"I did that thing, you know - I just turned 35 and I thought, 'What would I want to do for the rest of my life if I could do anything?' " said Twigg, a life-long dog lover. "This just seemed to be the answer for me. I liked the idea of running my own business."
So far, running her own business has been easier than Twigg imagined. Her clientele has grown quickly. Seven of her 10 overnight kennels were booked a few weeks ago, and she's already had to hire an additional employee. She averages 10 dogs a day in her day care, and the ratio of dogs to humans is never more than 10 to 1.
"Our intention is that the dogs get enough human interaction as well as the dog interaction," Twigg said. She plans to add more overnight kennels, and will continue accepting dogs for day care, up to 40 dogs a day, she said.
Though some dogs really aren't cut out for day care, Twigg said, it is usually a positive experience.
"Dogs are naturally social animals," she said. "When they're left at home all day they miss that socialization."
A day care experience also helps younger dogs build social skills. Lisa Radke, a former colleague of Twigg's, started taking her beagle, Wilson, to Desert Dog Daycare as soon as it opened. A young, 1 1/2 -year-old dog, Wilson wasn't used to being around other animals.
"It's really brought him out of his shell," Radke said. "He's never been around other dogs. We were afraid he would bite something - not people but other dogs."
Wilson goes to Desert Dog Daycare once a week. He loves to play games, like Frisbee and catch, with the other dogs. There is also a large outside area with small water pools, a dirt mound and a tunnel for the dogs to run through. If he's tired, Wilson can relax on an over-sized pillow or doggie bed in the lounge. And his anxious mother, Radke, can watch the whole thing on the Internet, thanks to Desert Dog's Web cam. According to Twigg, Desert Dog Daycare is the only doggy day care offering that service to its clients.
"Wilson is, although we have three other children, he's our baby," Radke said. "Not knowing how he would do, it was so refreshing to turn on the Web cam and see, 'Oh my gosh, he's doing well.' "
Twigg's own two dogs, a German shepherd named Murray and a mutt named Morgan, have also thrived at doggy day care. Murray even lost a little weight thanks to the structured play and activities Twigg tries to provide the dogs in her care.
In addition to 3,500 square feet of outside play room, with a fenced-off area for puppies and small dogs, Twigg and her boyfriend and co-owner, Zac Walton, turned the 5,500 square feet of warehouse-type space in the back of their building into an indoor play area with plastic play structures and plenty of open room for running. The walls are adorned with a mural of a desert scene, painted by Twigg's father. All that room to roam means puppies like Aspen, a blue heeler/black Labrador retriever mix, and Steeda, a Doberman pinscher/black Labrador mix, come home good and tired.
"They're so tired they just sleep," said Aspen and Steeda's owner, Destiny Besner of Sugar House, who takes her dogs to day care two to three times a week.
"They don't roughhouse in the house any more," Besner said. "It saved us more paying for day care than always replacing things. It's made my life a million times easier."
