« Lord, Neiko, Sunset ! » From the Chihuahua to the Bernese Mountain Dog, passing by the Labrador or the Australian Shepherd, an impressive motley troop of fifty dogs crowds around Koffi Miessan, in the park of a beautiful renovated farmhouse in the Gâtinais. 100 kilometers away, on the floor of a large modern building, the Muxu cat has her own room, where she has a real sofa, a cat tree, high fittings on the walls and with an unobstructed view of the exterior.
In the Loiret, Alpha Dogs’ House and the Dog Hotel Resort are opposites – both in terms of their department and their concept – but both offer accommodation for doggies and kitties at the antipodes of the kennel with its rows of concrete boxes and screened courtyards, the dominant model for animal pensions. These pioneering methods of care in France are now finding their public, because they better correspond to the growing place of dogs and cats in the lives of their masters.
“Behaviors have changed, people have spent a lot of time with their animals during confinement and they want the best for them”, says Angélique Grangan, former medical-pharmaceutical delegate who founded the Dog Hotel Resort in 2014, in Saran. For Virginie Barbarin, co-founder of Alpha Dogs’ House, which she designed ” like a summer camp [“camp d’été”] for dogs and cats », the fashion for sheepdogs and primitive dogs – not well suited to confined spaces – has also pushed owners to find guarding solutions more suited to their needs.
Throwing kibble and sharing resources
“My dog is my child, he also has the right to a vacation”, argues Richard, lawyer and owner of Orpheus. For this sable Labrador, who already takes part in pack walks offered by Koffi Miessan in the Paris region, the destination was found and his suitcase was quickly packed: you don’t have to bring anything and Alpha Dogs’ House even takes care of transport between the center of Paris – where almost all of its customers live – and the small village of Chevannes (Loiret), three hundred inhabitants, an hour and a half away.
The place, opened in 2017, seduces masters who take great care of their animals with its top-of-the-range services. Mme Barbarin, who ran a communication agency until recently, knows the tastes of his clients, who come particularly from the world of fashion: the farmhouse (where the dogs sleep) and its vast barn (transformed into a cattery) have been renovated in a very neat “country chic” style. In addition, the accessories are state-of-the-art (fun or morphological bowls, search mats, etc.), the dogs eat insect croquettes and the homemade treats are developed with a nutritionist. As for prices, count 40 euros per day all inclusive for a dog and 25 euros for a cat. The double of a traditional pension.
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