New Business Spotlight: The Canine Country Club

As we all know, Cleveland is full of more bad weather days than good ones, which can make it hard for those who like to keep their dog active. Since I got a dog I have wished Cleveland had an indoor play option.  Thankfully, my prayers were finally answered in July with the opening of The Canine Country Club in North Olmsted.

The Canine Country Club offers an indoor activity room for your dog to play in, as well as an indoor swimming pool. In addition to those services, the Club also offers massage (with Hunter’s favorite masseuse Diane Pekarek) and reiki services and hosts various training classes and seminars. In order to use the facilities, you have to show vet approval (they have a form on their site), so any dog entering the facility has to be up to date on shots — making it a much more appealing option than a dog park.

 

The Club is not to be confused with an indoor dog park as the activity room is really designed for you to play with your dog one-on-one. You can sign up with a friend though, to give your dog some play time with another buddy. You can also drop off your dog for a half hour of play time with one of the Club’s staff members. A great option if you are running errands but want to get your dog out for some fun.

You can register on their site to sign up for a half hour of swimming or to have your dog play in the activity room. Hunter and I went last week to try out the swimming and check out the facility. We signed up for the swim orientation, which all dogs must compete first. Although Hunter has been to various dog swim events over the years and loves a good kiddie pool romp, he hasn’t really done a lot of swimming. I was excited to see how he would do.

At the swim orientation, they help you determine your dog’s life jacket size and will assess their swim ability and decide what the next steps for future swim sessions are. Your dog can continue with full assisted swimming after the first lesson, or if they are very comfortable, they could move on to independent swim. The key lesson they focus on in the orientation and future assisted swim sessions will be getting the dog to use the ramp in and out. Once a dog is comfortable with that, it’s likely they’d be good with an independent swim.

Multiple dogs can also use the pool, as long as the owners all agree, and they’ve completed the swim orientation and are good independent swimmers.

It took Hunter a little while to warm up to it, but once they broke out the hot dog, he was all in. The staff was so kind and patient, really focusing on making it fun and low stress for him. It was really fun to see Hunter get comfortable enough to doggie paddle around the pool.

 

See a video here: https://www.facebook.com/DogsintheCLE/videos/2943320895740907/

We also checked out the activity room, which has lots of balls to play with and some agility equipment. Hunter loved having a big open space to run around and he got lots of attention from the staff, which is his favorite thing.

The Club will be hosting more events over the upcoming months, so make sure to follow them on Facebook to stay up to date. https://www.facebook.com/CanineCountryClubCLE/

You can visit them online at: https://www.caninecountryclubcle.com/