Partly Cloudy, 77°
Weather sponsored by:

River City K9 boarding treats dogs ‘like our babies’

By Wesley LeBlanc Staff Writer
Posted 8/21/19

LAKE ASBURY – A new, family-owned and operated boarding facility for dogs recently opened on Russell Road.

Don and Traci Clark decided to open a canine daycare, overnight boarding, training and …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Don't have an ID?


Print subscribers

If you're a print subscriber, but do not yet have an online account, click here to create one.

Non-subscribers

Click here to see your options for subscribing.

Single day pass

You also have the option of purchasing 24 hours of access, for $1.00. Click here to purchase a single day pass.

River City K9 boarding treats dogs ‘like our babies’


Posted

LAKE ASBURY – A new, family-owned and operated boarding facility for dogs recently opened on Russell Road.

Don and Traci Clark decided to open a canine daycare, overnight boarding, training and grooming business next to their farm in the Lake Asbury area two and a half years ago. River City K9 opened its doors three months ago, and according to the owners, business is booming.

“We’ve been met with great success,” Don Clark said. “It’s actually overwhelming because we never expected it to take off like this.”

Clark said River City K9 is surrounded by other canine boarding facilities that are excellent so he’s happy to have the number of people that trusts him and his family with the care of their dogs. Clark’s daughter, Amber Martin, who is the facility manager, attributes River City K9’s success to its prices and cleanliness.

River City K9 is located at 2579 Russell Rd. and looks like an up-class barn. It’s mostly red accented by natural wood coloring. Despite lacking in building skills, Clark and his family and friends built it from scratch.

“We did all of this,” Clark said. “That’s why it took us two-and-a-half years to get it open.”

Dog boarding wasn’t entirely foreign to Clark. His wife’s son owns a kennel in Michigan. He also owned a kennel in Florida. Because he was in Michigan, he eventually closed the Florida location.

Clark said River City K9 is the spiritual successor to that as a lot of what he learned came from his wife’s son.

The Clarks own a farm next door and they have four dogs, chickens, goats, pigs, donkeys and rabbits.

“We’ve always been around animals,” Clark said.

Martin said one of her favorite aspects of River City K9 are the positive changes for the dogs. Because they board all breeds of dogs, each is exposed to as many as 20 other types of dogs. That allows dogs to have a unique socializing experience.

“We have owners who tell us their dog likes to stick to themselves and to their surprise, that dog will spend all of its time playing with the other dogs and us,” Martin said. “The dogs that come regularly get so excited when they get here that once we open the door, they just sprint in.”

River City K9 sees a lot of repeat business, especially with its daycare services. An owner can drop their dog off from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The day includes full supervision and outside play for just $19.

Martin and two other women that Clark jokingly calls his adopted children, Ashley Clark and Lindsey Leretsis, spend their day caring for the dogs while the owners are away.

River City K9 offers overnight boarding for $29 with discounts for additional dogs as long as they’re housed in the same kennel. The facility also offers grooming services ranging from a simple bath to haircuts and nail trimmings.

“We really do it all,” Leretsis said. “We just want the owners and the dogs to be happy after they use us.”

Traci Clark said she offers mobile services, too, where she’ll take their dog for a walk or give them a bath at their home.

Clark said they hope to have a veterinarian join their team soon so they can offer medical services.

“We take care of these dogs like they’re our own,” Clark said. “We treat them like our babies.”