About Us
ABOUT US
Our story goes all the way back to 1988, when we took a chance on a little “fixer-upper” boarding kennel down in Ormond Beach, Florida. At the time, all we really had under our belt was a love for dogs and some experience training our own family pets in obedience and tracking, but that was enough to get us started.
Over the next 17 years, we poured our hearts into the Ormond Kennel & Pet Center. And somehow, with a lot of hard work and a whole lot of love, we ended up winning “Best Kennel” 12 times. Those were proud years for us.
Then 1994 rolled around, and one of the big box stores moved into town. We watched some long-standing pet businesses struggle, and we knew we had to find a way to stay true to who we were while keeping our doors open.
From all our years helping dogs through our training program, we noticed something simple but important: most behavior problems came from two things, too much unused energy, or not enough socialization. Sometimes both. And that’s when the idea hit us: what if we created a space that fixed both at once?
So in late 1994, out of equal parts hope, instinct, and love for dogs, the Puppy Playground was born. And it changed everything.
THE REST OF THE STORY
Once the Puppy Playground took off, it felt like we’d opened a whole can of worms, the good kind! The big question quickly became, “How do we keep things safe, keep things under control, and still make sure everyone’s having fun?”
So we rolled up our sleeves and got to work. We set clear rules, simple policies, and a system that kept dogs happy and playgroups running smoothly. It worked so well that many of those same policies were eventually picked up by the pet industry and turned into true “industry standards.” That’s something we’re still mighty proud of.
By the year 2000, we were ready to take the next step: designing an actual Puppy Playground System. We drew from everything we’d learned from the more than 50,000 dogs who had romped through our playground since day one. We kept what worked, tossed what didn’t, and built it out of a material you simply couldn’t find off the shelf.
Today, our Playground System can be found in over 12,000 pet care facilities around the world, not to mention dog parks, apartment communities, campgrounds, and thousands of backyards across the country. It’s amazing to see how far that little idea from 1994 has gone.
If you have questions or you need help placing an order, we’re always happy to help:
Call: 888-828-3416
Email: info@puppyplayground.com