Dog hotel plan for the Borders is put on the agenda

When TweedDogs Day Care Centre opened early in 2016 at Newlands Farm it was the only such facility in the Borders

Pre-pandemic the centre was accepting between 35 an 40 dogs a day and had four members of staff.

As lockdown was introduced two members of staff had to be made redundant, although one has subsequently been re-employed.

Now in a bid to diversify the business an application has been submitted to Scottish Borders Council for a sound-proofed boarding facility.

The dogs would stay in individual areas, described as ‘rooms’, and the complex would be more akin to a pooch hotel, rather than traditional boarding kennels.

The ‘hotel’ would be sited on land to the east of Newlands Farm Cottage.

The application is also for a modular framed timber eco cabin for a member of staff to stay overnight and take care of the dogs.

In a supporting statement with the application, a spokesperson for TweedDogs says: “Our vision is to produce a totally unique overnight boarding facility for dogs, unlike anything else within the Borders.

"We do not wish to place the dogs into kennels. We will build bespoke ‘hotel’ type mini rooms within our current unit.

“Each ‘room’ will be approximately 10' long x 6 ft wide and 4' high, constructed of a wood frame, filled with insulation and sound proofing, and with a washable whiteboard.”

The spokesperson adds: “During the past traumatic year we have felt it necessary to consider the future for TweedDogs.

"One of the partners qualified as a dog behavioural therapist in August 2020 and has been offering behavioural modification training since that date, but now as the day care side of the business now has healthy competition, we feel it is time that we offered a more refined, all encompassing business.

"At the end of 2019 we asked all our current day-centre customers whether they would be interested in a boarding facility at TweedDogs – 70 per cent stated they would. Our belief is that once all Covid restrictions are lifted, and people can travel freely again, this side of the business will be in great demand.”