Paw Commons--A Favorite Local Dog Resort
Plus, Hawaiian Malasadas and Mission Valley Floods (sort of)
Someday this pandemic, along with all the restrictions and precautions associated with it, will finally end. And when that happens, people will once again be free to travel. If you are a dog owner, you want to be prepared for the day you will have to leave Fido in good hands as you make that long delayed business or vacation trip.
Where can you find those good hands? Where is that reliable, trusty place capable of giving you great peace of mind when you and your dog must be separated? The kind of place your dog (or dogs) will look forward to staying for a few days (or just a few hours) of play and special attention? As many local residents already know, that place happens to be Paw Commons in Bay Park (1136 Morena Blvd). Paw Commons offers dog boarding, dog day care, training, and grooming, and it does so with great pride in the level of service it provides to both its human and canine customers.
Paw Commons is a long time local business establishment, operating in the area since 2001. It originally opened in Linda Vista, next to Wholesale Flowers, and moved to its present larger location in 2016. There are now Paw Commons locations in Hillcrest, Encinitas, and in Arizona, but this is the original one.
There is no question that Americans love their dogs, with most treating them as valued members of the family. Of course, they want only the best for their family members. Accordingly, they naturally want to find that place for dog boarding or dog day care that best serves the needs and wants of their dogs.
Fun fact: There are 89.7 million dogs in the U.S.
While talking with Dana Kreutzer, Director of People and New Business at Paw Commons (she also happens to be a Linda Vista resident), it quickly became apparent this establishment enjoys catering to its clientele.
She provided me with several reasons why dog owners should feel very reassured about turning over care of their dogs to Paw Commons. For example:
—All Paw Commons new hires receive two weeks worth of dog handling training before they actually begin working at Paw Commons.
—All dogs new to Paw Commons are evaluated by staff to determine suitability for being around other people, and around other dogs for group play.
—Web cams allow owners to see their dogs at any time.
—Owners can inquire about their dog’s status via email. Staff members can respond with attached photos of the dogs to provide owners with that all important peace of mind.
—Staff are responsive to owners’ special requests (i.e. giving commands that dogs are learning from their owners that happen to be in foreign languages, or making sure a dog wears a sweater).
—Owners can request special bedtime routines for their dogs (i.e. the reading of bed time stories).
—Dogs are given special treats (i.e., peanut butter Kongs or ice cream)
When asked what dogs especially enjoy about staying at Paw Commons for dog boarding or dog day care, Ms. Kreutzer commented, “Many enjoy coming to see their dog friends (other dogs who stay at Paw Commons). They enjoy their play time together. And they also look forward to seeing our staff. Dogs will often get attached to our employees.” You can check out the rate for dog day care here.
She also commented about what dog owners especially appreciate about Paw Commons. “Among other things, they like that their dogs will get group play during the day, but that they get individual rooms at night. They like the special attention we give all dogs. And they like our transparency—the fact that we have web cams and they can check in about their dogs at any time.”
Speaking about individual rooms, as I toured the facility I got a good look at the rooms available for dog boarding. The luxury suite intrigued me, as I noticed a TV screen hanging high above the dog bed. I asked the inevitable question…”What do dogs watch on TV?” Kreutzer was quick to answer that “Dogs enjoy watching Disney movies. We’ll often put Aladdin on for them.” You can check out the rates for dog boarding here.
Fun fact: The most popular dog seen at Paw Commons is the French Bulldog.
I found the best part about visiting Paw Commons to be dropping in on the day care group play area. I got to see all the dogs interacting with each other and the staff members, with the dogs grouped by size. They were a noisy group, but they definitely seemed to be having fun.
During my visit, Kreutzer also mentioned what she’s enjoyed about working at Paw Commons. “The dogs,” she said emphatically. “I like building a relationship with the dogs. I’ve enjoyed seeing many dogs grow up from the time they were puppies. I still remember the first dog I signed up.”
Fun Fact: The biggest dog seen by Dana Kreutzer at Paw Commons was a Cane Corso weighing in at 140 pounds.
Like so many other businesses, Paw Commons has suffered through the pandemic. During a two-month stretch they had to close, and at one time 50% of their staff were laid off. But as Kreutzer remarked, “Since the fall of 2020 we’ve hired just about everyone back.” She added that 2021 is “looking up” and that “daycare numbers are increasing.” They are hoping to expand their retail boutique business (i.e. dog food, dog care products) this year. With the recent closing of the Petco store in Bay Park, they aim to provide similar products so that local residents don’t have to go outside the area to shop.
In closing, Dana Kreutzer wished to thank local residents for their support. She is “grateful that they have embraced our business. It’s been nice to see new faces the last couple years.”
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The Linda Vista Update wishes to thank Ms. Dana Kreutzer for taking the time to tell us all about about Paw Commons.
1136 Morena Blvd
San Diego, CA
(619) 299-2730
info@pawcommons.com
Hours of Operation
M–F: 7AM–7PM
SAT: 9AM–4PM
SUN: 12PM–4PM
Closed to the public on all major holidays
Malasadas—A Hawaiian Treat
By Betty Rodriguez
As we have mentioned before, we spent many years living in Hawaii during a couple of Marine Corps assignments there. Although we loved living there and miss many things about the island, something I had forgotten about was brought to mind recently. While driving around the Linda Vista area, we came upon a little restaurant called Homestyle Hawaiian , at 7524 Mesa College Drive (across from Kearney High School). While looking up their menu, I noticed they served Malsadas. My heart skipped a beat. I had not thought of these little balls of fried dough in a long time. We thought they might be of interest to our readers.
What is a Malasada and what is its origin? Malasada are Portuguese in origin, thought to have come from the Azores on an island settled by the Portuguese in the 1400’s. They probably ended up in Hawaii by way of Portuguese laborers who came from the Azores and Madeira island to work on the sugar plantations. A Malasada can be described as a donut without a hole. They are deep fried and then rolled in sugar.
Although they could be found in bakeries in Hawaii, we most often bought them from food trucks that would park round the island especially on Sunday mornings selling bags of hot Malasadas. You would also find them on Fat Tuesday so you could fill up on them before the start of Lent. It is thought the Portuguese Catholics made them before Lent to use up all the sugar and butter before the fasting started.
However they got started, they are ubiquitous in Hawaii. A party is not a party without Malasadas.
So with this in mind, we stopped at Homestyle Hawaiian and bought a bag of their Malasadas. You get 8 pretty good sized malasadas for $5. Mostly Malasadas are plain, but you can also find them sometimes with fillings. We are fans of having them plain. They were warm right out of the fryer and generously coated with sugar. We bit into them and they were as delicious as we remember them in Hawaii. We even got our trusty college boy sidekick to try a couple. He had never had them before and declared them really good and worth trying again although he thought they should be accompanied by chocolate dipping sauce or ice cream. Metabolism rates are much different for young men.
So, if you want something warm and satisfying in the morning with your coffee, call Homestyle Hawaiian and order a few dozen Malasadas. They can be reheated if you don’t eat them all at one time. Homestyle Hawaiian also has a full menu of popular Hawaiian food and beverages.
7524 Mesa College Dr, San Diego, CA 92111
Phone: 858-571-LUAU
It Rained—Obligatory Reporting from Mission Valley
Have you ever noticed how local news stations automatically send their reporters down to Mission Valley whenever it rains? Face it…it can be raining cats and dogs in La Jolla, but reporters always head directly to Mission Valley for the necessary flooding photo op. Mission Valley is the go-to background setting for reporting the impact of rain here in San Diego, mainly because Mission Valley floods so easily. Local reporters know that when it rains there is a good chance of obtaining some exciting film footage of the San Diego river overflowing onto the streets, a high probability they will catch at least one vehicle and its unlucky driver stalled in the raging waters, and an excellent likelihood that the river will pour into the Fashion Valley Mall parking lot and swallow up shoppers’ cars. Mission Valley and the rain is a San Diego weather person’s dream scenario—after all, a San Diego weather person can get very bored reporting the rest of the year about our consistently great weather.
The Linda Vista Update wanted to contribute to this dubious San Diego journalistic tradition by reporting from Mission Valley on the impact of Wednesday’s rain. Unfortunately, we saw some rain, but no flooding. Perhaps in our desire to report aggressively on possible flooding, we arrived too early during the storm. No eye-catching photo ops were available. We did, however, interview a few bystanders who were bravely trekking through Mission Valley in the rain. They had the following to say. One person remarked, “It’s raining out here” while another looked up at the sky and commented, “I’m getting wet.”
We look forward to reporting in more dramatic fashion about Mission Valley flooding the next time it rains, maybe sometime in November. Until then, enjoy the sunshine, readers!
Have a Good Story?
Readers, do you know about an interesting venue in the Linda Vista that other readers might want to know more about? How about an interesting resident? Do you know somebody who is doing great things for the community and deserves some recognition? If so, let us at the Linda Vista Update know. You can reach us at srodriguez2@san.rr.com. We are always on the look out for interesting, informative and fun news about the area.
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