Southport bar owner creates a kids-style soft play centre … for dogs!

A Southport bar owner has created a kids-style soft play centre for dogs!

Karl Diamond, who owns Retro Bar in Southport and No 6 wine bar in Formby, is a massive dog lover. But when his own black Labrador Hugo became reactive to other dogs on a lead, it meant walks could be a problem.

The answer was somewhere the three-year-old lab could run around and have fun stress-free – so Karl decided to make Soft Paws.

He explains: “Walking him could be stressful but at the same time obviously we want him exercised. My partner Ebony found a dog play centre in the Wirral and took him there but it was really hard to get a booking so she said, why don’t you just set one up?

“It’s a long way from what I normally do, but I love dogs and I love setting businesses up, getting them going and putting people in charge of them and this is bringing something different to the area.

“I know the owner of units on Old Hall Farm Business Park and he had one free so I took that, then I looked for a kids’ play centre and found one that was shutting down. I bought their equipment, brought it here and adapted it for dogs.”

Set over two levels, Soft Paws has all the usual soft play features including a ball pit, slides, obstacles and tunnels, now made suitable for furry friends.

“We’ve put an anti-slip surface on the slide which lets them grip it so it’s more like a ramp that they can run up and down,” he says. “We have hanging obstacles, balls, tunnels for them to run through and in the centre we have lots of soft play building blocks that they can pick up and throw about.

“We don’t have any inflatables at the moment, but commercial bouncy castles are fine for dogs to go on – I know because I’ve got one in my garden for my dog – so that’s something I’ll be looking at putting in in the future.”

Soft Paws only opened at the beginning of December last year but Karl says they’ve already had a great response from owners, especially as it saved them having to go out in the icy weather.

“Lots of people are in the same position as us where it can be hard to walk your dog, and with Soft Paws you’re indoors, dry and warm rather than in a muddy field so you’re not having to take them to the groomers afterwards.

“There’s a seating area for people bringing their dogs, but unlike a children’s soft play centre the adults are welcome to go in and play with their dogs and we try to encourage that because it helps build a rapport between them.

“Dogs burn off so much energy in there, on Facebook people put pictures up of their visit and from when they’ve got home and the dogs are just flat out exhausted!”

Soft Paws is private hire, so owners and dogs have it all to themselves, and Karl says they welcome all breeds including XL Bullies.

“They have to wear a muzzle coming in to the centre but as soon as they’re in they can take the muzzle off and just play like any dog should be able to,” he adds.

As the business is in its early stages, they’re still looking for new ideas to add but not surprisingly, one of the most popular features is the classic ball pit.

“Yes, the dogs chew the balls up but that’s expected, I don’t mind that, and I’ve got plenty to replace them with.

“I’ve also found a good way of cleaning them because I bought a commercial washing machine so I can throw them in, put them on a cool wash and it doesn’t melt or damage them. It’s a lot quicker than spraying each one by hand too.”