MESSAGE FROM THE OWNER, SHEILA

I know how hard it is to leave your pet somewhere. I know how much people care about their pets. Believe me, if anyone gets it, I do. My pets are my family. Whatever they need they get without a moment's hesitation on my part. In return, they fill my life with love and make me a better person by sharing their life with me.

I started working with animals years ago because I was miserable. I was completely burnt out with the corporate world and all that comes along with it. I was at a point in my life when I knew I needed to make some big changes. I wanted to enjoy my job and do something to help others.

Growing up on a farm, I had always been surrounded by animals. They were a huge comfort to me. I was painfully shy when I was young (yeah, I know, hard to believe if you know me now), and I found it hard to talk to people. But, put me in the yard with one of the dogs or cats or horses, and I could carry on a conversation for days.

Animals have always been a huge part of my life. I think it is so important to have a pet as part of your family. People that don't have pets miss out on so much. They will entertain you, and they will be the best friend you have ever had. You will never have to question their loyalty or their love for you.

Everyone at ELPP realizes that it is a "big deal" to be responsible for someone's four-legged child. We all go the extra mile to ensure your baby is safe and happy. We take the word board (bored) out of boarding and do everything possible to make their stay enjoyable and full of fun.

We are more than willing to do whatever it takes to make the babies happy. No request you might have is too crazy for us because we are all crazy about animals. We will sing to them, dance with them, scramble eggs for them, hand feed them, pretend like we are trying to eat their food in order to get them to eat, rub their paws, rub their bellies, scratch their ears, hold them, put ice in their water, warm their food, watch t.v. with them, have lengthy conversations with them, tell them how beautiful they are - we've done it all and then some. In fact, the pets that board with us know more about me than any person in my life does. They are the best at keeping secrets.

We work with them when they are shy or nervous, and we work with them when they are high energy. We know it is hard on them to be away from their family so we want them to know we are their second family.

I have tried to make boarding you pet as convenient as possible for our clients. We will accept our daycares as early as 6:00 a.m. because we know some people go in to work very early. We don't officially open Mon.-Fri. until 7:30 a.m., but we try to work with everyone and will allow drop offs for overnight boarders as early as 7:00 a.m. Please try to keep in mind that when our staff arrives at 5:30 a.m. each morning, their main responsibility is to get our boarders outside and get them fed. We close at 6:00 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Our weekend hours are 7:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. on Sat. and 7:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. on Sunday. We will allow pick-ups Mon.-Sat. evenings at 8:30 p.m. when our evening staff arrives, but these must be scheduled. If we allow too many pick-ups at 8:30 p.m., it disrupts the night shift's schedule of taking the dogs out; therefore, we try to limit these to a maximum of three per night.

We encourage first time boarders to drop by prior to their boarding day for a "get acquainted" visit. You may also want to consider bringing your dog for doggie daycare for a day prior to his overnight stay. We believe meeting your pet beforehand helps them when they actually board overnight with us.

We also encourage you to come by anytime during our hours of operation so that you can see where your baby will be staying and playing. We have two big dog yards and one small dog yard. There is always someone outside in each yard when the "kids" are playing. You have the option to have your baby taken out individually with a person or with a friend or in a play group. No matter what option you choose, there is always a person in each yard to supervise and give your baby love.

In closing, just let me say I take great pride in what we do here at Endless Love Pet Palace. I am at the facility seven days a week. I have tried to cut my hours back to between eight and ten a day as opposed to twelve. Rarely do I take a day off. I choose for it to be that way. I have a wonderful staff that I trust completely with the babies (or they wouldn't be here!). But as anyone who knows me knows, I AM A WORRIER. And when it comes right down to it, here with the dogs is where I am happiest.