Furry friend needs exercise? Check out Bay View gem 'Speed Weenies on Howell'

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Evaristo Rodriguez's three-year-old Staffordshire terrier, Earl, is running around his yard on a snowy Tuesday morning, happily panting while proudly wearing blue plaid pajamas.

"You're such a good boy!" Rodriguez said, scratching him behind his ears.

The Milwaukee-native adopted Earl when the pooch was about a year old.

And like many new pet owners, he had one question.

"What can I do with my dog to make him tired?" Rodriguez remembered wondering.

A simple walk or two each day wasn't enough.

"So, I went down the Google rabbit hole looking for something I can do in my space to really wear him out because if I’m not giving him what he needs, he’s very vocal and he will literally yell at me," Rodriguez told CBS 58's Ellie Nakamoto-White laughingly.

And what he ended up finding changed his -- and Earl's -- backyard for the better.

"I am now the owner and operator of a dog lure course!" Rodriguez said.

It's a pulley system that drags a lure -- in this case, a blue plastic bag -- around the yard space for dogs to chase.

“Once it starts moving, most dogs they know exactly what to do and just start chasing it right away," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez paid about $2,400 dollars for a professional machine.

“You set a line through each pulley and the machine; you plug it into the wall. It’s electric powered, no batteries, and there's a remote. You press the button and its pressure sensitive so the harder you press the button, the faster it’s going to go," Rodriguez explained. "I ordered it, set it up, and just been rocking it ever since!”

The lure can go as slow as a crawl to more than 50 miles an hour.

“Slow dogs, fast dogs, everyone can have fun," Rodriguez said. “They’ll run til their legs fall off if you let ‘em.”

After a trial period, he had figured out the kinks.

Finally, last October, Rodriguez opened what's now known as Speed Weenies on Howell.

“The dogs are having so much fun, it’s fun watching your dog have fun, and then when you take them home, they’re tired, they relax, they cut you some slack," Rodriguez said.

Over the last year, he's run nearly 150 dogs through his home course.

Each private session is $15 dollars for 15 minutes -- a length of time Rodriguez said typically wears out the average dog.

And if your pup doesn't like it, you get your money back guaranteed.

“Bay View is a pretty dog friendly neighborhood... whenever you start a new business there’s always a little bit of like, oh, is this gonna work but I was pretty confident that once word spread and people became aware of the existence of this place, that it would do well because we love our dogs," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez also works with local fosters and lets them run for free.

“Foster dog parents, they have a lot on their plate, they’re really extending themselves letting the foster dogs come live with them and a lot of the time they don’t have the time to give the dog everything they need so I’m here to help relieve some of that," Rodriguez said.

He posts photos of the dogs on his social media; in hopes someone will see them having fun and fall in love.

"It's all around a win!" Rodriguez said.

Another benefit of the lure? The health perks that come from daily or weekly runs.

“Some dogs have behavioral issues and it’s because they’re not getting enough exercise," Rodriguez said. “If your dog is chewing stuff up at home, maybe it’s because they need more exercise and if you don’t want to take your dog on a two-hour walk, come here. We can knock it out in 15 minutes.”

Although his business has only been running for about a year, Rodriguez has big plans for the future. Those include expanding his current yard space and ordering a second machine that's battery-operated so he can start mobile services.

Speed Weenies on Howell is open seven days a week.

To schedule an appointment, click here.

You can also follow Speed Weenies on Howell on Facebook here.