Pet Services in Madison

With this package, registered pooches can enroll in any $85 weekly class; classes take place once a week for six weeks. Pre-requisites apply for intermediate and advanced classes, and aggressive dogs and barking cats are not permitted. Young canines get schooled on proper dog-park etiquette, including basic commands, loose-leash strolling, and social interaction, at the Positively Puppies class. For dogs more than five months old, the Manners for Life class effaces improper actions (jumping on people), and the Wallflower class pumps up social skills for shy breeds. Intimately sized classes guarantee ample attention. View a complete list of featured courses here.

The experienced, kind staff at The Pet School and Hotel comfort animal guests with private rooms, deft grooming, and training built around positive reinforcement. Each dog that vacations at the Pet Hotel lounges in 36 square feet of climate-controlled space and heads outside five to six times daily to play and practice poses for upcoming calendars. Cats frolic together in a spacious rec room filled with toys, hiding holes, and black holes to absorb their insatiable curiosity while birds nest at the private residence of the owner, who has more than 20 years of experience caring for exotic avians. Dedicated to canines and felines, the Pet Salon's groomers condition coats and skin with oatmeal, protein, and flea baths and specialize in the FURminator technique that clears out matted undercoats to reduce shedding.

Red Dog Pet Resort & Spa founder Ray Schneider understands why his clients would want to pamper their pups with massage and reiki sessions or warm-water swims. As he told Dan Monk of the Business Courier, "It’s a relationship that’s very hard to explain. When you have a dog, you can understand it.” The Blue Ash resident and entrepreneur created the sprawling, 25,000-square-foot pet hotel—and its second location in Boston—because he realizes the lengths to which people will go to care for their furry friends.

Swathed in upscale atmosphere, the spa is outfitted with all the comforts of home and more; after touring the facilities, Jeff Elkus of David's Voice said, "I wish the last resort I visited had half the amenities of Red Dog." Dogs can stay in private, themed boarding suites with flat-screen TVs and owner-monitored webcams. They exercise and socialize in climate- and airflow-controlled play areas, romp in a three-acre dog park, and don buoyancy vests to soothe achy joints in the heated aquatic center. The hotel also offers multilevel lodging for cats, as well as canine grooming and training services.

Schneider hired and trained a staff for around-the-clock supervision and care. Dogs who are aging, have health issues, or secretly write reviews for Frommer's get special attention in a room with a fireplace and stretch lounges.

Phyllis P. Allen and Victoria Martin have mad shampooing and blow-drying skills. But they aren’t working their magic on human heads. Instead, the owners of Pet Paw's have set out to prove that dog washing doesn’t have to be a pain, welcoming pet owners into a spacious grooming studio stocked with everything they need to get Fido clean quickly, calmly, and without cash bribes.

Each deluxe doggie bathing station features a raised tub that dogs can easily scramble into via a special staircase, and gentle restraints keep each pooch in a stable position during the duration of the scrub-down. Customers can don aprons to protect outfits from sudsy splashes, created from three varieties of natural earthbath shampoo blended with ingredients such as aloe and tea tree oil to leave coats fragrant and shiny. After the last rinse, towels and special air-blowers dry off fur, as special perfumes replace that wet-dog smell with something more snout friendly. Treats reward each well-behaved customer and the staff will clean up all the mess left behind, freeing each chic pup to focus on more important tasks such as showing off at the dog park or attending modeling go-sees.

The pet specialists at Pet Paw's can also help busy or apprehensive pet owners by giving dogs professional grooming services upon request.

Pam Graham's devotion to horses spans more than 30 years, of which she spent more than a decade as a full-time groomer for some of the nation's premier trainers. Leveraging her experience in breeding and foaling, Pam keeps horses in good health and fine spirits by caring for them in the familiar confines of their home stables. In addition to caring for the horses of other owners, she's lovingly maintained her herd for more than 20 human years, which translates to about 4 horse years or one one-thousandth of a horsefly year.

For grooming—a skill that Pam teaches on the side at her own clinics—she wields curry, mitt, and rake brushes, each of which contains bristles of a varied thickness to thoroughly soften and shine coats. And when she horse sits, Pam leaves her beauty kit at home and makes one or two visits each day to replenish food and water, deliver supplements, and perform a visual once-over before reporting to owners via phone or email.