Sue Williams was playing fetch with her dogs one evening when she had a thought that would change the course of her retirement plans.  

“I thought if I could find a way to do this for the rest of my life, wouldn't that be wonderful? And then the light bulb went off, and I said, ‘Why can't I?’” Williams said.  

Williams began her journey to open Cozy Care Kennels, a pet boarding business located south of Columbia Falls, not far from Deer Park School, where she spends her time playing and caring for pets who stay there.  

She had the goal of treating every pet like her own, so dogs and cats get their own buildings for boarding, spend plenty of time playing and enjoy spacious rooms with no cages in sight.  

Each pet or group of pets gets 30 minutes of playtime every three hours, ensuring they are not just sitting in their kennel all day.  

“I just started thinking about what kind of place I would like my dogs to be and it kind of morphed into these little hotel rooms,” Williams said. “I did some research, and if you look at boarding facilities in big cities this is not uncommon. I call it a dog hotel, and I don't know if that's proper, but that's what it feels like.” 

Williams worked as a veterinary technician for 33 years, many of which were spent in clinics around the Flathead Valley. She was first hired by Dr. Walter Rowntree and Dr. Bill Robinson when they were just about to open another veterinary clinic off U.S. 2 near Evergreen. She worked at Central Valley Animal Hospital until 2010 and then made the transition to work at Flathead Pet Emergency until her retirement.  

She said this experience allows her to care for pets who have special health needs. 

“The knowledge I've gained about animals over the past decades has certainly come in handy ... I think having that extra perspective and being able to look for potential things that might be happening [health-wise],” Williams said.  

Her background as a veterinary technician also informed how her boarding facility was built. She spent a year-and-a-half looking for a property that would be suitable for her residence and boarding buildings, then spent another year-and-a-half constructing the kennels.  

The dog’s boarding building features individual rooms, ranging in size between 5 by 7 feet and 7 by 9 feet. They were clean and not overcrowded — as Williams doesn’t allow pets from different households to mix. In general, she prefers not to keep her kennels completely full.  

“I try not to be full, because I like to be able to spend more time with each pair of dogs or each dog. I do not allow dogs from different households to play together, so each of their times out of their room is just individual play time,” she said.  

There’s also a grooming-size bathtub, just in case a pet stays with her long enough to warrant a bath, she said.  

The cat’s building has a cat kennel situated in a living room, just past Williams’ personal office. The kennel is modular, with doors connecting each compartment to make what is essentially a large, enclosed cat tree. But so far, Williams has only ever had cats from one household stay with her at a time, so they get the run of the living room area.  

In addition to plenty of inside toys and cat trees, there is a patio connected to the cat room that provides an excellent viewing area for the nearby bird baths.  

“A lot of my cat boarding people are not traveling but doing things at their house like construction or moving,” Williams said. “So, they will board them just to get them out of that stressful situation for a few days. People are afraid they'll climb into the moving van or that they'll get into the construction.” 

Williams soft-launched her boarding business in May of 2025 and has found success, particularly with travelers heading into Glacier National Park. She offers 12- and 24-hour rates for dogs and cats. Dogs cost $90 for a 24-hour board and $45 for a day board, while cats cost $45 for a 24-hour board and $20 for a day board.  

It’s hard not to get attached to the pets who are visiting, she said.  

“We sent one kid like that home last night, and I was like, ‘I'm never going to see you again, probably.’ So, I gave him a big hug,” she said. 

Thankfully, she still receives updates and photos from previous boarders. And while visitors make up a good portion of her summertime business, she has a lot of locals who have become regulars, too.  

ONE CHALLENGE for Williams has been some of the aspects of running a business, like dealing with paperwork and incorporating new technology. She sought advice from the Small Business Development Center at the Flathead Valley Community College, where Director Robert Driscoll helped guide her through the process of setting up her new business venture.  

Although she is a little more well-versed with a computer than she used to be, she still tries to spend most of her time hanging out with the pets in her care.  

“I just have always been drawn to animals and just wanted to spend my life helping them,” Williams said. 

For more information about Cozy Care Kennels, visit cozycarekennel.com or call 406-607-5294.  

Reporter Taylor Inman can be reached at 406-758-4440 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support.