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Coming next month Good Dog will celebrate it’s 7th birthday! We first opened our doors on March 12th of 2005. Since then there have been many changes, new decor, new staff, and plenty of new dogs.  In fact we currently have around 10,000 clients in our system! We wanted to give a special shout out to three ( out of many) families who have been with us since the beginning!


Gracie and Gus Turner



The Turners started bringing Gracie here when she was just a puppy in 2005. Gracie is a little Goldendoodle who came from a breeder in Lexington Ky and was born the same day the Turners actually lost their Retriever Charlotte. Gracie ran the house (and daycare at Good Dog) until her brother Gus came along in 2009. Gus was rescued from Lexington Ky as well where his mother was overbred and not properly feeding Gus. You would never guess he had a rough past though since he is such a loving sweet boy!






You probably have seen plenty of pictures of them around on our Facebook page and our website. Both of them love getting their pictures taken and it often seems when they do something cute that they are just waiting for us to see them with the camera. They come in for daycare Monday through Friday and right when they get in they got to their favorite spots. Gracie loves to perch herself on top of the crate, occasionally allowing other dogs to come snuggle with her, Gus loves to lay in the corner where he can oversee all the dogs in the small area and the big area. Every Thursday the pups get a spa day, Gracie is always ready and willing for her bath walking right in to the grooming room and hopping up on the table sitting patiently. While Gus on the other hand runs past the grooming room hoping no one will notice him if he just shrinks down low. After some sweet talk though from Veronique his groomer he can’t resist and jumps right up on the table to give her some kisses.






The Turners love having a standing grooming appointment here since having two doodles can be a lot of work! They also love that the dogs can come and get their energy out when they are at work and when they come home they can all rest and enjoy the night.






Back at home these pups have a pretty exciting life! Gracie keeps watch on the house, while Gus bounds around showing everyone his athletic side. They love visiting the lake house at Lake Wawasee where Gus insists on getting his fair share of rides on the wave runner. Gus and Gracie are also very fond of car rides, especially if it means coming to play with their friends at daycare!






Now between the two of them they have been here over 1,400 times in the last 7 years! Given that information it’s easy to understand why the staff here considers them a part of our family! When they walk in the door they get the “Cheers” style greeting of Gus and Gracie!! We love snuggling up to Gus and laughing over Gracie’s stubborn ways. You will always hold a big spot in Good Dog’s heart!

We’re all about family here at Good Dog, so when one of our nearest and dearest makes a big career move, we like to celebrate it and spread the news. This year, one of our veteran front-desk staffers graduated from Carmel’s Animal Arts Academy and became the newest addition to our grooming team.

Veronique Brown — known around here as “V” — joined Good Dog in November 2009 and has worked the front desk since January 2010. V is fantastic with animals, but last year she decided to combine her love of dogs with her artistic side and enrolled in the academy, Indiana’s only state-accredited school for grooming. After lots of studying and training, she passed her courses with flying colors and started grooming part-time at Good Dog.

 

V quickly took to the trade and is now a full-timer. Considering the fantastic display of canines we see every day, she has already sharpened her skills on some intricate and unusual breeds, including Barrett the giant schnauzer (above). Her happiest moments are when a dog owner is pleased with her work, but she also loves seeing dogs in the bathtub – there’s something about a wet soapy pup that makes her smile.

 

The job did throw her a few surprises at first … one being the level of physical activity involved in each groom, another being the massive amount of trust required from the dogs (something V holds very dear). It’s not surprising when you consider the tools and noises involved in even the simplest haircut, so her goal is to build long-term relationships with her clients – that way, each time they visit, they become more and more comfortable with the process.

 

At home, V is the proud momma of Simba the pom and Nala the dach-pom mix, and wife to Kevin. Dogs have always been a permanent fixture in her life – one of her very first memories was being “kissed” by her family’s giant German Shepherd in her home country of Belgium. Like everyone else at Good Dog, she can’t imagine her life without dogs. She’s incredibly thankful she found the perfect career, and equally thankful for her trainers at the academy: certified master groomer Barb Ellery, her son Kevin Stewart and his wife, Kristie.

 

We’re so very proud of V’s newfound talent and feel lucky to have her as part of our family. You can take a look at some of her work below. And if you ever have any questions about grooming, feel free to call talk to any of our groomers the next time you’re in for a visit. Or you can call us at 317.255.2525 and we’ll do our best to chat with you about the fine art of dog grooming!

 

 

 


Since no one knows my real birthday, I have a Gotcha Day instead. It was the first day I arrived at Good Dog – Oct. 6, 2011, and I’ll never forget it for the rest of my life.

My road to happiness was anything but smooth. Homeless, scared and running the streets, I was hit by a speeding car that left me behind. With broken bones and a paralyzed backside, I cried for help – loud enough for a jogger to hear. A dog lover, she scooped me up, drove me to a vet and begged for help. After multiple surgeries, painful therapy and 30 days in the hospital, the vet thought I’d never walk again. No one claimed me, my rescuer already owned three pups, and no one seemed to know where I’d end up. But all of it was worth it because it brought me here.

Good Dog initially offered to rehabilitate me – the second best idea in the history of ideas. My instincts told me to greet every creature that walked through the door, but pain held me back. My back legs couldn’t muster the strength to move for weeks, but I still tried. With lots of help from my humans (and some amazing dogs), I gradually recovered. My walk is a bit crooked (and my run even more so), but I’m happy. After all those months, Good Dog decided I’d make the perfect house dog — the first best idea in the history of ideas.

This new life is nothing like my past. The days are filled with human love, doggie friendships and perks like you wouldn’t believe – like the biscuit jar that’s always full and fluffy hotel beds that are perfect for napping. Each day is an adventure I’m not afraid to tackle. I fearlessly play with the big dogs in daycare and volunteer my time in canine training class. Every Tuesday, the boss requests my stampe of approval at the manager’s meeting, where important business is conducted as I sleep on laps and beg for food.

All in all, my new home is the stuff of dreams. I love meeting and becoming friends with all of you, not to mention your pups and your little ones. Without a doubt, I’m the luckiest dog on earth.

We’re fortunate enough to have many spectacular “regulars” here at Good Dog, and it doesn’t take long before they become part of our family. Our employees’ spouses often hear funny stories about these dogs after coming home from work at night, and many of our frequent fliers have earned nicknames over the years. We even go through doggie withdrawal if they don’t visit us for a few days!



With so many magnificent dogs and amazing personalities, we decided to make an annual Good Dog Yearbook, showcasing various categories like “Class Clown” and “Big Man on Campus.” After much thought — and plenty of debate — we designated dogs in 22 hilarious categories. Hope you enjoy our first annual Good Dog Yearbook!



Most Likely To Rule the World: Brutus Truitt
Nominees: Hoss Stuart and Ezra Patterson


Most Likely to Destroy the World: Tilly Brockway

Nominees: Chloe Shreiner and Cooper Towns


Best Duo: Chewbacca and Leia Darwin
Nominees: Butch and Annie Noone, Romeo and Sugar Blair, Wally and Darwin Houchin


Funniest: Scout Cloud

Nominees: Gracie Moses and Sailor Williams


Class Clown: Chloe Shreiner
Nominees: Fletcher Faux


Biggest Crush: Mandy Lee-Sadler & Sammi Deloach

Nominees: Juice Leary & Chloe Shreiner


Most Likely to Win a Nobel Peace Prize: Brutus LaEace
Nominees: Millie Welch, Bailey Duginske, and Juice Leary


Most Likely to Become a Hollywood Star: Emma Early

Nominees: Kalibur Kressin, Zoey Oatts, and Dexter Wallace


Teachers’ Pet: Sisi Young

Nominees: Lily Tully, Scout Faux, Gracie Moses


Best Bark: Monty Remen-Schneider

Nominees: Chewbacca Darwin, Rambo Dietzel, and Lana Labita


Best Hair: Dexter Wallace

Nominees: Chewbacca Darwin, Romeo Blair, Emmy Mazza and Penny Lane Meyer


Best Dressed: Cooper Baumgarder

Nominees: Willow Pachon and Pineapple Wilson


Most Laid Back: Juice Leary

Nominees: Martha Ball, Zoey Oatts, Rags Middleton and Buddy Young


Good Dog Spirit: Charly Harmeson

Nominees: Snickers Rothstein, Izzy Davidson, and Gigi Dorocke


Stomach of Steel: Clyde Towns



Most Likely to Fall Asleep at a Party: Hawkeye Byers



Best Smile: Gracie Moses



Prettiest Eyes: Emmy Mazza



Big Man on Campus: Rambo Dietzel

Nominees: Cooper O’Donnel and Oliver Lagrotte


Prom Queen: Millie Welch

Nominees: Gracie Moses and Emma Early


Prom King: Cooper O’Donnel
Nominees: Hawkeye Byers, Sailor Williams, and Buddy Young


Prom Prince and Prom Princess: Gus and Gracie Turner

Princess Nominees: Martha Ball, Lily Tully, and Annie Noone


Prince Nominees: Milo McKinley,Ezra Patterson, Scout Cloud, and Butch Noone


Class Presidents: Soldier and Oliver Lagrotte

Nominees: Luke Skelton, Bob, Kevin, and Teddy Sondhaus, Ike Blum


It was the perfect nap for dreaming … a snooze so long I had time to fantasize about everything my little doggie mind could imagine. In one dream, I was frolicking in a field. In another I was eating a steak dinner. In my favorite, I got braces to fix my underbite. But as happy as my dreams were, my pain was equally awful when the nap ended.

If memory serves, I woke up at the doctor’s office in a tiny crate, but the lack of space didn’t matter. I hurt so much that I couldn’t move an inch. My medicine-induced snooze ended with a jolt back to reality and painful memories of getting hit by a car. The doctor said I had a bad hip fracture – bad enough that he insisted I stay with him for a month. It would take that long for him to manage my pain and get me up and running again.

And let me tell you, it wasn’t easy. The pain was paralyzing, so everything was difficult: eating, scratching, going potty, even sleeping. I made a habit of crying for attention here and there, which I’m pretty darn good at. The highlight of my days, however, was my human visitor. Her name was Jennifer, and she was the one who rescued me from the street. My recovery would’ve been much harder without her.

Getting back on my feet seemed to take eons. When Jennifer finally picked me up from the doctor’s office, my front paws worked well enough to drag my body around, but the back side of me was still immobile. Nonetheless, I couldn’t have been happier to take a ride in her car. Our trip seemed to last forever but was totally worth it — our final destination was a brick building filled with lots of people and even more dogs.

I immediately felt at home and plopped myself behind a big desk, where people started waiting on me hand and foot. And the best part? Happy dogs came in and out of this building all day long. It took me a while, but I finally realized I was at a doggie hotel — a magical place where I was always meeting new friends.

Even though it was painful, I got up everyday to greet dogs, test out their big fluffy beds when they weren’t looking, and get treats and attention from people. Honestly, it felt like I won the lottery and I never wanted it to end. All I knew was that I loved this place, and the people seemed to love me, so I took things day by day and just hoped everything would work out for the best.

To be continued next week …

Hi! My name is Tiki, and I just started working at the Good Dog front desk. I’ve probably greeted you or your dog at the door in the last few months, and you might have noticed my underbite from the street. This is the story of how I became part of the Good Dog family.






Being a tiny dog hit by a big car was pretty scary. I’d never been afraid of cars before because I never had a reason to be. In fact, I still love to hop inside them and go for a ride. My life before my accident was pretty normal … I was a dog with a home, and I had everything I needed: food and people. (People are my favorite thing in the whole world — I love their attention. If I don’t get enough, I cry for more.) Anyway, my life was good, and I tried every day to be a very good dog.



But something happened. I somehow got lost from my home, and I couldn’t find my way back. I was lonely, scared and hungry, and all I could do was run. Running didn’t seem to help, but I kept doing it — I was hoping it would take me somewhere with food and people. I was running in the street when it happened: A big fast car struck the back side of my body.



I couldn’t move; all I could do was cry out in pain. With all my might I yelled for help, but the car kept moving and no one stopped to get out. Someone upstairs must have been watching out for me though, because a nice lady just happened to see my accident. She hopped out of her car and ran toward me, and I knew right away she was going to help. When she knelt down next to me in the street, I looked up at her with my big brown eyes and cried some more, while she whispered that everything would be OK.



She scooped me up. It hurt and I screamed, but she kept trying until she was able to put me into her car. We drove as fast as possible to the closest doctor’s office she could find. Getting out of the car was as painful as getting in, but I tried to be brave so she could carry me inside. When we met the doctor, everyone began frantically talking about my accident, and my person asked the doctor for help. She explained she didn’t have a lot of money to pay my hospital bills, but she wanted to do everything she could to keep me alive. That’s when another lady in the background interrupted and said she’d take care of everything. Like I said, someone must have been looking out for me that day.



The doctor and his helpers took me to a room with a lot of instruments, and everyone started poking and prodding at me. Even though every touch was painful, I trusted them. After all that time being lost and alone, I finally found people who wanted to help me and I didn’t want to disappoint them. Before I knew it, the doctor said my hip was fractured and gave me something that made me feel a little better (but also very, very sleepy). That’s when I feel asleep and took the longest nap I’ve even taken.



To be continued next week…

Meet Palin!





Some of you may already know a bit about Palin. Palin is a beautiful Pit Bull Mix who belongs to our trainer Adam Moos. He got her back in February 2009 and since then she has lived happily at their home with her brother Frankie a Doberman and her sister Prairie a Golden Retriever. “The Three Musketeers!”


One day back in April, Palin managed to jump the fence in their backyard and escaped. She wanted to go hang out with all the other dogs she always heard barking on the other side of the fence. Adam and his fiance Erika went on a desperate man hunt quickly looking all over the neighborhood and recruiting friends to help in the search. A couple hours went by and still no Palin, that’s when they started making some phone calls to animal shelters and printing out as many posters as possible. Some of you may remember her picture that Good Dog had up on our front doors and the banner that was out on the Monon. Days went by and many visits were made to the shelters looking for that pretty Pit Bull with the under bite, but they had no luck. We all decided to just believe that some good family found her, and swooped up this well trained sweet puppy to take care of and love.


It wasn’t until a few months ago back in June that another Pit Bull puppy came to Good Dog in search of a new home. Her name was Lilly-Pad and she reminded Adam of his Palin. It took awhile before he made the decision to bring her home. She fit in so well with the family that Adam decided to keep her. They were again a three dog family!


It was this past Thursday that the unthinkable happened. Adam was home sitting on his couch and heard a familiar bark at the front door. When he got up and checked there was Palin!! He opened the door and she ran right in and started playing right away with her old pals. Adam was in disbelief and checked her under bite to see if it was possible that this could be his long lost dog. Palin was a bit chunkier but other than that, well taken care of and groomed. She still knew all her old tricks including how to jump right up her dad and into his arms. She responded to her name, knew her friends, and knew her way around the house. Since then, she has been getting along just as normal. She was almost as excited to get back to Good Dog and see everyone as we were to see her!


Now, they are a happy four dog family! Adam may not have wanted so many dogs, but there is no way to deny how everyone has their place in the household. If anyone could handle that many dogs, it would be our very talented dog trainer Mr. Moos! Welcome back Palin, we all missed you!




We here at Good Dog are always pretty proud of our staff, but as of late, we’ve been beaming with more pride than usual. If you haven’t already met our own Lucas McCabe, you’ve probably seen his long, curly blonde hair from a mile away. Lucas has been taking care of our hotel dogs for almost six years now, and he most recently has been promoted to the Good Dog front desk. While we’re super proud of the work he does here, it’s not the whole reason we love him.

Lately, Lucas has been competing in various races throughout Indy, and he’s been blazing trails and winning like crazy. On October 29th, Lucas took first place (yes, first place!) in the Indianapolis Half Marathon (13.1 miles), with a time of 1:17:04. Not long after, he competed in the Monumental Marathon (26.2 miles), where he placed 19th overall and 3rd in his age division! His time in the Monumental was an impressive 2:40:54. If you saw a few Good Dog staffers on the sidelines that day, they were there cheering for Lucas. We couldn’t be more proud of the work he does – at Good Dog and on the running trail – and we feel lucky to have him as part of our Good Dog family. Congrats, Lucas!!!

Hi Everyone!!
My name is Gunner!

I’m a black Lab mix and I’m almost 3 1/2 years old! I’ve been coming to Good Dog Hotel & Spa since December of 2010 and I love it here!!


A day in my life at Good Dog, usually starts with a couple of hours in one of their luxurious suites. When I get here in the morning, I prefer to take a nap before the day’s events.


Then, my best friend Adam takes me out on the Monon Trail for a long and vigorous walk! During that walk, he teaches me how to walk on a lead properly, coaches me on how to behave around other dogs, reminds me how to sit and lay down, and all kinds of other cool tricks that I dog like me should know!!


I LOVE training with Adam!! He taught me how to be a “Gentleman Dog”and also taught my mommy how she can help me be a “Good Dog”. The staff here at Good Dog says that in all the time that I’ve trained with him, I’ve become a well-behaved and polite dog!


When Adam and I get back from our walk, I get to go play in daycare with all the other dogs!! I do best playing with the dogs in the afternoon after a vigorous walk. Even though I spent a lot of energy on my walk, I still have just enough to hang out with my friends. My best friend is Frankie, he’s a Doberman. Frankie and I play and hang out like boys do! I also like Juice; he’s a Black Lab like me, some say we almost look like twins!


That’s all for now!
Come meet Adam and I at Good Dog, we’d be happy to teach you some trick too!!
🙂

Meet Cooper & Cherie!!


Hi everyone!!! My name is Cooper Alegre!!



I’m a handsome Maltese-Yorkie mix and I’m just a little over 1 year old!! I’m a veteran at Good Dog Hotel & Spa, I’ve been staying in their luxurious hotel since I was just a tiny baby. My mommy also took me to the Training Academy here at Good Dog with their amazing trainer, Adam Moos. So not only am I a handsome little man, but I also know how to listen and be obedient!!! The staff at Good Dog fell in love with me INSTANTLY when they met me last summer!! I was just a tiny fluffy little man!!


Talking about cute & tiny babies… Let me introduce to you my brand new baby-sister: CHERIE!!!!

Cherie was born just 2 months ago and when my mommy brought her home, we became instant best friends!!!

This past week, Cherie & I have been staying at Good Dog Hotel and I’ve been a very good big brother to her! It’s Cherie’s very first stay here at the hotel, so I’ve been showing her the ropes!! Our mommy brought us two beds to sleep in, but we’ve been cuddling up together in just one bed, it keeps us warm and we like to keep each other company!!
🙂


And guess what?!?!?!?? The staff here fell in love all over again with my super cute tiny baby sister !!! During this past week, many of the staff members have brought us up to the front-desk to play with us and to take cute pictures of us!! Everyone just loves us so much; we’re very spoiled here, as we should be!
🙂


My baby sister will also get her very first professional bath this week before we go home!! I’ve already told her that it will all be okay!! Baths are a little scary the first time but I’m convinced that when she realizes how clean and pretty she’ll feel she’ll love it just as much as I do!!


Okay folks!! That’s all for now! Come see me at Good Dog Hotel, we love to be cuddled!!