Happy.
Whole.
Welcome to Central Bark Aurora-Fox Valley
There’s no bond like the one we share with our furry best friends. We love our dogs and want to give them the best life. But it can be challenging to fulfill all their needs.
That’s why families trust Central Bark®, where dogs get the love and care to help them be healthy, happy, and well-rounded. When you bring your dog to Central Bark Aurora-Fox Valley, you’ll have peace of mind knowing they’re having a great day with their friends in a safe and loving environment.
Our Whole Dog Care approach aims to nurture and enrich your dog’s whole health and well-being – throughout their entire life. The heart of this approach is our Enrichment Dog Day Care program. We also offer dog boarding, baths, grooming, market, training, and more. All with the mission to help you and your dog share the best life.
We know that dogs aren’t just LIKE family – they ARE family. As dog parents ourselves, we take great pride in treating each and every dog like they’re our own.
Central Bark
Aurora-Fox Valley
4389 Fox Valley Center Dr,
Aurora, IL 60504Get Directions
Open Today 7:00 AM – 6:30 PM
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We had planned a vacation a couple of months before we adopted Charlie, and were nervous about leaving him for a week. He had the best time and the staff sent us photos everyday!
He now goes a few days during the week for doggie day care. I can not say enough great things about this place….they are simply the best place to bring your dog in the area! ❤️
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Our Whole Dog Care approach offers a full range of fun and personalized products and services to promote your dog’s physical, mental, and emotional health and happiness throughout their entire life.
Why do dogs LOVE
Central Bark?
- It’s just for them – Every dog is special. We tailor each day to your dog’s needs and preferences.
- Whole health + happiness – They’ll get all the personalized attention, activity, and rest they need. To help your dog be healthy, happy, and well-behaved at home and in the community.
- We speak dog – Our people are dog experts specially trained in our science-based positive reinforcement approach.
- Safe + clean – The safety and well-being of all our guests is our #1 priority. Our comprehensive safety policies and cleaning procedures help ensure your dog is safe and healthy every day they’re with us.
- Trusted loving care – For over 20 years, families have trusted Central Bark to enrich their dog’s lives with the right mix of personalized attention, play, exercise, socialization, training, rest, and love.
- A bond for life – It’s amazing how a day apart can bring you closer! Your dog will come home happy and healthy, and you won’t spend another day worrying about them home alone.
Dog Day Care. Reimagined.
Central Bark Enrichment Dog Day Care takes dog day care to a whole new level! It combines our industry-leading expertise with the latest dog behavior science and positive dog training principles. Your dog can enjoy a fun and healthy day tailored to them, with the proper amount of play, mental and physical exercise, socialization, training, rest, and love they need to be healthy, happy, and well-rounded.
Flexible Playgroups
Small and large playgroup options allow us to match better your dog’s personality, needs, and preferences with the social atmosphere and amount of play they can enjoy and benefit from most.
Group Play Skills
Group Play Skills are a fun and rewarding way for dogs to practice important skills like name recall, and behaviors like group sit and calmly going in and out of doors and gates.
Rest Period Enrichment
Rest Period Enrichment sessions help dogs achieve a healthy balance. They can relax and recharge in their own private space with calming enrichment toys and healthy foods tailored to their preferences and diet.
Enrichment Sessions
Personalized One-on-One Enrichment sessions give the extra attention dogs love and the freedom to use their senses and safely explore their instincts through interactive toys, puzzles, and games.
Frequently Asked Questions
Central Bark® is licensed and inspected by the Health Department regularly. We also clean and disinfect nightly, regardless of how many dogs have visited.
At Central Bark®, our goal is to provide a balanced day of play, learning, rest, and love. Learning and mental exercise can happen in various ways, including training activities, brain games, scent work, and more. Our playgroups offer several hours of active playtime paired with learning opportunities during Group Play Skills. This way, dogs have plenty of time to socialize and get their energy out, while also exercising their minds through learning.
During one of your dog’s rest periods throughout the day, they are offered a rest period enrichment activity to stimulate their mind while encouraging healthy rest. These licking and chewing activities involve food rewards, such as frozen peanut butter KONG®. These activities engage their minds while helping foster quality rest.
Did you know? Scientific studies have shown that licking and chewing behaviors (especially those that involve food rewards!) are self-soothing, decrease heart and respiratory rates, and even release dopamine in a dog’s brain.
Training Tutor sessions stimulate the dog’s minds and bodies and help them learn important skills, behaviors, and tricks.
One-on-One Enrichment sessions give the extra attention dogs love and the freedom to use their senses and safely explore their instincts through interactive toys, puzzles, and games.
Did you know? 15 minutes of mental activity is equal to 30 minutes of physical exercise!
Central Bark® Enrichment Doggy Day Care combines our industry-leading doggy day care expertise with the latest science-based activities and techniques. We personalize your dog’s day with fun, healthy, and well-balanced activities that appeal to their instincts and enrich their bodies, minds, and senses.
Each day at Central Bark includes exclusive options like:
- Flexible play groups allow us to match your dog each day with the social atmosphere and play schedule they can enjoy and benefit from most. This helps give them a healthy balance of play, rest, and learning and creates a safer social environment with a better quality of play. And our lower dog-to-staff ratios offer more individual attention, education, and love.
- Group play skills help dogs practice important behaviors and life skills like name recall, group sit, and calmly going in and out of doors and gates. These activities are fun and rewarding for your dog and help improve behavior and impulse control, prevent overstimulation, and creates a safer social environment.
- Rest Period Enrichments help dogs relax and recharge in their own private space with calming interactive toys and healthy food pairings tailored to their preferences and diet. It promotes physical and mental relaxation and can help them become more comfortable in crates by building positive associations.
- One-on-One Enrichment add-on sessions give your dog the personal attention they love, supplemented with interactive toys, puzzles, and games. Sessions are fun and rewarding, exercise their body and mind, and engage their senses. Add complexity with fitness and agility equipment.
- Training sessions during day care visits help your dog develop essential skills and behaviors like name recall, sit, stay, down, wait, leave-it, door and gate control, and loose-leash walking. Excellent for your dog and easy for you! Your dog will come home tired and well-socialized, with the training and skills they need to be a well-behaved member of your family.
Not at all! It’s never too early or too late to begin building positive associations and using reward-based methods to teach your puppy new skills and behaviors.
Establish a training schedule now to help your puppy learn desired behaviors like walking nicely on a leash and basic cues like sit, stay, and loose-leash walking. Practicing these skills at home is critical, but it’s always a good idea to enlist the help of a professional to get a jump start teaching your puppy all the things you want them to know and set them up for success! Central Bark® offers everything you need to help you train your dog, including expert training and classes, so you and your puppy can learn and bond together.
Learn more about our training classes.
Visit our Dog Blog for more helpful tips.