About Us
About Fido Fitness Club®
FITNESS, SOCIALIZATION, DAYCARE & TRAINING
The Fido Fitness Club® is more than just an indoor dog park for Day Care, it’s a full-service provider for dog owners and their furry friends. We offer a variety of services that are designed to help your dog stay healthy and happy, including grooming, boarding, nutrition counseling, and obedience training.
Our goal is to provide a safe and fun environment for dogs of all ages, breeds, and sizes. Whether your dog is a couch potato or a high-energy athlete, we have something for everyone.
Fido Fitness Club® is proud to be the only daycare center with a huge indoor park on Long Island. Our facility is clean, safe, and climate controlled, so your dog can play and exercise year-round. Dogs are grouped by size and temperament, so they are comfortable playing with other dogs in our facility.
Meet Our Team
Ellen and Evelyn
Owner / Operators and friends for life
Ellen Adler opened The Barrie Inn, a dog grooming and overnight cage-less boarding facility, in 2002. The Barrie Inn started out in her home and eventually grew to the present 8000 square foot business location in Woodmere, Long Island. The Barrie Inn continues to serve the local community with a variety of dog-care services, organic dog food products, and retail items and partners with Fido Fitness Club®.
After learning of the availability of additional 4000 sq feet of open space adjacent to The Barrie Inn, the idea of an Indoor Dog Park/ Daycare Center emerged where dogs can safely run and play off-leash, meeting their need for exercise and socialization. Ellen and best friend, Evelyn Franklin, entered into a partnership and established Fido Fitness Club®, providing a neighborhood-based solution to help address the challenges of working dog owners whose dogs are left alone all day, with no place to run off-leash when they get home. With the launch of Fido Fitness Club®, a solution for daycare and exercise was introduced. Ellen and Evelyn, both dog owners themselves, are NYS certified dog trainers and decided to expand further to include the Dog Training Center offers several programs to meet client needs.
David
Manager & Certified Dog Trainer
David is our Master Trainer who runs our Dog Training program and has trained dozens of our clients’ dogs ranging from puppies to adults, private one on one training, daycare-n-train and board-n-train. He is the proud human for Buddy, Izzy, Shea and Sammy. David’s passion for dogs began at a young age and has only grown since then. While attending grooming school, he found his true calling in dog training. He has been perfecting his craft ever since, and we are lucky to have him on our team.
Desiree
Manager & Trainer
Desiree joined us in 2018 coming from her own dog-sitting business. She is a trained nurse and has become one of our key employees. Desiree supervises our staff, assists in training our dogs, and is an excellent dog handler. In her spare time, she paints and draws. Desiree also has a lovely dog named Apples who tags along most days. We are grateful to have Desiree on our team. Her experience and skills are an asset to us. We know that she will continue to be a valuable employee in the years to come.
Chase
Assistant Manager
Chase joined us in July 2021 as a dog park attendant. He finished college and got his own German Shorthaired Pointer. As Milo grew and his need for daily exercise was clear, Chase approached us for our Daycare services. After seeing our facility as a client, Chase decided he was more interested in caring for animals than focusing on a corporate career. He worked really hard, and quickly progressed to Assistant Manager after demonstrating his great dog handling, leadership, organization, and customer service skills. All the dogs and owners love Chase.
Maria
Lead Groomer
Maria has been an integral part of our grooming team since 2004. She is extremely talented and has a great way with the dogs. Her passion for animals is evident in the care she takes in each and every grooming session. The dogs always look and feel their best after a visit with Maria. In addition to her grooming skills, Maria is also a great team player. She is always willing to lend a helping hand, and her positive attitude is contagious. We are very lucky to have her on our team!
Claire
Dog Walker and Photographer
Claire joined us in 2018. She was looking for a part time job and started walking dogs, particularly the dogs boarding with us. She helps mornings and evenings, not only walking them before and after meals, but also helps feeding and bedding down the pups after a long day playing in the dog park. Claire can be seen many mornings at 6 am walking them, rain or shine. Claire has received recognition for her stunning wildlife photos. As Claire further developed her photography hobby, she started taking photos of our client dogs. And of course, our clients love to see her action and still photos of their dogs on our social media.
Other Staff
additional Members
We are happy to say we have a strong team of full-time and part-time dog handlers. Supporting the local community by employing high school and college students seeking employment during their school breaks is a priority of ours. We also partner with schools and vocational organizations that provide employment and work skills to individuals with special needs and abilities. It’s really important that are able to give back and we are proud to serve that community.