POULSBO — Woody’s chocolate brown eyes beg as he enthusiastically lobbies for a treat. Stacy Thompson complies with the expertise of a caring grandmother, filling a doggy toy with peanut butter. Woody not-so-patiently waits, periodically sticking his snout between the peanut butter jar and the treat.
Woody is one of a handful of canine house guests for which Thompson is caring at Primrose Lane Boarding in Poulsbo. Though the property is Thompson’s primary residence that doubles as a dog boarding facility, it’s obvious dog guests rule the roost.
“What I try to do is create a structured environment,” she said, dishing out treats and scratches behind the ear. “It’s not like they run loose.”
Thompson fell into the dog boarding business by accident, she said. It started out when a friend posed a simple question: “Do you board?”
She answered with a 15-year-stint with a boarding facility in California. When the Washington native returned to her home state, she decided to continue the business.
She opened Primrose Lane Boarding in October, 2008. The kennel name pays homage to Primrose Lane, a street on which she lived for 20 years.
“I’m going to have to work until I die. This is an awfully fun way to do it,” she said.
In the daytime, the dogs stay in a spacious, insulated building partitioned into individual kennel spaces.
The space houses Thompson’s treadmill and a refrigerator stocked full of scrumptious treats, as well as a television that plays Animal Planet. They are let outside to attend to their personal business six times each day.
They also have a space to run and play. Each canine gets individual playtime, unless they come from the same family. In that case, they are allowed to play together, Thompson said.
“We don’t mix the dogs,” she said. “But they do interact at the fenceline.”
At night, the dogs sleep inside crates strategically placed inside Thompson’s home, adjacent to her bedroom. In the event Thompson leaves town, she has a friend attend to the dogs and sleep over.
Three goats — remnants of Thompson’s now-grown granddaughter’s involvement in 4H — have taken permanent residence in a structure erected especially for them and serve the role as playmates for the houseguests.
Thompson’s welcome mat is rolled out for all; no breeds are turned away. There is one factor that would prevent a dog from being boarded at Primrose Lane.
“We don’t take dogs that are people aggressive,” she said. “Dog aggressive isn’t an issue, because they don’t interact.”
