About Us

The CoolWag Story

CoolWag was started in Bentonville in 2015 by Eric and Heather Wegner of Bentonville. Benny, their son had a baseball tournament in central Arkansas and all reservations were made for dog-friendly lodging; but there was an unexpected shift in venues and now they needed to find dog-friendly lodging at the new venue–but they were all full! After checking out the dog boarding facilities available in town, they realized that none of them had a model that fit their dog’s needs… so they took her with and camped at a dog-friendly campground. That’s when the idea was born….”let’s open up a really COOL facility that has enough outdoor space for a dog to run and have some fun”. The idea turned into reality when a 4-acre property became available on J Street. Fast forward to today moved to a 5-acre property on Prairie Lane, just ½ mile from WalMart’s new Campus and adjacent to Alice Walton’s new hospital where NWArkansas’ dogs and their humans are welcome. Your dog belongs here!  CoolWag also hosts cats and other small animals! 

From those early days CoolWag has grown and has added dog sports including a NADD Competition dog dock diving pool, competition agility equipment and FastCAT as well as other fun dog sports equipment. Joining the CoolWag family is Crystal sPAWs grooming and All Paws Training dog training. Nellie’s Jellies Cafe is on the Prairie LN campus and includes delicious and healthy food options (seed-oil free, no enriched flours, limited natural sugars), espresso coffee drinks, and a cocktail bar. Fostering friendships and connections among NorthWest Arkansas’ dog-loving community is our goal, all while loving and caring for their pets! 

The team has grown but the Wegners are still working alongside their amazing team. The facility is awesome and supports dog’s health, safety and happiness but the team is even more important. Having well-trained caring and kind people who play with and guide the dogs in a safe and fun manner is most important. Heather is a certified trainer with PetTech and All staff is trained on Dog First Aid and CPR. Industry standard training software is used in conjunction with CoolWag’s Certified dog Handler skills-based assessments. Your dog belongs here and will be treated with nothing but love and care. That’s a CoolWag guarantee!