About Us

Over three years ago I thought, how hard would it be in running boarding kennels...

Many people had said to me “you must be out of your mind” or “you must have the best job, playing with puppies everyday”! I’m Lisa Mair and with the help of my rescue dogs Joe and Tess, you will find us here at the Ripponvale Pet Retreat. I am a little out of my mind… and I do get to play with puppies everyday!

We are a small boutique boarding facility in beautiful Cromwell Central Otago that puts the fun and excitement into your pets’ stay. We love with a passion what we do and know each dog by name and personality.  Nothing makes us smile more than seeing our guests brimming with anticipation to get out of your car when you pull up ready to start their holiday!

Any given day we have big ones, old ones, young ones and even out of control ones (in a nice way!) and just downright needy ones in every corner of our kennels and we love it!

Pets are such a huge part of our lives, they are our babies, best friends, soul mates and you only want the best for them…we get that, and we’ve got that covered!  

We are 100% behind the products listed here. They have been tried and tested by some very demanding four-legged customers and have come through with flying colours. From the robust Ultrahund freedom harnesses that make our morning walks a breeze with those dogs that pull on their leads to compostable poo bags. Well done Little Green Dog for providing a fully biodegradable, certified 100% compostable, plant-based poo bag.
We think of ourselves as one big family here at Ripponvale Pet Retreat and loved the idea of bringing the Ultrahund product to life in New Zealand with “real as" photos from the dogs at the kennels.

We had big smiles, wagging tails and a lot of fun creating our collection of photos and not to mention bags of treats! Just quietly I think they all had a blast and were not shy of putting their best paw first to make sure they got the best shot! A big thanks to Rohan (husky), Rafe (ridgeback), Harry (collie x), Gubby (retriever), Zeus (mastiff x), Cooper (lakeland), Bruce (hairy mcleary), Luca (staffy x), Daisy (spoodle), Trixie (jack russell) for being total professionals to work with.