…named Winnie the Pooh.  I had a beloved Chow Chow named Winnie who passed away a few years ago.  Winnie and I went everywhere and did everything together.  She may not have always agreed with my decisions, but she supported every one of them.  Over the years, our family grew.  Winnie was by my side helping raise two sons (Noah and Max) and while I became a foster parent and adopted my daughter, Ana.  Winnie and I adopted dogs (my dog family now includes a Belgian Malinois – Rumble, a Labrador Retriever Mix – Magic, a Miniature Poodle – Quinn, a Puggle – Bumble and our most recent family additions a Pitbull from the Newton Humane Society – Tank and an adopted Labrador Retriever puppy named Hunny), cats (our cat family includes two rescued cats – Minty Dobbie and Meowi Kazowi) and various small mammals and reptiles and birds into our family.  I also got tied up in the rat race running veterinary practices and human medical practices.

Winnie passed away at the age of 12 1/2 in 2015.  She helped me raise our family (human and pet), brought me joy every day, reminded me to play, reminded me that family always comes first and loved all of us every day, no matter what.  She is with me every day and she would have loved to have been an ambassador at Dogwood along with Noah, Max, Ana, Rumble, Bumble, Magic, Quinn, Tank, Hunny, Meowi and Minty.

It’s always been my dream to own a boarding kennel.  I found Dogwood Kennels for sale early in 2017.  We all came for a visit and fell in love with the kennel and the team who works here.  We also fell in love with Dogwood’s amazing clients and their furry family members, North Carolina, Catawba, and all of the wonderful people who live here.  I jumped at the opportunity to own Dogwood Kennels.

I have always said that the only way I would own a kennel would be if I was able to take care of the boarding guests the exact same way I would take care of my own pets if they were boarding in my kennel.  I’ve designed Dogwood Kennels so that we can take exceptional care of your pets.  We treat each of our boarding guests the same way we treat our own pets.

We use only positive reinforcement with our daycare and boarding guests.  We maintain a positive environment where we ensure that we do not scare any of our boarding guests.  By using only positive reinforcement, we ensure that our guests enjoy coming to Dogwood and we reduce our guests’ stress.  Our clients regularly tell us that their dogs jump out of their cars and run to our play yards to be with our care team and all of their friends without ever looking back because they enjoy staying with us so much.  It makes my day every time I hear it!

I have never liked the idea of indoor/outdoor kennels.  They make dogs feel isolated because they don’t get to interact with other dogs or their caretakers for any amount of time.  Lack of contact with other dogs and caretakers causes stress for dogs.  Our boarding guests interact with our care team and other dogs throughout the day.  We would want our own dogs to have that interaction if we were boarding them, so we make sure that every one of our boarders has lots of interaction and enrichment every day.  At the end of the day, our boarders are tired, satisfied, happy and fall asleep contented.  We will never charge additional fees to love and take care of your pets.  Outdoor play time, walks, interaction with our care takers, giving treats and medication dosing for boarders that need it are all included in our pricing for all of our boarders and daycare guests.

Our kennels are indoor kennels.  Our boarding and daycare dogs are outside playing in the fresh air throughout the day.  Daycare and boarding dog guests who are dog friendly thrive in play groups interacting with same size dogs and our care team.  Daycare and boarding dogs who are not dog friendly are outside playing and interacting with our care team throughout the day.  We have enrichment activities for all of our dogs to ensure that they remain stress free and enjoy their stays.  Our boarding cat guests interact with our care team throughout the day.  We use enrichment activities to ensure they remain stress free and enjoy their stays.  We groom dogs using positive reinforcement and we use minimal restraint techniques.  This minimizes stress for our grooming guests and ensures a positive experience for every guest each time we groom him or her.  We use advanced, science based, behavior techniques throughout our kennel.  We are always positive and encouraging with all of our guests to ensure they are happy, comfortable and stress free.

We feed our boarders the same food and snacks that they eat at home per their pet parents instructions (we request pet parents bring food from home when their dog and cat family members stay with us).  This ensures that our boarding guests’ bellies don’t get upset, our guests are comfortable at meal time and it helps us maintain a low stress environment. 

Our team and I look forward to meeting you.  Please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have and please contact us to schedule an appointment or stop by to meet us and take a tour of our facility.

I am a trainer and behaviorist.  I do all types of training from obedience to behavior modification.  My passion is helping dogs who have severe behavior issues.  Some of my happiest days are when I can help dogs avoid surrender to a shelter by modifying their negative behaviors.  If you would like to read more about my training philosophy and how I can help you with any behavior issues your dog may have, please click on the link below.

Training and Behavior Consultation

We believe in giving back to the community.  We work to help rescue dogs, cats and birds throughout our community.  If you would like to learn more about our work and how you can help, please click the link below.

Helping Rescue Pets in Our Community

~Robert Miller