I wouldn't care to own and operate such a business; too

many yappy dogs for my taste. However, Renee and Tom

Bartik would drive by such establishments and think, "What

a neat job that would be."

in Lithonia since 1961. When he retired last year,

he put the property up for sale. Renee's father

bought the 14 1/2 acres and gave the Bartiks an

opportunity to exercise their love for animals and

spend more quality time with their two sons.  "I

guess the Big Guy upstairs took care of everything,"

Tom said with a big grin.

Tom works full time with the Gwinnett County Fire

Department. His schedule of one day on and two days

off fits in well with their kennel business. Renee, a nurse,

works weekend nights at a nursing home. They were

anxious about working together, but soon after

taking over Kings Creek they discovered another

wonderful aspect of owning the business. "We work

together very well," Renee said. "It's been wonderful.

It's given us time to talk."

They even bring their sons in to help. They enjoy

playing with the puppies and helping Dad so he can have

more time to play with them.

These family values are extended to the animals as well.

Renee was very specific about that. "We want the dogs to

want to come back." The dogs are taken out daily and

walked and played with. The Bartiks sons play ball with

the animals and give them much needed attention and exercise.

"We tell clients to bring anything to help their pets feel at

 home." One owner sent a bathrobe with the dog, Renee chuckled.

I wondered if we were to wear it around the dog. I tried to get

Tom to put it on."  One family sent bubbles for their pet to

enjoy and another came with a satin nightgown that it slept on.

As you listen and watch this young animal-loving couple, you

realize they are not just in this to make money. Besides the dogs

and cats at the kennel, the Bartiks have one dog, two cats,

four kittens, a horse and whatever their two boys bring home:

turtles, rabbits, chipmunks.

On occasion, Renee has been known to take the puppies

or little dogs to their house where the animals sleep with the

Bartiks.

You would want your pet in their hands, especially after they

told me about a pair of German Shepherds rescued from the

pound who were brought in for a stay at the kennel. "We were told

they might not want to have anything to do with us," Tom said.

And at first the dogs were true to form. However, after three

days, Renee said, "We were petting them, and by the fifth

day, we were hugging and playing with them. That's the

rewarding part of this work."

As you might expect in this cyber-savvy world, Kings Creek

has a Web site maintained by Renee's father.  Every week

he puts a picture of one of the animals on the Net. Tom

smiled, "We've even had people request that we take

a picture of us kissing their dog and put it on the Internet

so they can access the Web site wherever they are.

That way they know we are taking care of their pet."

The Web site can be found at "http://www.kingscreekkennels.com".

Kings Creek will take any animal, but mostly has boarded

dogs and cats. They have had calls for birds and rabbits, and one guy

called about boarding an emu.

"It's been a good learning experience," Tom admitted, "but we

love the animals, and we love doing this, and we love living out

in the country."

Click here to go to home page!