The Bark Spot Now Open in Brandon A New Spot for Your Furry Friends

BY MARY MICHAELS | PHOTOS BY JULIE PRAIRIE PHOTOGRAPHY

The Bark Spot

704 S. 8th Avenue | Brandon, SD 605-582-2700 | thebarkspotsd.com

Booking Link: https://thebarkspot.portal.gingrapp.com

Find The Bark Spot on Facebook!

Lobby Hours: Daily from 7am - 9am, 12pm - 1pm and 4pm - 7pm

Abby Mutschler went to school for accounting. She worked in accounting. But then life took a funny turn.

“I have loved dogs all my life,” laughs Mutschler, “but I never would have imagined that someday I’d actually own a dog kennel!”

With help from her husband, Brady, Mutschler opened The Bark Spot in Brandon this past March.

“The previous kennel located in this spot closed, and we knew the owner,” Mutschler explains. “It just seemed like the right thing to do, and we were excited about the opportunity to rebrand it as our own and keep a place for dogs open in Brandon.”

The Bark Spot offers doggie day care — either half-day or full-day — along with overnight boarding. Mutschler says they see quite a bit of day care during the weekdays and overnight boarding on the weekends. As people start to plan summer vacations, she adds, they are looking forward to more overnight guests.

The Mutschlers have three dogs of their own — black labs Nova and Ranger and Boston terrier Tito — so Abby says a priority in opening The Bark Spot was to create a true home-away-from home for their canine friends.

“We spend lots of one-on-one time with the dogs,” she explains. “They aren’t just in their kennels all day. They roam around the halls with us and play both inside and outside.”

In the backyard, there are three separate areas for dogs to enjoy. Most times, Mutschler says, the dogs can play in one area, but the yard’s design allows them to separate little dogs from bigger companions, if needed. Staff are always outside when the dogs are out to supervise the play and ensure it doesn’t get too noisy.

“We want to be good neighbors,” she says.

The inside play space — where dogs can get acquainted, run and play with toys — is a large room that the building’s owner designed with galvanized tin on one wall and cool exposed brick on another. An interesting fact Mutschler points out about the brick wall is that somewhere in its design is an actual brick from the Berlin wall.

Before the building had been used for a dog kennel, Mutschler explains, a photography business was located there and those owners lived right there on site. So, what had previously been human bedrooms transitioned perfectly to rooms for dogs. The Bark Spot can accommodate up to 33 dogs in the various kennel sizes. They have “little guy” kennels, cute house-shaped kennels for bigger dogs and even more spacious ones if pups from the same family want to bunk up together.

Mutschler gives plenty of credit to Brady for helping get The Bark Spot open.

“He’s my saving grace,” she says. “If I’ve been here all day, he’ll come close up for me. He’s also been great to get everything together, like our new self-service dog wash. We’re a good team.”

The dog wash is a new service available for anyone to use, complete with shampoo, towels, grooming tools and a jar of treats for pups to enjoy after a bath.

“We knew this was something people in Brandon were looking for, so it’s exciting that we can offer an additional service,” Mutschler says.

And, since Nova, Ranger and Tito often come to work with her, she adds with a laugh that she’s looking forward to using that selfservice dog bath and keep the labs’ hair out of their drains at home.

The Bark Spot lobby has open hours every day for pick-up and drop off — 7 to 9 in the morning, and then again from 12pm to 1pm and 4pm to 7pm.

“We wanted to provide that convenience for every-day pick-ups and drop-offs,” Mutschler says, “but having those set hours means that in between lobby hours, staff can lock the doors and just go be with the dogs.”

Pup parents can call for bookings or use the convenient Gingr system for easy online booking and uploading vet records and other information about their pets. The Bark Spot also offers add-on services like frozen Kong treats and dog slushies, as well as daycare punch cards.

Since opening in March, Mutschler has been able to hire additional staff for daytime and nighttime supervision. Not only does this help with good care and companionship for the dogs, but it also provides her a little peace of mind since she and Brady are adding to their own pack at home with their first child due in October.

You can learn more about The Bark Spot through their website or on Facebook (where you can also find lots of adorable pictures of doggos at play).