Linda Kush is retiring from the dog boarding business, but you can’t keep a good dog down — Kush plans to keep training and performing with pups for years to come.
“It’s a great business and I love the dogs, and some of them I’ve watched watch them grow up since they were puppies. And I’m not going to say I won’t miss it, but it’s time,” she said.
She is phasing out her appointments and will close completely at the end of July.
Sit and Stay boarding was one of the only boarding facilities in the Poplar Bluff area when Kush opened it in 2010. This was her second career. She had worked as a hairdresser for 38 years but was ready for change and identified a need in the community.
“I started off with one building, I had 10 kennels in it, so I could watch 10 dogs. I started off small because I’m out in the country, (I thought) people wouldn’t be willing to drive,” she recalled.
To her surprise, they absolutely were. Her facility included a massive, fenced enclosure and she provided dedicated care, which made for happy dogs and happy people. Word of mouth grew her business with zero advertising. She expanded twice, converted her former horse barn into more kennels and at her busiest hosted 58 dogs.
“I just wanted to make a fun, clean, safe place for dogs,” Kush said.
People’s dogs are their family, she noted. They are also hers: friends and followers on social media all know Riley, Réka and Roxie, also known as Linda’s Performing Pups.
“My dogs participate in fundraisers, and different things like that,” Kush said, as well as visits to nursing homes and hospitals where they dress up, do tricks and provide animal therapy. “I would like to have more time to do that kind of thing because people really enjoy that. And my dogs have brought a lot of smiles to a lot of people.”
Kush began dog training in 2007. At Sit and Stay she combined those skills with boarding to create canine training camps.
“When I got the kennels and I could do boarding and training where they would leave their dog with me for a week for training or classes... It’s fun. It just takes a lot of work, too,” she said.
She also noted Riley, Réka and Roxie’s presences are helpful in training because canines learn from each other.
Kush has begun volunteering with the Animal Welfare Alliance of Southeast Missouri to train shelter dogs and give them the best possible shot at a home. She recently took in four blue heeler puppies and a terrier mix. These breeds tend to be high-energy and intelligent — a combination potentially leading to problem behaviors down the line. Teaching puppies while they are young is the best way to ensure they and their future families live together happily.
“I wanted to give them a good chance a good start in life,” she said. “...They all got adopted. They all got the basic training and some of the heelers got a little intermediate training, so they’ve all done really well.
“I want to do some more of that, I want some time freed up where I can do more of that we’re not tied down seven days a week,” Kush explained.
Linda’s Performing Pups can be found on Instagram by searching @roxie_riley and on Kush’s Facebook page.