Brr!

Another Chicago winter is setting in at Windy City! The weather may be bitterly cold outside, but that isn't stopping everybody from traveling for the holidays, so our rooms are filling up quickly! We'd like to remind you that if you plan to board your pet(s) over the holidays, please give us a call ASAP as we already have a waiting list in effect for some dates!

We've held several fun events at our center, namely our Responsible Dog Ownership Day and or Halloween Costume Spooktacular! We had fantastic turn-outs for both events, and we got lots of great photos! Stay tuned for slideshows from both! We'll also be adding photos and bios of our most recent Employees of the Month and Dogs of the Month!

And of course, coming up this Friday, December 14th is our annual Holiday Daycare Party! All the usual games, prizes, and costumes if you've got 'em! Woof!

Boo!

Autumn is upon us. The leaves are changing, the temperature is dropping, it's getting VERY windy, and Best Friends Windy City is decorating the center for Halloween! We're all so wild about the holidays, and so excited to "dress the center up" for the festivities! We're also planning our Halloween Spook-tacular daycare party, and a Halloween-themed meetup group!


The daycare party will be on Halloween, October 31st, and will feature costume contests, the ever-popular "bobbing for hot dogs" and other fun games! The meetup will happen at our center, 1628 N. Elston Ave., on Saturday, October 20, at 11:30 A.M. It will feature all the same stuff, and we expect it to run until about 12:30-ish. You see, we love dogs. That should be obvious. But maybe even more than we love dogs, we love dogs in costumes! So, please throw us a bone (pun intended!) and bring your dog in a costume (or not in a costume) to one or both of these events so that he or she can have a good time and maybe win some goodies! Thanks! For more information about the meetup, or to RSVP, please click here.

In other news, our Dog Day Festival was a success! Turn-out was great, and everybody had a good time! Lake Shore Animal Shelter brought some of their adoptable pets out to meet the crowds; Canine Good Citizen testing, training demonstrations and games were going on, and we got lots of photos! We'll be posting those within the next few days, so stay tuned!

Also within the next few days, we will add updates on our August Employee of the Month, our September and October Dogs of the Month, and some trainer biographies, so keep an eye out for those! Thanks!

Summer's almost over!

The past month or so has been a whirlwind of fun at Windy City! First things first - let's get caught up on some dogs of the month and employees of the month! For the month of July, our Employee of the Month was our Lead ACT, Dan! Dan's hometown is Chicago, and he has been working at Windy City for two years. He's got a cat named Brandy, and his favorite breed is the Shiba Inu. Congratulations, Dan! Our Dog of the Month for July was Ocala! She's a 10 year old lab/pit bull mix, and she has been coming to daycare at Windy City for several years! Some of her favorite things are her family, biscuits, belly rubs and puppies! She tries to act as "supervisor" for her play groups - always keeping a watchful eye on everybody else. (photo coming soon) For the month of August, our Employee of the Month was Mariel! Mariel is your happy blogmaster and a member of our Customer Service team! Her hometown is also Chicago, and she's been working at Windy City for nearly two years! She's got a dog named Pie 'oh' Pah, 6 cats (Nicky, Molly, Dice, Daphne, Ernest and Louis), and her favorite breed is the Chow Chow. Congratulations, Mariel! Last but definitely not least, our Dog of the Month for August was Jax! Jax is an 8 year old Border Collie mix, and he has also been coming to daycare at Windy City for a couple of years! Some of his favorite things are cuddling belly-up, being carried (it's not easy - he's not a small boy!), biscuits, and toys that "talk"! His vertical leap is intimidating, and he also knows how to open doors. Smart cookie! (photo soon)

In other news, we had a couple of important events! The first was Dog's Night Out, at the Galleria Marchetti on August 9th. Dog's Night Out was a black-tie event to benefit the Lake Shore Animal Shelter. There were dogs and fancy clothes and, of course, food galore! Our very own center manager, Bruce, assistant manager, Nicolette, and trainer Stacey Hawk were in attendance!

A couple of weeks later, Windy City hosted our Agility for Dummies event, right here in the main training ring! Agility trainer Stacey Hawk of Hawk City K9 showed everybody the ropes, and everybody had a fantastic time! We apologize - we weren't able to get many photos that were clear enough to post, and even the ones we have are sort of blurry. Everybody was running fast! (mouse over photo for caption)

We also celebrated some important birthdays since our last post! Daycare dogs Fergus C. and Grayson N. spent their special days here at Best Friends Windy City! Grayson's birthday came complete with a festive doggy cake by Galloping Gourmutts (we've gotta say - that cake was awesome)! We put on some party hats, ate some goodies and everybody had a great time! (photos soon)

While we're on the subject of daycare dogs, something a little more serious: The Best Friends Windy City staff is all pulling for Chloe G., as she is undergoing chemotherapy. Our thoughts are with her and her family at this tough time. She's a trooper, though - we all hope to see her back at daycare very soon!

Now, we'd like to announce our September event: our Dog Day Festival, a free event in observance of the American Kennel Club's Responsible Dog Ownership Day! This year's Dog Day Festival will be held right here at Best Friends Windy City, 1628 N. Elston Ave., on Saturday, September 29th from 11:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. Bring your dog - there will be plenty of doggy games, practice agility runs, and canine contests! Consult with our trainers for behavioral advice, get some information on pet health from Animal Medical Center, enter our raffle, and view some of Lake Shore Animal Shelter's adoptable dogs! Last year's event was big fun, so don't miss out! Please, feel free to call 773-384-5959 for more information!


Also, we'd like to mention that our October daycare party will, of course, be a Halloween-themed party! This year, the 31st falls on a Wednesday, so dress up your pooch, bring him or her to daycare and he or she can participate in our costume contest! See you there!

To wrap things up, we hope that everybody is making the most of the last days of summer! Oh, and all of our retail items, except for food and Frontline, are 50% off until September 26th! That means treats, beds, crates, toys, rawhides, leashes, collars and lots more are all 50% OFF!!! We are preparing to do inventory - we're offering huge deals on great stuff so that we don't have to count so many things!

Luau photos - finally!

We hope you enjoy them! There's a lot!

Also, Karma P.'s family was nice enough to send us some photos of Karma at home with her family. We think they're great photos, and we think it's a good idea! We're working on finding a good format for featuring these photos of our clients and their own families, so please bear with us! In the meantime, we've added Karma's photos to the slideshow at the top right hand corner of this page. If any of our clients would like to contribute a photo or two of their pet(s), those photos can be mailed to bfwcphotos@comcast.net! We can't promise every single one will get featured, but we will do our best!


News since last time... The weather is hot, the pool is open, it's prime vacation time and our new Vacation Villas are a hit! Our Chicago-themed Villas are as follows: The "Shed" (get it?) Aquarium Suite (with webcam!), The Harbor Suite, The Crosstown Classic Suite (that's Cubs VS. Sox, with webcam!), The Sports Lover's Suite, The Lincoln Park Zoo Suite, and the Navy Pier Suite. Reserve the Vacation Villa of your choice for your dog's next vacation!

We'd also like to remind everybody to please fill out and send in their consumer response cards - those are the teal cards attached to your dog's boarding report card! We're holding a random drawing of returned comment cards soon, and the person (and pet(s)!) whose card is drawn wins $20.00 off their next Best Friends Windy City product or service!

We hope everybody is having a great summer!

Luau!

Our luau-themed daycare party on Friday, July 13th was a blast! The weather was perfect - sunny, warm and perfect for hulas and swimming! Our wonderful staff decked out the center in beautiful flowered garlands and tiki decorations, and everbody got into the spirit of things with their leis and bandannas! Even some of our daycare dogs showed up in luau outfits! We had some contests, too! The Biggest Beach Bum award went to Kramer E.! The Most Festive Outfit award went to Gus A.! And our winners for the Hula Contest were: 1st Place - Molly L., 2nd Place - Zoey M., and 3rd Place - Harley M.! We got some great photos of staff and pets alike, too - a fun time was had by all! (Our luau photo slideshow will be posted shortly - sorry for the delay!)

This week was also a big week for new clients! The dog days of summer have brought us several happy new faces! We'd like you to meet:


Coco M. (pictured with our ACT Simon at the luau!)

Marcus E.

Chacha R.

And last, but definitely not least, Winston Churchill!

In other news - don't forget about Dog's Night Out, coming up on Thursday, August 9th! It's the place to be, and it's for a great cause!

Our Vacation Villas are now open! We're going to be working on the themed decor over the coming weeks, but our private rooms are now ready! Our Vacation Villas feature two rooms each, a raised bed for each villa, a TV for each villa, and two of the six villas even have webcams which are accessible online! Call our center at 773.384.5959 to book a vacation for your dog, or to get more information!
Photos soon!

We've posted a new Meetup through Meetup.com! If you'e already registered, please join our Windy City's Responsible Dog Owners Group, and RSVP to attend our Agility For Dummies meetup on Sunday, August 19th at 10:00 A.M., right here at our center! Stacey Hawk of Hawk City K9 will be hosting an agility into session, providing demonstrations, answering questions, and of course there will be a playgroup finale! If you haven't registered for Meetup.com, what are you waiting for? We do have a few requirements for all dogs attending the meetup:
* All Dogs must be reasonably well-socialized around people & with other dogs
* Proof of Dog's Current Vaccinations for Rabies, Distemper & Bordatella is required
* Bring Lots of soft treats and your dog's favorite tug toy/ball
* Bring a Hungry Dog on a Buckle Collar w/ a 4-6 ft. leash (no flexi-leads)
We'd love to see you and your dog(s) there!


Last, but not least, we're working hard on getting some photos of our center posted. We've done lots of remodeling recently and we're very eager to show it off! We're also going to change the slideshow on the right of the page, including some photos of some of our best doggie and kitty friends with their families, and creating our Employee of the Month feature as well. Stay tuned!

Pool party!

Big news! Yesterday, July 10, we opened our bone-shaped doggie pool for the summer! The social dogs really appreciated the opportunity to use the outdoor playpen and cool off in what has been affectionately dubbed the Super Happy Fun Time Doggy Pool (don't believe me? Come in and read a pool permission slip!). Some dogs, like Milo M., Gus A., Molly L. and Lucy S., went absolutely crazy over it, while others preferred just to tiptoe around it! It was big fun, and a big success. Here are a few photos from the first days - we'll post more as we take them!

Please click a thumbnail for a larger view.


Also big news - the webcams at Best Friends Windy City are now working! As of now, we've got two cameras in the training ring and one in the large playroom. When we open the Vacation Villas (which will be two-room private suites complete with raised beds, TVs, and *rumor has it*, themed decor!), a couple of those will have webcams as well! The cameras refresh every minute. To view them, visit this address: http://www.bestfriendspetcare.com/ctr_windy_city.cfm. Enjoy!


This week seems to be a very busy daycare week at Windy City! We've been joined this week by some friendly, furry faces we've missed, like Louie W., Henry H. (that's the Little Henry H.!), Livvie B., Santo S., Buster W. and Sam S. Our only daycare Old English Sheepdog, Chloe G., got a new summer haircut - shorter than ever! (we will get a photo of this, I promise!) We've also made a new friend! The folks we've come to know as Maaren B.'s family got a new puppy - an adorable Newfoundland named Fiona! Today was her first day at daycare, so we should have photos soon!

Beside that, we've got a few major changes to the blog as well! You'll notice on the right-hand side of the page, we now have a big link to a full schedule of our training classes, including class times, descriptions and prices! We're hoping to get a grooming section, a Dog of the Month section, a Featured Foster Dog section, and an Employee of the Month section up very soon! Stay tuned, and thanks for visiting!

Whew!

We've got some important things to announce!

First, we'd like to tell you about Dog's Night Out, an exciting social event for you and your dog, benefitting the Lake Shore Animal Shelter. It'll be a blast, and it happens on Thursday, August 9, 2007, from 6:00 - 11:00 P.M. Please click on the flyer below for more details!




Second, we'd like to announce our upcoming Doggy Daycare Luau/Beach Party! We'd love your favorite pooches to join us at Best Friends Windy City for the festivities on Friday, July 13th. Any dog who comes to daycare that day can participate, and beach/luau doggy outfits are not necessary but are, as always, strongly encouraged! There will be festive decorations, photos will be taken and posted, and there will be luau-themed doggy contests! Your best friend(s) wouldn't want to miss it!

Also, on Sunday, July 15th, our Windy City Responsible Dog Owners' Group will be having a meetup at Best Friends Windy city! This will also be lightly luau-themed. Bring your social dog (or dogs), and have a blast!




We're working hard to get all of the photos from past daycare parties uploaded and available online for your viewing pleasure! We have TONS of photos, so to avoid bogging down the blog with too many pictures, we'll post some of our favorites in slideshows and if they don't all fit, provide you with links to the albums containing the rest! Check back frequently - your dog may become a Best Friends celebrity!

Working backwards, let's start with our Cinco De Mayo Fiesta, from May 2007!

View All Cinco De Mayo Photos

Before that, we had the St. Patrick's Day party, complete with "Erin Go Bark" contest!

View All St. Patrick's Day Photos


Back in February, there was Valentine's Day, and puppy love was in the air!

View All Valentine's Day Photos!

And here's a few photos from our annual Halloween party, all the way back in 2005 (we're still working on scanning the 2006 photos - please bear with us!)!

We hope you've enjoyed these photos! Many, many more to come!