Pittsfield business offers dogs a home away from home
[media-credit id=3 align=”alignright” width=”300″]
PITTSFIELD – Renee DeRagon runs a kind of day care business. Her charges, some frisky and others subdued, daily come wagging their tails and looking ready to have a day filled with fun and frolic.
The dogs she and seven employees care for are in good hands while their human moms and pops work.
Some are there for longer stays while their masters are on vacation or go on day trips. The animals get to stay with other dogs rather than be left home alone.
24-hour care
The business offers dog care 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Ms. DeRagon opened the business, located at 1525 West Housatonic St., in 2005, when she returned to The Berkshires. (It’s a short distance before Hancock Shaker Village and is on the same side of the street.)
A Lanesborough native, Ms. DeRagon graduated from Mount Greylock Regional High School and attended Berkshire Community College.
There have always been dogs in Ms. DeRagon’s life. Her family’s first was a female German shepherd named Max, and she was only three years old when the dog died.
As soon as she moved out of her mother’s house, she got Toby, who was a yellow Lab. He was with her several years before he died.
Moved to Vermont
[/media-credit]She decided to move to Vermont for a change-of-scene. While there, she worked as an attendant in the former “Two Dog Lodge,” a dog care business in Stowe, Vermont. The dogs there needed care while their owners skied.
When Ms. DeRagon returned to The Berkshires from Vermont, she started cooking again but also developed a pet sitting business on the side. Having her own full-time business was always on her mind, she said.
She started getting busy with her dog sitting service. She kept good records, business was increasing and customers were happy.
Her customer base continued to grow through word-of-mouth, and she decided it was time for Love Us and Leave Us to be officially launched.
Today, she can accommodate up to 25 dogs of all breeds and sizes. For instance, she takes care of dogs as big as a 230-pound English mastiff named Buddy and as little as Lola, a six pound, one-eyed “shih-tzu.”
All breeds of dogs
There are also boxers, German shepherds, golden retrievers, “a ton of hound dogs,” “lots of labs,” mutts and all kinds of other dogs in the Love Us or Leave Us family, the owner said.
She is proud her business offers “a safe place for dogs to be while their owners work.” She is a dog lover, trainer (ABC certified) and owner.
The business’s website notes the following: “All our staff is pet first aid certified and are true dog lovers. Our main priority is insuring your dog’s safety and happiness, and our greatest reward is seeing our pack return excited to come in and play.”
Tired dog owners who work all day do not have to worry about picking up pets in need of exercise.
Dogs play hard during day
“We get photos of dogs passed out in the back seats of cars,” Ms. DeRagon chuckled. “The dogs keep themselves busy all day. We supervise. They run around and play, take naps and kind of do their own thing.”
There’s a big fenced-in yard at the facility, which is located on almost half an acre of land.
Most of the dogs at Love Us and Leave Us get along very well.
“They are used to playing and get along with other dogs,” Ms. DeRagon said.
“We don’t take aggressive dogs,” she said. Most of the dogs at the facility are happy-go-lucky. Some have a lot of energy.
If a dog turns out to be aggressive, he or she may be asked to leave the facility.
Love Us and Leave Us is set up like a big house, Ms. DeRagon said.
“All the dogs run around together,” she said. “They are free. They like hanging out and generally have a good time.”
If two dogs dislike each other, she said, they usually avoid each other.
Dogs fed separately
All of the dogs in care are fed separately. Some of the day care dogs and the puppies eat lunch. Overnight dogs get breakfast and dinner.
There is no crating at night. The dogs staying overnight sleep on couches or on dog beds set up for them.
“Wherever the human goes, that’s where the dogs go,” Ms. DeRagon said.
Because she loves dogs so much, Love Us and Leave Us has been a great fit for her, but there can be harrowing days in addition to pleasant ones.
Trouble on a hike
Once, when she organized a hike with a group of dogs, one of them broke away and ran into some woods.
“We heard him yip,” Ms. DeRagon said.
When the dog, whose name was Jupp, came back out, there was blood spurting out of an area above his foot.
The hiking party was a mile or two from the car so a jacket sleeve was wrapped around the wounded animal
A call to the Department of Conservation and Recreation was made and attendants responded immediately. A veterinarian was also called as well as the dog’s owners. Ms. DeRagon kept in constant contact with them to let them know what was happening.
Dog’s foot saved
Jupp was taken to Berkshire Veterinarian.
“They were amazing,” Ms. DeRagon said. “They took him into surgery. Three tendons and some blood vessels were injured.”
[media-credit id=3 align=”alignright” width=”275″]
[/media-credit]Thanks to all the care he got from the Love Us and Leave Us staff prior to being brought to the vet’s, his foot was saved.
“I was terrified,” Ms. DeRagon said, thinking back on that fateful day. “I was trained in pet first aid. It’s very unpredictable with animals.”
Ms. DeRagon’s boyfriend is one of the business’s dog walkers.
Check out the business’s website for payment rates.
Animals can become like children to devoted pet owners. It’s nice to know there’s a place like Love Us and Leave Us available where pets are cared for, kept as safe as possible and loved.
It’s their home away from home.
Posted by Susan M. Wicker Guerrero
on August 8, 2013. Filed under Community News,News.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
You can leave a response or trackback to this entry