You’ve seen Pet Paradise being built near Bluffton. Here’s what it looks like inside
Drivers along U.S. 278 near Bluffton watched with curiosity as a cinder block building was built with dozens of small doors. Now, the Pet Paradise boarding facility is ready for pet owners to see the inside.
About a week into its soft opening, Pet Paradise was averaging 20 to 30 dogs a day, said manager Shelby Ehly, who has been with the company five years and has three dogs and a cat of her own.
“We are a facility that can hold 192 dogs if you’re filling up every single room,” she said.
The most deluxe of the rooms are called VIP suites and feature a raised bed, a television, a dedicated webcam so owners can peek in, and a vanilla ice cream treat from Jack Frost ice cream shop.
“We just give them a little bit,” Ehly said. “Nothing that is too much for them, and they love it.”
Many of the kennels have a dog-sized garage door that can be opened so pets can spend some time in a small fenced outdoor area, and still others are completely indoors for dogs who can’t or don’t enjoy being outside.
The focal point of Pet Paradise, though, is on display through large picture windows off the lobby: On a recent sunny day, 10 dogs seemed happy to be splashing around a dog-bone shaped swimming pool and playing with a bright red ball.
Around the pool are various play yards, and dogs are herded through each of them depending on the weather and time of day. After the pool, the dogs spend time in a dry area so they are ready to go back into their kennels before owners pick them up, for example.
Large dogs are kept separate from small dogs at all times, and those that have not been spayed or neutered are not allowed to interact with the group at any time.
Small dogs can’t play in the in-ground pool because of the depth of the water, so there’s a kiddie pool and misters set up in their play area. The small dogs’ area is known as “Tiny Town.”
It’s not mandatory that dogs are house-trained, Ehly said, and those that don’t enjoy playing with other dogs are given individual play time with a staff member.
“We try to make sure to have an option for every kind of baby, no matter what their special needs are,” Ehly said.
That goes for cats as well. The cattery has space to house up to 14 felines in two-story pods with periodic individual playtime in the larger room; the cats aren’t allowed to mingle unless they are from the same household.
The location at 139 Okatie Center Blvd. North in Okatie, billed as Pet Paradise Hilton Head, is the company’s 59th. The first was in Jacksonville, Florida, in 2002.
Prices vary based on the types of services needed and the number of dogs, but boarding in general ranges from $35 per night for a Tiny Town cabana to $95 per night for an indoor/outdoor VIP suite. A full day of “Day Camp” is $30, with multi-day passes available for a slightly lower daily rate. A menu of services with prices is on the Pet Paradise website.
Ehly said new customers get one free day or one free night to try out the resort and see if it’s a good fit.
Right now, the Okatie location has about 20 people on staff — one of whom stays on the property overnight in case of an emergency — with more to be hired. Grooming and training services will be added later as the staff is filled out.
Nervous or just curious pet owners can watch on 11 webcams dotted around the Pet Paradise play areas to see how their dog or cat is doing.
“I tell everyone I’ve been working here for five years, and I still cry when I leave my dogs for boarding,” Ehly said. “I just know that they’re treated with so much love here. No one works on the team that does not love dogs with their whole heart and soul.”
