It’s a Dog’s Life at Bel-Kon Kennels

Dogs have always been part of Jay Querrey’s life.

They are now also part of his work as owner of Bel-Kon Kennels in Darien.

Bel-Kon Kennels was first established in 1948 by John and Maybelle Konrad. Querrey’s father bought the business from the Konrads around 1981. As a teenager, Querrey spent much time helping with the operation.

But he didn’t expect to make it his business.

Querry graduated from Western Illinois University with a degree in law enforcement. But an internship with the Carol Stream Police Department convinced him it wasn’t quite what he wanted.

“I always came back here between jobs,” he said. “I was working here, and (Dad) was spending more time down in Florida. So we worked it out where I could take over.”

The first thing Querrey did was to tear down the old kennel and build a new one, bringing everything up to code.

Dogs are now kept in 20’ runs, not little cages. They have room to move both indoors and out.

“We’re sitting on a couple acres, all fenced in,” said Querrey. “People love that we have a big yard, and we can get them out and run them around. On (bad weather) days like this, we’ve got a big indoor area where we can run them around, get them out of their runs.”

The 121 runs are temperature controlled and well ventilated. They are pressure washed with soap several times throughout the day.

Querrey and his staff pay close attention to each dog’s well-being. They also take pictures and post them on Facebook so the owners can see how their dogs are doing.

Bel-Kon Kennels works with Burr Ridge Veterinary Clinic, just north on Cass Avenue, and with the dogs’ own vets.

“If there is an issue with a dog, we’ll first try to get them into their own vet,” Querrey explained. “We’ve dealt with all the different vets around here, so they all know us.”

Querrey has six employees, two of whom live in an apartment on the premises, so someone’s always there.

“I’ve got a good group,” he said. “They love the dogs, and the customers can sense that. The customers love (the employees).”

One employee, Maricatherine, is a groomer with more than 30 years of experience working with all breeds.

“She specializes in the more hard-to-handle types,” Querrey said. “We’ll get people calling saying, ‘This groomer doesn’t want to take this dog because he’s kind of aggressive.’ Maricatherine, for whatever reason, can calm them down.”

Querrey also has two trainers on staff. He noted that training the owners to be consistent is the key to successfully training their dogs.

People sometimes turn to Bel-Kon Kennels when they can no longer keep their dogs.

“Not too long ago, a guy had five pit bulls, all good dogs. But he was living in Bolingbrook, and you can’t have more than three dogs in a household (there),” Querrey said. “So he brought a couple of them here.”

One of Querrey’s employees knew of a pit bull rescue group in Indiana. She called and drove the dogs there.

Rescue groups are no stranger to Bel-Kon.

“We deal with a lot of rescue groups who, if they can’t find a foster home for a dog they’ve picked up, will bring him here until they do,” Querrey said. “We deal with the Akita rescues and the Eskimo rescues, Labradors, Dobermans… They love these dogs and will do anything to get them good homes.”

Bel-Kon helps these rescue dogs prepare for their new homes.

“We use the (apartment) upstairs when we’re getting a rescue dog ready to move into a house," he explained. "We’ll get him out of the kennel and have him stay upstairs for awhile to get acclimated to the home kind of life.”

Bel-Kon Kennels has also worked with the Darien Police Department and a security agency in selecting and housing their dogs.

Bel-Kon is certified by both the American Boarding Kennel Association (ABKA) and the State of Illinois.

”We’re just true-blue dog lovers,” Querrey said with a smile.

Their customers agree. As one said, “Our dog gets more excited coming up (Bel-Kon's) driveway than going home.”

Bel-Kon Kennels is located at 1100 N. Frontage Road in Darien. For more information, call 630-968-2409, send email to BelKonKennels@yahoo.com or go to www.belkonkennels.com.