• Footscray, Yarraville, Braybrook Star

By Charlene Gatt

9th March 2010 11:05:38 AM

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Pampered puppies … Dog Central trainee manager Emmelyn gives dog Cooper a rub down at the Yarraville Dog Day Care Centre. 43724 Picture: SARAH MATRAY

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THIS is childcare, doggy style.

At Yarraville’s Dog Day Care Centre, pampered pooches are the charges, and constant walks, grooming, playtime and even days at the beach ensure that every dog has its day.

The centre can hold 35 dogs a day, plus five for grooming. All dogs receive a daily report card that keeps owners updated on what dogs their dog has made friends with, any health concerns and its overall behaviour. The business is also unique in that it was designed to provide employment for people with anxiety, depression and a range of intellectual and physical disabilities. “Dogs don’t judge people,” owner Chelie Jones said.

“The dogs bring them out of their shells and make them happier people. It’s a win-win situation.”

Ms Jones set up the business in 2007 and has since opened up a North Melbourne premises. A Brunswick day care centre is also in the pipeline, and Ms Jones ultimately hopes to have six around inner Melbourne.

“It’s not a new concept to Australia, but it’s new enough for people to go ‘are you joking?’” she said.

Ms Jones, who had held jobs at Guide Dogs WA and the Association for the Blind, first came across the concept years ago in San Francisco and said it had been a lightbulb moment. “I went ‘hey, I could actually do that; I have the skills,’” she said. But it wasn’t until she was fed up with retirement – after only six months – that she turned the idea into her own business.

Ms Jones said about 70 per cent of the clientele use the day care centre to drop their pooches off for the day, with about 30 per cent booked in for sleep-overs.

She said the centre suited corporate types that liked to spoil their dogs, but didn’t have the time to walk them and pay them the attention they needed.

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