"If you have a dream and you really believe in it – nothing can stop you from achieving it,” affirms Dr. Monica Silva, proud owner of the Country Inn Pet Resort & Animal Hospital located in Davie, Florida.

“I’m originally from Brazil,” says Veterinarian, Dr. Silva. “I’m used to seeing dogs in wide open spaces with lots of room to exercise, not just boarded 24/7 in a run. I got the idea to build a resort for pets that had lots of space and fun activities for them while they are in a safe, comfortable environment. And, I wanted to have an animal hospital connected to it.”

Dr. Silva began to do extensive research. She went to veterinary conferences, ABKA (American Boarding Kennel Association) meetings, and read every book she could get her hands on about building kennels. Then she began to visit pet resorts all over the United States to get ideas for her facility.

“I wanted to see what was working for others and implement the best ideas at my facility,” shares Dr. Silva. “If you do things the right way from the beginning, you are going to avoid lots of headaches in the future.”

The search began for a piece of land that was in a good location and was large enough for her purpose. In 1999 she bought eight acres of land near Miami in Davie, Florida. Dr. Silva hired an architect to design her pet resort and hospital. She had heard him speak at a Veterinary conference and knew that he was familiar with designing both boarding kennels and animal hospitals. Knowing that the stress level of pets in a kennel situation can be high, Dr. Silva wanted her facility to be designed to reduce stress in their guests and to eliminate excessive noise.

“No dogs face each other in their boarding enclosures – that helps avoid fence fighting and also minimizes stress,” says Dr. Silva. “When you design it this way, you lose space and have less capacity. But, it is better for the dogs. My first priority is always the animals.”

The Country Inn Pet Resort & Animal Hospital is a 20,000 sq.ft. facility. During construction, they installed safety features like high impact glass in all the windows to help protect from storms and hurricanes. They also have two huge back-up generators so that they will never lose power in the resort or the hospital.

In 2006, the Country Inn Pet Resort & Animal Hospital opened its doors. Dr. Silva’s dream had become a reality. This spectacular luxury resort offers boarding, doggie daycare, grooming, training at their dog psychology center, and an animal hospital – all under one roof. They can accommodate about 240 dogs and 26 cats. There are 148 standard suites, 22 VIP suites, and 10 senior dog suites. Seventy percent of the suites have private outdoor patios for the dogs to enjoy.

The suites are decorated in a cozy country theme. Many of the bungalows and cabins have windows that offer pets a calming outdoor view. Their newest wing has a beautiful skylight ceiling that gives pets the feeling of being outdoors, but the safety of being inside.

“I’m a firm believer that the key to keeping dogs happy and healthy is exercise and lots of Love,” says Dr. Silva emphatically. “Every dog is taken out four times a day and allowed to exercise and play off leash in spacious double fenced play yards. Then they can rest and relax in their air-conditioned suites where music plays twenty-four hours a day.”

Their daycare averages fifty or more dogs per day. The dogs are grouped by size and temperament, and there is one staff member for every ten to twelve dogs. They have twenty-two outdoor play areas, covered with artificial turf. There are also four large outdoor parks where the dogs enjoy playing on the real, natural grass. The parks and outdoor areas have lots of canopies and shade and plenty of play equipment.

The Resort has two salt chlorinated pools for the pets and a ‘Paw-cuzzi’. The 10’ X 20’ bone-shaped pool is three and a half feet deep and has a beach entrance that makes it really easy for the dogs to get in and out of the pool. In the second pool, they enjoy splashing in the water and playing in the pool’s water sprays.

Their website, www.countryinnpetresort.com is packed with information about all the services that they offer, including online reservation requests. “Our website brings us a lot of business,” shares Dr. Silva. “And we have found that Facebook and other social media sites are very important. People can get information about our facility any time of the day or night.”

Dr. Silva gives a lot of credit to her staff for their part in making the Country Inn Pet Resort & Animal Hospital such a success. “The reason Country Inn has such a good reputation is because we work as a team,” says Dr. Silva. “Most of my kennel and veterinary staff of about twenty-five employees has been with me since we opened in 2006. It’s hard work, but they are very dedicated. We have great communication between all the areas – the kennel, front desk, animal hospital, etc.”

Connected to the pet resort is their animal hospital. During the research and construction phase, it was decided that the resort and animal hospital would have separate entrances and that they would each have their own air filtration systems. The hospital is fully equipped and has an in-house laboratory and surgical unit. They have two veterinarians on staff and a dental specialist that comes in once a week. It is AAHA (American Animal Hospital Association) accredited; only twelve to fifteen percent of American Veterinary Hospitals are AAHA accredited.

Even though the Country Inn Pet Resort & Animal Hospital quickly became a hugely popular and thriving business, Dr. Silva had not completely fulfilled her dream. She has always been a huge fan of Cesar Millan, and had dreamed of him coming to her facility to film an episode of The Dog Whisperer. Once again, Dr. Silva began to do research in order to make this dream a reality. Ultimately, Cesar Millan did come to the Country Inn Pet Resort – but instead of just visiting, he decided to do something more permanent.

In 2014 there was an exciting addition to the Country Inn Pet Resort & Animal Hospital. They became a Cesar Millan Dog Psychology Center (DPC). Cesar’s original DPC is located in Santa Clarita, California. Cesar’s dream and mission has always been to rehabilitate dogs and train people. The spaciousness and amenities at the Country Inn Pet Resort make it an ideal location to bring TCW (Training Cesar’s Way) to pets and their owners on the East Coast.

At the Country Inn Pet Resort, they offer training courses which include everything from obedience training, to resolving a multitude of behavior issues. The center is open Monday to Saturday to the public and Sunday only for checkouts, and it is staffed by a team of Cesar Millan trainers. They hold group classes, private classes, host six week TCW courses every Saturday, and also do in-home training. Cesar Millan comes twice a year to personally give his five-day Fundamentals of Dog Behavior workshops.

The Country Inn Pet Resort & Animal Hospital and the Cesar Millan Dog Psychology Center have become enormously successful. They are so busy that they are planning to expand their training program and will soon have to add additional boarding – but, Dr. Silva is not done yet…

Dr. Silva is helping others fulfill their dreams by giving consultations and sharing her knowledge with people who want to build and operate a successful pet resort. And one thing that she will tell anyone who has a dream is, “Don’t stop believing!”

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