At Allegheny Township’s Bed & Biscuits Boarding Kennel, owner Lindsay Janoski’s goal is to create a home away from home for dogs.
This is Janoski’s first time owning and running a kennel, but she has found herself following in her grandparents’ footsteps. Years ago, the couple owned the Mar-Ken-El. The name was a play on words for her grandparents’ names, Martha and Ken.
Janoski, 37, of Allegheny Township said she grew up hearing about the business from her grandparents and mother and figured it was a good option when she was looking into a career change.
There are eight rooms in the Bed & Biscuits, two of which are larger to accommodate larger dog breeds, or in case an owner has multiple dogs and would like them to be able to stay in one room together.
“We’re a smaller kennel,” Janoski said.
If there’s a particularly crowded weekend, each of the larger rooms can be split in half to house more dogs.
“When we’re full, I’d say we usually have around 12 to 15 dogs,” she said.
After its opening in August, Janoski said, the kennel quickly became a family affair. While she’s there each day, her husband, Dan, helps in the evenings and on the weekends. Their three children like to help feed the dogs and play with them when Janoski lets the dogs out to run, she said.
“That’s kind of the difference between us and some larger kennels,” Janoski said. “It’s like a family away from home for the dogs. They don’t have to get used to a different person every eight hours. There’s one family here taking care of them.”
Another unique factor is Janoski’s business location. The kennel and Janoski’s family home share a driveway. She said the short distance is a way to keep a constant eye on the animals day and night.
There’s about 15 acres on the property with a fenced area for the dogs to run and stretch their legs every two hours.
“Their rooms also have doggy doors that we can pull up so they can have an indoor space and an outdoor space that’s all connected and all private,” she said.
If an owner doesn’t want their dog with other dogs, or if a dog isn’t socialized yet, Janoski is able to make arrangements so the animal can still run safely.
Before deciding to open the kennel, Janoski was a preschool teacher. Her schedule coincided with the couple’s three children. She was able to get them to and from school, be with them on the weekends, during summer break and during holiday breaks. Janoski and her husband began to brainstorm other job options that would allow the same freedoms.
“There’s really no money in being a preschool teacher,” she said.
They ended up loving the idea of building their own kennel.
“We’re both animal lovers, we have animals of our own and I used to foster dogs for different rescues,” Janoski said. “I had experience after being involved in the animal community.”
The couple ended up building the kennel from the ground up.
“My husband did as much of the work by himself that he absolutely could to try and save money,” Janoski said. “It took probably a little over two years.”
She said business has been steady since the grand opening, and Bed & Biscuits has become a helpful resource to local rescues.
“When we have space, we let local rescues keep their dogs here,” Janoski said.
Bed & Biscuits has had about four rescue dogs consistently since they’ve opened. The kennel already has established a reputation for being a safe haven for dogs.
“They’re amazing,” said Cyndy Richard, a longtime volunteer with Tiny Cause, a nonprofit foster-based dog rescue in Vandergrift.
Bed & Biscuits is the first kennel Tiny Cause has worked with.
Richard, of Vandergrift, fosters dogs for Tiny Cause, helps run the rescue’s social media and helps with its booths and tables at local events. Richard said that as a foster, having a place to be able to lean on when there’s an overflow of dogs at the rescue is invaluable.
“I don’t think it’s that common,” she said. “There are some (kennels) that (help rescues) but I haven’t heard of many places that do it.”
Tiny Cause began working with Bed & Biscuits after a person who adopted a pitbull from the rescue told volunteers that Janoski was one of the only local kennels that is dog-friendly with all breeds.
“This really helps because then we don’t have a dog stuck in a kennel all the time, and it helps get the dog out in the public more,” Richard said. “The dogs get to see more people this way as well.”
Not only do the dogs get a place to stay, Janoski also helps the dogs with their training and work with housebreaking, food aggression, dog socialization and human socialization.
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Richard said there is a trend of adopting small dogs, but Bed & Biscuits helps larger rescue dogs receive more exposure toward potential adoption by introducing them to the public more than a foster owner could.
“A lot of people don’t want large dogs, and we’re trying to get a way to see them out in the public more,” Richard said “The word of mouth helps so much.”