Nicole Harris

By David Buice

Nicole Harris, an avid animal lover, fulfilled a long-held dream when she founded Bliss Pet Resort & Spa in 2013. Success soon followed. In 2020, Living Magazine readers voted it the Best Boarding and Day Care in Prosper, and she’ll soon have a second location in The Colony.

Nicole’s business journey began after she graduated from SMU’s Cox School of Business with a Marketing degree. At heart, she’d always harbored an entrepreneurial spirit and wanted her own business. After much research, she started a pet sitting and dog walking service in Little Elm in 2009, Personable Pet Care, that she still operates over a decade later.

That was just the beginning for Nicole. Inspired by a pet sitting college friend from Charleston who had established a pet boarding business, Nicole dove into researching the industry by attending national conferences to learn as much as she could. After gaining vast knowledge, she found a building in Prosper with a large yard for the dogs to run and play.

Bliss Pet Resort & Spa was then born in 2013, offering a full range of pet services, including daycare, boarding (for both dogs and cats), grooming, training, pet sitting, and dog walking.

After purchasing the building two years in, Nicole added luxury amenities, including a bone-shaped swimming pool, lush artificial turf, and sound-proof fencing. Her pet resort also has private in-suite viewing cameras as well as play area cameras for pet owners to feel peace of mind.

Second Location Coming Soon

Following her success in Prosper, Nicole will open a second Bliss Pet Resort & Spa in The Colony’s Castle Hills area in June 2021. Located at Main and Windhaven, near Highway 121, this will also be a state-of-the-art pet facility. As in Prosper, The Colony location will have a bone-shaped swimming pool, artificial turf, multiple indoor doggie playrooms, outdoor dog runs, and cameras giving customers a view of their pets.

Pet Care with a Difference

While there’re many pet boarding facilities in North Texas, several things set Bliss Pet Resort & Spa apart from the others.

Extensive employee training – All of Nicole’s employees must undergo a rigorous training regimen involving 20 training videos, each followed by a test they must pass, as well as annual CPR and first aid training for pets.

Temperament evaluation – Every new dog that comes to Bliss Pet Resort undergoes a temperament evaluation and placement test to determine what environment best suits them. Like humans, some dogs are more social than others, while others need more specialized attention and care.

Age sensitivity – Unlike some facilities where all dogs are mixed together, at Bliss there’s a degree of separation with special care for puppies, for dogs in their prime years, and for senior dogs.

No breed discrimination – All breeds of dogs are welcomed at Bliss.

Customer Smiles

Having recently turned 40, Nicole feels a justifiable sense of pride in what she’s accomplished in just a few years. “I didn’t come from wealth, and what I’ve accomplished, I’ve done on my own.” And she adds, “I love having happy customers, and from the great feedback we’ve received, I know the hard work my employees and I have done has really paid off.”