About Us

About Corinne

Hi, I'm Corinne. I am the care giver at Little Village. Your dog is on vacation in my home - he is my guest. As my guests, I feed them; hang out with them; monitor them unobtrusively; wander around the woods with them; and share my music with them in the evenings.

The spirit of Little Village is modeled after those wonderful old resort hotels where you were fed great meals, made friends, had adventures, and where you were well taken care of. You had freedom to come and go at will and everyone ate their meals together (half an hour later on Sundays).

I have for 30 years been adopting abused and abandoned dogs from shelters. I have developed a way of helping them overcome their emotional baggage.

I believe that dogs heal best when they heal each other and themselves. I believe they do this by being allowed to be dogs and by gaining confidence doing doggy things, at their own pace, without any pressure from me. I also believe that I support their healing by letting them know that I respect their feelings.

My life has always revolved around dogs and nature.

I live in the forest in a log cabin built especially for me, my Siberian husky and my four rescue huskies I brought to New Brunswick from the Yukon many years ago. I have always wanted to live in the forest, so for me to see nothing but trees from every window is a dream come true. My joy is to watch dogs playing with each other or setting off together on an adventure. It is important to me that you and your dog are happy with Little Village. If you have any ideas about improving your dog's experience here, please let me know.

I am also overjoyed to welcome Dani to my home, as my new best friend, and to my business as Director of Guest Services. In her official role, Dani is responsible for making guests feel at home, teaching them how to use the dog door, and showing them around the enclosure - a job she took to and created without me knowing anything about it. Somehow, from the moment she arrived at Little Village Dani understood what was missing and what was needed, and I have no idea how I ever coped without her.

However, Little Village is Dani's home. She shares it with other dogs at her pleasure. She is also fairly protective of me and her friends, so she will tell off any dog she feels is trying to monopolize too much of my time or being a bully. If she feels a dog is overstepping the bounds she will put them in their place. But she will also take them on the most amazing adventures inside the enclosure; she will play tirelessly with them if that's what they want; she will look after them; and she will come and tell me if anything happens to them. She makes the rules; that's how it has to be, and they have to understand that. You are absolutely welcome to meet Dani, if you don't mind an exuberant dog jumping up all over you. But she will only meet your dog when there are just the three of us in the house – that introduction must be done with respect.

Little Village is also my home. I offer to share it and that part of my life with your dog(s); and that's all I offer. So my interaction with you, no matter how pleasant it may be, will likely be disruptive. Because between the drop-offs and pick-ups, which happen at various times throughout the day and into the night, pretty much 365, I am trying to live my life. I clean the place, I maintain the yard and woods, I do the laundry, I do the admin, I answer the emails and phone calls, I do the bookings, I work, I go shopping, I get my hair cut, I see my doctor, I bath, I sleep, I read, I go for walks, I watch birds and sometimes I just need to get away from the house and/or dogs. What this means is that I cannot give your dog my attention 24 hours a day. It also means I could be busy doing just about anything when you'd like to arrive here. So all drop-offs, pick-ups and visits are by appointment only. Five minutes before the arranged time I will put the other dogs where I need them to be so they can all meet your dog one at a time. And they will stay that way for only ten minutes after the arranged time, because I am not prepared to have dogs contained in rooms that are not designed for that purpose for longer than 15 minutes. Also, please don't assume that I have managed to contain all the other dogs sufficiently for you to just walk into my house without any risk of a dog, other than your own, running out the door you have just opened – please wait for me to let you in or give you an okay.

Please understand that I am not doing this for any reason other than that I have to do my best to protect the dogs I look after from unnecessary problems. I have to and do, always put the dogs first.

I'd also like to introduce Cody, who came to Little Village as a boarder when his dad was admitted to hospital. Sadly, Cody's dad passed away and I inherited Cody. Despite his size and athletic antics, Cody is as gentle as they come. He absolutely loves little dogs and has endless patience with dogs who are insecure (probably because he used to be). He is also extremely lazy and most times he is asleep on the futon in his nice cool room. Even though he knocks me and Dani over in his attempts to express his happiness and devotion, we love him dearly.

"After having tried several other doggie daycares, I can honestly say that Little Village outshines them all. Not only is Little Village a safe and warm place to leave your “furry child” for the day or boarding, but also provides stress- and cage-free environment where your pet is the one to choose his own activity. Corinne provides genuine loving care to their dog friends. She really gets to know your dog and brings care and loving attention to each dog’s personality and needs. Every time I bring Trigger to Little Village, his tail wags in anticipation. He loves spending time with both his four-legged and two-legged circle of friends. Trigger obviously gets good stimulation and play because by the end of the day, he is exhausted from all the fun and exercise he has had with the Corinne's and other dogs. I know that he is in trusted hands and is loved and cared for the way I expect him to be. Without a doubt Little Village is the best!"

- Agata S.