WHEN?

When are you open?

Country Dogs works so beautifully because we have separated operations from dog care. This allows us to focus on good customer service off-site while ensuring that our on-site attention is totally focused on our very important visitors.

DOOR-TO-DOOR PICKUP/DELIVERY: Mondays and Thursdays (see ‘what’ below)+

HOURS
Administrative Office: M-F, 9am-5pm
Country Dogs NYC/NJ/PA: Drop Offs, Pickups, Boarding Tours by appointment++
Country Dogs DC/NoVA: Drop Offs, Pickups, Boarding Tours by appointment++

PHONE NUMBERS
Administrative Office: 888.711.7833 ×1 and x2
Country Dogs NYC/NJ/PA: 888.711.7833 ×4 (call this number for dog status updates and boarding tours)
Country Dogs DC/NoVA: 888.711.7833 ×3 (call this number for dog status updates and boarding tours)

EMAIL
mark@country-dogs.net

+ Holiday Mondays bumped to Tuesday; Holiday Thursdays bumped to Wednesday.
++All drop offs, pickups, boarding tours must be scheduled 48 hours in advance. Both sites are CLOSED to all visitors on Saturdays and Sundays until 3pm.

WHERE…

Where is Country Dogs?

NYC/NJ/PA and PA/MD is served by our 69 acre farm in Bethel, PA. Bethel is an historic little town set in the gently rolling hills bordering the Blue Mountains. We pickup/deliver in NYC/NJ/PA and points south on Mondays and Thursdays.

DC/NoVA is served by our 17 acre farm in Timberville, VA. Timberville is a little rural town located just south of Woodstock, VA in the sloping foothills of the Shenandoah valley. We pickup/deliver in DC/NoVA/MD on Mondays and Thursdays.

Call 1.888.711.RUFF (7833) x1 to set up a boarding.

Aren’t you a little far away?

We may be a little far for overnight boarding, but for long weekends and longer-term stays we are ideal. Also, many facilities pick up your dog and ride around with them all day. We have specific pickup/delivery times with a small number of dogs in order minimize your dog’s time in the vehicle (usually less than 3 hours). Moreover, you really have to get “out in the country” for your dog to experience the kind of large accommodations, off-leash runs, and clean, country air that we provide.

How did Country Dogs get started to serve DC/NoVA?

Country Dogs started with our 17 acre farm in the Shenandoah Valley and has been in operation since July 2004. Formerly a small family farm used for private horse-boarding, the farm was converted to dog boarding at the encouragement of a family friend and owner of a dog-walking business. He correctly maintained that there were very few good outdoor-oriented, long-term dog boarding facilities out there. Given our great customer support and steady growth, we have expanded to serve the NYC market as well.

What is the NYC/NJ/PA and PA/MD facility like?

The farm serving NYC/NJ/PA and PA/MD is our flagship facility and is built upon the four years of knowledge and experience we gained in DC. The barn was built solid by Amish carpenters, the adjoining run is natural, spacious and perfectly laid out; the dog-washing area, the drop off area, the location of the caretaker house, the whole facility is perfectly suited for our mission. If you can’t come out and see the facility, trust us when we say you’ll be hard pressed to beat it for dog health, comfort, and fun!

WHAT…

What is your pick-up/delivery schedule?

Mondays and Thursdays. Pickup and delivery times vary but are usually between 11AM and 4PM (except for summer 6-11 PM schedule in NYC). 24-48 hours before your boarding, we EMAIL you a 1-1.5hr window in which we will arrive to pickup/deliver your dog. Please do not plan your travel too closely around the pickup time as we cannot control traffic patterns. We are very good, however, at hitting our pickup/delivery window.

Can I come visit the facility?

Absolutely. We do pre-boarding tours on Sundays between 3-6pm by appointment only (please call 888.711.7833 ×3 DC/NoVA and x4 NYC/NJ/PA). Because 95% of our business is pickup/delivery, we do not keep regular office hours on-site. Therefore, we require an appointment for the safety and protection of our boarders.

What if that the pickup/delivery schedule doesn’t work for me?

Country Dogs is perfect for long weekend stays (Thursday-Monday) and for longer stays (10-30 days). But our Monday/Thursday pickup/delivery schedule doesn’t work if you just want to stay overnight. You are welcome to drop off and pickup yourself, but only by appointment at least 48 hours in advance.

What should my pet bring to camp?

DO SEND a supply of dog food for the duration of his/her stay. Please keep in mind that any extra food will not be returned. Sorry. DO NOT SEND anything that you want to have returned (i.e., leashes, toys, bowls, bedding). Our focus out at the farm is totally upon providing comfortable and clean accommodations, lots of fresh air and plenty of exercise.

HOW MUCH?

How much does it cost to board?

The best place to get a quote for your boarding is to enter the specifics in our Quick Rate Quote calculator. Your quote will be emailed immediately to you. You will NOT get a better price by calling in or emailing directly, so check the Quick Rate Quote for the best discounts. If you sign up for our newsletter on the homepage, you will be the first to hear about our discounts/promotions and will receive periodic availability alerts if we are close to booking up. WE WILL NOT KEEP YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS unless you sign up for our newsletter.

Do you provide any discounts?

Yes. If boarding multiple dogs, you can save 50% on every dog after the first dog when staying in the same “stall.” For stays of 14 days or over, we will provide a 10% discount on all fees. For extremely long stays (over 1 month), we provide custom quotes with substantial discounts. Always check our Quick Rate Quote for the latest discounts and best-priced boardings. WE WILL NOT KEEP YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS unless you sign up for our newsletter.

HOW DO YOU OPERATE?

Where will my dog be kept most of the time?

In a converted horse barn with clean, spacious kennels.

Will my dog get cold in the winter or hot in the summer?

No. Your dog’s comfort is our #1 priority. Our “stalls” are fully winterized with radiant heat (DC/NoVA) and central heat (NYC/NJ/PA) reserved for bitter cold winter days. In the summer, we open the doors to the barn and let the cool air blow through (this also helps keep our facilities fresh and natural). On extremely hot days, we have central air conditioning in our NYC/NJ/PA barn and fans in our DC/NoVA barn (temperature in the DC/NoVA barn doesn’t exceed 80 degrees given the setting under a canopy of trees).

How many times will my dog get out of his/her stall?

We guarantee 2 times daily for 4-6 hours (total) off leash. In our DC/NoVA facility, we have a 3/4 acre pond around which the dogs play and socialize for hours on end and an adjoining 3/4 acre shaded run for hot summer days. In our NYC/NJ/PA facility, we have a 1-acre run that winds through the woods and then opens up into a large grassy field (formerly for horses). These runs are a special features of Country Dogs and well worth the price of admission alone. ALL RUNS ARE FENCED IN TO PREVENT ESCAPE.

How will Country Dogs treat my precious pet?

Like one of our own. We take a highly personal approach to boarding, making every attempt to understand and appreciate your dogs’ behaviors and special qualities.

How many dogs can you board?

We are a fairly small, intimate boarding facility. In DC/NoVa we have 17 stalls. In NYC/NJ/PA, we have 24 stalls. Our dog to staff ratio is excellent, therefore, rarely exceeding 7-10 dogs per staff member.

What is your safety/health record?

Excellent. Partly because we are very strict about all dogs having complete paperwork and partly because the dogs are more relaxed during their stay with us. On rare occasions, a dog will go home with diarrhea, a cut or scratch, a hotspot, or a bit of nervousness. But these are the exception, not the rule. Our customer satisfaction is very high, our repeat boardings excellent, and if dogs could talk, we’re confident they would give us high marks. See our customer referrals for more info.

WHAT IF…

What happens in case of an emergency?

In the unlikely event that a dog gets sick or hurt, we will call all of the numbers you provide in your private log-in area, call your veterinarian and get your dog as quickly as possible to the local veterinarian. After we’ve addressed the emergency, we will start calling and emailing all parties to make sure we are making the right decisions for you and your dog.

WHY??

Why do you run Country Dogs?

Dog boarding is not an easy, get-rich-quick kind of business. It requires that we be on-task 24/7, 365 days a year. Moreover, we take care of your best friends, your children and, in many cases, your soul mates. We do not take this responsibility lightly.

The safest route would be to run a highly controlled, prison-like environment. Many kennels approach boarding like this, trying to minimize every potential risk by treating dogs like commodities to be protected, a family heirloom to be stored in a safe deposit box until claimed. While we would never risk your dog’s health or safety, we believe it’s cruel to keep dogs in a cage without fresh air or exercise for long periods of time.

Even though our runs are always supervised and in an enclosed environment, letting a dog off leash carries with it added risk. Your dog could get in a fight with another dog and get injured; s(he) could somehow scale the fence in the run and get away (although highly unlikely); or your dog could run headlong into a tree! That’s the minor risk that we all take when dogs are off-leash.

However, Country Dogs is a place where we let dogs be dogs. If you share our philosophy, we welcome you to board with us!

Is it worth it?

When we have time, we often reflect on what we do for a living. But thinking back over the thousands of dogs we’ve boarded over the years, we’re extremely proud of what we stand for and accomplish. In the spectrum of dog care, we have not taken the easy road but rather the more challenging, high road. Getting dogs out, together, in a common run for hours of fresh air and exercise is a very difficult, time-consuming undertaking. And we often note that there have only been a handful of dogs we felt didn’t enjoy their stay. In those cases, there was usually something fundamentally unstable about the dog (past abuse, over-parenting, anti-social, ill). The overwhelming majority of our visitors we know have a wonderful time and, in that profound canine way of expression, they tell us they appreciate what we do. So, yeah, that’s worth it.