Your Pet Space managing through the pandemic

There’s a place in Las Cruces where companion animals are coddled and groomed by a staff of 10.

David and Joy Jones opened Your Pet Space in 2015 and moved it to a new location in 2019.

The core function of the operation, David Jones said, is, “Pet care, specifically dog boarding and daycare, grooming, boarding, training, dog walks, transport and home care for cats and other pets not suitable to be at the facility.”

Like every business, Your Pet Space has had to adapt to COVID-19.

“It was devastating at first,” David Jones said. “Revenue crashed.”

But the Joneses and their employees took advantage of the slow period to make some adjustments and improvements, he said.

On the grooming side, he said they purchased the Anivac dog grooming system, which uses 90 percent less water than traditional methods while hydrating the dog’s skin and helping protect against rashes and other skin ailments. He called it “a game changer.”

But installation of the Anivac system was only part of the renovation at Your Pet Space.

“We revamped daycare to be more interactive,” he said. “While we still offer the traditional ‘open play’ daycare, clients can opt in to a more interactive version we call Mission Discovery that includes Fit paws, puzzles, nose work, training and one on one with a caregiver, as well as open play, but in smaller groups. While all dogs get a midday nap, the dogs in Mission Discovery get music and calming essential oils designed for a dog’s nose.”

Eventually, he said, things began returning to some semblance of normalcy.

“Clients slowly came back,” he said. “Now daycare is doing well, but boarding is spotty. No home care at this time. Revenue is now about 75 percent of where we were before COVID-19”

And while operations have slowed, David Jones said the mission of Your Pet Space hasn’t changed.

“Our purpose is to make pets better,” he said. “We offer cage-free daycare and boarding, and we’re staffed 24 hours a day. We aren’t watching your dog on a camera. Someone is actually with your dog. The staff is certified in pet health and safety, as well as trained in canine CPR and first aid.”

Your Pet Space is open 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday at 2601 W Hadley Ave.

Visit www.YourPetSpace.com, call 575-652-4404 or email frontdesk@yourpetspace.com.