By JESSA PEASE / Staff Writer

PELHAM—Steven Scott had a dream: to open the best dog kennel around equipped with a highly trained staff, a dog-loving mindset and an open door policy. After months of stress and labor, Scott’s vision has become a reality as he celebrates the grand opening of Camp Scotty on June 20.

“I’m really excited, but also it is my baby,” Scott said. “I’m going to treat it like my baby, so it’s going to be run properly with the nicest people and staff.”

Located at 2785 Pelham Parkway, Camp Scotty is a one-stop-shop for dogs, featuring boarding, doggie day-care, do-it-yourself dog wash and grooming. Boarding features a row of large 5-by-9-foot kennels.

“I could have fit a lot more kennels in here if we went smaller, but we didn’t want to just go for as many as we could,” Scott said. “We wanted them to be spacy, clean, nice and manageable…so we are more than able to take care of the dogs to the extent that we want.”

There are also two play areas for dogs participating in day-care — one inside and another outside. The 5,700-square-foot outdoor play area will be divided into two separate areas, for large and small dogs, and there will always be a staff member watching.

Scott said all the boarding dogs who get along will automatically play with the day-care dogs. Even if they don’t get along, the dogs will go out six or seven times a day.

“Basically when you go on vacation and drop your dog off, we want your dog to be on vacation,” Scott said. “We want him to be having a good time, leave here and come back with his tail wagging.”

Dogs who don’t come in with a specific food will be fed high-quality food with no soy, wheat or corn. Scott said the staff will also take requests for things like hand feeding. Staff permitting, he will even send an employee to Oak Mountain State Park to lead a dog on a nature walk with a Go-Pro so the owner can see.

It all goes back to Scott’s “open door” policy.

“We’re not trying to hide things from anybody,” Scott said. “We are trying to keep it as clean as possible, and have, hopefully, the nicest kennel around here. It’s not going to be, ‘lets go stage it’ (before a tour). It’s going to stay clean constantly.”

Owners can even opt to have a webcam on their dog’s kennel. They can log onto a website or use an app to check on their dog in real time. There will always be a webcam in the day-care areas.

“We’ll do anything anybody wants,” Scott said. “They are family members and that’s how we are going to treat them.”

Camp Scotty will be open Monday through Sunday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. 365 days of the year. Its grand opening will take place Saturday, June 20 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. There will be food from the grill, Kona Ice and Shelby County’s APH Radio on 99.9 FM. For more information, visit campscotty.com.