New owners, same shaggy dog story
By Ross Boissoneau
Sun contributor
Twenty years ago, Diane Lane and John Cusack starred in the movie Must Love Dogs. Tori Batson does them one better: She proves she loves dogs every day as the new owner of Wiggle Butts and Waggin’ Tails, which she officially took over in May.
Kathy and Dave Crockett opened the Cedar doggie day care and overnight boarding kennel seven years ago as their retirement plan. When it came time to really retire, they began advertising the business for sale. Among the stipulations was an obvious one: Must love dogs.
Batson qualified. Better yet, the certified dog lover was looking for a job or business in the area that would enable the Minnesota resident, her husband Blake and their son Emory to move here. “My mom, stepdad and brother all live in Traverse City. When we were here in November I wanted to get back here even more,” she says.
Batson says while the facility is licensed to host as many as 54 dogs at once, she keeps the numbers far lower than that. “We have 12 kennels, and can do 24 dogs max” overnight, she says, if owners want to board two of their dogs together.
For doggie daycare, she says there are typically between 10 and 15 per day. Plus there’s the fact the “must love dogs” mantra applies not only to Batson and her family, but to the other dogs as well: It’s important that the new dog is accepted by the pack, and vice versa. “We only accept dogs that fit in with our group,” she says.
That doesn’t mean they have to immediately begin playing with the other dogs, though of course some do. “Some go do their own thing. It’s an individual process,” she says.
Every prospective new dog gets a complimentary two- to four-hour trial visit, while the owners get a tour of the facility. Batson says she keeps it clean and sanitized—no mean feat with a pack of canines roaming around. All the dog runs are cleaned daily, as are all common areas. The kennel and indoor daycare area are heated in the winter and cooled in the summer. The facility also boasts video surveillance and smoke and fire alarms that ring to Batson’s phone as well as the kennel.
Batson’s own dog is a Great Pyrenees, and she’s had another one of the large, fluffy dogs visit. Beyond that, Wiggle Butts and Waggin’ Tails has hosted an assortment of doodles, Labrador retrievers, golden retrievers, Irish setters, Australian shepherds, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (three at once) and more. “Size doesn’t matter. We had a four-pound dog and a 120-pound dog.”
Batson grew up in Indiana but attended school at Grand Valley State University. “I came here all the time,” she says.
After graduating, she moved back to Indiana, where she worked for Special Olympics for five and a half years. “I really enjoyed caring for people who can’t fully express their needs, what makes them happy. I have a love of nurturing people. And dogs,” she adds.
When her husband got a job promotion, they moved to Minnesota. She continued to work remotely, returning to Indiana as needed. It was when they had Emory that she got serious about looking for a way to relocate to northern Michigan, so they would be nearer her family. When she found Wiggle Butts and Waggin’ Tails for sale, they made the decision to move. Since then, Blake has taken a position as a project manager.
She says being able to provide physical and mental stimulation for dogs is important. “We have a scent hallway and enrichment room to hide treats, a pool. It’s dog-friendly,” she says. And treats. There are plenty of treats. Batson says handing out treats is the favorite activity for her 15-month-old son.
So too is attending to their emotional well-being. “It’s so fulfilling when a dog comes in scared and leaves super happy. They can sunbathe or play. It’s lots of fun.”
