After planning for more than four years, the Riverwalk Pet Hospital and Resort opened July 25. The clinic treats dogs and cats and is a fear-free certified practice, one of four such practices in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, according to O’Gorman.
“The whole goal is to provide veterinary service with minimal fear and stress and eliminate anxiety,” O’Gorman said.
Fear-free clinics require veterinarians, technicians and receptionists to all take courses and pass tests to earn the certification.
O’Gorman worked closely with Animal Arts Design Studio in Boulder, Colorado, to construct the building with the aim of having a flow for the office that helps animals feel more secure in the setting. Instead of making dogs walk up onto a scale, a treat trail leads them to a mat with a scale sitting into the floor. There are 10 rooms, eight for dogs and two for cats, designed to help each animal. Rooms have features such as cat trees and a multitude of treats to help calm anxiety. Large rooms allow the veterinarians and technicians to get on the floor with smaller dogs if needed. Payments are also handled in the room, making it easier to leave and not have to stand at a counter while payments are settled and other dogs are walking in for appointments.
The location has a pharmacy, a surgical room and a comfort room for family members when their animals die. There is also an x-ray, grooming, laboratory and incubator room for dogs with breathing issues.
The day resort is the other part of the location with a varying degree of space for the four-legged family members. There are outdoor and indoor play areas for dogs. The location has five veterinarians, eight technicians and five dog resort employees. Prior to this practice, O’Gorman operated two locations in Fort Worth. After selling those in 2017, the Keller resident turned his attention to a new venture. The Grapevine location is about a 15-mile drive from his house—just in the opposite direction.
A native of Denton, O’Gorman recalls spending a lot of time in his youth driving to Arlington to watch the Texas Rangers play and passing through Grapevine each trip. The memories of that and the location near the mall played a factor in choosing this location, which is on a large lot.“It has been a really fantastic experience,” O’Gorman said. “When we opened, we thought we would really take off around Thanksgiving and Christmas, and we have. I think the fear-free [atmosphere] played to our advantage.”
Riverwalk Pet Hospital and Resort
3985 Grapevine Mills Parkway, Grapevine
972-355-7747
Hours: Mon.-Fri. 7 a.m.-7 p.m.,
Sat. 8 a.m.-2 p.m., Sun. 1-6 p.m.
