THE DOG BARK
An urban and fun venue for dogs, the Dog Bark offers a day care service as well as a place for pooches to exercise and socialise.
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00:00I came about whenever I came back from the Netherlands. I was working in Holland for
00:1317 years and when I came back things had moved on. Friends had moved on, stuff like that.
00:17So I had plenty of time on my hands. And then we got a little dog called Archie. And me
00:24and Archie would have spent a lot of time together at the weekends and stuff. And Archie
00:28had this thing where he never wanted the lead pot on him. So we took him to different places
00:32around the country. Places where he could run free. And visited numerous dog parks around
00:40Balfast and Clerk Ferguson and stuff like that. And then one day we were standing in
00:44the dog park in, I think it was in Gatesbridge and I thought to myself, we could do this
00:49in Crickhaven in the Lurgan area. So I took it from there, bought a little welder and
00:54then just started building the dog park. And that was in the summer of 2019. And now
00:59we're in 2024. Yes, this would be the main area where when people arrived, they'd come
01:04in and they'd introduce themselves before they come into, say, the park or before they
01:10go in and put their dogs into the deck here in the morning. People arrive here and then
01:14what we'd do is we'd radio over to our staff that's in the pen and they would meet at what
01:19we call the exchange area, where the customer would hand over their dog. Then they would
01:23come back in and they would maybe have a coffee. And some people hang about and have
01:27a wee chat in the mornings just before they go out and do their day's work. We offer various
01:32drinks here. We offer frappuccinos, iced coffees, regular coffees like your lattes, your cappuccinos,
01:38all the popular stuff that you'd have in your normal coffee shop. And we do treats for the
01:46dogs as well, which we do puppuccinos. Puppuccinos are very, very popular as you can imagine.
01:51And they're whipped cream. The basis of that is whipped cream with doggy snacks in it.
01:56And yeah, they're very popular. So yeah.
01:59I imagine there's a lot of chit-chat that goes on here about dogs and problems with
02:04dogs or interesting stories with dogs.
02:08Yeah, you hear a lot. You hear a lot about all the behaviours of what they've done the
02:11night before, which can be humorous. And you hear a lot of stories about how tired the
02:16dogs are after they've left the deck here, which is nice to hear. Then it gives the owner
02:21a bit of peace in the evening when the dog's got it's socialisation and it's got it's exercise
02:25for the day. So it's all good.
02:27We cater for all types of dogs here. All dogs are welcome. As I say, we have a facility
02:33here built where if your dog is not social with other dogs, you have the option of renting
02:38a private pen. And as I say, we have it split up where we have big dogs, middle-sized dogs,
02:43small dogs and in a private area. So it doesn't matter what size your dog is or what way your
02:47dog's behaviour is or what way your dog socialises. We try our best to cater for every breed.
02:53And do you do training sessions as well?
02:57We do indeed. We had a thing running there for a while called the Bark Academy. And we
03:02have three young trainers that work here with us at the moment. And yeah, they're specialised
03:10in different varieties of training, which every dog is different. So we try to accommodate
03:17for all dogs.
03:18So that would be kind of people who have dogs who are pulling on the lead, people who have
03:24dogs which maybe aren't as easily...
03:27100%. That's the main issue that most people have is walking their dog on the lead. So
03:34when you listen to the trainers, it's easily corrected once you listen to them, you know.
03:39And it's consistent, keeping up the consistency of it.
03:42I believe that it's a hub for the community, especially the people that have dogs, dog
03:49lovers. It offers that service where people, I think it's a necessity to people now, where
03:56they need somewhere where they can bring their dog and the dog, they can feel safe and the
04:00dog can feel safe. Where they can let it off the lead and the dog can enjoy its life to
04:04the fullest. 100%. It's not only that, I think the main issue is people going to work and
04:09leaving the dogs at home. Whereas when they leave it down here at the dog park, they know
04:12the dog's safe. When they get home at night, the dog's had its exercise, it's been socialised.
04:17And yeah, I think that's the main benefit of it. And as you pointed out there, that
04:26it's beneficial for people who have hospital appointments or doctor appointments, or just
04:31basically have to do something where they can't bring the dog with them. So the dog
04:36is perfect for them to drop off. Shopping, of course. And it gives them a peace of mind.
04:44And what sort of feedback have you had since you opened in 2019?
04:49Oh, the feedback has been absolutely fantastic. It's been the people, the majority, well,
04:57most of the people I pass anyway, leave here with a smile on their face, and so do the
05:02dogs. So it gives you a bit of a lift every day, and keeps you positive to keep on striving
05:09on, making it better and better every day.
05:12So you've got three separate pens here, or four?
05:16We've four in total out here, and then we have the indoor area at the back.
05:21And what, do you have doggy day care, and then people come and bring their own dogs
05:25just for half an hour, an hour?
05:27We don't do it yet. We have the day care, which runs from Monday to Friday, from seven
05:31in the morning until six in the evening. And then we've got the general urban doggy
05:36fun park here, just to the right, where you can come in and you can rent an hour out to
05:43mix your dogs with other dogs. Plus we have the option where you can rent the private
05:48area out, where you can have a private pen for yourself.
05:52Here at the dog park, week in, week out, we're just trying to improve it, you know.
05:59The future, what can I say? Could there be a potential of having a dog park in every
06:04county? That would be amazing. I think there's a necessity for it. It brings employment to
06:10young people, and it gives customers that opportunity to use different parks in different
06:17areas. So, yeah, it's out of my control really, but all we have to do is keep on working,
06:23and parking stands forward to make it the best we can, and it's in God's hands.