Greylock Canine Club Owner: More Dogs, Please

“The owners stop, open the doors, and these dogs come running out,” Umbrianna said. “They don’t waste any time. They’re so excited to come in and see their friends. They run right into that welcome shed. They know how it works.”

Umbrianna, a lifelong dog lover, said she wants to make the Greylock Canine Club, tucked away at 1099 New Ashford Road, the ultimate canine destination for all things dog.

“The location is fantastic,” he said. “We have 17 acres of land. So we have room to grow, but what I quickly did was really make it the ultimate destination… Yeah, so I wanted to be the go-to place, so to speak, for your dogs.”

Umbrianna said the club offers daycare and overnight boarding. After recently renovating one of the shacks on campus, they added grooming services. They hope to add dog training in the near future.

Charlene Lambert founded Greylock Canine Club in 2014 and Umbrianna purchased the business last October.

“She’s done a really great job of starting this business… I’m going to put a lot of money into it, I want to do it, and I commend her for what she’s done here and how she’s done it. I want to expand it.”

Umbrianna said that after moving to Williamstown about four years ago, he began looking for different investments. He said his girlfriend’s dog frequented the Greylock Canine Club and after a few visits, he realized how special the complex was.

When the Canine Club came up for sale, he jumped at the chance.

“I’m an entrepreneur at heart, and I wanted to find a business that I could enjoy when I retired,” he said. “And this place came up. I was leaving my dog ​​here, and I got to really get to know the staff. Then it came up for sale. I made an offer, she accepted, and the rest is history, as they say.”

Umbrianna said the Greylock Canine Club is different from many other similar activities. For one thing, the dogs are not separated.

“You have little Chihuahuas with big Great Danes, and they all get along. So it’s a real family. I’ve never seen anything like it. At one point I looked in and there were about 40 dogs, all running around playing with each other, no problem,” she said.

Umbrianna said one of the reasons the club was so special was the staff, all of whom remained after the sale.

“They know each dog’s personality; it’s amazing,” she said. “All the staff have experience in animal shelters and that’s the hardest thing. You never know what you’re going to get.”

That said, the club staff knows when dogs might need to be separated. Umbrianna said that, just like people, dogs can have bad days, but her staff is proactive and handles all situations with care and respect.

“If a dog has a bad day, he goes to detention. He goes to rest and then comes back inside,” she said.

Umbrianna said that while the club does offer boarding services, she stressed that a dog cannot simply walk in and join the pack.

“If someone says they’re coming to the Williamstown Theatre Festival or they want to visit the college and they want to leave their dog, the answer has always been no,” he said. “We won’t mix them with our dogs. For health reasons and we don’t know the dog.”

But anyone interested in joining the group is welcome for a trial.

“It’s a trial day and it doesn’t cost you anything. We put the dog with the other dogs and keep an eye on them. We want to see how they behave socially,” she said. “If everything goes well and they have a good second day when you are, welcome to the family.”

The club has had to turn away dogs in the past, but the staff knows what kind of training to recommend for owners. They said that after proper training, the dogs were able to join.

Umbrianna said they offer a traditional boarding service with a newly renovated kennel that keeps the dogs separate. The air-conditioned cabin has 6-by-8-foot kennels with 32-foot individual pens that have canopies to protect the dogs from the sun and rain. She added that they also have a separate side yard where these dogs can run around.

The pack itself consists of about 40 dogs on any given day. They have a large fenced-in area to run around with toys, sticks, pools, and other dog essentials.

When bad weather arrives, they have a large garage where the dogs can continue to play or rest.

“Let’s just say, bluntly, you can eat off this floor because we keep it so clean,” he said.

He said he plans to install luxury dog ​​suites in the garage in the future, “basically dog ​​hotel rooms with kennels, built-in lights and TVs.”

The facility is always staffed and cameras monitor all dogs at all times. The only time the dogs are left alone is at night, but staff are often at the facility late and return bright and early.

She credits much of the facility’s success to its manager Molly Smith, a veterinary technical assistant, who has the skills needed to make everything work.

“She knows how to handle a lot of things and I’m lucky to have her as a manager, as well as the rest of the staff,” Umbrianna said.

A new addition is the “Bow Wow Bus,” a remodeled school bus designed to carry dogs. Umbrianna said the seats are secured with special hooks to keep the dogs stable but allow them the flexibility to look out the window. There are even beds in the back if the dogs need to rest. He was especially excited about the working “dog loading sign” that flips off the side of the bus.

She said the plan is to implement pick-up and drop-off, but also to do educational dog walks. That’s something her clientele has asked for, she said, making a broader point that the club often interviews dog owners about changes that can be made to the business.

Umbrianna has continued her previous owner’s traditions, such as celebrating birthdays with photoshoots and a special dog cake, seasonal events with ugly dog ​​sweater parties, and Halloween costume contests, among other things.

Umbrianna said she is always thinking of new ideas and wants to continue expanding.

“I like it. I say 100, I want 100 dogs,” she said. “I want to have as many as possible, but I want the staff to be comfortable. We will always hire enough people.”

Tags: dog facility, dogs,