Recession couple turn to man's best friend

May 18 2009 by Karen Dent, The Journal

THE owners of a double glazing businesses have turned to their love of dogs to help them beat the recession.

Keith and Lynn Glendenning, who have run Quality Window Systems since 1992, have opened a dog activity centre in the factory where they used to make windows.

The Dog House in Seaham is the only facility of its kind in the area and has pulled in punters from a wide cross section of dog owners since it opened for business last December. Mr Glendenning said: “We have a huge factory and in the downturn in the double glazing business and the recession, we decided to rent it out and get some revenue in.

“It stood idle for six months and we were coming back from dog training, absolutely soaking wet, and then I said, ‘I’ve got an idea’. We sat up until silly o’clock in the morning discussing it. The two run alongside each other quite well at the moment .”

The couple, who have five German shepherds, had trained their dogs on a farm but there were no local dedicated indoor premises for dog clubs and individuals. “Our club had nowhere to go,” he said. “There isn’t one like this, it’s pretty close to the A19.

“We thought, let’s put in the right stuff, but we didn’t have a lump of money to throw at it.

“In order to create a wow factor, we did a costing – to put in toilets, kitchen and the agility facilities. We thought we would do it properly.”