School is in session. The pupils are excited and a bit nervous. What will the day look like? Who will they get to play with? What’s coming for lunch? Will they get a big juicy bone or wet food? Oh, this isn’t a regular school that I’m speaking about. It’s a place where dogs come to stay when their owners are busy doing adult things. And to make things even better – they get picked up in the most adorable ‘school bus’ ever!
The idea has been making rounds in the US for quite some time now, and we’ll be looking at two people who’ve successfully made the world a little bit better, as far as we are concerned. Before we dive into it, dear readers, I’d like to encourage you to leave your thoughts below in the comments, as well as to upvote the story and follow the author to make their day a lot better! That is all.
Dog daycare services like you’ve never seen before – the pups get picked up in a doggie school bus every morning and brought back in the evening after ‘school’ is done
When people imagine Heaven or Paradise, many imagine being surrounded by pups of all shapes and sizes, excitedly wagging their tails and awaiting pets. Some have made a Heaven on Earth doing just that and surrounding themselves with happy K9s. One such man is Arat Montoya from West Linn City, Oregon.
Arat grew up in Mexico and moved to Canby when he was 15. “My family are bakers, and my dad wanted me to be a baker,” he told The Oregonian. “I said, ‘I’m sorry Dad, I love dogs.’” He worked at the Dog Club of West Linn, a dog daycare service, but when the business closed, he continued working with a handful of clients, boarding and dog-sitting out of his house.
Arat Montoya created Doggie School Bus Inc., a dog daycare service in 2016, which quickly caught the attention of locals
In 2016, Arat opened a doggy daycare service, called Doggie School Bus Inc. in an attempt to better support his growing family. He would show up at a client’s house in the morning to pick up their pups in a custom yellow van dubbed the Doggie School Bus.
He’d then drive them to a 5-acre property he rented from a friend. This is where the dogs would spend most of the day, playing and interacting with Arat and the other pups. At 2 p.m., school would be done for the day, with the man driving the pups back to their respective owners.
The whole day of puppy play cost $30 at the time, but each pup needed to pass a temperament test to join the pack. The genius marketing idea quickly took off.
He picks the pups up and brings them to a 5-acre fenced lot where they play and socialize with the others. The dogs get excited whenever they see the ‘school bus’
It took only a few weeks for the idea to catch on in his community, and clients started coming in. “I got 16 customers within two weeks. People were going bananas,” he told The Oregonian, recalling the moment fondly. The demand grew so much that he had to buy new and larger vehicles to pick up and transport the pups.
The dogs are eager to go to ‘school,’ with many running out of their homes and straight onto the bus when they hear the man pulling up. In 2019, he had more than 300 clients and would have around 20 pups per day to look after.
Arat loves what he does, managing an average of 20 dogs each day. He knows all of the dogs’ names and can identify them by their bark
If he knew the pups were gonna be well-behaved, he could bring up the number to 30. “I’ve never had an issue with a pitbull. I’ve never had an issue with a German shepherd or a Rottweiler,” he said. “But, let me tell you, I’ve had an issue with a Chihuahua.”
According to Arat, the best part of doing all this is the company of the dogs and that they have fun playing and making friends with one another, too. He knows all the dogs’ names and can identify most by bark, sight unseen. “I’m the happiest man in the world doing what I’m doing,” he said.
At the moment, Arat’s Facebook page has 33K followers and his services continue on. But he isn’t the only person going viral for this idea.
Another man, named Evan Zwerneman, started a similar daycare in 2019, named EZ Dog Stay and Play
Evan Zwerneman’s doggy daycare went viral in March after a happy client posted a video on TikTok, showing her golden retriever returning home in a school bus. The video sits at an impressive 16.9M views and 2.7M likes. The daycare is called EZ Dog Stay and Play, and is located in Austin, Texas.
He told Newsweek that each day, they have on average 50-60 dogs in their care. Although there are other daycare and boarding services, EZ Dog Stay and Play is the only business he knows of that does “round trip care.” “In December of 2021, we had 95 dogs on our waitlist to join our daycare program,” he told Voyage Austin. “I love what I do and can not believe my passion has turned into my career.”
At the moment, they have four vans and one actual school bus with seat belts for the pups
Evan came up with the idea in 2019 after working as the manager of a veterinarian clinic and deciding it was time he worked for himself. At the moment, they have four vans and one actual school bus, which was shown in the video. It still has all the typical school bus seats, but now there are seat belts for each dog that ensure a safe and happy journey to what’s called the “dog ranch.”
The pups have 5 acres of land to enjoy, with someone living on-site full time to ensure the safety and security of the dogs. “Our dogs get to meet and interact with our potbelly pig, see horses, etc. being with us! It’s the country life and the dogs LOVE it,” Evan said excitedly.
“In December of 2021, we had 95 dogs on our waitlist to join our daycare program,” he said, overjoyed to have a job created out of his passion for animals
Services like these have not only been an exciting adventure and play date for the pups, but also a lifesaver for their owners
Services like these have not only been an exciting adventure and play date for the pups, but also a lifesaver for their owners, who couldn’t stay at home to look after them. The woman who posted the viral video, named Mireya Bustamante, told Newsweek that as a nurse, she was very grateful for the service as her dog Olive had been having the time of her life.
“Now my dog isn’t lonely at home and can have fun with all her friends all day,” she said. “The best part is that I can watch her playing with the other dogs at daycare on the daycare’s Instagram stories!”
“She plays with the other dogs and comes home exhausted,” she explained. “I can also request for her to have a bath before she comes home or I can buy her ice cream for a small snack at daycare. It is seriously the cutest thing I have ever seen.”
These doggie daycare “schools” keep popping up, and we hope that there’s no stopping them any time soon!
These doggie daycare “schools” keep popping up, and we hope that there’s no stopping them any time soon!
Watch the adorable pups excitedly rushing towards the bus:
@ezdogstayandplay Snatching up the best Dogs all over Austin! #dogschoolbus
Let us know your thoughts on the matter – would you like a service like this to be operating in your area, or maybe you’re using one as we speak? Otherwise, I wish you all a fantastic and warm August day!
