to be getting on so well,
02:49the dogs, but I guess that's part of it, isn't it? When a dog comes in, you do like a little
02:53taster session just to make sure they're not going to disrupt the pack sort of thing. Yeah,
02:57we do an assessment day just to make sure that they're happy to stay here and they don't suffer
03:02with separation anxiety, and that they're happy to be away from the family. Cool. So are you,
03:07where you want to be as a business? Are you thinking we want to, you know, increase in size,
03:11or are you kind of thinking we've got just the right number going on here? No, we're completely
03:15happy with the size we've got now. We want to keep it small, that way we get to know all the
03:20dogs that come to us. We get to know the customers as well. So we're happy with the size we are at
03:26the moment. We love all our regulars. So this is Pooch Parlour, and this is where they come
03:33just to get looking all perfect. So how does it work then? Do you have like a visiting groomer
03:41that comes? Yeah, so Alexa comes twice a week to groom the dogs. She has over 10 years experience
03:49and she has a passion for grooming the dogs. So they all come here, have baths, grooms.
04:06When you want them to do it, they won't do it. And a bath every other week as well. And how far
04:12are people traveling with their dogs? Is it kind of generally Newport, Telford, or even further
04:17afield? How's it work? For daycare, it's generally local. Chiffnall, Telford, Muxton. For boarding,
04:24we have people that will come from Cirencester, Manchester. Yeah, just because you've got that
04:30special product that they're willing to travel like. Yeah, yeah. Fantastic.
04:38So we're in the, this is boarding. Yeah, yes. Cool. And this is the little lounge. It's lovely
04:46and warm in here, isn't it? Yeah, so it's all fully heated. TV's left on from half seven in
04:51the morning until 10 o'clock at night. The dogs come and chill, have cuddles. We've got a little
04:57gardener. We're off the lounge over as well. So we've got a range of different bedrooms.
05:03Do you want to just show us through? Yeah, of course. So we've got a couple of, I mean, this is
05:08fantastic. So these are like the go themed rooms. Yeah. So we've got the Chelsea Flower Suite,
05:14again, fully heated. CCTV as well, so you can watch them all the time.
05:20The Minnie Mouse Suite is in there. So we have their own bed, but obviously customers are welcome
05:26to bring their own bed as well. Yeah. And then someone tells me you've got a little four poster
05:31room. Is that right? Yeah. Go on then, lead the way. So that's over this side. Yeah. So Hattie,
05:40this is doggy day care bit, this one, yeah? Yes, yeah. So this is their little playground? Yeah.
05:46So they come out here and they play with the balls. They go on the apparatus. We've got agility
05:51gyms. We've got a tunnel and they're just free to run around and play all day as they please.
05:56And how many dogs have we got here at the minute? We've got 18 in today. Yeah. And they all know
06:00each other, don't they? Because they're regular. Yes, they're all regular. So it's a bit like a
06:03child going to nursery. Yeah. They make their own friends. Yeah. We're the teachers basically,
06:08and they all get excited to come in and play today. Fantastic. Let's just go and say hello to them.
06:15So who's the characters in this gang then guys? Muffin! Muffin! She's Muffin. Say hello to Muffin.
06:23Hello Muffin. Hello darling. She's a little cutie, isn't she? Some gorgeous dogs. Hello.
06:31Woody as well. And then when they've finished playing, go on Hattie, show us through.
06:36This is nicer than my house in this bit. I might book myself in for the day.
06:40So when they finish playing and they want a bit of downtime, they come inside in here,
06:45which is like a little lounge area. Yeah. So it's all fully heated. We have little beds
06:49dotted around. So they're literally free just to come and chill and have cuddles and keep warm
06:55and have their lunchtime nap. And you've got the little, the radios going for them and everything
07:01as well. So it's just more like a home from home and then just come and have a good day.
07:05And who's this little one? A very wise one sitting in there. Luna.
07:09Luna. She's not deaf, mate. So this is what they do, we have so many cuddles and lots of chill time.