Of the many nice surprises about our trip to Las Vegas for the Xcsaper’s Halloween Convergence was the warm welcome from Cathy, owner of the Hydrant Club.  Located on the corner of  9^th and Fremont Street, this is a “social” club for dogs and their owners.  It’s truly unlike any dog park or doggie daycare I’ve seen in my travels.  It’s impossible not to notice the beautifully manicured lawn and outdoor play area as you walk amongst the concrete jungle of downtown Las Vegas. 

In every place we visit, whether it is an urban environment or not, we try to find space where our dog, Skipper, can run off-leash.  Before our arrival in any city, I research area dog parks.  Between Google and an app I recommend called Bring Fido, I had identified many places for Skipper to run in Las Vegas.  Originally, I ignored the Hydrant Club as the Google Listing suggested it was more of a daycare and less of a park. 

When a group announcement arrived that an arrangement with Hydrant Club existed, we thought we would give it a try.  The owner, Cathy, vets each dog in the process of being accepted into the club.  Not that this eliminates all issues between the dogs, but it certainly increases the odds that other dogs in the park are well socialized.  After Skipper’s introduction to Cathy and then to the dogs spending their day in daycare there, we were given a key fob to operate the gate entrance. 

Despite the short notice, Cathy accommodated our group without missing a beat.  We immediately felt welcomed to the neighborhood.  She even played guest judge for our Halloween pet costume parade providing awards and clearly illustrating a business owner who genuinely cares about her clients. 

Since our acceptance into the club, we’ve been over to the play area every day at least once per day.  All the staff that we’ve met in our visits have been extremely friendly and helpful.  They appear to have very good control over the daycare dogs.  They manage this very urban environment well sizing up oncoming two- and four-legged pedestrian traffic and deciding how best to manage the dogs’ energy in the ever-changing landscape. 

The Hydrant Club is truly the nicest dog park or daycare that I’ve seen.  The landscaped outdoor area provides a nice grassy area, trees, rocks, splash pad, on-demand water bowl, and tunnel for dogs to run through.  A tour of the indoors presented an equally nice and odor-free play arena, an area for baths, and a lounge area for dogs staying the night.  

It’s unfortunate for us that businesses like the Hydrant Club don’t exist at every stop that we make in our travels.  And downtown Las Vegas and the surrounding area are extremely lucky to have a place like this to bring their dogs.  We have plans to be back in Las Vegas in February 2020 and will plan to visit the Hydrant Club again.  And who knows, we may decide to make Las Vegas a regular stop now that we know there’s something great for Skipper too!