Today we’d like to introduce you to Nylene & Thomas Ward.
Hi Nylene & Thomas, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
After a surprising turn of events that resulted in us buying our first home last year, we realized that we would need two incomes to make it work (at the time, Thomas was employed while Nylene cared for our newborn son). Our home’s beautiful yard, complete with a small pond, combined with the fact that we had wanted a dog since before we got married, and the idea of dog boarding came to us quickly. It seemed to be the perfect solution for us! Nylene could stay at home with our son, make some side cash, and get some puppy love, all while meeting and getting a feel for different dog breeds to one day influence our own furry family member’s acquisition. We originally began finding bookings on Rover, an online service that connects pet caregivers and owners. The high levels of interest we received pushed us to expand our efforts to Facebook, where we posted in local groups about our services, and eventually we felt confident enough to create a Google pin and with it, a business name: Golden Pond Dog Boarding. In the past year since we began boarding, we have worked with 30+ families and over 50 dogs—and the numbers keep growing! In January, we added a golden retriever pup to our family, and we’re now settling into our official home-based, family-run business.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We put a lot of effort into ensuring a good fit between our program and the pups we watch, so aside from a chewed-up pillow and some indoor accidents here and there, it has been a pretty smooth road for us!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Golden Pond is not just a cute name that refers to our backyard water feature and our family dog’s breed—it’s a symbol for the quality care we provide. At Golden Pond, we offer a private, in-home dog boarding experience. Based in American Fork, our fully-fenced, .28-acre yard features fruit trees, a small pond, and safe enrichment and exploration for our canine counterparts. While larger boarding kennels prioritize the number of bookings and their profit margin, we book only one client at a time to provide safe play, individualized routines, and focused attention throughout each pup’s visit. Dogs enjoy flexible indoor/outdoor access combined with a variety of safety measures to ensure a secure stay. Because we emphasize unique care for each unique canine, we require meet-and-greets prior to confirming a booking to verify our program is a good fit for each potential client’s needs. Dogs we board must be up to date on basic vaccinations, potty trained (puppy exceptions), and friendly with children, cats, and other dogs.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
To us, success is much less about temporal gains and much more about internal satisfaction. While many probably wouldn’t consider us successful by today’s materialistic standards, with our meager savings and our low-impact lifestyle, we feel very strongly that we’re achieving the happiness we consider “success” every day. We enjoy our work, we love our family, and we end our evenings sharing our “yay of the day” before drifting off to sleep—it’s a simple kind of success, but to us, its the only kind that matters.
Pricing:
- Standard Rate: $40/night
- Puppy, Holiday Rate: $5 added/night
- Extended Stay Rate (7+ nights): $4 off/night
- Additional Dog Rate: $5 off individual rate/night
Contact Info:
- Website: https://goldenpondpupretreat.mypixieset.com/
- Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/sBtFcgVoJ3Fbp58y6
