Baby Barks
Serving Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Saskatoon, Regina, Toronto and Winnipeg with Forever Fur Family Members.
Bichon Shih Tzus
Our Kennel
Is it is a house? A Spa? A dog resort?
We're not sure, but the dogs really love it!
Located on 15 fully fenced acres, our dogs are able to enjoy off leash walks on our manicured summer time paths and shovelled winter time paths!
Our facility includes 3500+ sq ft of dog used and enjoyed indoor space.
Featuring multiple skylights, lots of windows and infloor heating, our pooches are pretty comfortable!
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Momma dogs give birth at our house so we can assist them with their every need. They spend the first couple weeks with their newborns in our living room, where we can monitor the puppies for growth, help them nurse and give moms frequent potty breaks.
As puppies age, they transition onto large paper filled "tables" at the kennel. These allow us to clean thoroughly through the day and encourage the puppy's natural instinct to move further and further from their bed and food to do their potty business. Mom initiates the weaning and spends increasing time with her own friends as the puppies gain independence. Our puppies are able gain great social skills as they play and meet puppies from other litters.
The puppies gain indépendance, practicing having play time in new locations, with new friends and new toys! All part of puppy play school! Families come and visit their puppies when the puppies are 7 weeks of age to meet their new friend and the parent dogs. Puppies are able to leave us for their new homes when they are at least 8 weeks of age and showing the independence needed to thrive in their new homes.
Both puppies and our adult dogs are bathed and trimmed in our grooming room. We ask the dogs to stand patiently in the sink as we give them their warm baths and start this training process with the puppies before they head home.
We are proud to partner with Didsbury Veterinary Services who provides on site assessments and have thoroughly looked over and assessed our kennel, giving it a big thumbs up! Didsbury Vet offer fantastic care to our dogs and covers our puppy wellness exams, immunizations, adult health checks, emergency services, neuter and spays, dental cleanings and so much more. We have been in partnership with them since 2017 and couldn't be more pleased with the assistance they provide.
Please enjoy the letter of recommendation included at the bottom of this page.
Our dogs enjoy outdoor access, freely using their doggie doors from around 8am to 9pm. We don't allow night time outdoor access as our dogs are small enough to be snatched by owls and coyotes.
We have multiple doggie doors, nine huge grass yards for them to run and play in and a spacious covered dog run incase the weather is such that they'd prefer to "do their business" under a roof instead of using the yard. With lots of toys, bones, space for romping and canine friends, there's no room for boredom!
My name is Karen Miller. Along with my husband Greg, I have the honour and privilege of enjoying these amazing dogs every single day, connecting with our adopters, facilitating vet trips, paying the bills, working on an amazing environment for them and exercising along side our pooches on their walks. I’m a Registered Nurse, with my Bachelors of Nursing, and I work in an acute care facility in Calgary on a part time basis. I work part-time as a nurse because it’s imperative that I give the dogs and BabyBarks the bulk of my time every day… which is a both a lot of work and a pure pleasure. My nursing background has been invaluable in providing me with an educated and active understanding of hygiene, quarantine, nutrition, medical research, reproduction, general health and so many other elements that can be actively applied to the management of a healthy and thriving group of dogs. I’m not just a nurse, I’m THEIR nurse and it’s a role I feel I was born to play! My husband Greg is a high school teacher and is also actively involved with the dogs. He loves including them in his life with lots of dog snuggles, walks, car rides and jumps into the more mundane tasks such as cleaning our snow, removing our waste, picking up supplies and keeping everything in good repair.
We are additionally blessed to have my dog-loving parents actively involved with BabyBarks. They have helped me deliver puppies, train, exercise and manage our pooches. My mom has even assisted with adopter visits, mopping our floors, bathing dogs and grooming them. My Dad’s background as a contractor has allowed us to develop our 3500+ sq ft facility into a first class, custom space for our dogs to enjoy. Our in-floor heating, doggie doors, covered outdoor potty area, extensive fencing, and so much more is a testament to his time and skills. Wow, am I ever thankful for my parents and all they have invested!!! They have poured their blood, sweat and tears into BabyBarks and I’m so thankful for the daily ways they contribute! They deserve all of the kisses and wags the dogs greet them with!
Wait… there’s more! We are blessed to have EIGHT amazing women, who are Mountain View County residents, employed to assist with the dogs every single week. Between them, we have an average of 19-24 paid hours consistently dedicated to the dogs each day. This is IN ADDITION to the hours that our four adult family members contribute on a regular and ongoing basis. Between our paid employees and our family, our dogs receive an average of 29 and 44 hours PER DAY of active engagement, supervision, training, grooming, bathing, walking and general care. We care a TON about our dogs and the time we invest in them is so worth it.
Thank you for choosing us for your future fur-family member! We hope you enjoy a little more "behind the scenes" information!
