Open House What: Open house introducing K-9 Island, a new dog day care and boarding facility in south Loveland.
When: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, March 16.
Featuring: Tours of the facility and refreshments. Visitors can bring their dogs.
Where: 211 Barberry Place, off Southwest 14th Street.
Information: Call 663-2776 or go to k9island.com

Debbie Gutierrez knows that some people treat their dogs as their children -- because she does -- and she's launching a new business just for them.
On Monday, Gutierrez will open K-9 Island, a "day resort, hotel and spa" for dogs at 211 Barberry Place.
"Our focus is on the dog's experience," she said, although much of her business's décor and marketing is aimed at the "pet parents."
So for the dogs that stay overnight, there are rooms with walls -- no metal cages. For the humans' benefit, each of those brightly painted "mutt hut" kennel rooms has a colorful sign with an island name, and the owners will get postcards that say, "While you were away, your dog vacationed in Tahiti," for example.
Room to Play, Rooms for Sleep
Dogs will have 8,500 square feet of indoor and 7,000 square feet of outdoor play areas where they can romp all day, except for a required nap in roomy "cabana" crates from noon to 2 p.m. "It gives them their own space they can relax in," Gutierrez said.
During their first day care visit, which is free, dogs will be assessed for temperament and separated into appropriate play areas. And, she said, "We don't take dogs that don't get along with other dogs."
Overnight guests get "room service" -- meals in their kennels at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., and a treat on the pillow. At night, K-9 Island will play soothing music to help the pooches snooze.
Gutierrez said she is basing her facility's approach on extensive research, several internships at other dog day care and boarding businesses and her own experience as a longtime dog owner who used kennels extensively.
She worked 20 years as a registered nurse, the last 10 in a job that required her to travel out of town three, four or five days a week. When she left town, she would board her dog in local kennels, and she learned what worked best for her and her dog.
'This Is What I Really Wanted to Do'
When Gutierrez was laid off in the spring of 2010, she was completing a bachelor's degree in business management, she said. For a capstone project, she was required to develop a business plan for a fictitious company.
She chose to create a dog day care and boarding facility. As she put the plan down on paper, she thought, "You know, this could work."
"I was realizing this is what I really wanted to do," she said.
When K-9 Island opens Monday in the former Sunbelt Rentals location in south Loveland, Gutierrez will have four employees and will hire more as business picks up, she said.
Her facility has 33 "mutt huts" for overnight boarders, and some of those rooms can hold two dogs from the same family. She will charge $22 a day for day care and $34 a night for overnight boarders, which also get free day care.
K-9 Island will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and initially have drop-off and pickup times of 8-10 a.m. and 5-7 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
Gutierrez has set an open house for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
For more information, call 663-2776 or go to k9island.com.
Craig Young can be reached at 635-3634 or cyoung@reporter-herald.com. Follow him on Twitter: @CraigYoungRH.