THE ROAD BACK Purr’n Pooch
48 JULY 2021 | TheJournalNJ.com
Pet Resorts
BY LORI DRAZ
New Jersey is on its way, back to the life we love and back to business.
The small businesses of Monmouth County play an important
role the quality of daily life. In our communities are some of
the most talented, dedicated and determined experts who have worked
hard to keep their businesses surviving during the lockdown. Each
faced unique challenges and developed their own pivoting mechanisms
to continue to provide you their goods and services. Each month,
way through the pandemic and how they are coming back.
For more than 50 years, upwards of a million pet owners have trusted
their furry family members to the care of Purr ‘n Pooch Pet Resorts. The
business has been owned and operated by the Palazzo family and their
extended family of staff, many of whom have worked there for 25 or more
years. To the Palazzos, pets are real family members, and just like so many
real families, the worlds of pets changed overnight, when the pandemic
restrictions took hold. Purr’n Pooch had to modify its services to meet the
needs of customers, dealing with unique stressors on their schedule. One
of the most unexpected developments was the great number of customers
who became stranded in Europe. Purr’n Pooch took on the challenge
of long-term stays for those people’s beloved family members. They
placed all the long-term boarders in the Tinton Falls spa.
workers who were working long and often multi-day shifts. They needed
to concentrate on the important matters and had to leave and pick up their
and compassionate to give the owners peace of mind and help the dogs
understand why their worlds didn’t make sense anymore.
Founder and President Dickie Palazzo said, “I have been in business
for over 50 years, and we never worked so hard. Instead of four-day
weeks, our team members were working seven days a week, 24 hours a
day. The lockdown restrictions seemed to occur so quickly, and we had
to move fast. I began
by putting together a
real dream team of employees.
I kept some on
and furloughed others,
based on their circumstances,
and made sure
the team could carry
on all aspects of the
daily activities, including
specialty food prep,
cleaning, grooming,
working with the dogs,
etc. This team and my
whole staff are just
the most incredible
people, and to see
the way they continued
to love and care for these animals, even though they had to deal with
“In the early days, when so much was unknown about the virus, we
met dog owners curbside and exchanged their collars and leashes for our
own. We also used dry shampoo to wipe down each pet as they came
through.”
One of the positive effects of the pandemic was that many people
expanded their families by adopting dogs. With people and students
working from home, it was a great time to adopt, but it was not without
stressors for the animals. People can’t always have their dogs around.
Palazzo explains, “Animals get used to a routine. Any change, even good
ones like more at home time and more attention can create a change in
behavior. Certainly, bringing in a new pet affects them too, so we began
to see many customers whose pet wanted a little break, who needed a
quiet workspace or who needed help socializing their new pets. There
As the restrictions continue to lift, there is more grooming and training
going on. “I still think the slowest part of the recovery is tourism. Not
visitors to the shore, but residents heading to other destinations. We are
seeing the day-stay business remain strong as the extended-stay sector
continues to rebuild.
“I think our area will be an even more tremendous place as the
adopted pets continue teaching their owners the values of kindness, responsibility
and unconditional love.”
Purr’n Pooch has two locations: 86 Gilbert St. West in Tinton Falls
and 2424 Route 35 in Wall Township. To meet the business, visit Purrn-
Pooch.com.
As always, The Journal stands behind all the small businesses of
Monmouth County, and we encourage you to preserve your neighborhoods
by doing business with your local small businesses. You’ll get great
personal service and follow-up care from neighbors you know.
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