BOYSTOWN — It's hard to be sad when you're surrounded by frolicking dogs.
It's a good place to be for Julie List, who left behind a career in psychology a year ago in the search for happiness.
During her final year of doctoral training in forensic psychology in 2015, List lost her beloved 12-year-old pit lab, Deez.
"It was devastating, frankly, when he died, and I was unhappy with my current career," List told DNAinfo Chicago. "And it all kind of clicked to do something that makes me happy."
With years of experience taking her dogs to day care in between her graduate studies and practicing psychology, List knew what set a good day care apart. And so she decided to open her own.
Camp Wiggles, 3647 N. Halsted St., opened two weeks ago across from the Center on Halsted next to the former Circuit Night Club. The day care offers services from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, with limited weekend hours. Dogs can be dropped off until 10 a.m. and picked up between 4 and 7 p.m.
The limited pickup and drop-off hours give employees more time to dedicate to their canine clients, List said.
The 6,500-square-foot building is split into two open play areas. Dogs are never caged at Camp Wiggles, but can catch a snooze in one of the orthopedic dog beds lining the play areas.
Knowing her pit Deez had joint trouble in his old age, List wanted flooring that would be easy for dogs to play on every day. The Humane rubber flooring is nonporous so it won't absorb smells, and yet the sealed, vulcanized rubber is safe for pets' joints.
Julie List pauses to pet Mayor Daley, one of her first canine clients. List opened Camp Wiggles two weeks ago after deciding a career in psychology wasn't for her. [DNAinfo/Ariel Cheung]
Customers heading out of town can book their dogs for Camp Wiggles' sleep-at-home camp. Dogs will spend the day at Camp Wiggles, with workers transporting them back home at the end of the day, feeding them and performing a final nighttime check around 9 p.m.
It's a good alternative to boarding, where dogs might get luxurious perks like suites decked out with televisions and live webcams, "but at the end of the day, the dog just knows it's not at home, and it could care less about all those fancy things," List said.
List hopes Camp Wiggles will grow slowly as more neighbors realize it's a new option in Lakeview. Camp packages will be half-off during March as a grand opening special. She envisions a maximum enrollment of about 60 dogs, but she's determined not to pack dogs into the center.
Camp Wiggles opened at 3647 N. Halsted St. in the former Circuit Night Club across from the Center on Halsted. [DNAinfo/Ariel Cheung]
"That wouldn't make the dogs happy, and so it wouldn't make me happy," she said.
When List began planning for Camp Wiggles a year ago, she mapped out all the dog day cares in the city. While most were concentrated in warehouses in the West Loop, there weren't nearly as many neighborhood options, List said.
The long-vacant space ended up being a perfect fit — and it's just five minutes from List's own home.
"It's great for me and for people in the neighborhood," List said. "You can drop off your dog even if you're driving to work Downtown, and it gives you a sense of safety to have them near home."
Prices start at $22 per day under the monthly plan. The "sleep at home camp" is $55 per day weekdays; $60 on weekends.
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