to the owners, it’s a safe, clean, happy place to take their pets for daycare or to board – but for the cats and dogs – Pet Camp is the place where they can live out their playtime dreams and wildest fantasies!

When you enter either of the Pet Camp locations in San Francisco, California, you step into a world ‘where pets do what pets love.’

“What differentiates us from any other facility is that we designed Pet Camp for the dogs and cats,” says Mark Klaiman, Senior Counselor at Pet Camp. “Whether it be the massive outdoor space we have for the dogs, the Safari Solarium for the cats, our HVAC system that moves the air every 4½ minutes, or all the activities that they can participate in– everything was designed and constructed for the pets we care for.”

When Camp Director Virginia Donohue and Mark Klaiman opened Pet Camp in May of 1997, they had some really unique ideas.

“We wanted to create a daycare and staycare facility that was filled with fun and safe activities for all the pets in our care,” said Virginia and Mark. “And, we were committed to making Pet Camp a ‘green’ business.”

When Pet Camp opened its first location, they offered overnight boarding only. The main campus had enough ‘campsites’ to house 160 dogs and 24 cats.

Soon, Virginia and Mark’s unique ideas started to become reality. They were the first facility in their area to offer doggie daycare that had divided playgroups. The dogs could be separated based on their size, age, and temperament. With over 13,000 square feet of outdoor space, Pet Camp’s Savannah Back Country Adventure is the largest dog park in the entire city. This awesome experience is available to their overnight guests, as well as their daycare dogs.

The dogs can explore all day through the trees, over the bridges, climb mountains built of sand, play in kiddie pools, and much more. It’s a safe, fun environment for them, and the owners don’t have to worry about their dog meeting an unfriendly dog or running into traffic and other things that can happen at unsupervised dog parks. It’s a lot like a doggie social hour that can last all day.

Pet Camp also offers individual playtime or VIP one-on-one sessions with a camp counselor for pets who don’t do well with other dogs, or who just want some extra TLC or pampering. And pampering is something that all the pets at Pet Camp get plenty of. They get home-made treats like busy bones and pupsicles (yogurt, peanut butter, honey and banana mixture frozen in a wafer cone), and the ingredients change for the season and during the different holidays.

Pet Camp has its own indoor heated swimming pool that is designed specifically for dogs. It has access ramps for the dogs to enter and exit the pool, and it is equipped with variable speed water jets. Because they are in an area that is prone to earthquakes, the pool had to be custom installed in a bed of sand. Then, if there is an earthquake, the pool just shifts a little bit in the sand but suffers no damage.

Pet Camp’s second location is for cats only. Many boarding facilities do not cater to the special interests that cats have, but at Pet Camp, their feline campers can live out their wildest fantasies.

At this location, up to sixty cats can stay in their custom made condos or suites with sneeze-proof doors. The rooms all have huge windows with wide sills so that the cats can look out at the beautiful landscaping and the birds that flock around the many birdfeeders. The cats are fascinated by the large tower aquariums filled with colorful tropical fish.

“In San Francisco most cats must be kept indoors for their safety, but we all know that they want to be outdoors,” says Virginia. “At Pet Camp we have created the Cat Safari experience. Felines can explore the great outdoors and still be in a safe and secure environment. We have a rule of ‘two doors between a cat and the real world,’ and we designed everything with that rule in mind.”

Attached to the cattery is a fully landscaped (with non-toxic plants, of course) glass enclosed greenhouse. The Cat Safari area has bamboo bridges and lots of trees for the cats to climb and enjoy. Within the lush greenery are two aviaries filled with birds. There is a fountain with water cascading down and mobiles with mirrors – when the wind moves them, the sun makes dancing lights all over. The cats have the freedom to climb, explore nature, and enjoy the great outdoors to their heart’s content. The Cat Safari Experience has become so popular that some owners bring their cats in to celebrate their birthdays or when they want to give them a special treat.

The Pet Camp website, www.petcamp.com, has brought them a lot of new clients. It has videos and drop down menus that explain all of the activities and services that they offer, and tells about the facility and the philosophy that Virginia and Mark have that encouraged them in their unique approach to create these amazing facilities.

The website links both of their locations together. The client records and information for any pet can be accessed at either location. A really unique feature of the website that clients love is that the pages will load and re-size automatically whether you view them from a desktop, tablet, or Smartphone – and they can even make their pet’s reservations online.

They publish a monthly newsletter and announce special events to their clients by email. Every day they post lots and lots of Camper Cameos (photos of the dogs and cats enjoying their day at Pet Camp).

Pet Camp has always been very involved with community service and they have garnered many awards, including winning the ‘Best Overnight Lodging Facility in the Bay Area’ for the eighth year in a row.

From the very beginning, Virginia and Mark were committed to conserving energy and caring for the environment by making their business ‘green.’ They have installed solar panels on each of their buildings. On their main building, they were able to reduce their electric bill from $21,000 down to $7,000 the very first year.

They have solar thermal and instant tankless hot water heaters. To further conserve energy, the warm air created in the solarium can be drawn into the main building to help warm it during the cooler months.

Pet Camp is also part of a pilot program that collects and composts the dog waste and turns it into electricity.

“Today, Pet Camp is proud to be a certified Green Business by the city and county of San Francisco,” share Mark and Virginia enthusiastically. “We are the first pet lodging facility in the country to hold that honor!”

Visit their website and learn more about the things that Pet Camp is doing today - and what they are planning for the future - for the cats, dogs, and the environment that they love and care for.

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