Our facility started as a horse vet, the lush 3 acres housing a horse barn and outdoor pastures. It was in 2003 that it became Dandy Acres Animal Hospital- a family-owned, family-operated practice built on the belief that your pet deserves to be cared for by people who truly mean it.

In 2014, they expanded that care beyond medical and opened The Dog Lodge!

Our mission is to provide a fun, safe environment for your dog while you’re away! At the Dog Lodge, we pride ourselves in being hands-on & offering constant interaction with our furry guests. From our socializing playgroups, beautiful outdoor areas, and special snacks, we love spending time with your dog and giving them the best day ever!

The Dog Lodge at Dandy Acres is a truly spectacular facility built on 3 acres of beautiful property in South Lyon! Our facility is split between two buildings, maintaining a safe separation between our active, young, larger breeds and the senior or itty bitty dogs. We also are able to maintain small playgroups of around 10 dogs maximum in our Standard sections, and 2-4 in our Specialized section. We set up with top-of-the-line equipment to ensure the safety & comfort of our canine guests, although if you ask their opinions, I’m sure they would list our extensive outdoor areas as their favorite part!

Learn more about our facility here!

It’s no secret, as it’s right in the name! The Dog Lodge at Dandy Acres is attached to Dandy Acres Small Animal Hospital, an Advanced General Practice Animal Hospital for cats and dogs in South Lyon. While we don’t require that our guests utilize Dandy Acres as their main veterinarian practice, it tends to make life easier for clients to be able to drop their dogs off for a day of daycare and get their vaccines up to date at the same time! It’s also a source of comfort to know that if there’s ever any medical concerns, our staff has a team of well-educated and caring professionals right next door to help.

We take pride in being one of the cleanest kennels in the area. Our staff cleans the facility every day, as well as giving each area a deep scrub multiple times a week to properly disinfect areas. This thorough cleaning, as well as our vaccine requirements, minimizes the chance of illness for our canine guests, as well as our staff and human clients.

As I’m sure you can see from each extensive section on our website, we are all about clear communication! We like to communicate with our clients how their dogs are doing, what’s coming up next for us, and any other dog-related activities or news in the world. After completing their introduction day, you will receive a report card letting you know how your dog spent their day. Our Daycare Regulars also enjoy monthly report cards! But even without a written report, you will always be able to see how your dog is enjoying their day through the photos posted to our PawPartner timeline!

Along with our social media pages on Facebook and Instagram, you can stay up to date on everything Dog Lodge with our Monthly Newsletter, exclusive to PawPartner users registered to our business. In it, our manager and staff will highlight our Dog of the Month, share fun photos, highlight upcoming activities, take time to share dog behavior & medical knowledge, and show off our fantastic staff!

Our facility isn’t always the best fit for every dog and that’s okay! We want the dogs who come to our facility to thrive, so we require an Introduction Day. This day is designed to give your dog the best chance of success here, by slowly introducing them to our facility & routine. It gives us a chance to get to know your dog and their individual needs prior to them staying with us. Unfortunately we do not accept all dogs, just ones that have the potential to have a positive experience during their stays. If it seems like your dog needs a little extra help, our team will communicate how to work with you to accommodate your dog. If your dog doesn’t seem like a good fit for our facility, we’re happy to recommend other wonderful pet-care options for you to explore!

Our regular routine helps make onboarding new dogs a breeze, but can be a bore for dogs who come multiple times a week. That’s why in 2025, we were so excited to introduce regular enrichment and activities to the schedule! Enrichment can be anything that changes the environment and provides an extra bout of mental stimulation for our guests. In order to keep the benefits of a regular routine of playtime and rest time, we found ways to integrate enrichment activities into our schedule to ensure that we aren’t overstimulating our furry friends. Enrichment brings something special to each day, for our dogs, their parents, and our staff!

Many dog owners feel guilt when they have to be away from their pet, worried that their dog will be lonely or depressed. However, when you take your dog to The Dog Lodge, you can rest assured that this is not the case! We offer an attentive, loving environment while you are away. We strive everyday to give all guests positive reinforcement and make their kenneling experience a happy one. Our staff is extremely caring and affectionate towards the dogs that visit our facility and love them like their own. We train our staff to be attentive to a dog’s behavior, as well as to understand the different levels of care needed for dogs at different stages of life.

But don’t just take my word for it, scroll on to see who makes up the heart and soul of our facility!