Today we’d like to introduce you to Edward Klink.
Hi Edward, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
We founded Winding Creek Kennels in 1993. We dreamed of building a facility where pets were safe, in a healthy atmosphere, and a place where customers would feel comfortable leaving their own pets. We purchased the beautiful 36-acre site, which actually has a tranquil, winding creek running through it – thus the name.
Winding Creek started out with only a small residence, an office (which houses the cattery) and 30 large indoor / outdoor runs and eventually expanded to 90 runs. Ed & Joan now live in their home on the back side of the property. The original residence adjacent to the kennel building and another apartment on the back side of the kennel facilities is occupied by full time live-in animal caretakers, who assure the safety of the guests 24/7. Winding Creek Kennels has grown in size over the years as Ed & Joan continue to make enhancements to the facilities.
Ed & Joan have a special love for Newfoundlands & Shiloh Shepherds. In addition to their dogs, they have also enjoyed their 4 Percheron draft horses, Belgian draft horse, and a draft donkey.
Ed grew up with German Shepherds and cats. His parents were active in training & showing German Shepherds, so naturally, Ed is very skilled in training and working with dogs of all breeds and sizes.
Joan also grew up with dogs and has a true passion for caring for all types of animals. Joan’s expertise is in general health issues, proper diet & nutrition.
Ed & Joan love their work and strive to treat every boarding guest as if they were their own. They stay current on all health & care issues relating to dogs & cats and they regularly consult with their veterinarians for advice and recommendations. They stay current with news and updates from the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) and the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP). Winding Creek follows the vaccination guidelines suggested by both the AAHA and the AAFP. In addition, they receive monthly publications from several veterinarian universities discussing key topics and health concerns for dogs & cats.
You will rarely visit Winding Creek without seeing Ed and Joan actively involved in the day-to-day operations. They enjoy interfacing with customers who have boarded with us for many years as well as new customers and their pets. They are always available to talk with you about your boarding needs or concerns.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The first year was definitely a struggle. We took the bulk of our savings into purchasing the land, temporary housing, the kennel structures, etc. Our facilities were located in the middle of nowhere and relatively far from large population centers. Our business name started with a “W” so we were listed at the bottom in all the yellow pages. Our intended market area was Gwinnett and Athens/Clark Counties. Our initial thoughts basically started with the “Field of dreams” philosophy…Build it and they will come. We were confident that If we offered outstanding quality of care with great customer service, the customers would come and continue to come. Fortunately, we had done a lot of initial marketing while the buildings were under construction. When we actually opened to care for pets we started out much busier than we even expected. My wife & I did not initially hire any help so we were working 12 or more hours a day 7 days a week. Those early months were very tough. Working harder than we had ever worked before, we were making important financial decisions, dealing with dozens of issues, along with psychological pressures, etc. Eventually we started hiring some staff, part time employees initially then getting full time staff. Our customer base grew much faster than anticipated so we built another 30 canine runs. Soon after we added another 30 runs. Today we have 22 staff on the payroll and our kennels are at capacity much of the year. In addition to boarding, we offer a variety of activities, home made treats, bathing services, along with pet transportation.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Winding Creek Kennels, Inc.?
We are a first class boarding facility for dogs & cats. No other facility in NE Georgia can offer the kind of care we provide. We have very well trained professional animal caretakers that make it their goal for every pet to have an enjoyable stay. Our boarding experience is somewhat different from other facilities…
First and foremost, unlike many other boarding facilities, we never mix pets that are not in the same family. Instead of having pets housed in small enclosures not much bigger that a crate, every dog has a 22 foot long indoor/outdoor type run. with heating, air conditioning, stereo music, comfortable kennel decking with bedding. All of our Heating / Cooling systems have a Germicidal / Oxidizing Ultraviolet Air Purifying System to disinfect the air. If the power should go out we have automatic back up generators to power the entire complex. We have our own well with its own back up generator to guarantee an ample fresh water supply. Many of our boarding guests do not want to go home. Each pet receives a generous amount of attention along with exercise as they are able to break into a run going back and forth from the inside to outside. Our outside runs are fully covered so pets can enjoy being outdoors if it is raining. We offer a variety of activities to help stimulate the pets… nature walks, play times, super play times, brushing sessions, bathing, etc. We have 18 very large outdoor play areas so we can rotate up to 18 families into individual play areas so pets can exercise & get some sunshine. We also have long nature walks that go around the property. We are on 36 acres of beautiful land with a spring fed creek running though the property offering plenty of room for walks.
Our Cattery is totally removed from our canine quarters – nestled in the back of our front office – our enclosures provide each feline with a comfortable, roomy 3 level condo in a bright, sun-filled room with large windows overlooking our horse pasture. Each condo is large enough to accommodate a full size litter pan, food and water dishes and soft bedding on the 1st floor. The 2nd & 3rd levels provide excellent perches for napping, hanging out in their personal lambs’ wool hammock, or lying in the sun and enjoying the view from the large cattery windows. The cattery is completely temperature controlled with heating, air conditioning, and exhaust systems for proper ventilation and air exchange. Our feline guests watch bird videos and movies all day long on the cattery television, helping to simulate their home environments and reduce stress. The ‘Catio’ as we like to call it is a great addition to our cattery facilities – an outdoor play area, with ramps, climbing trees and high perches – our feline guests can go into the fully enclosed Catio to enjoy some fresh air and sunshine!
In addition, to ensure the best care 24 hours a day for our guests, we have 6 full time staff members that live on the property. My wife & I, along with our daughter are a part of the team living on the property.
Two other areas that also set us apart from other facilities… 1) we never refuse a pet based on temperament. Many if not most boarding facilities will not care for an aggressive dog. At Winding Creek we can care for them and often times find that they will calm down and and be very comfortable during their stay here.
2) We can board special needs pets that require insulin injections, late night medications, and infusions. Once again many other facilities are not able to meet these needs. We are not veterinarians, but rather temporary caretakers for pets who need to continue their normal daily routines while away from home.
Winding Creek has over 600 positive 5 star reviews. If you take the time to read them you will find that customers appreciate our care. It’s been a surprise to us how far our customers will travel to bring their pets to Winding Creek. A large percentage of our customer base comes from Gwinnett and Fulton counties. Customers also come to us from as far away as Dahlonega, Dawsonville, Hartwell, Florida and South Carolina. We also offer a pet taxi service to pick up and deliver pets. We are on 3rd and even 4th generation pets, from customers who came to us in 1993 and have continued to board at Winding Creek. We are happy and proud when we see pets getting so excited when their owners pull onto our driveway.
Our goal or objective is to care for every pet as if they were our own and have them going home happy and healthy.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
In our early years we would attend the meetings put on by the American Boarding Kennel Association. We also took the classes & certifications that they offered. It gave us the opportunity to meet with many dozens of other kennel owners. Our greatest concern and area of continued research is to keep up to date on all the veterinary trends, issues, diseases, etc going on in our country.
To name a few publications or apps that we subscribe to or keep current with…
– Consultation with vets in our area
– American Animal Hospital Association
– Cornell University’s leading College of Veterinary Medicine – DogWatch
– Whole Dog Journal
– Dog Food Advisor
– Your Dog, Tufts University
– Fast Bites, The International Boarding & Pet Services Association (IBPSA)
– American Boarding Kennel Association (ABKA), now defunct but for the first several years very helpful
– American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP)
– Canine & feline videos on youtube.
We are not a veterinary facility. And we are not attempting to train or change the behavior of our boarding guests in any way. We are a pet hotel. So our focus is on the pets safety and health. Being aware of any issues or problems a pet may be having. We track the urine, fecal, eating, and water consumption. We look for any potential issues. Is the pet acting lethargic, not eating, not drinking, not gong potty, etc. If we think a boarding guest is having a health issue, we transport the pet to a veterinary facility. We pride ourselves in recognizing the needs of every pet.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.wckennels.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/windingcreekkennels/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Windingcreekboard
- Other: https://g.page/wckennels/review?gm
