New dog hotel Barkgata joins Long Island pet businesses designed to pamper pooches

When Jeff Bloom, 58, pulled up to Barkgata in Farmingdale recently, he was hoping to find a groomer for Leo, his 11-year-old dog.

Many locations turned him down, the Melville resident said, because Leo — who sat calmly in a blue stroller while Bloom talked — has three legs and a spinal injury after an accident five years ago.

Barkgata, a luxury dog hotel, daycare and spa, does not style fur, but owner Bianca Caras, 27, still took Leo in the back for a quick nail trim. The business opened a second storefront April 1 to meet demand and offer a closer option for some customers who were driving more than an hour for daily doggy daycare at its first location in Nesconset. 

"My famous line is, 'They're people's favorite children,' " Caras said, standing in a spacious lobby decorated with pictures of her dogs and customers. "Just because they're dogs doesn't mean they need to be drooly, smell like pee and roughhouse. They can play and be happy." 

Barkgata is one of several canine-friendly spaces on Long Island that offer luxury services for pooches, from plush surroundings to grooming to fun and games as more people around the country seek to pamper their pets.

The pet industry has a projected value of $157 billion in the United States in 2025, an increase from last year’s $151.9 billion, according to the American Pet Products Association. Pet services, including boarding and grooming, was a $13 billion industry in 2024 and is projected to grow into a $13.5 billion industry in 2025, according to the American Pet Products Association.

"What we've really seen over the past decades is the humanization of pets," said Mike Abruscato, director of business development at Brand's Best Friend, a pet specialty ecommerce agency. "We treat our pets like people, or like family members, and we want them to have the same creature comforts we enjoy."

'A family member'

Barkgata was inspired by Delilah, Caras’ childhood dog. When her family went on vacations, “we would board her at a kennel and she’d come home not herself,” she said.

At both the Nesconset and Farmingdale locations, Barkgata staff are always with their pups during the day, said Caras, who lives in Hauppauge. The spaces are built with non-porous floors to maximize cleanliness and include both indoor and outdoor play areas. 

The business, which has 28 employees, charges $45 for a full day of care and $37 for half day, up to five hours, Caras said. Daycare hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the week, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

While a dog kennel is a type of boarding that includes enclosures for dogs to sleep in, with staff who will provide basic care like bathroom breaks and meals, according to All American Pet Resorts, a dog hotel emphasizes comfort, with amenities such as plush bedding and recreational activities for its guests. Kennels are generally considered more affordable, according to pet platform Rover, a network of pet sitters and dog walkers. 

People are increasingly buying products for their pups' well-being, "so certainly when they're at work or out of town ... they're going to look for something more luxurious because it's not a dog, it's a family member," Abruscato said. 

Part of some people's routines include dropping their dogs off at doggy daycare on the way to work in the morning, he added, noting, "Certain demographics, they don't have children yet, or people are waiting longer to have children, and so the dog or cat is their child and they're willing to spend that money on that."

Bookings on Rover for daytime services like dog walking, daycare and drop-in visits between January and March increased by 65% on Long Island compared to the same period in 2023, according to data provided by the company. 

Specifically, dog walk bookings increased by 77% and drop-in visits increased by 75%, the company said. 

Amber Anglin, 42, lives on Shelter Island, where she has owned the dog boarding, grooming and daycare business All Dogged Up for 20 years. She keeps a two-bedroom cottage on her property, where an employee stays with doggy guests at all times and the pups can play on a fenced-in acre of land. 

It costs $60 for daycare from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. or $30 for five hours, she said. 

“I’ve noticed a huge difference from even five years ago,” Anglin said. The pandemic seems to have hastened a growing shift in people’s attitudes toward their pets “to be more of, ‘This is my dog and … you will treat him like he is a family member.’ ”

K9 Resorts Luxury Pet Hotels and Hydrant Hotel are among other luxury dog services on Long Island.

Wedding attendants

Brittany Wish, 32, of Mattituck, started Brittany’s Pet Service full time about three years ago. She offers pet sitting, walks and transportation, but one of her more popular services is handling dogs at wedding ceremonies — inspired by her inclusion of her own dog, Stanley, at her wedding. 

Typically, that includes Wish bringing the dogs to the wedding venue, where she helps them pose in photos and sometimes even participate in the ceremony.

“Especially this time of year, I do one probably almost every weekend,” she said. “The second I show up with a dog, everybody is like ‘Oh my god, oh my god' ” — they’re so excited. And for the bride and groom, I feel like it takes some of that pressure off of them.”

Karri-Lynn Dennis, 49, of Aquebogue, said she heard about Wish’s services through word of mouth about three years ago, and her family has hired her to look after their two dogs, Thelma and Louise, when they go on trips ever since.

“We want them to be comfortable, safe, happy, and having Brittany come checks all of those boxes for us,” Dennis said.

Bloom has the same priorities for Leo, who he described as a beloved member of the family.

“I’d trade my three kids in for that dog any day of the week. He’s the anchor of the family,” he said. “We take him everywhere.”

By Brianne Ledda

brianne.ledda@newsday.com@brianne_ledda

Brianne Ledda covers personal finance and affordability for Newsday. She previously covered Southold and Greenport for The Suffolk Times and is a graduate of Stony Brook University.