EP 354: What If Dog Boarding Treated Pets Like Family, Not Room Numbers

What Makes Cecilia Gonzalez with Pixie’s Paws Pet Palace a Good Neighbor?

Looking for boarding that feels like a safe, joyful sleepover instead of a row of crates? We sit down with Cecilia Gonzalez of Pixie’s Paws Pet Palace to explore a home-style, cage-free model built on temperament-based packs, round-the-clock supervision, and nurse-led hygiene that rivals a clinic. From futons and open-door crates to movie nights that help anxious dogs settle, every detail points toward one goal: calmer, healthier pets who return home better than they left.

Cecilia shares how a well-designed Arlington space—with an upstairs track for indoor runs—became the perfect backdrop for a rescue-rooted philosophy. Gayla, a nurse and gifted “dog mind reader,” leads protocols like twice-daily wellness exams, strong ventilation, and water bowl sanitizing every two hours. We get candid about the biggest myth in pet care (it’s not all belly rubs), why timeouts are mental resets rather than punishment, and how board-and-train in their home pack accelerates social learning. The result is a program where big and small dogs mix by temperament, not size, and shy pets learn confidence through calm structure.

We also dig into smart marketing for pet services: shifting from the old phone book to geofencing, Google Maps, and video-forward social media. Weekly enrichment themes—think Wicked or Bob Ross “painting” sessions—aren’t just cute content; they’re confidence-building sensory work that reduces stress and improves behavior. Plus, a heartfelt look at rescue partnerships and adoptable dogs like Peanut, a papillon-chihuahua learning to trust again.

Curious how a boarding “palace” can be both cozy and clinically clean? Tune in, then check out Pixie’s Paws on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and pixeespawspetpalace.com to register or learn more. If you enjoy conversations that rethink pet care with heart and rigor, subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with a fellow dog lover.

To learn more about Pixie’s Paws Pet Palace, go to
 🔗 https://pixeespawspetpalace.com/

Pixies Paws Pet Palace

682-999-8684

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Sophia Yvette.

SPEAKER_01 (00:10):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Are you in need of a pet palace?
Well, one may be closer than youthink.
Today I have the pleasure ofintroducing your good neighbor,
Cecilia Gonzalez, with Pixie'sPaws Pet Palace.
Cecilia, how are you today?

SPEAKER_02 (00:28):
I'm doing wonderful.
How are you doing today, Sophia?

SPEAKER_01 (00:32):
Wonderful.
Wonderful to have you on.
Now we're excited to learn allabout you and your business.
Can you start off by telling ourlisteners just a little bit
about your company?

SPEAKER_02 (00:41):
Absolutely.
Pixie's Paws Pet Palace startedsix years ago here in Arlington,
Texas.
And we started with a goal ofhaving a place people could
bring their dogs that wassimilar to grandma's.
So not your traditional cagedboarding where they're locked up
in a crate all day, let out afew times a day to go potty or

(01:03):
have their run to go out.
So we really wanted to havesomebody on site 24-7 that that
stays with them, plays withthem, have have packs uh
designed to each category ofpets and temperament.
Now you might have ahundred-pound dog with a
20-pound dog.
If the 100-pound dog has atemperament that's easygoing and
relaxed and prefers to be aroundsmall dogs, and then at night,

(01:25):
they all sleep together like youwould a grandma's.
So we all go get in the futons,sofas, under the beds.
We have crates as well, but likeat home with bedding, um, we
leave the doors open.
If they're acting a little, youknow, extra, they will have to
get a little bit of a timeoutjust to rest their brain a
little bit.
And then once they've seemed tosettle down, we open it back up,

(01:47):
let them ride back out and hangout with everybody, watch Lilo
and Stitch on the 60-inch screentelevision, and uh just enjoy
the night with the with theperson that's hanging out with
them.

SPEAKER_01 (01:57):
Oh my goodness, who doesn't love Lilo and Stitch?

SPEAKER_02 (02:02):
Yeah, shout out to Lelo and Stitch.
I was tickled as I walked in onenight and uh our our our staff
was uh they were watching Leloand Stitch.
I was like, well, look, okay,all right, all right, that
sounds fun.
Elvis here, I guess, right?
Gotta love it.

SPEAKER_01 (02:18):
Yes.
Now, how did you originally getinto a business like this?

SPEAKER_02 (02:24):
Well, it was out of need.
We have uh a family uh building.
We have a building here inArlington, and we needed to
occupy that space.
So fortunately, ironically,maybe God grace or something,
the building really has a greatlayout for what we do.
We even have an upstairs track.
So the dogs can actually goupstairs, get their yayas out,

(02:48):
and run the track, and it's allsafely fenced in.
Um, and we also uh just lovedogs, always rescue dogs.
My dad and mother would say,You're gonna get hit by a car
rescuing these dogs.
And I just would see a littledog on the side of the road and
just have to pick them up.
And then we rescue dogs.

(03:10):
My wife and I rescue dogs allthe time, and we thought, well,
we have dogs anyway.
We know she speaks dog betterthan she speaks human.
So that's kind of how she wantedto start it.
To say, well, let's just start abusiness taking care of dogs.
And we started off with, Ithink, with maybe what two or
three dogs overnight boardingand then grew to four, and now

(03:30):
we're up to over uh mostly maybe20 to 30 dogs overnight.
Yeah, so it's a lot of fun.
It's it's it's uh it's uh alwaysa learning curve.
But um Gail is a nurse, so shecame in and brought a lot of the
health practices on board.
So we have a very cleanfacility, um, maintain a lot of

(03:53):
cleanliness for the dogs, makesure that it's well ventilated
for any respiratory preventionof illnesses, um, as well as
keeping everything extremelyclean.
So, you know, picking it up,picking up the poop, you know,
sanitizing any urine, everythingis just very, very uh uh well
taken care of on an ongoingbasis.

(04:15):
And that's why it's a palace,you know.
We have to have it, we have tohave it clean and fresh for our
little princes and princesses.

SPEAKER_01 (04:23):
Oh my goodness.
I was actually just about to askyou that.
You read my mind.
What next question for you Whatis the most common myth or
misconception you come across inyour pet palace?

SPEAKER_02 (04:39):
Oh well, that's easy.
I want to volunteer.
I want to volunteer, I want to,I want to come hang out and
play, help you with the dogs.
Well, it's not it's not just aneasy laid-back setting all the
time working with dogs.
You know, you have differentpersonalities, you have
different things that happen,and it's it's hard work.

(05:01):
So the misconception is thatit's all you know, fairy tale
and gold dust and you know, pinkbedding.
It's not, it's it's hard work,it's uh diligence.
We do two wellness exams a day.
So the dogs are inspected twicea day.
We check for everything.
Um, and we've been blessed tohelp pet parents find some

(05:24):
things that were off with theirpets, and they were able to go
to the vet and get it taken careof.
Um, we also um just, I guessthat's the biggest misconception
is that it's just all fun andgames.
And it's it's not, it's a veryserious job because you're
taking care of somebody's pet,you're taking care of their
family.

(05:45):
So pixies, we want them to knowthat they're going to be taken
care of and they're gonna bewell looked after.
And that's our that's ourbiggest uh our biggest uh goal
and and our daily duty is tomake sure that the dogs are
taking well care of.
We do two too, uh, we do everytwo hours, they change the water
bowls, they clean them, sanitizethem, fresh water every two

(06:07):
hours.
Again, going back to health,going back to health standards
for the dogs.
We don't want them, you know,having dirty water to drink
from.
We want it to be a palace, sothey have to be treated as such.

SPEAKER_01 (06:22):
Wow, that is definitely amazing to hear your
heart for animals.
Now, we know marketing is theheart of every business.
Who are your target clients orcustomers?
And in terms of marketing, howdo you attract them?

SPEAKER_02 (06:40):
Our our targeted audience are predominantly women
in their 30s and above.
Um, and we are targeting themthrough um all the traditional,
new traditional to me.
My age, it used to be the thefingers did the walk-in, right?
The yellow pages.
Of course, that's no more.
So we use the the geofencing andthe Google ads and the Google

(07:04):
Maps.
And we've recently joined uhforces with another marketing
team that's supposed to help usup our game in the social media
front.
So those are some things thatwe're working towards,
especially towards our trainingdepartment.
Um, like I said earlier, Gayla'sa nurse, but she's also, she's
not Caesar Malone dog whisperer,but she is a dog mind reader, I

(07:30):
would say.
She's a she's a dog mind reader.
She's really good at uh atreading dogs, talking to dogs
without even talking to them,and knowing uh what to look for
as far as their their needs goand and how to talk to them.
And it's a lot easier for her totrain the dogs than it is to
train the pet parents.
So the hardest job is trainingthe pet parents, you know,

(07:53):
because the dogs are reallyeager to learn and and and and
to please you.
So, you know, pet parents not somuch.
They just they just want to theywant us to do it and and we're
there to do it.
But we also need uh we needeverybody to work
collaboratively in that way.
But uh, as far as our marketinggoes, we are um focused on
upping our our our marketingtowards training, of course,

(08:16):
this uh holiday season with uhboarding, because we do
boarding, we do board and train,and we do do the board and train
from our home.
So not only are you getting umtraining for your pet, but
they're also learning how tobehave in a pack, because we
have a pack of at our home, andthey they help incoming dogs,

(08:37):
whether they're rescues or theirclients, learn how to be a dog
or learn how to engage withother dogs in a healthy way.
So those are kind of the thingsthat we're we're always working
on is training, board and train,um, holiday boarding at our
facility.
Um, and like I said, justincreasing our presence on

(09:00):
social media.
And we have a great um personthat works for us that that
handles our social media onFacebook, and she's she's just
fantastic at making videos andthe pictures and what have you.
And we have enrichment days.
So every Wednesday at Pixies,there's a theme that we have
we've had Wicked uh from themovie as of late.
We also are doing Bob Rosstomorrow, so we'll have uh

(09:21):
canvases and and dogs will becreating art tomorrow at Pixies.

SPEAKER_01 (09:27):
Now, have you ever thought of having your own
podcast?

SPEAKER_02 (09:32):
Our own what?

SPEAKER_01 (09:33):
Podcast.

SPEAKER_02 (09:34):
Podcast.
Well, yes, yes, my wife and Ihave talked about that from the
beginning, and it's because whenwe are together talking to our
with our friends, we seem tomake everybody laugh because
we're both as well, we're kindof we're kind of goofy and
silly, but we're also serious.
But then we we're just we'rejust crazy dog moms.

(09:55):
And we uh we actually hadstarted try try to do that, but
I I uh I I try to tweak it waytoo much, and it just took the
fun out of it and thespontaneity.
So yeah, I do want we do want todo a podcast, but we've kind of
put that on the back burnerbecause lots of things happen
through through the year workingwith dogs and and humans and our
business.
So the podcast hasn't uh hasn'tcome to fruition, though we'd

(10:17):
love for we'd love to do it.

SPEAKER_01 (10:20):
Well, Cecilia, I know we've covered a lot of
great subjects today, but whatour listeners really want to
know is where can they go tolearn more about Pixies Paws Pet
Palace?

SPEAKER_02 (10:31):
Well, you can go to our Facebook page.
So we're at Pixies Paws PetPalace, and that's with two E's,
not I E for Pixie.
You can also go to our websiteat pixiespaws.com,
P-I-X-W-E-S-P-A-W-S.com.
Um, we're also on Instagram andwe're um on YouTube.

(10:51):
Uh we're also, I believe we'reon Thread.
So we're we're pretty mucheverywhere.
Um, but mainly our website isthe best place to go to, and you
can self-register.
You can give us a call and wecan get you registered with
Mitch.
Mitch answers the phones duringthe week.
And uh Tammy answers the phoneson Saturdays and Mondays.

SPEAKER_01 (11:11):
Well, Cecilia, I really appreciate you being on
the show.
We wish you and your businessthe best.
Before you go, wait, before yougo, I gotta show you someone.

SPEAKER_02 (11:20):
Come here.
It wouldn't be a podcast withouta baby.
So this is Bella, she's a rescuewith us right now, and I have
hang on, she's so cute.
And this is Peanut.
Now, Peanut is definitely up foradoption, and his uh he's a

(11:44):
Papillon Chihuahua.
He was abused, um, but he he'slearning how to be hailed and be
loved.
But we do have rescues as well,with lighthouse dog rescue.
So we we have dogs that needhomes.

SPEAKER_01 (11:56):
Oh, you don't have any Pomeranians in there by
chance, do you?

SPEAKER_02 (12:00):
No, I don't.
The closest I have is thislittle guy who's a papillon
chihuahua, and um, well, Bella,she's still not up for adoption
yet, but um, I'm sorry, I'll beon the lookout for Pomeranians
for you.

SPEAKER_01 (12:15):
You're good, you're good.
Well, thank you for sharing yourfurry friends with us.
Now, Cecilia, I reallyappreciate you being on the
show.
We wish you and your businessthe best moving forward.

SPEAKER_02 (12:25):
Thank you so much for having me.
We really appreciate your timeand your patience with us.
You guys have a great, greatday.

SPEAKER_00 (12:32):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on the
show, go to gnpfrisco.com.
That's gnpfrisco.com or call 469221 9345.