About the Lodge
Twelve acres on Old Mill Road, a barn that used to hold hay, and a family that never planned to run a boarding kennel.
2011 to now
It started with four dogs and a favour.
Rosa and Dan Ferreira bought the property in 2009 for the pasture and the barn. Two years later a neighbour asked whether their retriever could stay for a week, and then another neighbour asked, and by the autumn of 2011 there were fourteen dogs in the barn and a hand-painted sign at the end of the drive.
The barn is now the dog wing. The hayloft became the office. In 2016 we added the cat wing onto the north side because we kept turning cat owners away and it started to feel like a bad answer. In 2021 we fenced the last four acres and cut the mill trail through the birches.
Fifteen years in, we board about sixty dogs and twenty cats at a time. It is still the same family and still the same field, and the original sign is still at the end of the drive — a little faded, and we are not going to repaint it.
Who is here
Eleven people, and at least one of them sleeps here.
Everybody on the floor is certified in animal first aid and CPR, renewed every two years. Nobody works alone with a group of dogs, ever.
Rosa Ferreira
Co-owner · Head groomer
Nineteen years grooming, and the only person the difficult cats will tolerate. She does the cat wing rotation on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Dan Ferreira
Co-owner · Yards and grounds
Builds the fences, cuts the trail, decides which dog goes in which yard. If you tour the property, you are touring it with Dan.
Priya Raman
Front desk · Bookings
Answers the phone, keeps the calendar, and is the person who will call you back the same day about your dates.
The grounds
Twelve acres, four yards, one trail.
The pasture is five acres of grass with a shade barn and two troughs. The orchard yard is under old apple trees, which is why the small dogs get it in July. There is a sand yard for puppies and old hips, and the mill trail runs a half mile through birch woods along the creek.
All of it is inside six-foot woven wire fence, dug in at the base, checked every Monday. Nothing has ever gone over it or under it.
Questions we get
The things people ask on the phone.
Can I see the suites before I book?
Yes, and we would rather you did. Tours run any time the desk is open and you do not need an appointment, though a weekday morning is calmer. We show you every room your pet would use, including the one where medications are kept.
What happens if my dog gets hurt?
We call you first, then Anytown Veterinary on Route 9, four minutes away and open until 9pm. If we cannot reach you and it is urgent, we go and you are billed at cost. There is no markup on vet care.
Do you use a webcam?
There are cameras in every suite and yard, but we do not stream them publicly. What you get instead is one real photo a day, texted, of your own animal. We found the livestream made people more anxious rather than less.
My dog has never been boarded. Where do we start?
With a meet-and-greet, then ideally one daycare day, then one single overnight before the week you actually need. That sequence costs about $100 and it is the best money a nervous owner can spend.
Do you take unaltered dogs?
Under eight months, yes. Over eight months and unaltered, we can board but not put them in a play group — they go out alone or on the trail. It is a group-safety rule, not a judgement.
How far ahead should I book?
Thanksgiving and the last two weeks of December are usually full by September. Spring break fills by February. Everything else is generally open a week or two out, and we keep two cabins unbooked for emergencies.
Is there a cancellation fee?
Not outside the holidays. For Thanksgiving and Christmas we take a one-night deposit and keep it if you cancel inside fourteen days, because we will not fill the room that late.
Can my cat and dog stay together?
No, and we know that disappoints people. The two wings are separate buildings with separate air handling, which is the whole point of the cat wing. They can arrive and leave in the same car.
Come and walk the fence line with Dan.
Tours take about twenty minutes and cost nothing. Bring the dog.