Spicewood boarding center caters to canines' needs

Up a gravel driveway and past several locked gates, roughly 20 dogs run and sniff the air, wag their tails and enjoy the wide open spaces.

A business dedicated to the boarding and grooming of dogs, A to Z Dog Ranch is on the outskirts of Spicewood Springs on 5 acres of land.

In September 2009, owner Wendee Phoenix moved to Spicewood Springs with her husband, David Wilson, a custom homebuilder. Phoenix said the idea to open a dog ranch started when she began looking after the pets of family and friends, then progressed as she spent more and more time around dogs.

"I worked at a similar place in Spicewood Springs," Phoenix said, referring to The Spicewood K9 Club, a dog-boarding business owned by Julia Weiss. Phoenix liked what Weiss did and learned from her former employer.

Pack play, sleeping arrangements and constant supervision were all matters Phoenix realized she would need to take into account if she were to open her own business, especially because of the lack of regulations.

Phoenix researched different businesses and finally found answers to her questions from the Federal Drug Administration, which said unless she was providing veterinary services, there were no licensing requirements, she said.

With no set guidelines, Phoenix decided she would run a business that focused on full disclosure.

Phoenix provides updates and pictures and allows dog owners to hang out at the ranch in order to put her them at ease. Dogs must also submit to a rigorous screening process before being accepted into the ranch.

"When we have any new clients—once their dogs have all the paperwork that we require, and we can verify their vaccinations and they pass the temperament test that [the dogs have] to go through—they can do a thing called dog park days," Phoenix said.

The dog park days—days where dog owners come and hang out with their dogs at the ranch—are mutually beneficial. Phoenix said it allows her a chance to see how the owner interacts with his or her dog, and the owner gets a chance to know her and what the dog's day entails.

Because the dogs spend so much time together, Phoenix has created a detailed process for screening each dog before they can join A to Z. Besides the usual vaccinations and paperwork, Phoenix puts them through a temperament test where her own five dogs are let out one at a time and she watches how the new dog reacts.

"You may have a dog get into another dog's space, and they are uncomfortable and they growl and sometimes show their teeth; it's not aggressive," Phoenix said. "They just don't want that dog in their space. You can't have a dog come in here that its reaction to that is to pin down, dominate or have any level of aggression towards that dog."

The ranch has experienced a great deal of growth since it first started. It now houses up to 55 dogs at a time and is looking to utilize more of the property.

"I've been here since June 2011," said Kat Cain, a ranch hand who works on A to Z. "It's one of the best jobs I've ever had."

Transforming a house

A typical dog's day at A to Z Dog Ranch starts 7 a.m. when one of the eight ranch hands picks up the dogs from their homes or wakes them in their kennels.

Divided into two separate groups based on energy level and temperament, the two groups spend the majority of the day switching between playing outside in the yard or staying inside the house on the property, which has been converted into roughly 30 rooms for the dogs.

The ranch can house up to 55 dogs at a time and is looking to expand to use more of the property.

A to Z Dog Ranch, 21115 Kathy Lane, Spicewood, 512-264-2224, www.atozdogranch.com