Nestled in the picturesque countryside of Brinklow, Maryland is a unique pet care facility that has been providing premium pet care since 1969. Now, under new ownership and approaching their 50th anniversary, the Rivermist Pet Lodge is undergoing an extensive upgrade and makeover. The Rivermist Pet Lodge, formerly Rivermist Kennels, was built by Barry Goodman in 1969. The lodge is situated on 29 beautiful acres, adjacent to a historic house that was built in 1820. Although rural, the location is near major metropolitan areas; positioned between Baltimore and Washington DC. This makes the Lodge’s popular home pickup and delivery service very appealing and convenient to all of its clients.

In the beginning, Rivermist Kennels offered overnight boarding only, but grooming services were added and steadily grew with the business. Rivermist has added training as well.The original facility included one kennel building with ten large indoor/outdoor runs. In the early 1970’s and again in the early 1980’s capacity was expanded and a new grooming and bathing wing was added. In the almost fifty years since Rivermist has been in business, trends in the pet care industry have changed dramatically.

“More than ever, people consider their pets to be part of the family and they want them to be happy and entertained when they are in a boarding situation. I also regard my pets as part of my family, and I treat them as such,” says Rivermist owner, Scott Simon. “I saw the demand for high quality pet boarding, and a desire for more luxurious accommodations and activities for pets. Our improvements to Rivermist ensure we have the facilities and staff to provide the best quality care possible.”

Scott and Melissa Simon recently became the owners of Rivermist. With them, they brought their business experience, love for pets, and many innovative ideas for improving this already successful business.

“We took over the business in December of 2013 and, shortly after, changed the name to Rivermist Pet Lodge. For the last eight months we have been investing in facility repairs and upgrades, and have added twenty-four indoor suites to offer our clients another boarding option,” says Scott. Today, Rivermist can accommodate up to two hundred dogs and about thirty cats.

Scott adds, “We are now building a second outdoor 2,300 sq. ft. artificial turf play yard, primarily for dog playtimes, training, and daycare. The play yard is a big undertaking which includes re-grading, building retaining walls and installing drainage. It is worth the effort. The result will be a safe, clean environment for dogs to exercise and play and will be an integral part of Rivermist for years to come.”

Along with the facilities, the services at Rivermist Pet Lodge have expanded too. Owners can select a number of amenities and services for their pets. They can choose from upgraded bedding, extended checkout times, bedtime treats, and more. There are also multiple activity options like nature walks and one-on-one playtimes which are available to guests of all activity levels from the energetic puppies to the sedate golden agers. They even have activities for cats! These can all be selected à la carte, but Rivermist has bundled some of the most popular services into specialized activity packages. Bundling these services is a convenience and added value for the clients, and a source of increased revenue for the Lodge.

Shortly after taking over the business, all customer policies, communications and pricing were reviewed. There were many aspects of the business that needed to be adjusted to reflect the new offerings and name. They have updated the vet care warranty, the boarding contracts, and customer communications.

“Our veterinary warranty is $1.50 per day and is mandatory for all boarding guests,” shares Scott. “If a pet requires a vet visit during or after their stay with us due to something that developed while at our facility, we will cover up to $250 of the cost. If we suspect an animal needs care, we don’t hesitate to act – we do not have to worry about whether or not the owner would be willing to pay for the care.”

“Another thing that our clients love is that the manager is onsite 24/7,” shares Scott. “The historic home of Walnut Hill sits on the property near to the Pet Lodge. Our manager, David Berkebile lives in the beautiful house with his wife Jeni, and their Fox Hound, Luna.”

David’s background in systems operations and quality control coupled with his love of animals is a great fit for ensuring consistent high quality care. “My nightly routine is to walk Luna on the property and end the night by visiting the Lodge to make sure all the guests are settled and happy,” David explains.

A pet care facility cannot thrive and grow unless it has a dedicated and well-trained staff. Many of the members of their pet care team have been at Rivermist for five years or more.

“People love our outgoing and friendly staff who know most of the dogs and owners by name,” says David. “In addition to providing a variety of activities that keep pets happy and reduce stress, our staff closely monitors how each pet is doing during their stay and adjusts their care to best suit each pet’s needs.”

As part of their facility-wide renovations, Rivermist has completely upgraded its telephone and computer systems and vastly improved its website, www.rivermistpetlodge.com. The new IP phone system allows them to handle customer calls more efficiently by differentiating between a new or an established customer, then routing the calls to the correct person.

“Our website is most important for marketing to new clients and providing information about our policies and services,” says David. “For customers who have not visited us, our website is their only visualization of who we are. Having lots of pictures is important. We take many online reservation requests, but every online reservation is followed up with a phone call to gather all the details, explain our policies, and customize each pet’s visit.”

Although most of the guests that stay at Rivermist Pet Lodge are dogs and cats, they will accommodate other family pets as well. “We board birds, guinea pigs, hamsters, sugar gliders and the like,” shares David. “It is a big convenience for our customers who also board their dogs or cats with us.” Then David adds with a big grin, “Sometimes they are really entertaining…we have had customer’s parrots ‘bark’ at the dogs and have had them also try to answer the phone!”

Rivermist also supports local animal rescue and adoption efforts. “We work with Mid Atlantic Chinese Shar-pei Rescue. The group comes to our facility to work with the dogs and to find homes for them,” says David. “In addition, we have provided space for the Animal Rescue Corp (ARC) when needed. ARC does large-scale rescues, and occasionally needs to temporarily board a large number of dogs.” Then David adds, “We always require proof of vaccinations prior to any rescue animal boarding with us.”

“One of the ways we were able to accomplish all that we have in these last few months is that we hired Morris Pet Care Consulting to help guide and prioritize our mission,” says Scott. “Once our initial phase of improvement projects is complete, we are going to continue to upgrade and add to our facility. A few of our next projects will be to add an outdoor water feature for the canine guests, a permanent emergency backup generator, and the addition of luxury cat suites.”

From its humble ten run beginning in 1969, Rivermist Pet Lodge has evolved into a resort that can luxuriously accommodate more than 230 pets daily.

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