From the moment you step inside this gorgeous 14,000-square-foot facility located in Everett, Massachusetts, it becomes obvious that there is nothing “common” about The Common Dog. Canine guests enjoy a unique 5,500-square-foot dog park with its exciting Splash Zone water features, their 43 bedrooms and suites, the many training programs and spa services—including canine massage therapy—and more.

In 1999, Laura Donnell met Chris Murphy, who owned The Common Dog. She completed an internship with him to become a dog trainer. Ms. Donnell became a part-time professional dog trainer for The Common Dog for several years, and throughout the following years, she stayed in touch with Chris Murphy. When the opportunity to purchase The Common Dog presented itself, Ms. Donnell knew that it was just what she had been looking for.

Laura had a “real” job in corporate America, but she found that it just wasn’t very fulfilling. “I’ve had dogs since the day I was born,” says Laura with a quick chuckle. “The corporate life just wasn’t for me. I needed a career where I loved what I did every day, and I love dogs!” On July 1, 2013, Laura became the official new owner of The Common Dog, and she couldn’t be happier with her choice.

“The Common Dog has a staff of 16, and we can accommodate about 120 dogs. We work as a team to operate all of our services seven days a week. We are open from 6:30 AM to 7:30 PM,” says Ms. Donnell. “We offer a multitude of services—a small retail area, daycare, boarding, full grooming services, training, canine massage, and our shuttle bus service.

“Training is my true passion,” shares Laura. “We are very focused on training. We call it our ‘Doggie University.’ Training brings out the confidence in dogs and helps them in every facet of their lives. We offer evening and weekend classes, in-home private training, daycare training, and our really popular Board & Train programs. When we train, we don’t just work with the dogs, we work with the owners, too.”

Overnight boarding at The Common Dog is not a typical chain-link run setup. Each dog is housed in a real room. Clients can choose from small, cozy bedrooms to large, luxurious suites.

Their expansive dog park is the highlight of every dog’s visit to The Common Dog. It is modeled after Boston Commons. The Splash Zone area of the park is really fun for the dogs. It’s a lot like a kid’s water park. The pool is king-size, but the water is only about three inches deep. It’s got lots of misting areas and water ports that shoot streams of water straight up and at different angles. The dogs love it! If you compare it to playing with your dog with a water hose, this park takes that to the level of Disneyworld.

There is a main park attendant and one staff attendant for every fifteen dogs. That assures that they are well-supervised at all times. The park is equipped with live webcams that allow the pet parents to watch their fur kids enjoy the park as they play with their doggy friends. In daycare, the dogs are separated by temperament and size. They often have groups for the “littles,” the “senior lounge,” and “romper room” puppies.

During the warmer months, they also have an outdoor area with trees and K-9 grass for the dogs to romp and sun themselves. The dog park is kept at about 70 degrees year round. They have a specially designed HVAC system for the park, which brings in air from the outside and puts it through a hospital-grade HEPA filter, and the air gets changed out every 15 minutes.

Another unique service that The Common Dog has offered since 1999 is their private shuttle bus service. “Traffic around the Boston area can be terrible,” says Ms. Donnell. “For our clients’ convenience, we have several stops in Charlestown and the Boston area where owners bring their pets to catch our shuttle. We decided to have pick-up points rather than door-to-door service,” says Laura, “because traveling to each pet’s house would increase the time the dogs were on the bus and decrease the time they have to play, socialize, and exercise at The Common Dog.”

The shuttle also picks up dogs for training, grooming, or overnight boarding. The pets sit on the bus in their individual seats, and they each wear a harness and a seatbelt. Heads really turn when people see The Common Dog Bus come past with the dogs sitting in their seats and happily looking out the windows—just like little kids headed to camp. At the end of their day, the happy, tuckered-out pups are returned to their waiting owners.

“Clients of The Common Dog can become members of our Gold or Silver Bone Clubs,” says Laura. “These are for clients that have dogs who come for daycare at least ten days a month. These memberships offer up to a 43% discount on daycare rates, a discount on boarding, and they also get priority reservations. About one half of our clients become members of the clubs,” Ms. Donnell continues. “It’s a win-win situation—they get a discount, and I know how to plan my staffing.”

As busy as she is, Laura Donnell has another fabulous project in the works…and it’s big—really big! Laura will be opening a satellite location of The Common Dog later this spring in a very unique location. “There is a new pet-friendly apartment complex being built, and The Common Dog will provide on-site daycare exclusively for the tenants of the complex,” shares an excited Laura. “Construction of the daycare is in the final stages of completion. We will also have shuttle service to our main location for anyone who wants training, grooming, or overnight boarding.” And just like their main location, there will be nothing “common” about it!

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