Residents seeking ways to house or train their dogs have a new option in Sled and Breakfast, a doggy daycare and training facility that recently opened at 1051 Old Gravois Road in unincorporated Fenton.
Richie Camden and Melissa Chestnut have taken their love of dogs and knowledge of all things canine to create a business that offers long-term or short-term boarding, grooming and obedience training.
Sled and Breakfast opened on Oct. 17, and the pair said so far business is going well.
“It’s absolutely fantastic,” said Chestnut, who handles the business side of things. “I love coming to work every day. I have to find reasons to go home. I came in with a love of dogs and the business background, and Richie has all the dog knowledge, and it just seems like a great partnership.”
“Our goal throughout the facility is that everything done be in the best interest of the dog,” Camden added. “We have really pushed this mission amongst the staff. Everything is to be in service of the dogs and making their lives easier.”
Chestnut said she and Camden have known each for nearly a decade, coming together when Chestnut began searching for someone with knowledge of raising huskies. She found Camden, the owner of a team of working sled dogs called the Siberian Breakaway Team. He and his wife, Leah, race the huskies as a hobby.
As their musher, Camden often guides a 10- or 12-dog team on distance runs of up to 50 miles. He said he enjoys introducing the pups at expos and other special events in the community and is a licensed obedience trainer.
“Professionally, I spent six months working at a dog kennel before leaving to help open a doggy daycare at a different location,” Camden said on the company website, sledandbreakfaststl.com. “For the next five years, I managed the daycare and training programs. I left to pursue training full time, but my friends had other ideas for me. They needed a place for their dogs to stay while they traveled.
“Before I knew it, we had dogs boarding at our house. Melissa was one of those friends, and we soon found ourselves planning our vision of what could be the best experience for dogs and owners alike, a place where the dogs are free to run and burn off that excess energy. Most importantly, it’s a place where the dogs are always put first!”
Chestnut, a University of Missouri in Columbia graduate who grew up in south St. Louis County, said she rescued a husky and quickly realized she needed help with the dog,” she said on her business profile on the website.
“I quickly learned that I was way out of my league,” she said. “After rescuing my first husky, I went to a bookstore to find a ‘Huskies for Dummies’ manual and had the most serendipitous meeting with a sales associate who gave me Richie’s number. Seven years and many more rescued dogs later, our families have become fast friends and now business partners.”
Chestnut said she loved dogs growing up, particularly the Labradors her family raised, noting that she has never met a dog she didn’t like. She also has a background in small businesses, having previously been the co-owner of a family construction business.
She said she has had a lifelong desire to work closely with dogs, and then one day, Camden approached her with a plan.
“When I left my previous job five years ago, Melissa and I had discussed opening up a daycare and boarding facility,” Camden said, “but it wasn’t the right time for us. Then, sometime last March, I started looking at area properties and happened to find one that seemed perfect. So, I brought the idea back to Melissa, and we decided to go for it.”
He said the property has half an acre of fenced in play yards where dogs can frolic. The first of three play yards is for high-energy animals. The second is for smaller dogs. The third allows space for older dogs. The facility on the property also has plenty of indoor space for everyone during lazy times or bad weather, with outside access so dogs can go out and do their business, or just run and play, whenever they like.
The business offers three services.
First is a combination of housing and boarding for families who want to drop off pets while they are away for vacation or while they’re at work. Camden likened it to daycare or a “pet resort for traveling families.”
The facility never closes and has overnight staff members to look after the dogs while they rest. Sled and Breakfast is open 365 days a year, seven days a week, with the short-term daycare portion running from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., he said.
Camden said the second service is obedience training. The first level of training is the most basic, designed for puppies and newly owned dogs. It is what one would typically think of about dog training: potty lessons, sit, stay, heel and obeying commands.
The second tier of training is more advanced and geared more toward adopted dogs or those with paralyzing phobias. Camden said he and his fellow trainers work with them to overcome crate anxiety, fear of storms or loud noises, and similar issues to help the dogs to begin living stress free lives. The third-tier training centers around rehabilitation, especially for rescue dogs or those who have experienced abuse or neglect. The trainers provide extra care to help those animals begin trust humans again.
In addition, the business offers basic grooming services, such as bathing, toenail clipping and hair cutting, Camden said.
He said Sled and Breakfast has a staff of 17, including the two owners, two managers, four on-site trainers and a host of others.
“We try to utilize the same energy and flow throughout the building,” Camden said. “The dogs are trained in the same manner by everyone to provide consistency through shift changes. As I said, it is all about doing what is in the best interest of the dog.”
He said the business will accept any breed of dog and any age, from high-energy puppies to low energy seniors. The only thing they ask is that puppies are old enough to have had their required shots and be spayed and neutered.
For more information, call 636-343-9966 or visit sledandbreakfaststl.com.
