After almost thirty years away, Janet Prince-Sidor has proudly returned home. She was raised on Iroquois Drive in Ballantrae. “We were one of the first residents on the street,” Janet recalls. Janet’s roots run deep in Ballantrae. She attended Ballantrae Public School and Stouffville High School. Her first job at age fourteen was at the Ballantrae Fruit Market. “Sandy and George were very customer service oriented. I’ve always given them credit for my business sense today,” she said. She thoroughly enjoyed servicing the Ballantrae community for many years and getting to know all of the families.
For the last few decades, Janet lived in Newmarket and during that time, while home on a maternity leave from a corporate job in 2005, Janet had an idea to start a dog walking business to supplement her income and she and a friend launched a small walking service for exercise and something to do. They named it Mas & Paws since two Mom’s were walking dogs and the business name reflected that well. Unfortunately, they returned to work, but Janet remembered the event with much fondness. Janet left her corporate opportunities in 2015 and resumed her passion for dogs and relaunched a successful dog walking business in Aurora and Newmarket for several years.
In the summer of 2019, when a property called Rosewood Pet Resort near Ballantrae became available, remarkably zoned for a kennel, a rare and hard-to-come-by designation, she jumped on it. This property had been in operation for well over thirty or more years with several owners, including Rosewood Pet Resort and Happy Tails. They operated mainly as a “traditional kennel”, with few outdoor amenities and catered primarily to boarding and training. Janet’s mission was to transform it from a “kennel” to a “Resort”. Shortly after Janet took over ownership, Covid-19 came into the mix and people stopped travelling, and the need for boarding dogs became zero. Janet did not see Covid-19 as an obstacle in her path, and promptly changed their business model to doggy daycare. Her perseverance has paid off and hopes it will expand further in the future.
Janet says with a big smile “We are not a kennel, we are a Resort…there’s a big difference! We are crate free and proud of that.” Each dog has access to interior suites for rest and eating times and each suite has their own water and food bowls, dog beds and blankets in an immaculate, spotless environment.
“I took ownership of this beautiful property and Resort just before winter of 2019,” recounts Janet, “I had a vision for the out-doors to be expanded into a fully fenced two-acre dog park on the ten-acre property and arranged for installers to start it immediately upon possession.” Janet had her dream dog park installed and fenced fully from their Resort before the winter weather was in effect. In addition to the dog park, there are four large backyards to use as well as outdoor runs for the dog suites to enjoy during their rest/sleep times.
Mas & Paws is truly a family endeavor and their home is attached to the Resort. Janet’s husband, Jack and youngest of two children, Rachel contributes daily. Their employees are Leslie (Manager), Sam (Pet Care Specialist) and Sandra (certified Groomer) and altogether they make it a daily team effort to exceed the expectations of their clients. Their eldest daughter, Megan is currently away at University and comes home and helps when she can.
Janet says that excellent customer service and customer trust is critical. “It is truly an honour to be trusted to care for our client’s dog(s)” said Janet. “Dog owners are just as important as the dogs. We communicate, send them regular photos, and our dog guests are always supervised 24/7.” For more information and some enjoyable video clips, see masandpawspetresort.com.
