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A former Lexington tobacco warehouse on Angliana Avenue has gone to the dogs in surprising way. Most of the building is now home to Uptown Hounds, a full-service resort hotel for canines. Far beyond basic daycare and overnight boarding, it has all the comforts of an upscale home, including individual room webcams so owners can see and hear how the guest is doing.

The resort features a saltwater swimming pool showered by flowing fountains designed for dogs. There is an indoor training arena. There is full-service grooming with the latest in bathing, clipping and brushout stations. There are private outdoor runs, a play-exercise yard where staff will engage in guests’ individualized favorite games and a sodded indoor space to perform essential duties when the weather’s ruff – er, rough. There’s a café for humans and their “best friends.” And if customers can think of anything else they’d like, there’s professional concierge service.

Founded by Lexington native, Steve Robinson, 50, the concept of a luxury resort for pets took 18 months to develop. He’s a successful businessman who took over a family body shop operation in his 20s, expanded and sold several years ago. After spending time traveling with his wife, Robinson was looking for a new venture when a friend suggested a kennel. He researched and began crunching the numbers, and spotted a big business opportunity.

The pet industry is skyrocketing. Some 71 million U.S. households (63 percent) now own at least one pet, up from 64 million just five years ago. Americans own 74.8 million dogs and pet care is second only to consumer electronics as the fastest-growing U.S. retail category – rising 6 percent a year with expectations of topping $43 billion in 2008. 

Annually, an average $453 is spent on surgical vet visits for a dog, $217 on food, $255 on kennel boarding, $219 on routine vet visits, $127 on grooming, $77 on vitamins, $66 on treats and $41 on toys. Robinson believes the pet industry is important and growing so fast because people perceive pets as part of the family – 93 percent of owners do.  “Pets are family members, and they are a close-knit group,” said Robinson. Most live indoors and are regarded virtually as sons and daughters. “The dog on the chain in the backyard is way gone,” said Robinson.
 
Robinson is a longtime pet lover. He grew up around horses on a farm in Lexington and raises white German Shepherds. “I grew up with every type of pet you could imagine,” said Robinson. He has experience dealing with training, boarding and grooming facilities, but noticed that none encompass it all.

“I saw tons of nice places, but nobody had the whole package,” said Robinson, “I wanted to bring it all together and create a family-friendly atmosphere, a place for people to get together to talk at the café after training.” Robinson wanted to create one facility that takes care of all needs of a pet owner, but more importantly a place that creates a bond in the community among pet owners.

He also thinks it’s crucial to create a calm, comfortable environment for pets. When Robinson undertook market research in 2006 on the feasibility of starting his company, he looked at pet care locations all over the country. He often saw stressed animals. As a result, he produced a business plan to target pet owners who believe their pets deserve not just quality care but a calming atmosphere when they can’t be at home. He decided to create a “home-feel” resort. 

“I want clients to leave saying, ‘My dog looks good. He’s happy,’ and for everything that they associate as bad with kennel care not to occur,” said Robinson. All Uptown Hounds staff members are level 1 pet care certified by the Pet Care Services Association, ensuring professional care. “I want people to say ‘That’s a nice building,’ but I want them to be more impressed with the care and staff.”

Uptown Hounds is decorated with marble and granite as well as porcelain tile floors and specialty rubber flooring for pets’ paws. Materials were chosen to control moisture and ensure cleanliness. The climate control design prevents cross-contamination and a specialized wet-vacuum system cleans, disinfects and deodorizes for facility comfort and health.

The 8,000 s.f. indoor training arena and 12,000 s.f. outdoor lawn are designed for exercise and comfort needs. Rooms include beds with luxury sheets, satellite televisions, couches and food dishes, and are enclosed by walls, not fencing, just like at home.  Perhaps most fascinating of all is the video conferencing service offered so owners and pets can see and hear each other – when one-way webcam visits just aren’t enough. Barcoded identification collars each guest wears during their stay help owners rest assured pets are safe and secure. Before bed each night, pets are visited with a pat and light treat with the aim that each is calm and feels loved. 

Uptown Hounds offers day care for pets with working owners, training to heighten obedience, a puppy program for young dogs to start learning and gain experience, a salon for grooming and pampering, a boutique selling retail and accessories and a café with a menu for humans and one for pets, who are served on an outdoor patio.  The saltwater pool is clearly a winner, designed specifically for dogs with a step-ledge all the way around for safety and fountains shooting across the middle and up at both ends.

While some may quibble with such luxuries for pets, Robinson argues his resort is no different from the home environment. Rooms with couch, TV, bed, food and art on the walls are the same as owners’ living rooms.

“The resort uses the right and necessary products to create a safe, clean, germ-free environment and make it look nice and reduce stress among pets,” said Robinson.  He researched why pets stress and the problems boarding facilities have.  “I talked to vets and people in the pet industry trying to find out why even though the people who work at these facilities have the best of intentions, the pets are still stressed,” said Robinson. His conclusion is that the way pets perceive what they are involved in is most important in keeping them calm. That’s why Uptown Hounds has no chain link fence inside and gives each pet privacy. The resort is designed to look like home so the pets feel comfortable and safe.  After being open for only a month, Robinson was amazed to see how calm the pets were and how seldom there was barking.  He even uses classical music to help settle and quiet the pets and it works. 

Robinson thinks there could be a misconception that because the facility is so nice, prices are high. He said his resort’s fees are on par with market prices. “People have money and love to give, and they spend their money on what they love,” said Robinson.

While there are places like Red Dog in Cincinnati and Wags in San Francisco, there are no hotel-based luxury resort facilities in Lexington and he said he has found none anywhere with the range of related services as Uptown Hounds. 
“I can’t find another place with training, a salon, a café and retail,” said Robinson, suggesting that he expects add even more to the resort. “Imagination is the only thing that will hold us back.”

Already Robinson is thinking about franchising and said he has had more than one inquiry from people interested in taking the concept to other cities. But first, he must fully launch the mothership. “The key to succeeding with Uptown Hounds will be quality service,” said Robinson. 

“I believe the trend that is beginning is going to continue and grow,” said Robinson. “I foresee expansion in the (pet) health industry and see all boarding facilities going into this type of facility that fits with the natural surrounding that pets are used to.” He imagines that the pet industry will divide into three sections: veterinarians, comprehensive service facilities like Uptown Hounds and retail. With 77 percent of dogs being medicated in the past year, up 20 percentage points from 1996, spending on health care for pets is expected to hit $20 billion, with expenses on food hitting $17 billion and spending on pet services like grooming and boarding hitting $3 billion.  “The pet industry is a growing industry with more and more interest,” said Robinson. “It’s a family- friendly and clean and safe industry that has a real future of growth.”