There’s a new name in luxury dog care in Dallas.
Photography by Yuvie Styles
Photography by Yuvie Styles
Photography by Yuvie Styles
In 2024, Zillow and Bark, a subscription box company geared toward pets, named Dallas “America’s most dog-obsessed city,” based on apartment rentals and customer data. So, it was only natural when Yardstick Dog Hotel moved to open its first locations outside of Nashville in the city.
At the Medallion Center location, which opened in April, dogs enjoy room service, private suites and light grooming services — much like a spa.
Co-CEO and founder Dave Atkins grew up with dogs, but not the industry. His background is primarily in finance and investment.
The pet industry has experienced explosive growth in the last decade with high-end dog food, sustainable toys and veterinary practices. Atkins says he saw the trend and recognized the opportunity to enter a new business focused on premium boarding.
“What interested us more were concepts like Good Vets, kind of prevalent now in Dallas, and Modern Animal and Petfolk. You’re seeing these really great sort of branded concepts come to light that are trying to take a fresh approach to the industry,” Atkins says. “And so we’re looking at people doing that in vet and we said, ‘Hmm, this should be going on in non-vet pet services.’”
One factor that has been cited as a catalyst for the wave Atkins and his team are riding is a growing and deepening appreciation for pets in people’s lives. In 2024, more than half (51%) of pet owners in the U.S. viewed their pets as equivalent family members to human relations, according to data compiled by Forbes Advisor.
But as Atkins looked at the industry, he saw a gap between the data and what conventional borders had to offer.
“On one hand, you’ve got (American Pet Products Association) data telling you parents view their dogs as children, and then on the other hand, you have a traditional kennel with chain link fence and (cinderblock) and kind of no thought put into HVAC or acoustics,” he says.
Yardstick Dog Hotel opened its first Nashville location in 2022. Beforehand, Atkins consulted with industry experts and Brooklyn-based architectural design firm Bolt Design. Each hotel roughly follows the same footprint, albeit with different exteriors, Atkins says.
As pet owners arrive at Yardstick facilities, they enter a lobby stocked with comfortable furniture, a coffee maker and merchandise. A front desk with a hovering “check in” sign adds to the resort feel.
“It feels kind of more like a hotel lobby or a beautiful, sort of retail environment, as opposed to kind of what you typically see in the industry,” Atkins says.
A lounge area for dogs featuring plush couches comes next. Behind that, six to seven individual suite rooms create a compartmentalized and sound-conscious environment. Each room features anywhere from 6-12 suites.
“Guests” are placed in rooms with other dogs of a similar breed and temperament. Dogs get their own suite, unless they were booked with a sibling, in which case the two are boarded together.
“So you can imagine that’s just a much calmer, less stressful environment for the dogs, as opposed to being in this large room with a ton of dogs,” Atkins says.
If an owner feels like their dog deserves a treat, they can dial up room service like any three–star human hotel. Options include CBD chews for anxious dogs or puppucinos for those with a sweet tooth. Staff also keep owners updated with texted photos and videos of their animal enjoying their stay-cation.
Each facility comes equipped with four to six indoor playrooms built with poured rubber floors, which are easy on pets’ joints, and an outdoor area. During the day, overnight boarders and daycare dogs (who also get their own suite for downtime) rotate between mealtime, playgroups and rest in suites. Owners can also book light grooming services including baths, brushes, nail trims, cleaning and tooth brushing.
Unlike most boarding houses which require a dog to spend time in daycare before boarding, Yardstick allows owners to book for the first-time without a “temperament test” for a stress-free booking process. The hotel offers a single tier of services, albeit with add-ons available, for daycare and overnight boarders. Full day daycare is $22.50 per dog per day. Overnight boarding is $85 per night.
“Our view was, let’s just offer one tier of accommodations,” Atkins says. “It’s a suite, right? Every dog deserves our best, and all of a sudden, you don’t have parents feeling guilty about not having splurged for the higher tier.”
So far, Atkins says East Dallas and Lake Highlands customers have more stays booked through four months than any other location.
“Medallion Center, obviously, is great for Lakewood, Lake Highlands, all of East Dallas, but it’s such a central location, just at Northwest Highway and US-75 that it’s really accessible for a lot of the Metroplex, and so it’s just an awesome central location.”
The brand will look to further consolidate its foothold in Dallas with future locations. Listing Preston Hollow and Addison as future targets, Atkins says the brand is close to signing a lease for a third Dallas hotel.
