Beyond the kennel:
Designing a premium pet care experience.
Reimagining pet care for Wagging Tails Pet Resort, our studio served as a strategic partner to elevate their brand and environmental presence. We transformed their Twin Cities facilities into premier, play-filled sanctuaries, driving customer loyalty and growth over a 14-year partnership.
When pet parents in the South Metro Twin Cities looked for dog care, they were not just looking for a transactional service. They wanted a vibrant second home where their dogs were loved, nurtured, and celebrated. Over a partnership that spanned more than fourteen years, our studio worked side by side with Wagging Tails Pet Resort (WTPR) to transform their facilities in Eagan and Bloomington into the premier luxury destination for local dog lovers. By infusing playfulness, warmth, and dynamic design into every single touchpoint, we positioned WTPR as the South Metro’s go-to sanctuary for pure canine joy.
Elevating the pet care experience.
In a crowded local market, WTPR needed to deliberately distance itself from old-school, kennel-based facilities and industrial outdoor runs. The goal was to establish a high-touch, refined experience that captured the deep joy, boundless energy, and authentic love shared between dogs, their owners, and the resort team. WTPR needed an elevated brand presence that reflected both top-tier quality and a fun, highly attentive environment where pets could truly thrive in comfort.
To signal this departure from traditional boarding, we realigned WTPR’s core offerings with playful, experiential naming that immediately put owners at ease. Standard dog daycare became “Playdays” to highlight social energy, boarding was reimagined as “Overnights” to evoke cozy comfort, grooming became “The Canine Spa,” and training was elevated to an “Obedience Academy.” This strategic shift reframed routine chores into exciting, high-end experiences that owners felt great about booking for their four-legged family members.
Designing spaces for connection and calm.
We then brought that vibrant, premium energy directly into WTPR’s physical locations in Eagan and Bloomington. Replacing the utilitarian look of traditional kennels, lobbies and play areas were transformed with bold color blocking, oversized graphic patterns, and vibrant photographic images of dogs throughout the lobby and adjacent conference room. We redesigned the front desk into a sleek, central hub and focal point, engineered specifically to handle high-traffic check-in and check-out periods while using ultra-durable, easy-to-clean materials. Custom vinyl graphics were applied to interior lobby doors to ensure seamless visual continuity, while subtle sensory details—such as soothing lavender oil diffusers in the lobbies and grooming suites—created a calm, spa-like atmosphere that relaxed energetic pups and their humans alike.
Our environmental interventions extended deeply into the active care zones and individual suites as well. In the large play spaces, we strategically designed hanging banners and coordinated wall paint schemes to ensure that live camera feeds captured a colorful, branded backdrop for parents tuning in online. The individual suites received a similar transformation through cohesive paint palettes and custom photography. For suites equipped with webcams, this thoughtful styling ensured that owners checking in on their pets remotely were greeted by a warm, beautifully designed environment that consistently reinforced WTPR’s commitment to premium care.
Connecting communities through digital storytelling.
That same elevated spirit carried over into the digital realm with a custom WordPress website designed to serve as WTPR’s digital front door. To keep engagement high, we launched the crowd-favorite Birthday Club and designed several custom fabric patterns as part of WTPR’s visual identity system. These bespoke textiles were crafted into party hats and custom birthday bandanas for grooming clients, heightening the brand’s delight factor.
A tailored palette of bespoke colors ensured that every post and photograph shared across social channels maintained a unified, instantly recognizable appearance, distinctly setting WTPR apart in busy social feeds. Alongside the fun, we executed a nurturing blog strategy that covered essential safety topics—like xylitol dangers, cataracts, and Cushing’s disease—and practical behavioral tips to help pets cope with scary noises, continually building trust with South Metro pet parents.
Personalizing the onboarding journey.
When new clients walked through the door, a custom onboarding collateral system ensured they felt instantly cared for in a personalized, boutique environment. Built around a polished half-sheet pocket folder, the kit gave new guest parents a complete overview of services, policies, and FAQs right at their fingertips.
Recognizing that initial Temperament Assessments and Evaluations could be a hectic experience, this self-contained system allowed owners to review details at home in peace and quiet, away from the active energy of the daycare floor. By optimizing the physical dimensions for digital offset printing in close collaboration with a local print vendor, we delivered a high-end, thoughtful customer touchpoint while keeping production costs low.
Fostering heart-led community initiatives.
Because a nurturing brand naturally extends beyond its own walls, we developed heart-led initiatives that deeply connected staff, customers, and the local community. Driven by a personal tribute to honor one of the founder’s mothers after her long battle with cancer, the “Cuts for the Cure” campaign targeted cancer research for both humans and canines. During the holidays, the “Giving Tree” initiative invited clients to support pets in less fortunate situations. Monetary donations were commemorated with custom, hand-cut holiday ornaments designed to align with the WTPR brand aesthetic.
During these campaigns, the energy was palpable—the back wall behind the front desk was frequently covered in heartfelt good wishes, notes, and donation ornaments, serving as a powerful physical testament to the resort’s community spirit and raising thousands of dollars for local causes.
Establishing a legacy of joy.
By centering the brand on joy, playfulness, and genuine love for animals, Wagging Tails Pet Resort successfully established itself as a beloved, high-end sanctuary throughout its tenure. Our work created an identity that resonated deeply with passionate pet parents, delivered a stress-free experience across physical and digital spaces, and built a loyal community of families who truly viewed WTPR as an extension of their own homes. While the resort eventually closed its doors due to fundamental shifts in consumer and remote-work behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic, its legacy remains a shining benchmark for community-first, experiential pet-care design.