Limited Services Dec. 9-11, 2019
We will be partially closed for the installation of new kennel doors beginning Monday, December 9th, and resuming full operations at 7:00 am on December 12th. We will be open for grooming only on the 9th, 10th, and 11th. We will not be offering boarding or daycare on those days.
Boarding service is available through Monday morning, December 9th. We ask that if you have a pick-up scheduled that day, you arrive no later than 11:00 am. Boarding drop-offs will resume at 7:00 am on December 12th.
We will be available by phone during construction, so don’t hesitate to call! If you have any further questions, you can also email us at clubpetmilford@gmail.com or call (248) 685-8836.
And just a reminder, we have a second facility, Club Pet Too, located in Commerce Township. If you plan on using any services there, let us make it easier by transferring your records for you … just ask!
Thanks, as always, for your patronage!
Club Pet Groomer Rescues Alligator
Puff, the magic escape artist alligator, is back home in Milford Township after an adventure on Thursday.
“He’s my buddy,” said James Kozub, who has owned the American alligator for 20 years and has lived with him in Milford Township for the past eight years. “He’s never been a problem.”
Kozub admits Puff was “a mad gator” on Thursday after he broke loose from a tether he had been left on in the front yard of their home in the 2000 block of East Commerce. The four-foot alligator then took a stroll at ended up at a yard in the 1900 block of East Commerce.
On his way, he was spotted by Dawn Stuebben, who had just left work at the nearby Club Pet, a dog boarding facility where she is a groomer.
The Plymouth resident was on her way home and couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
“It was scary,” she said. “It looked like a big monitor lizard walking across a front yard. I said, ‘What the hell is that? Is that real?'”
Stuebben pulled into the parking lot of St. Mary’s Church and said people in the driveway of the home looked unfazed. She then realized they hadn’t yet seen what she now recognized as an alligator.
Moments later, they were calling the police, who responded at 4:35 p.m. July 18.
Stuebben said she and a man at the neighbor’s home worked together to capture the animal. She tied together three dog leashes while he got a pole and makeshift hook. Stuebben, hands shaking, then lassoed the alligator under his jaw.
“He was upset and hissing, but not trying to come at us,” she said. “There was a drainage ditch that goes under the road and he was heading that way. We knew we’d never get him out if he got that far.”
Puff still had a small harness around the front of his body, with a broken wire attached.
According to the police report, the neighbor was aware that Kozub owned a pet alligator. Police were able to reach Kozub, who was at a Madison Heights water park with his family, and he arrived about an hour later, taping Puff’s mouth shut and carrying him home. He put him in his above ground swimming pool to cool off.
Kozub said he was in high school when he bought Puff from House of Pets in Dearborn Heights 20 years ago. He has since lived in Westland, Redford, and for the past 8 years, in Milford Township. He said he has legally owned his pet in every place he has been, and even informed township officials of Puff when he moved here.
Puff has a cage in Kozub’s home. Young children also live at the home, as well as Kozub’s 11-month-old Great Dane/Mastiff mix Zeus.
Kozub is also a beekeeper and has had a variety of interesting pets over the years, including chickens, pigs, and birds, but Puff has outlived them all.
While he can’t cuddle Puff, he enjoys him, calling the alligator “hardy, and fun to watch,” as well as listen to with the noises he makes. He keeps Puff’s size in check by controlling the temperatures to which he is exposed.
What does an alligator eat? Kozub says, “everything.”
“It’s hard for people to understand,” he said. “People judging me don’t know about alligators. They make good pets.”
Kozub emphasized it is not against state law or DNR regulations to own an alligator and in the police report, an animal control officer confirmed that to police.
Kozub was issued a citation for failing to maintain a reasonable control/leash law in Milford Township.
*Article originally appeared on hometownlife.com
The “Who” Matters!
The pet services industry has grown fantastically in the 20 years that we’ve been in business. In 1997, the mention of doggie daycare was met with mostly chuckles. We had to sell the idea of daycare to clients back then. Even when we attended trade shows and seminars, and introduced ourselves as a doggie daycare provider, the majority of our counterparts were convinced it was too niche, too risky, too labor-intensive. Well, they were wrong!
The field is much different now. You can shop around for a doggie daycare and select the one that best suits your needs. You can compare locations, amenities, policies, facilities, and cost. One question we hope you are asking in your search, is WHO is taking care of my pets?
You walk through the door and the staff and your pet are both excited to see one another! You are surprised to see that the person greeting you remembers your dog, their personality, details about their diet and heath history. They lean down and get a hug or kiss from your pet. It is so comforting to know that your pet is being cared for by people that really KNOW and LOVE them!
That level of care requires a very well-trained, full-time, longtime staff, and that is exactly what Club Pet provides that differentiates us from other facilities. Specifically …
… the average tenure of a Club Pet Too employee is 6 YEARS!
… you will get a person who receives a minimum of three weeks of training upon hire. Included in that training? DETAILS, DETAILS, DETAILS! Our new hires regularly remark that they have never received such thorough, measured training. Our training process focuses not just on procedure. We teach our employees about pack leadership and animal behavior, about pet health, about the goals of sanitation…. basically, we teach outcomes and accountability, not just procedures.
… you will also get a person who is trained in pet first aid and CPR, a requirement for employees that have worked with us for 90 days or more. That is peace of mind that, in a sudden emergency, your pets’ caregiver has the skills to literally save your pet’s life.
… you will get the benefit of 20 years of evaluation and improvement of our processes, policies, and facilities. We made our decisions based on experiences and past outcomes, not on projections and market trends. So, decisions based on what is good for our client, not our shareholders or franchisee.
… you will get owners on-site, invested in the day-to-day quality of our operations. My vision for my business is clear and it is shared with my employees. They aren’t working for someone, they are working for something!
… you will get individuals who are bonded and personally connected to your pets. How do you NOT fall in love with all of them?