“All dogs, all the time!” Or so goes the philosophy at Wheat Ridge’s Rover Retreat, a non-traditional doggie day care and overnight retreat that caters to clients who do not want their best friends to spend their days cooped up in kennels or dog runs.

“We love it,” says Laura DeGroat, co-owner of Rover Retreat with sister, Wendy Burling. “We’re big animal lovers all around and big dog lovers. This is not a money maker, it’s all about the dogs.”

And, as long as their temperaments are good, the daycare is non-kenneled unless the dogs are eating or sleeping. “We get the dogs into a couple of groups in our three main outdoor play yards,” DeGroat says. “We also have space for dogs that are better off on their own. It’s good for the smaller dogs that get overwhelmed and some of the rescue dogs that come in.”

Open for a year-and-a-half, the Rover Ridge Wheat Ridge location is the operation’s first franchise; the original location in Golden, Colo. has been in business for 12 years. It’s a special place with a unique point of view about how a daycare should run and a vastly open heart for helping support a variety of local dog rescues, including the Rocky Mountain Great Dane Rescue.

“We got involved with the rescues because we’re not full and there are never enough places for the rescue dogs to go,” DeGroat explains. While DeGroat says they can’t give services away, even to rescues, they do provide discounts on boarding charges for dog rescues to lessen their financial burden. And, though the business is healthy even in these difficult economic times, the non-traditional daycare is able to maintain prices that are comparable to more traditional doggie daycares for its non-rescue clientele.

“Our attitude is, let’s help these dogs and hopefully by doing it right, we’ll build relationships and the rescues will recommend us to their adopters,” DeGroat says.

The rescue Danes at Rover Retreat would no doubt give a “bark out” for the place. “The ones that are really in bad shape tear at your heart,” DeGroat says. “You would think they would hold a grudge but they’re so sweet and loving.

“The thing with Danes, people say they’re too big, they take up too much space,” she adds. “But they don’t require a big yard. You just need a big heart and big lap because that’s where they end up!”

Rover Retreat is located at 8175 W. 48th Avenue in Wheat Ridge, Colo. To learn more, visit their Web site at www.roverretreat.com or contact them directly at roverretreat2@gmail.com or (303) 432-8860.