Biscuit's New "Do"

With special thanks to Kasi, of Petco in Redmond, here's the new and improved look that our precious Biscuit's sporting.
Wow! You can even see her eyes!

Dogs 1 and 2

Meet Rosie and Biscuit.

Rosie's on the Right. She's Dog 1. She is a 4 year old beagle, a rescue dog adopted 3 years ago. An unassuming pooch, she's gentle and loving, a truly wonderful beast with ears like warm velvet and a frequently happy tail. She loves rabbit poop.

Biscuit is the fuzzy wonder on the Left. She's Dog 2, also 4 years old and a rescue dog. She was just adopted three weeks ago. She's a picky eater, until it comes to others' food, a talented dancer and jumper, loves to show off, and truly hates to be away from her human.

Biscuit's human is Linda, The Brunette, co-founder of Scampers Daycamp for Dogs. Biscuit's had a haircut since this photo was taken.

Rosie's human is Stina, The Redhead, co-founder of Scampers Daycamp for Dogs.

This was the day Biscuit was adopted, when they first met. It was great to see that Biscuit and Rosie became good friends immediately. Good thing, because they're hanging out together all the time.

Why Scampers?

Dogs are pack animals.

Dogs thrive when given a chance to interact within a pack, where safe play and exercise fill their days, where socialization can last longer than stolen moments at the local off-leash park, where free play and free napping allow for a more realistic pack experience.

No More Guilt!

Our canine companions offer us unconditional love within our busy lives, yet we are challenged to find time to provide sufficient exercise for our dogs.

A Busy Dog is a Happy Dog.

Boredom often leads to undesirable behaviors: destructibe chewing, incessant barking, peeing in your home. Scampers Daycamp for Dogs takes the guilt and poor behavior out of your lives.

You'll be thrilled with the difference in your life and your dog!

Coming Soon - Scampers Daycamp for Dogs

We're just weeks away from opening our doors to Scampers Daycamp for Dogs, at 12532 NE 124th Street in Kirkland, Washington.

We've been working like demons - a ton of work already done, and another ton to be done before September 13th. Yes, 13th. It's actually a LUCKY number!!

The office and kitchen/meeting room have been built, and we're just waiting for the second coat of paint to dry before we move our office furniture in and take up our posts.
Still to be done:

• Scrape the old glue off the floors and patch in preparation for laying down the 3/8" rubber flooring - healthier for the pups' joints, and the humans' too!
• Paint the bottom 48" of the walls with a skookum coating of epoxy paint (over a skookum coat of specialized primer).
• Receive and install the 4000 sq ft of rubber flooring.
• Order, receive and install the fencing.
• Admire the rain garden as it is installed. Lovely! And a wonderful way to ensure that any runoff is well and truly filtered ... naturally.
• Install the "hydrants". Pedicure Red!
• Admire the signage as it is installed. Hey, busy, hardworking dog-owners, we're here for you!
• Receive and don our beautiful logowear. So cool!

Oh, I'm sure there's more to do, but we're remembering in time and getting it all done. We'll keep you posted as things advance.

Hey, hardworking dog-owners in Kirkland / Redmond / Bothell / Woodinville ... , we'll be here for you soon.

Introducing Linda, The Brunette

Linda Olsen relocated to Redmond from Vancouver, BC to partner up with her sister, Stina, and become a co-founder of Scampers. Linda chose to take the leap following a long career in executive support in various industries including franchising, real estate development, and engineering. She also brings extensive experience in retail sales management and customer service.

Linda adopted her pooch, Biscuit, shortly after moving to Redmond. Biscuit is a charming four year old apricot “Bichoodle” (Bichon Frise x Poodle) who has a tendency to be fearful but has learned not to bark since joining the Olsen household. The pack socialization process at Scampers Daycamp for Dogs will help Biscuit to become less fearful as she learns her place in the pack.

Biscuit’s feline friend is Frankie, a senior Siamese/Tabby who was willing to accept the cuddly pooch into the household once he was reassured that his status of King remains unchallenged.

Introducing Stina Hughes, The Redhead

Stina Hughes is the founder of Scampers Daycamp for Dogs. While living in Massachusetts, Stina adopted Rosie, a lovely but skittish beagle (better described as a nose with feet, as she has tendency to trot off to follow every interesting scent). Shortly after adopting Rosie, Stina discovered the nearby doggy daycare was her perfect solution to a busy family and work life.

A few years later, when the Hughes family returned from New England to the Pacific Northwest, Stina was unable to find a convenient location for doggy daycare to keep Rosie busy during workdays. She decided she could solve the problem, not only for herself but also for other Eastside residents, by opening Scampers Daycamp for Dogs.

Stina comes to the doggy daycare industry after a checkered career that includes database marketing, business administration and interior design. She brings a whole lot of love for animals in general, and dogs in particular.

Stina is married to Lindsay, a Market Research Analyst with Microsoft. Their daughter, Sarah, is a student at Redmond Junior High School, and a talented musician and athlete. Other members of the Hughes family are Spats and Trixie, Rosie’s feline friends.

Introducing The Rain Garden Concept for Scampers

From http://www.inharmony.com/

When we found our location in the Totem Lake area, we were so pleased with the wonderfully accessible driveway, the spacious and bright building, the busy streetfront used by workers commuting to the technology companies in Redmond and along the Willows corridor. We didn't notice immediately that our property is adjacent to a wetland which is part of the Totem Lake.

We had to face facts: Pooches poop. And despite our very best efforts of immediate scooping and scrubbing with disinfecting cleaner, there will be some amount of animal "essence" to be rinsed into the city's sewer system, and conceivably into the water table.

We knew that, with a certain amount of plumbing work, we could squeegee these essences into the city's sewer system, but (quite understandably) the City of Kirland did not want us to be adding storm water run-off to the work their wastewater treatment plant was handling. And it rains in Kirkland.

Stacey Rush of the City of Kirkland was able to give us a great solution which will result in nice clean water reaching our water table.

The issue of issue-laden run-off is solved, in Scampers case, by a wonderfully natural and decorative technology, the Rain Garden.

A Rain Garden is a carefully designed depression in the landscape, which has been layered with certain soils and rocks and pebbles, and then planted with indigenous species which works together to collect, absorb and filter stormwater and run-off so that nothing unpleasant reaches the water table.

We found InHarmony Sustainable Landscapes through the web, and were immediately impressed with their expertise, but also with their willingness to work with us to design our Rain Garden to accommodate our needs as well as meeting the requirements of the City of Kirkland.

So, we'll be keeping your water clean by cleaning our water - naturally - before it leaves us.