Jordan Beck | Daily Press D&D Take ’em Kennels Owner/Trainer Dave Johnson, left, and General Manager Skylar Potter greet “clients” at the kennel. Since it was established a few years ago, the kennel has focused on the health, happiness and safety of the dogs it works with.

Editor’s note: The Daily Press features a profile of an area business each week. This week’s featured business is D&D Take ’em Kennels of Gladstone.

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GLADSTONE — Since it was established a few years ago, D&D Take ’em Kennels has focused on the health, happiness and safety of the dogs it works with.

Owner/Trainer Dave Johnson said his dream of opening a kennel began about six years ago. Then, he left his dogs in a kennel that took poor care of them.

“I was like, ‘that’s not happening ever again,'” he said.

Johnson’s kennel is now approaching its fourth year in business. Originally, D&D was based in Hyde; it moved to Gladstone in February 2017.

Johnson said the move has had a significant positive impact on business at D&D. The kennel has gone from working with 184 dogs before it moved to working with more than 800 today.

“It has grown astronomically,” he said.

The kennel was also able to expand in terms of size as a result of the move.

“We went from a 1,200-(square)-foot kennel to 3,500 square feet for dogs,” Johnson said.

D&D offers a wide variety of services, including day care and lodging, basic and advanced obedience classes and agility training.

“We also have two full-time groomers here,” Johnson said.

The kennel has a maximum overnight capacity of about 27 dogs. When dogs visiting D&D for other services are taken into account, it can host 45 to 50 dogs at a time.

Johnson said he and the other people working at D&D go to great lengths to ensure the physical and