IF YOU GO

WHAT: Spoiled Rotten Pet Spa

WHERE: 3924 Saunders Settlement Road, Sanborn

SERVICES: Grooming and boarding for dogs and cats

CONTACT: 731-3379



Spoiled rotten pets?

This spa has toddler beds, toys and play yard



By Anne Calos

calosa@gnewspaper.com

Do you have a pampered pooch or finicky feline?

If they’re in need of a bath, haircut or pedicure, there’s a place that may be able to take care of all their needs. It even offers themed “motel” rooms if owners decide to take a trip without their furry friends.

Spoiled Rotten Pet Spa offers a full range of grooming and boarding options at its newly expanded Sanborn location.

Owner Kelly Ventry opened the “spa” at the end of October, although she’s been in the pet boarding and grooming business for about seven years.

The business is definitely a family affair. Ventry’s dad, David Ventry, did about 90 percent of the work of converting an old barn behind the house into what is now the spa, which boasts a reception and grooming area, a shower and “bathroom,” a kitchen area — where some of the dogs are able to socialize in a home-like setting — and 16 private themed “suites” featuring heated floors in the winter and air-conditioning in the summer.

The rooms also include toddler beds with blankets and pillows, raised food dishes, windows, toys and doggie doors that lead to outdoor runs that open to a large play yard. The cat suites offer a bed, window seat and toys.

“I wanted a home atmosphere for the dogs, so that’s what we went for. All the dogs get personal attention. We walk them daily and the ones that are social can come out into the kitchen and play with each other,” Ventry said.

Ventry gets a lot of help from husband Kris Furman, who does a little bit of everything but is the primary “blow dryer” at the establishment. Ventry’s sisters, Marni Amoretti and Nicole Henninger, help out, as does neighbor Aimee Jordan. And Ventry’s mom, Fran, will eventually be baking homemade doggie treats in the kitchen.

“I don’t want to hire anyone I don’t know. You have to be a little paranoid and picky. I have to make sure that everyone loves animals and can be trusted,” Ventry said.

All this help comes in handy, since Ventry works full-time as a business analyst at Meritain Health, a job she will eventually leave to give all her attention to the pet spa.

While the spa’s clientele is primarily made up of dogs — more than 90 percent — the spa does groom and board a fair amount of cats,. They even boarded a bird once.

“We kept the bird in our house, though. If we get really small dogs, I keep them in the house with us too,” Ventry said. She added that the spa would take other animals, if requested.

Rita Burns and Jack, her 3-year-old bichon frise, have been customers at the spa for a while now. Burns, as well as Jack, couldn’t be happier.

“They’re the best. Jack loves to go there. If I tell him in the morning he’s getting groomed, he can’t wait to leave the house,” Burns said.

Ventry and her husband have big plans for the spa. Ventry will soon be a certified obedience dog trainer and will run dog obedience classes on the second floor of the building. The large side yard is being fenced in and will be landscaped and turned into a park-like setting for the dogs. The runs are also getting roofs, so the dogs can enjoy the outdoors even if it’s raining or on hot, sunny days.

The spa will host an open house from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 10 and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 11 to show off new facility.