A Family Business, Not a Social Media Phenomenon
We founded PatiLee with one goal: to give Istanbul's pet owners a single, dependable answer to a scattered, uneven market, instead of another place to guess whether they can trust.
Founded in Zekeriyakoy in 2019
PatiLee opened its doors in Zekeriyakoy in 2019. At the time, dog training, boarding and grooming in Istanbul were spread across separate businesses, and owners had to rebuild trust from scratch every time a new need came up. We set out to change that by bringing training, boarding, grooming and pet transfer under one roof, with one team and one standard.
Since our founding, we have prioritized doing things right over doing them at scale. Growing our guest count was never the goal. We grew only as far as we could keep giving every animal our full time and attention, and stopped where we could not. That makes PatiLee a family business whose day-to-day operations are still run by its founders, not a franchise or a fast-scaling chain.
We Answer to Our Conscience First, Not Just to Families
Families pay for our services, but our real obligation is to the animals first, and to our own conscience second. That shows up in concrete ways. We do not negotiate on price, because our pricing is not arbitrary, it reflects the real cost of the service we provide. In the same spirit, we do not accept aggressive, highly anxious or unwell animals as guests. That decision is made for the animal's own comfort and for the safety of our other guests, never out of concern for profit.
We back this seriousness up on paper. We sign a notarized service contract with every family, one that spells out the scope of the service, the process, and each side's responsibilities. We do not work on verbal agreements or informal "trust me" arrangements, because there should be no ambiguity where an animal has been entrusted to someone's care.
The Name Behind Our Training Programs: Irsat Uner
Our dog training programs are designed by E.Asb. Irsat Uner, a trainer with a military background. His disciplined, systematic approach is combined with positive-reinforcement training methods, and every program is built from scratch around the dog's age, temperament and the family's needs. We do not run a fixed curriculum. Every dog starts from a different point, and the length of the program follows from that.
We Want to Grow, on Our Own Terms
We do want to grow the PatiLee name, but by reaching more families while holding our standards steady, not by simply increasing guest numbers. Cageless boarding, camera-monitored suites and a weekly (not daily) update policy are core principles that will not change as we grow. To us, being premium means standing behind every decision we make, not putting on a show.
We still start from the same questions today: what is right for this animal, and what is right for this family? When the answer is not clear, we choose not to offer the service rather than guess. Every family that comes to our Zekeriyakoy facility becomes part of that approach.
Beyond Borders: Our U.S. Campus and ICONK9
PatiLee's story began in Zekeriyakoy; today it is growing in the United States as a complete pet care ecosystem that brings a dog's entire life cycle under one roof.
One Philosophy, Two Specialized Brands
ICONK9 (Intercontinental K9) is the professional canine development system: purposeful breeding, temperament evaluation, training, placement with the right family, and working-dog programs (police, protection, search and rescue). PatiLee handles everyday care, boarding, daycare, the water park and lifelong family support.
Together, the two brands stand beside a dog at every stage of life under a philosophy we call "Dog Life Cycle Management." The group is led by our founder and head trainer Irsat Uner (Founder & CEO) and Aysegul Uner (Managing Partner).
U.S. Headquarters: 555 S. Magnum Street, Durham, NC 27701 · iconk9.com · irsatuner.com