Five star dog boarding in the Hunter Valley at Sausage Stayz
Pawfect accommodation for dachshunds pooches at Sausage Stayz
As somebody who travels regularly for work, possibly the hardest element of it is finding good care for my three sausage dogs, Mum Cinnamon and her two daughters, Chilli and Nutmeg.
This was until I discovered Sausage Stayz, located in Sawyers Gully, in the lower Hunter Valley, which is like a five-star holiday camp for dachshunds.
Sausage Stayz is set on 2.2 hectares
Opened, on a 2.2 hectare property, by Louise Osborn, then a sterile technician at a local hospital, in December 2022, this one-breed only boarding facility has proved a smash hit with owners like me, with more than 2000 stays booked in the 20 months since opening.
Every time I drop off my dogs, aka The Spice Girls, I feel reassured they are in good hands and that they are going to have a lovely time with up to 12 or 13 other dachshunds also in Osborn’s capable hands.
The Pied Piper of sausage dogs
“I feel like the Pied Piper of sausage dogs,” jokes Osborn, “they follow me everywhere. I bought a ten-seater lounge and they all sit on that with me. If I sit, they all sit.”
“I think I have found a real niche here,” says Osborn, “because I’m unbelievably busy non-stop and it’s all word-of-mouth, I don’t advertise. You couldn’t do this in town but geographically we’re in a good spot and we’ve recently opened up 3 fully dog-fenced acres (1 hectare) which gives them plenty of space to roam.”
With sausage dogs among the most popular breeds in Australia at the moment, and much loved for their idiosyncratic shape and endearing characters, it’s no wonder that Osborn is busy.
Dachshunds have royal pedigree
Originally bred to hunt badgers and rabbits in Germany, dachshunds have royal pedigree, having long been kept by European monarchs, including the former Queen of England, who had several, along with her corgis. They have most of their owners literally under their paws. Another of my dog Cinnamon’s Spice Girl puppies – a silver dappled dachshund named Pepper – has ended up in Sydney’s exclusive Vaucluse suburb wearing Louis Vuitton collars and now has 10,000 instagram followers.
So it is no surprise that owners want the best for their pampered pooches and Osborn definitely provides that at this lovely rural property, which she describes as “boutique boarding” rather than a kennel. Sausage Stayz has individual dogs like Shadow and Loopy, stay up to 8 weeks, but also has regular day-visitors, enabling owners to go to work or get other things done.
“The dogs have the run of the whole place, they even sit and cook with me, we’re not a kennels, we’re more of a homestay for sausage dogs” she says.
“The home environment is what works, dachshunds love the comforts of home like comfy beds, they are a dog of luxury.”
Her guests also have their own custom-designed Sausage shack, an air-conditioned, converted 4-car garage. It comprises a sleep/feed room in which Osborn also beds down in a loft bed – “as soon as I lay down above them, they pass out like they’re in a coma” -and a big play room with lounges, tunnels and toys and access to a dog pool. They like a bit of tug of war but mostly just love lying around. They can sleep 16 hours a day.”
A giant sausage dog party
“Every dog that stays here goes home exhausted,” says Osborn, “it’s like giving a giant sausage dog party. Lone dogs love it and don’t want to leave. All the dogs end up best friends.”
While sausage dogs can be yappy, sometimes “they are like a choir, all barking together, they could win Gold at the Olympics,” jokes Osborn, she uses nothing but her voice, and very occasionally a water squirter, to keep them in tow.
“I’m no dog trainer, no professional,” says Osborn, “but I’m the woman with the treats. If I yell ‘come on sausages’, they all come.”
There is no doubt that for me, giving my three sausages a holiday in the Hunter while I travel for work, or occasionally pleasure, gives me peace of mind and the knowledge that they’ll be having the time of their lives.
Bookings and more information on Sausage Stayz – https://www.facebook.com/sausagestayz/
