Meet Best Friends Fur EverSM client, Abbey Budnichuk. Abbey grew up in Bel Air, Maryland. She met her husband Nick in high school, got married in 2019 and now live in White Marsh. She attended Stevenson University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education and is currently enrolled at Loyola University working on her master’s degree to become a Reading Specialist. Abbey has been teaching for five years and currently works as a kindergarten teacher at St. Joseph School – Fullerton.
Abbey and Nick adopted eight-week-old Oakley, a male Beaglier (Beagle and King Charles Cavalier mix) in March 2020. The consider him to be “the light of our lives” ever since! When Oakley is not having fun at Best Friends Fur Ever Daycare, he likes to play outside, snuggle, or working hard at his Puppy Training classes.
Peggy Hale, Director of Marketing & Customer Experience at Best Friends Fur Ever had an opportunity to sit down and interview Abbey about adding Oakley to her family and her recent experience with Dog Daycare.
Peggy: May I ask you to introduce yourself, so everyone knows who you are?
Abbey: My name is Abbey and my dog Oakley comes to Best Friends Fur Ever for Daycare.
Peggy: How old is Oakley and what kind of dog is he?
Abbey: Oakley is four months old and he’s a Beaglier – a Beaglier is a Beagle and a King Charles Cavalier mix.
Peggy: Oh, so cute. Where did you get Oakley?
Abbey: We got him from a breeder in Pennsylvania. We saw all his pictures, and we just knew he was the dog for us!
Peggy: Did he have brothers and sisters?
Abbey: Yes, there were a total of eight puppies to choose from. He actually paid attention to my husband and I, so I guess he picked us.
Peggy: How long has he been coming to Best Friends Fur Ever?
Abbey: So, Oakley has been going to Best Friends Fur Ever since for just 2 months now. He started out in the All Dogs Welcome program, because he was too young to be with the older dogs. He loves it, and he comes two to three days a week!
Peggy: Why did you choose dog daycare in general?
Abbey: Being a teacher, I was working from home doing distance learning with my students. This time of the year with the Covid was different. I knew Oakley needed more than I could give him while working at home and being on Zoom calls. I wanted him to be taken care of, loved, have a good time, and play with other dogs and I knew I couldn’t give him the attention he needed.
Peggy: Awe, that’s wonderful. How did you go about choosing your daycare and why did you select Best Friends Fur Ever?
Abbey: So, my next-door neighbor sent his dog here. He told me all about it, how wonderful it was, how all the dogs were loved and how they got the attention they wanted and needed. So, I called, and I asked a lot of questions and was wondering if they would enroll Oakley because he was so young. Everybody was so kind, and they just wanted him to come, and be happy and play! So, I came, and I saw everybody and I just knew it was a great place for him to be.
Peggy: So, is Oakley your first dog?
Abbey: Yes, this is our first dog.
Peggy: Why is Best Friends Fur Ever a good fit for your daycare needs?
Abbey: There are a million reasons! He loves all the attention and he loves playing with all the other dogs. He’s got a lot of energy, so he gets all of that out here. He has time to cuddle with the handlers. He has time outside and he gets to play in the pool. It’s also nice that I can go to work early and work late and not have to worry about him. I’d worry if he would be okay being home alone without company. I know here at Daycare he is well taken care of and loved.
Peggy: Thank you. Can you tell me some of the highlights you’ve experienced with Oakley at Daycare?
Abbey: When he was in All Dogs Welcome, I used to get two report cards a day for him. I would always get to see what he was doing. I was told he’s made a lot of new friends here. I found out he even has a girlfriend, one of the handler’s dogs, so I love seeing pictures of them together. He even plays with our neighborhood dogs, so they already know each other. It’s nice to see him play with his friend Cooper, who is in a bigger group. It’s nice to see they make time for that. He’s also learning how to sit and stay and is good at following new commands.
Peggy: He’s done all that in a short time?
Abbey: Yes, all that.
Peggy: What services, besides Daycare, have you looked into or used?
Abbey: He has gotten groomed here before and he got his first bath here. He smelled great so it was a good experience! He also goes here for training as well.
Peggy: Oh, that’s great. Will he be graduating soon?
Abbey: Yes, in July. He is in the puppy training program.
Peggy: Congratulations! Have you heard of any of our new products?
Abbey: The summer camp! Yes, we’re very excited. He’s going to go to two weeks of it! It was actually hard to pick which weeks to go to. But I saw it on Facebook. I saw it on my email and the client portal. After I saw all of that, I watched the video online, and I saw all the different options on the Best Friends Fur Ever website. There were so many I wanted to do! I wanted to do Christmas. I wanted to do the U.S.A. week. But we decided to start with Shark Week and he’s going to be so excited . . . I can’t wait to see pictures of him dressed up. We are also going to do Back To School Week because I’ll be going back to school, so it’s the perfect week for him to come!
Peggy: That’s wonderful, and I’m so glad. You know we recently just turned the client portal back on. Have you used it?
Abbey: Yes, the client portal is great! Now that it is reopen, I can go online and make my reservations. I can see everything that is open, and I can see the packages I’m able to buy. It’s so perfect, and so user friendly. Now I can just do everything with the click of a button on my phone or computer. It’s so convenient and I love it.
Peggy: I see you are a member of our Facebook V.I.P. Group. Can you tell me about the group?
Abbey: I love the V.I.P. groups because Oakley goes to Joppa most the time, but sometimes he does go to Cockeysville if I’m out that way. So, it’s great that I can see pictures posted throughout the day and seeing the different posts from handlers and seeing all the play groups.
Peggy: We also have live cameras that you can access from anywhere laptop, desktop, or phone.
Abbey: And you get to see all the different kinds of dogs that are at Best Friends Fur Ever, so I love it. Yeah, I’m always logged in when Oakley is checked in! I can see all the different play areas, and all the dogs, and the area is beautiful. It’s also so much fun to see them and point them and see how they’re having so much fun. I show my family and friends.
Peggy: I see that you have already referred a few of your friends to come to Daycare. Can you tell me why you talk to your friends about coming here?
Abbey: It’s just so easy to tell people why to come here, because it is truly a place where your dog is loved and cared for. I tell my friends you have to check it out because if you want your dog to be happy, loved, and taken care of when you’re not home it’s the perfect place for them to go. They also get socialized by coming here. So, I recommend it for puppies, dogs, and older dogs because they get everything they need and more. I never have to worry. It’s just great.
Peggy: So, what do you think about the value for your money?
Abbey: I think that it is a great value because it starts early, they get so much time to play throughout the day. If they eat lunch, they can always do that here, Oakley gets his lunch. And I just think its special because they really get time with the handlers and the other dogs. They need those interactions with other pets not just you at home, because you’re great at home but they also need to get all their extra energy out. I just think that it’s so worth it. It’s everything Oakley needs and I know he’s well taken care of.
Peggy: Can you tell me a little bit about what Oakley is like at the end of the day and what he is like at home?
Abbey: Well after days at Daycare when he goes home, he is exhausted. He goes to bed. He hops right up on the couch and is out for the rest of the night. So, he definitely had a fun day. The days that he’s not at Daycare he takes a lot of walks during the day and we have to take him to the park a lot. And in the evenings, he has a lot of energy because he doesn’t get all the playtime with the other pets. But he really burns all his energy when he spends his days at Best Friends Fur Ever.
Peggy: So, he gets the best of both worlds.
Abbey: Yes.
Peggy: So, you have social time for Oakley, and you have family time! So, you recently went on vacation and brought Oakley with you? What was that like?
Abbey: Well it was easy for us to take him because we own a beach house. But if I ever went somewhere, I couldn’t bring him, I would totally feel comfortable leaving him overnight versus going with me. My husband and I will be traveling to the west coast soon and I am not dealing with a puppy on a plane. He will be well taken care of, have day and night playtime, spend quality time with his handlers and even be tucked in goodnight. He won’t even miss me.
Peggy: Oh, yes, he will! But enjoy your trip! We’ll take great care of him like home away from home.
Special thanks to Nick, Abbey and Oakley Budnichuk