Mentone Minis

Tucked along a quiet stretch of County Road 642 on Lookout Mountain, Mentone Minis is a small dog daycare and boarding operation run out of the DeKalb County town it takes its name from. In a place where most services still travel by word of mouth, Mentone Minis has built its reputation the old fashioned way, one satisfied small dog and one relieved traveling owner at a time.

The business is owned and operated by Rita Chapman, who spent 25 years working in the Fort Payne school system before retiring and turning her attention full time to a lifelong love of dogs. Her husband Whitney helps out, and the operation has the feel of a family project rather than a commercial kennel. Mentone Minis works exclusively with small dogs, generally those weighing 25 pounds or less, which keeps the play groups calm and size mismatches out of the picture.

Two services anchor the business. The first is daytime play care for dogs whose owners are off exploring Little River Canyon, running errands in Fort Payne, or simply working a full day and do not want to leave a small dog home alone. The second is overnight boarding, described on the website as sleepovers, for owners heading out of town for a weekend at DeSoto State Park or further afield. Both options let visiting dogs mix with Rita’s own pack of Miniature Schnauzers, including her dogs Jay, Charlotte, and Maggie, who effectively serve as house greeters and playmates.

Beyond daycare and boarding, Mentone Minis also operates as a hobby breeder of AKC registered Miniature Schnauzers. It is a small side of the business, consistent with the overall scale of the operation, and it reflects the same attention that goes into the daycare side. Litters are limited, and puppies come from dogs that live in the home rather than a commercial breeding facility, which is part of what draws interest from well outside Mentone’s small year round population.

Hours run Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., and weekends from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., which is generous for a town this size and useful for cabin renters and second home owners who arrive or depart on unpredictable schedules. Booking is handled directly with Rita, and the website notes a preference for text messages over phone calls, a small detail that says something about how the business actually runs day to day, personally, and on the owner’s own terms.

For Mentone visitors staying in one of the area’s many cabins, a business like this fills a real gap. Not every rental welcomes pets, and even the ones that do are not always practical for a full day of hiking at Little River Canyon National Preserve or a visit to DeSoto Falls. Having a small, locally run daycare option nearby means a dog does not have to sit in an unfamiliar cabin all day, and it means visitors are supporting an actual Mentone household rather than a regional chain.

The photos on the Mentone Minis website tell the story of the place about as well as any description could. There are shots of dogs mid play, dogs curled up for naps, and plenty of images of Rita herself surrounded by her own pack. Nothing about the site looks staged or corporate, and that seems to be exactly the point. It is a genuinely small operation, sized to match both the dogs it cares for and the town it calls home.

Anyone planning a mountain getaway with a small dog in tow would do well to reach out ahead of time, since a one person operation like this can fill up on busy weekends. But for a town of under 500 year round residents, having a dedicated small dog daycare and boarding option at all is a genuine convenience, and one clearly run with real care.