Brad Bettridge, the owner ofHounds Town Brookhaven, swipes his tablet with a smile.
He pulls up photos of pups — fast asleep at home on their dog beds.
“These are our dogs after a day of daycare,” he said. “Our customers call it the Hounds Town hangover.”
He scrolls to a recent post in his location’s Facebook group, showing a snoozing dog.
“Day 1, Day 2 … and the hangover continues,” the owner wrote.
That’s how it goes among the “townies.”
“At Hounds Town, we just let dogs be dogs — bring them into that natural pack environment rather than just hanging out by themselves,” said Bettridge, who opened his franchise location in 2024 at 2 Old Dock Road in Yaphank, just south of the Long Island Expressway.
The rise of businesses like Hounds Town reflects a broader shift in American households.
Roughly 90 million U.S. homes now have a dog — up from about 65 million in 2000, according to the American Pet Products Association. That surge has fueled demand for daycare and boarding businesses built around socialization and group play, where dogs can interact and burn off energy while their owners are at work.
AtHounds Town, there are no toys to fight over in the spacious playrooms and no humans constantly entertaining the dogs.
Source: Greater Moriches: Daily News for Shirley, Mastic and the Moriches
