Pets need adventure and pampering too, and Safari Pet Resort is the perfect place.
It’s a dog-gone shame to leave your pets at home all week while you work your paws off. So it’s quite handy that there is Safari Pet Resort, located at 1635 Lascassas Pike in Murfreesboro.
Safari Pet Resort is the pet project of Richard Cleveland, who created the establishment in 1999.
The resort is tucked between big trees and seems far from the busy street only a couple hundred feet away. The lobby is a posh pet paradise, complete with a pet snack bar, warm lighting, big chairs and rich dark wood under the lazy spin of palm leaf fan blades.
Employees are on a first name basis with their four-legged clients, and like to take a minute to greet them before they whisk their furry friends away to spend some quality time at DayCamp.
They take a real shine to Lexie, our two-year-old Yorkie/ Chihuahua mix who volunteered to spend a day getting pampered in the name of investigative journalism.
Weighing in at a whopping seven lbs., Lexie is put in the small to medium day camp group as they come inside. DayCamp is part of a daily service all boarded dogs receive, and part of a doggie daycare that hard-working but concerned doggie moms and dads can take advantage of while they’re at work.
DayCamp is divided into groups according to size and temperament. Each group gets to spend 45 minutes playing outside on gravel (which the staff sanitizes daily) then move inside to play with different toys. Camp counselors are always on hand, to keep the peace and clean up any accidents.
A full day of DayCamp costs $18, but pets can be dropped off for half a day for $13. Specials are available for frequent visitors.
At the end of the day parents receive report cards, detailing their dogs’ behavior, favorite toys and friends. Moms and dads on vacation can also sign up to view video feed of their pet’s playtime online.
Lexie holds her own and skips out a little early to get some post-play pampering at Safari Pet Resort’s full service grooming facility.
A staff of six groomers and several dog washers operate in a room with freestanding grooming stations. Our puppy has her nails clipped and filed. Then she’s ushered into the next room for a bath with stress relief essential oil shampoo and a Hydrosurge hose.
“The Hydrosurge makes sure the water gets under the dog’s fur,” Lexie’s washer Melissa Nanney explains.
After a round with the high velocity dryer and a good fluffing Lexie’s look is complete.
The resort offers a ShedLess Treatment costing anywhere from $13 for the little guys to $45 for a large dog. They also offer aroma therapy treatments, Micro Tek and Tea Tree medicated shampoo treatments, dog de-skunking, hot oil treatments, and a la carte bathing services, like ear cleaning, nail trimming, teeth brushing and anal gland expression.
The back of the building is dedicated to boarding. The Canine Overnight package includes bedding, polymer flooring, and meals of Science Diet dog food, for $23 a night.
For a ritzier experience, a boarding package aptly called the Bungalow Suite Deluxe Canine Overnight package is available for $52 per evening. There your puppy sleeps on plush animal print bedding, in a suite complete with cable television so they won’t miss their favorite shows on Animal Planet. DayCamp is also included.
Cats shouldn’t feel left out. Feline guests can stay in the Lion’s Den for $17 per night where they stay in two room condos, are let out to play on a kitty tree and receive daily visits from Carrell Rhodes, a former Safari Pet Resort employee who lives upstairs.
Safari Pet Resort is a little piece of pet utopia, tucked away from the hustle and bustle of the real world in a land exclusively populated by pet lovers. If you think it’s time for you or your four legged children to have a vacation, you may have found the perfect solution.
