Dog lovers rejoice: A doggy daycare is coming to East Peoria
Four years ago, Cassie Snell opened a Camp Bow Wow dog day care franchise in Peoria because she wanted work that would combine her bachelor’s degree in business with her love of dogs.
"This is truly Cassie's passion and life,” said Dave Snell, Cassie's father and Camp Bow Wow co-owner. “She got out of college and went to work in the corporate world … and it just never did satisfy her. With the way she’s so passionate about dogs, (Camp Bow Wow) was just a perfect fit.”
Camp Bow Wow’s business has grown since it opened to 2018, and the facility currently provides day care, boarding and grooming services to an average of 100 dogs per day. Business, in fact, has outgrown the facility, and Snell is planning to open a second Camp Bow Wow location in East Peoria.
“We’re getting to the point where we're pretty much full here on the holidays and we know that there's plenty of clientele on that side of the river,” Snell said. “We want to give them the opportunity to utilize more of our services by being more conveniently located over there form.”
Snell hopes to open the new facility by late November. She said the East Peoria location will offer the same boarding, day care, and grooming services available at Camp Bow Wow in Peoria. Because the East Peoria building is about 4,000 square feet larger than the Peoria location, it will be able to accommodate more clients.
“The dogs will have more room to run around,” Snell said. “We'll be able to board between 150 and 200 dogs over there.”
Snell believes that dog day care facilities like Camp Bow Wow are a valuable resource because of the socialization opportunities they offer for dogs and for the peace of mind they offer dog owners.
“When dogs have the chance to experience a daycare setting where they're exposed to other dogs to unfamiliar humans, they really become socialized and their lives become less stressful,” she explained.
“It's a huge benefit for the dogs to get a new sort of stimulation and to be exposed to so many different things to participate in a daycare. It's also beneficial for the owners, because they can be stress-free and guilt-free when they leave their dogs for the day, or when they have to do a road trip to Chicago or road trip to Saint Louis. They can just drop their dog off and know that their dogs having just as much fun as they are.”
The new Camp Bow Wow will be located at 1090 N. Main St., East Peoria. The Peoria location is at 1623 W. Pioneer Parkway. The facility is open seven days a week. Hours of operation are from 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. More information is available at campbowwow.com.
This article originally appeared on Pekin Daily Times: Bigger in East Peoria: Camp Bow Wow opens a second location
