Step through the doors of Urban Dogz Inc. in Urbandale and you’ll dispel any notion that boarding kennels are little more than pet prisons.

The dogs stay in “suites” with beds and toys from home and are treated to several walks each day, a jungle gym, grooming, which includes manicures and pedicures, and plenty of grass and furry companions to create a wild game of chase. The “cattery” includes catwalks and ramps for feline visitors.

“Our goal was to make it as much like a living room as possible in order to reduce stress,” said owner D’Lynn Evers.

Evers is one of many business owners who have been able to profit from the willingness of many pet owners to pay significant amounts of money to have their pets cared for and pampered. Open the yellow pages and you’ll find a laundry list of day-care, boarding, gourmet food, photography and grooming businesses tailored to serve that special pet.

“Certainly I feel people are making their pets more a part of their family,” Evers said.

In addition to boarding, grooming (their facility is known as a “spa”), pet photography and obedience classes, Evers’ staff of 15 looks after as many as 20 dogs each day as part of “doggy day care” at the 6,000-square-foot complex.

“Day care is important because if people work long hours, the dog can get bored, which can lead to destructive behaviors,” said Evers, who said the industry has taken off across the country. “Here they can work on socialization and get worn out, so then the dog is ready to relax in the evening.”

So rather than spend 10 hours a day at home alone, the dogs can go for walks, play with bubbles and participate in a monthly craft activity. Last summer, staff members and the dogs collaborated to create garden stepping stones for their owners, complete with paw prints and their names. And there’s always a two-hour naptime in the middle of the day.

“If we skip naptime, by 3 or 4 in the afternoon, their personalities have completely changed,” Evers said.

Comforts of home

Jo Caddell has taken the pet-sitting business into clients’ homes, making daily visits to see some pets – anything from cats and dogs to hamsters and birds – while their owners are at work.

“It’s good for them because it’s familiar surroundings,” said Caddell, who started Best Friends Angels following her retirement. “A lot of them have been rescued and can’t be kenneled because it’s too traumatic.”

She visits about 15 or 16 homes almost daily and has many others she visits while the owners are on vacation. She has a collection of about 400 house keys, garage door openers and garage door entry codes to make sure she can make an emergency trip to check on Fido if a client is tied up at work or has to leave town in case of an emergency.

Caddell visits the pets, which she refers to as her clients, to feed them, give them medications and take them on walks, though “my knees tell me I’m taking too many walks.”

“I haven’t had a day off since I started (six years ago),” she said. “And I don’t care because I have fun doing it.”

In demand

Julie Riley-Glenn became a dog groomer nine years ago, primarily because of the job security. She said groomers are always in high demand because it’s a difficult job. She suffers from back pain, and others deal with carpal tunnel syndrome and the respiratory effects from inhaling pet dander.

But that hasn’t stopped her, because she’s a pet lover at heart.

She opened Shear Pawfection, a pet salon, in Valley Junction in November 2001, bringing with her several clients she had worked with in the past. She now has three file boxes filled with client information, and in April she will move next door into a space that is twice as big as her current facility, which will allow her to add staff and a do-it-yourself dog wash.

On top of the physical strains, dog groomers, or “pet stylists,” the term Riley-Glenn prefers, require a significant amount of equipment that is both durable and pricey. Each of her 17 pairs of grooming scissors cost as much as $375. She was able to use her equipment as collateral when applying for a loan for her new salon.

“I’ve got $25,000 just in equipment,” she said.

As a pet owner herself, Riley-Glenn understands that her clients want their pets to be treated like a member of the family, for better or worse.

“If you take your kid to day care and it bites another child, they’re going to tell you,” she said. “So if they’re dog is naughty, I’m going to tell them.”

Lifelong companions

As in life, many owners want to make sure their pets are well taken care of after they die. Jim Johnson, a retired contractor and owner of Lovingrest Funeral Home in Indianola, has dedicated four of his 37 acres for a pet cemetery, complete with caskets, headstones, cremation and memorial services.

“I’m certainly not making any money, but I get more sincere complements and appreciation from doing this than I ever did as a contractor,” he said.

Since opening in 1997, he has averaged about 45 to 50 burials annually, primarily cats and dogs, but also some rabbits and horses, and occasionally animals from Blank Park Zoo.

Most recently, Johnson handled the burial of Indah, an orangutan that was housed at the Great Ape Trust of Iowa in Des Moines. That one was particularly difficult.

“I shared the enthusiasm of bringing them in, and also the sadness of the loss,” he said.

Johnson said he is always mindful of pet owners’ emotions following a loss, as any funeral home would do with a traditional client. In addition to picking up an animal and doing the cremation, he sells caskets, urns and headstones and conducts memorial services free of charge, with Scripture readings, poems and a prayer of thanksgiving.

“The primary message that I try to return to those people is the years of companionship and pleasure and love,” he said.