If you are a dog owner and live on the South Shore, you may be quite familiar with the woman in today's column. Bonnie Conrad owns and operates Oceanmark K9 Resort in Chester Basin with her husband Brian Truelove, who also happens to have worked as the local animal control officer over the last 10 years. The resort includes dog boarding, daycare, grooming, training and unlimited pet supplies.
The resort opened in 1991 and operates seven days a week. It's a busy, hectic schedule, but Conrad loves what she is doing as you can see on her website:
"Since I can remember, I've always had a love and passion for dogs – it's where it's gotten us today! Following my passion, I started off working for a vet, Dr. Evans, for six years, learning about health care and much more. Since 1987 I've been studying canine behaviour, having done many seminars and taken many workshops. This has helped me to understand what dogs need and how to best address those needs."
Conrad has endless positive energy, a thoughtful disposition and depth of knowledge about everything dog, which is something not seen in many people. She believes dogs are incredibly intelligent, and we will never truly understand the extent of their intelligence.
In addition to her resort, Conrad recognized a need for an off-leash facility in Chester Basin where dog owners could take their dogs for safe exercise. She created the Stewart Memorial Off-Leash Dog Park, which is 93 acres of fun for dogs. It includes trails, access to swimming, and divided fenced-in areas for social, smaller, elderly and the lleave me alone” dogs.
Access to the park is by private membership only, and in this case, membership has its privileges. The park became an overnight success and was very popular with dog owners. However, everything changed when the pandemic hit, as Conrad had to close the park.
While the park was closed, Conrad began to take multiple calls from people looking to rent the facility privately. Dog owners from as far away as Truro, Eastern Passage, Halifax and Windsor inquired about renting the park. She thought long and hard about how to handle these requests and devised a new plan, which proved to be better than the original business plan. The new strategy would allow people to rent the park privately for one-hour intervals. A half-hour between rentals would give enough time for people to vacate the off-leash area and supply ample time for the next renter to settle in with their dog or dogs.
The Covid-19 pandemic may have seemed like a business-closing situation for Conrad, but it allowed her to pivot and change her business model into a success. It was not surprising that Conrad took dire circumstances and turned them into something favourable. This is how Conrad has always lived her life and why she has enjoyed great success with anything and everything dog related.
The South Shore has truly benefited from her kindness and love of animals.
Please be kind to animals.
Tracy Jessiman writes the weekly column Recycled Love and is proud to be a “voice for those with no choice.” She supports various animal rescues. Reach her at [email protected]
