About Urban Pooch Canine Life Center In Chicago

We’re proud to bring a 7,100 sq. ft. State-of-the-Art facility to Chicago that is specifically designed to support canine health & wellness, while increasing the bond between you and your pooch.

We feel that our pooches are our children and we would only trust them to the best in care. You have a choice and we encourage you to stop in for a tour – and guarantee you’ll immediately Experience the Difference! There is no place in Chicago like Urban Pooch Canine Life Center. We even offer a reward program for our loyal customers.

Located in the heart of Chicago’s vibrant Ravenswood neighborhood, Urban Pooch Canine Life Center offers a higher standard of care for your urban pooch. We have raised the bar on every aspect of the services and products available for you and your pooch.

Urban Pooch has an extensive selection of Natural Food, Treats, Fun Toys and Accessories available in our 1,100 sq. ft. store. We can even deliver if that makes your life easier!

We offer Daycare, Cageless Boarding, Expert Grooming, Training, a Self-Wash, Massage, and Social Events. Lots of natural light throughout our entire facility. Plus we have a special Social Lounge where you can see the pooches through one-way glass, but they can’t see you. Experience the difference!

Thoughtful Products and Services That We Offer

Daycare – by the hour flexibility
Cageless Boarding – Pooch Pack Handlers on-site 24/7 and sleep with the pooches. No cages ever.
Playtime Express – Pick-up & Drop-off when it’s convenient for you
Expert Grooming – all breeds and sizes
Self-Wash – 3 tubs available for all sizes of dogs
Natural Food, Treats, Fun Toys & Accessories
Expert Food Consultation – catering to each pooch’s individual needs and nuances
Delivery of any retail items – right to your door with a friendly smile
Training – Training Classes and Individual Lessons taught by certified staff who are just simply amazing! We are one of the few places in Chicago that offer Therapy Dog International(TDI) training and certification. All taught at The Urban Pooch Training and Fitness Center – a 10,000 sq. ft. facility located at 5400 N Damen Avenue – only 1.3 miles away.
Massage/Reiki – By appointment and oh so soothing and rejuvenating
Social Lounge & Events – dog parents can see their pooches playing via one-way glass into the main playroom, while they concentrate on meeting and socializing with others. Your pooch has fun, you have fun – Success!
Belly Reward Program – every dollar you spend earns you valuable rewards quickly

Experience What Makes us Different

Advanced air purification system provides the healthiest indoor environment available in Chicago
Triple HEPA filters, 4 zones, UV Lighting to kill airborne bacteria & viruses
All our floors are sealed with a triple antimicrobial sealant – ensuring the cleanest and safest play area
We’re cleaner and we smell better – come in and experience the difference!
Our staff has been intensively trained by top canine care experts in the country

Our Staff - What Makes Urban Pooch Different

Our Urban Pooch Pack is one of our greatest assets in providing your pooch with the utmost Love and care around the clock.

We’re so grateful to have each of them and how much they contribute to making Urban Pooch one of the most special places on Earth! We absolutely have THE most amazing and talented people in Chicago AND we have more of them – which means better care and attention to that little (or big) Love bucket of yours with four legs.

You’ll never find that we try to do more with fewer people. This is unique in the Chicago market. Our goal is to always to dazzle pooches and their parents with our Amazing Service, Love, and Care!

Change Description

Berwyn

CEO

Berwyn loves being a pooch, and is living the dream as the CEO of Urban Pooch Canine Life Center! He totally changed his Daddies’ lives – so much so that they decided to dedicate their lives to establishing a new level of service for dogs and dog parents by bringing state-of-the-art daycare and boarding to Chicago. Berwyn is involved in each decision both big and small. He loves to be the center of attention and sometimes growls when his Daddies pay too much attention to other dogs. But don’t let that growl fool you because he’s a softie at heart!

Daniel Gaughan

Co-Founder

Dan is the co-owner of Urban Pooch Canine Life Center and runs the day to day operations. A native Chicagoan, Dan grew up in the Edgewater Glen neighborhood. He is the son of the late and great Marty and Kitty Gaughan and the youngest of 6 children. Dan had an incredible 21 year career working behind the scenes in local television news here in Chicago as well as in Arizona and California. During his long career in broadcasting, Dan was in management roles overseeing staff and operations at many successful television news organizations. He began his broadcasting career at WLS-TV in 1989 here in Chicago and went on to play a key management role in launching CLTV. He went on to work for WGN-TV and eventually WBBM-TV following his return to Chicago from California in 2002. Dan won an Emmy Award for continuous coverage of The Chicago Bulls 3rd Championship. For many years Dan had a strong desire for a career change and to do something completely different and more fulfilling. Then in July of 2007 he adopted Berwyn, an 8 week old Welsh Terrier puppy, from an Amish Farm in Central Illinois. Dan’s intense love for Berwyn and the experience of raising this pup helped him realize opening a doggie daycare facility was the new direction he wanted to take his career and life and that would most importantly make him incredibly happy. This began the long journey of accomplishing his dream of owning and operating Urban Pooch Canine Life Center on the North Side of Chicago. Dan is very much looking forward to getting to know you and your pooch and seeing all of you every day!

Ed Kaczmarek

Co-Founder

Ed is the co-founder of Urban Pooch Canine Life Center, and also Chief Marketing Officer. He’s a fun, creative kind of pooch. Ed is also Co-Founder of Brand Innovators Labs, a business designed to help major brands institutionalize the core competency of partnering with disruptive startups to build competitive advantages and ignite the spirit of entrepreneurship within the corporate environment. Most recently, Ed was Director of Innovation & Emerging Technology at Mondel?z International (formerly Kraft Foods Inc.) where he led innovation through a multitude of partnerships and exploration with startups in both mobile and digital. He was the architect and creator of the Mobile Futures incubator program. Through this program, he drove new levels of consumer engagement across 13 blue chip brands and ignited cultural transformation in marketing throughout the US and Brazil. Many of the programs that Ed led, contributed to Mondelez International being named 2013 Mobile Marketer of the Year. While at Kraft Foods, he led the development of its award-winning iPhone application, the iFood Assistant—enabling the food marketer to deepen consumer relationships and implement new revenue streams. iFood Assistant won an Edison Award for Innovation in 2010. Ed has more than 26 years of integrated marketing communications experience spanning branding, new product development, advertising, CRM and strategy. He has driven innovation both digitally and in traditional arenas during his tenure at Cadbury/Dr Pepper, VNU, DoubleClick and Draft Worldwide. Ed also published NYC Pet Project while at Good Books Publishing, a company he founded. In 2009, Fast Company magazine named Ed as “1 of the 10 Most Creative People in Food.” He also participated on the Intel Capital Advisory Board for three years. In December 2012, Ed was recognized as one of “25 Trendsetters to Watch” by Chief Marketer magazine.

Deb Frankenberry

Groomer

Deb Frankenberry joined Urban Pooch in November of 2011 following almost 20 years of Grooming experience at various Grooming operations throughout the Midwest including down in Missouri and up in Minneapolis. Deb also owned a grooming shop back in the early 1990’s in Blacksburg, Virginia where she ran the shop and Groomed as well. From April of 2000 until 2009 she Groomed at “Groomingdales” in Columbia, Missouri and then owned a small shop there. Deb started grooming in 1986 as she was just finishing a degree in Psychology. Deb took an offer at that time to apprentice with the owner of a small Grooming Shop and never looked back. Deb and her 2 children moved to Chicago last summer to be with her partner have her 2 children. Deb has 3 pooches named Zuli (15 year old Terrier Mix), Birdie (10 year old and sometimes grumpy Schnauzer) and Frankie (6 year old Dachshund) who come to work with Deb every day! Frankie is especially popular at Urban Pooch but Birdie has a special place in the heart of owner Dan Gaughan. Deb finds dog grooming to be very rewarding and even relaxing most of the time. She especially loves grooming Terriers but all breeds (and mixed breeds too) have interesting features and challenges that keep her engaged. One of Deb’s favorite things to do is see live music. She also loves home remodeling projects but these activities don’t happen too much these days as her Partner and Deb’s blended family of 4 children and 3 pooches keep them very busy! She’s enjoyed getting to know all of the regular pooches at Urban Pooch and working with a great staff.

Vanessa Ramos

Front Desk Daycare/Boarding

Vanessa was born in Manhattan and spent summers and Holidays on her grandparents farm in Puerto Rico. She graduated from Medaille College in Buffalo, NY with an Associates in Science Degree in Veterinary Technology and took additional courses in Canine Breeding and Genetics. She adores all animals but has a soft spot for Boxers. She shares her home with her first Boxer for the last 15 years. Vanessa now has a Pit Bull, a Malinois, 3 Boxers and a Boston who thinks she’s a Boxer. For Vanessa it truly is “All About The Dogs.”

Carmellia Dockery

Pooch Pack Counselor, Playtime Express

Carmellia brings a decade worth of experience in the world of pooches with her and I’m here to tell you – she has done it all at every facility in Chicago where she has worked. She started her career in the Pooch industry at West Loop Canine Club where she was a Kennel Attendant and quickly was promoted to Night Manager and she was also a bather there. Carmellia went on to work for K-9 University as a Kennel Attendant, Weekend Manager and Bather. She then joined Mutt Hutt where she worked as a Handler, Weekend Manager, Bather and also drove their van picking-up and dropping-off pooches. Most recently she worked at Bark Chicago where she did it all from being a Handler to opening the facility for the day and also was drove their van transporting pooches and was a bather. Carmellia has one son in college and another who is a Senior year at Westinghouse High School. She has a pooch and also 3 kitties.

Barb Daly

Runner

Barb comes to us from the realm of Hospital Radiology Administrative background… with retirement approaching she ventured into doggie work to keep busy and to support her golf games . Although new to the world of doggie day care, Barb has had pooch’s in her life since a youngster …all rescues in varied breeds…her current adopted dog being Molly, age 8, a terrier mix with a very defined Brussels/Griffon underbite…which makes you smile every time you see Molly and Barb !!!

What Chicago Pet Parents Are Saying

We love all of our customers from Chicago local areas near us including Ravenswood, Lincoln Square, Uptown, Andersonville, West Ridge, Albany Park, Irving Park, North Center, Boystown, and more!

Abby

2025-12-31

The staff here are so lovely and you can tell they all just adore dogs. Our pup is a little shy around other dogs but enjoys getting pets and treats when we stop in or when she attends day care.

Madeleine (The Ruiner)

2025-12-09

After lunch next door I heard a chorus of bright barks, so I wandered in to see the place that sparked such happy sparks. The staff lit up to greet me, and with genuine delight they showed me every corner of their daycare done just right. They walked me through the process, every detail, every check: a flu shot for my puppies, a fecal test to vet their health. Then gentle, careful integration helped my pups feel safe and sound two hours first, then half-day visits, building trust with solid ground. I loved the rooms for roaming, for snoozing, play, or pace, with humans in the playroom keeping watch on every face. The grooming is a bonus, and the “daycare plus a trim” means drop-off days are easy and our schedule’s never grim. My backyard’s been a casualty of puppies, youth, and mud, so this bright space is heaven for the furry little flood. The rates are fair, the hours kind, the atmosphere feels true. Urban Pooch has won my heart, and my puppies love it too. A place of trust and wagging tails, of joy and social play, I am grateful for this find and we’ll be back many a day.

Jessica Corral

2025-11-24

Our dog is a bit on the anxious side in new environments. It took him about a month to not seem anxious going in. He has been attending day care at Urban Pooch for approximately 7 months attending twice a week just for socialization. He absolutely loves it. He now knows the drive there and gets so excited the closer we get to day care. He gets happy to see his day care people when he goes in and does not even look back at me going in anymore. He goes in without hesitation and genuinely seems happier at home. The people are great here and true animal lovers. I highly recommend Urban Pooch!

Lynn Kummerer

2025-11-20

I’ve been taking my dog to Urban Pooch for 5 years now. He’s safe, loved and goes in and comes out very happy! The staff are so nice and welcoming. Dogs are not crated annd they roam freely and someone is in the room with them 24/7. It’s a darling place for my precious dog. And groomer Deb is awesome. Tiffany and everyone there is amazing!

Kevin Myslinski

2025-11-18

We’ve been using Urban Pooch for daycare and boarding for about seven years. We first started going with our older boxer when we moved to the neighborhood, and after she passed, our new boxer has been going since the day she was old enough. She loves it. When I grab her leash in the morning, she knows she’s going to daycare and completely loses her mind with excitement. I can barely get the leash on before she’s pulling me out the door and straight to the building. The staff is always kind and clearly loves the dogs they care for. I have zero complaints and appreciate having a place I trust completely with our girl.

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