Doggy
Business Dog Training & Lodging is housed in a small old Portland
warehouse with lots of history. Built in 1948, the building has housed
everything from an ice cream parlor to a housing contractor. It has been
around for a long time, and we intend to take very good care of it!
Recently, the building underwent modern seismic upgrades and with our
renovations, it has never looked better!
We had the help of many of our wonderfully
talented clients in upgrading the building, and we worked hard to reduce
waste, stay as green as possible, and stay local. First of all, one of our
clients helped up find the building in the first place. Debbie Banzer-Holland
is a Realtor with Windermere Real Estate. She owns two wonderful
Brittanys, Rose and Mickey. Debbie found the building and thought it might
make a good dog training center. After we looked into it, we agreed.
We also worked with Debbie's husband, Gary
Holland, to turn the building into a modern dog training center. Gary is
a licensed contractor and was incredibly helpful with the renovation
project. Rose and Mickey watched as their Dad transformed the space
into what it is today. Meredith and I pitched in where we could but left the
tricky stuff to him. A true Jack of all trades, he and his coworker,
Carolyn, tackled everything from drywall to rubber flooring. They were
fantastic.
One of the first things we did was to take out
one wall and remove a drop ceiling to open up the space. We were able to
reuse most of the old 2X4s in the framing for the lodging suites and to
build the reception room wall.
Staying Green
Any scrap wood that we couldn't use we took to
Wood Waste Management to have it recycled or turned into mulch. We
completely rewired and upgraded the electrical system, and recycled all of
the old scrap metal at Metro Metals. Anything that we couldn't
recycle we brought to the Rebuilding Center with the hope that it
would get reused (We really do Love That Place!). Two of our main doors
along with our front desk are all from the Rebuilding Center.
Another dog lover and client of ours, Jane
Russell, painted our sign and logo on the facade of the building. Jane
is a local artist with a lot of local support. Many of you may know of her
through her studio, Camp Cactus. Our signs are beautiful and locally
grown!
We used recycled Metro Paint for much of the
interior colors and installed reused dresser drawers and panel doors for
shelves and barriers in the new play room. Even the floor is made from
recycled rubber tires.
For our day to day operations, we recycle all
our our paper waste, cans and bottles and use only biodegradable bags. Every
little bit helps!
All of these efforts were used to try our best
to keep waste to a minimum, and it really paid off! It was fun, less
expensive and has left the building with an industrial look we really
like. Stop on in for a tour!
