Our story starts with Darby, a former racing greyhound up for adoption at the 1998 Anderson County fair. Dan (today the owner of Pupstate Pet Resort but at the time was a Product Manager with a power tool company) connected with Darby right away, and in just a few days the adoption process was complete, and Darby was his.

He set out in the car with a map showing every place in the area that advertised dog boarding. He must have visited 10 places, traveling farther and farther away from his home, getting disappointment after disappointment. Places he visited were dark, dirty and smelly, with questionable staff. Finally, he walked into a place in Piedmont called “Man’s Best Friend” and met Tom Hill who built and started the resort in 1996. It was clean, well lit, friendly, and staffed by people who you could tell really cared about dogs. Dan finally had his “this is the place for my dog” moment. He’s been happily taking his dogs there to board ever since.

Fast Forward to 2023. Man’s Best Friend had been renamed My Pets Best Friend and is still owned by Tom, and Dan is a customer boarding his current rescue dog Dexter there. Tom is looking to retire, and Dan is looking for a new challenge after a long corporate career. It was a perfect match.

So, with 25 years’ worth of experience as a customer of the resort, Dan set out as its new owner to lead it into its next chapter as Pupstate Pet Resort, the best boarding and grooming facility possible, right here in the upstate.