Top Dog Grooming and Boarding is located just beside Saunemin, Illinois. It started out very small and has grown into a wonderful place to bring your pets for Grooming or Boarding. We now hardly ever advertise. People hear about us from other people. We work with all local vet clinics to be sure pet records are up to date. We have a wonderful staff whom are all trained in the proper care and needs of our client's pets.

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Lily Stevenson, founder of Top Dog Pet Grooming and Boarding, was born and raised in Cali, Colombia. In 1993 she received the title of Zootecnia (Bachelor degree in Animal Science with a major in Animal Handling) from University National of Colombia Palmira South America. What is Zootechnics? It is a university degree of scientific, technical, socio-humanistic and environmental training, applied to the study of animal science and the physiological processes of animals, which contributes to the human well-being and economic development of the country. Zootechnics rationalizes the use of agricultural resources to satisfy human needs and the conservation of the environment, with indicators of sustainability, competitiveness and equity.

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Over the first 20 years of her career, Lily went on to work with various types of farm animals, as well as dogs and cats. In 2000, she started working at Dwight Veterinary Clinic as a pet groomer. After grooming at Dwight Vet Clinic for 6 years, she left to be with her growing children. After she resigned, a few former clients asked her if she'd still be willing to groom for them. So that led to grooming during the winter of 2007. At first, Lily thought it would be a terrible idea to open a grooming business during the cold winter season. She thought it would be like opening an ice cream parlor in winter. At first, things started out very slow. But Lily decided to put her heart into her new business. She felt the care of her guests needed to be her top priority, and wanted to make sure her facility would be to be the cleaniest and friendliest place. Some of her grooming clients later asked her if she would be available to take care of their pets while on vacation or for when they'd need to get away from home. That soon led to boarding and the beginning of Top Dog Grooming and Boarding. The facility initially started with one room for grooming and an area for boarding, using the double and half garage that was adapted prior with large windows for a play area for her children. Then in 2011 she added a new room for boarding, to separate the small dogs and the big dogs to prevent the small dogs from being intimidated by the bigger ones. A small reception/grooming room was added, and finally in 2015 a third boarding room was added to board medium and big dogs. And that's how Top Dog Boarding and Grooming as we know it came to be.

 

All the rooms are air conditioned and heated (Central air) with air purifiers added to keep air fresh and clean. It is a family business in a quiet safe rural area. Our pets that come to us are our guests. We treat them with the best care we can in a very clean country setting. Our helpers are trained to treat our guests with care and respect, they are also trained in animal care and sanitation.  Our guests are monitored to be sure they are doing well during their stay. They are walked outside 4 times a day with supervision during the individual outdoor walks where the pet can interact one on one with the staff in a large fenced in exercise area. The outside fence is 6 ft tall to keep our guests in a very safe play area.

 

Top Dog has now been running since 2007, offering animal care and building great relationships with our clients. We would like to thank all our clients and guests for their support through the years.  We hope to have many more wonderful years ahead. Also thanks to our awesome staff for their loving and dependable care. 

Thanks you all! - Lily.