Pet Boarding and Daycare May June 2020

VOL 10 • ED 3

MAY / JUNE 2020

WWW.PETBOARDINGANDDAYCARE.COM

IS CRATE-FREE BOARDING RIGHT FOR YOUR

BUSINESS?

Profile of Success

DogBoy's

Dog Ranch IT’S TIME

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TO START REBUILDING

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Our industry has faced tremendous challenges from COVID-19.

Our hearts go out to all affected by the crisis.

Despite the unprecedented obstacles we will undoubtedly face, we are here to help as we have for more than 90 years.

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STAFF PUBLISHER Barkleigh Productions, Inc.

and daycare magazine

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Rebecca Shipman ART DIRECTOR Laura Pennington SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER Jenn Barraclough

M AY / J U N E 2 0 2 0

CONTENTS

JUNIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER Jenny Thomas

DogBoy's Dog Ranch

WEB MASTER Luke Dumberth

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PRESIDENT Todd Shelly VICE PRESIDENT Gwen Shelly CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER Adam Lohr DIRECTOR OF MARKETING & CLIENT RELATIONS James Severs

IS CRATE-FREE BOARDING

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RIGHT FOR YOUR

BUSINESS?

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SOCIAL MEDIA / PR Evan Gummo CONTACT

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Animal Behavior 4 Behavior Modification Vs

Obedience Training and How

to Teach Them in a Boarding Environment

Business

Copyright May 2020. Pet Boarding & Daycare is published bimonthly by Barkleigh Productions, Inc, 970 West Trindle Road, Mechanicsburg PA 17055. Postmaster: Send change of address to Pet Boarding & Daycare c/o Barkleigh Productions, Inc., 970 West Trindle Road, Mechanicsburg PA 17055. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission of the publisher. Editorial offices: 970 West Trindle Road, Mechanicsburg PA 17055. (717) 691–3388 FAX (717) 691–3381 Email: info@barkleigh.com

12 Party Time! Events for Business Promotion 18 Always Be Thinking LTV

(Lifetime Value) of the Customer

IT’S TI TIME

TO START

REBUILDING 8 Facility 38

The Value of Written Systems and Operations

Industry News 48

52 52

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Creating a Stress-Free Ambience in Your Feline Boarding Area

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3

ANIMAL BEHAVIOR

BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION VS

OBEDIENCE TRAINING And How to Teach Them in a Boarding Environment

By Steven Appelbaum

4

PET BOARDING & DAYCARE

I

f you are considering teaching dog training in your boarding or daycare facility, let’s talk about managing client expectations.

Most dog owners tend to lump obedience and problem solving into a single category they call “training.”

They want a dog that doesn’t jump on people, chew the furniture, pee on the floor and run out the gate; but also one who comes when called, walks comfortably on a leash, sits when asked, etc. While all of these requests are reasonable, they fall into two separate categories: obedience and problem solving.

Obedience Obedience commands (A.K.A. “cues”) include walking properly on a leash, sitting, staying, laying down and coming when called. Dogs that consistently listen to all of these cues on a six-foot leash, regardless of distractions, can be taken out safely and comfortably in public. This is the first level of what I call “functional obedience.”

The next level of obedience is to have control of the dog off leash, regardless of distractions. Most owners never really attain full functionality here because it can take a great deal of work and time to achieve consistent off-leash control around a myriad of distractions. Additionally, safety in specific environments and leash laws must be taken into consideration when training dogs to listen off leash.

Regardless, owners want/need some obedience control of their dogs.

Obedience cues can be taught in a boarding environment. The challenge isn’t getting a dog to learn cues, but teaching that dog to listen to those cues when their owners give them.

This is an important distinction and

one that must be made crystal clear

can teach and what you have to teach

to any owner taking a board and train

them to teach.

program from you.

Problem Solving

What’s more, and I know this might sound negative and perhaps as though I am belaboring this point, but put that

“Problem” behaviors include

in writing and get the owner to sign it

perfectly normal but unacceptable

prior to starting any training program.

canine behaviors like chewing, digging, jumping, barking excessively and house soiling. They also consist of more difficult challenges such

Training In The Boarding Environment

Generally, board and train pro-

as phobias, separation anxiety and

grams can be highly effective in teach-

aggression. Some problem behaviors

ing dogs to learn cues and, depending

are almost impossible to address in a

on the behaviors, might be somewhat

boarding environment, for example,

effective in starting to modify some

house soiling. While this might

pesky problems.

seem obvious to you, it might not

With all that being said, let’s take

be to clients spending top dollar for

two behaviors—a problem and an

training programs. So, it is crucial that

obedience cue—and outline how to

all clients are very clear on what you

teach them.

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Teaching a Dog

NOT TO JUMP UP ON PEOPLE

1. Try to greet the dog calmly.

2. When the dog jumps, turn away and ignore the behavior. Don’t say anything to the dog. Many dogs will continue jumping for 30 seconds to 2 or 3 minutes. This can take some patience!

3. Eventually the dog will stop jumping and approach you while remaining on all four paws. When she does, praise her! If the dog is food motivated, you can give her a small treat, but keep it hidden until you give it to her.

4. Most dogs get excited upon being praised and rewarded and will start jumping again. If this occurs, immediately turn away and ignore the dog until she greets you without jumping at

6

PET BOARDING & DAYCARE

which point praise and reward can be given again.

5. Dogs jump for attention and because they haven’t learned how to properly greet people. If every time the dog jumps, she’s ignored, and every time she greets people properly, she gets the attention that stimulated much of the jumping in the first place, she will learn not to jump.

6. Everyone interacting with the dog needs to do the same thing; you can’t have two people encouraging this behavior while another two attempt to modify it.

This can take 2-3 weeks of consistent work for the dog to learn the behavior, although some dogs pick it up more quickly.

TRAINING A DOG TO SIT 1. Stand directly in front of the dog with a small, odorless food treat in your fist.

Clearly communicated goals, managing client expectations and a great dog trainer should allow many facilities to offer a variety of successful, quality training options.

Steven Appelbaum is a professional animal trainer and founder of Animal Behavior College (ABC), a vocational

• • • • • •

2. Hold your hand 4-6 inches in front of the dog’s muzzle and slowly bring it toward the dog’s face, and over the top of his head and shoulders. Try to keep your fist no more than 2-3 inches above him.

If done correctly, most dogs will follow the path of your hand, look up as it passes over their head and sit. It’s important not to hold your hand too high over the dog’s head or he will stand up.

school specializing in animal career training programs. ABC offers courses for people interested in becoming pet groomers, dog trainers, cat trainers, veterinary assistants and aquatics management specialists. They will be introducing a zookeeper assistant program in 2020. The school also teaches a variety of continuing education

3. As the dog sits, give the cue “sit” then praise and reward the dog.

Don’t ask the dog to sit until he is already moving into the sit position.

4. Try to repeat 10-15 times and do this three or four times each day.

Start with minimal distractions.

You can teach this both on and off leash, although be mindful about safety when teaching anything off leash.

programs on subjects including; pet nutrition, pet massage, dog walking, pet sitting and training shelter dogs.

Aside from managing ABC, Appelbaum works as a freelance author, lecturer and pet business consultant. For more information about Animal Behavior College, please visit the website at www.animalbehaviorcollege.com

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BUSINESS

IT’S TI TIME

TO START

REBUILDING

By Laura Laaman

A

t long last, summertime is just around the corner. The days are longer, the sun is brighter—and people are hopefully willing to start going on vacations again.

For pet care businesses, summer means more than warm weather. We hope that individuals will be back to work and families will make travel plans. We can’t wait for life to get back to what we considered normal. That means it’s time for you to start rebuilding after the losses suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Especially with what the country has recently been through, it’s important each business does everything possible to make the most of this very valuable season. Here are a few proven and powerful strategies to rebuild your business.

Treat Each Customer Like Gold In any given year, even the most successful pet care facilities lose about 30% of their client base for any number of reasons. But this year, due to the coronavirus, many pet care businesses saw a complete halt. Since summertime typically brings an 8

We can’t wait for life to get back to what we considered normal. That means it’s time for you to start rebuilding after the losses suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic. influx of interested new pet parent prospects, you and your team need to capture as many of these prospects as possible to make up for lost ground.

The phone is a critical and often underutilized tool in the pet care industry.

Ironically, we’ve found almost all new client inquiries come in through your phone lines. Due to the emotional nature of pet care, human points of contact are critical. Even in the age of Facebook Messenger and online form submissions, pet parents will still call you on the phone.

Why? Because it’s important for them to connect with an actual breathing human when choosing a caregiver for their furry family member.

Every phone call is a golden opportunity to secure a new client who could end up spending thousands (or tens of thousands) with you over the lifetime of their pet.

PET BOARDING & DAYCARE

When the pet parent calls in, are you confident your staff is handling each call with the skill such a valuable opportunity requires?

It’s important to select carefully trained and skillful employees to answer the phones with as much compassion, consistency and compelling information as possible. As summer approaches, your phone team members will be your biggest revenue winners—as long as they’re trained and informed appropriately.

Cross Marketing for Summer While most successful pet care businesses cross-market year-round, it’s especially important to ramp up those efforts during peak periods like summer and other holidays. Generally, prospective clients need to see or hear a message seven times before they act on it and engage with your company.

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Is your cross-marketing meeting this “Rule of 7” to bring in new pet parents?

Excellent Tour Processes When a prospect walks in your doors to tour your facility, it’s important to promote the other services you offer in a clear, consistent and memorable manner.

Attractive Pricing Many Americans have gone through a total economic shock—business owners have had to close their doors, employees told they no longer have jobs and families can’t leave their home. And after economic shocks, people tend to be very careful spending money.

That means that even with the most successful phone and marketing strategies, your efforts won’t bear fruit if you aren’t priced appropriately. Changing prices is a delicate decision with a lot on the line. You don’t want to charge too little and leave money on the table, but you don’t want to charge too much and deter customers.

For years I have spoken about the dangers of all-inclusive pricing. All-inclusive pricing usually means including daycare in your overnight boarding fee, which means your overnight price will likely be very high.

Far better is offering options to your pet parents. When promoted properly by your trained phone personnel and priced properly, you’re going to be attractive to more pet parents. The result will be higher occupancy which ties directly to profitability.

Following this year’s challenging winter and spring, it’s more important than ever to maximize on this summer’s potential. Hopefully, pet parents are extra eager to get out and travel this summer.

I hope you’ll do everything to help your business bounce back quickly.

Laura Laaman is president of Outstanding Pet Care. Outstanding Pet Care guarantees to substantially increase the revenues of its clients with its proven services. If you’re interested in growing your revenues, schedule an individual consultation with Laura Laaman or one of her team members. Call Outstanding Pet Care at 1-888-735-5667 or go to www.OutstandingPetCare.com.

PET BOARDING & DAYCARE

11

Events for Business Promotion

By Annalisa Berns

A

fter restrictions across the country are lifted, everyone will want to celebrate! Here are some ideas to get the party started.

Hosting an event to promote your business introduces new clients to your services and creates multiple networking opportunities—or can even be a way to recruit new staff. When you decide to host an event that connects people in your community, it elevates your business and you as an innovator.

Now is the time to start planning for some festivities. Here are some tips to make it happen!

Plan Way in Advance For all but the smallest of gatherings, it is best to plan as much in advance as you can. Start working on the event six months in advance or more. The first action to take is to create a vision. Consider making a list of goals or even make a 12

vision board. This part of the planning process is a fun way to include staff.

Set a Goal One of the primary goals for the event should be to increase business. It’s important to create a way to measure that specific goal. For example, your goal might be to increase your email database by 50 new emails and schedule 10 facility tours.

Having a specific measure and goal for your event gives you something to strive for.

Recruit Help A word to the wise: if you think it is easy to host an event, think twice. If you have seen someone else host an event and you muttered to yourself “that looks easy,” you are probably mistaken. What is visible to the public or a guest is about 10% of the work involved. (Just think about the last get-together you hosted and everything that went into it from dusting PET BOARDING & DAYCARE

the floorboards to making dessert.)

There are two ways to deal with the amount of work. One way is to keep it small. An event that is kept to 20 attendees or less keeps it manageable. Think Yappy Hour, bowling party, tea party, or arts and crafts party-type events. However, a smaller event will likely have less of an impact on increasing business.

Another way to deal with the amount of work is to enlist the help of others. Do you have a friend with skills that would help produce an event? Approach them to work together. You want a team of people working for a common goal. A good rule of thumb is for every 50 people you want at an event, you need one additional person helping you with planning and execution. If you want 200 people to attend a party in the local park with vendors, for example, having you plus four co-hosts would be a solid strategy. (Plus volunteers or paid staff for the day of the event.)

• Hire a photographer to snap great pictures for social media & future promotions.

• Post a "we're hiring" sign to connect with possible employees.

• If you are hosting an outside event, make sure you have a plan if it rains.

• Don't spend a lot of money on infrastructure like canopies, stages and lighting until you

have done 2+ events. Rent or borrow first to make sure you really need it.

• Have plenty of directional signs pointing people to your event.

• If volunteers make your event happen,

celebrate with them after a successful event

Photo by Kathy Crumpacker

with a Happy Hour toast or small gift.

Planning as Promotions Use the planning process to network and promote your business. Reach out to other pet-related businesses or nonprofits and ask if they want to collaborate. Even if they decline, they are made aware of your business. Ask about events they are involved with and if they would share your event information on their social media.

Another approach to a “no” is to ask about a product donation. This is one of the joys of planning an event—collecting cool swag! Most often the item is the company’s product itself, like a dog treat company gifting free dog treats. Sometimes it is a company-branded item. For example, a pet-themed event is a perfect match for the local insurance company to provide branded dog toys or bowls.

Event Ideas Ask staff and your most devoted clients for event suggestions. People often appreciate being included in the planning process. Here are some ideas: adoption events, local business events (like a Wine

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• Adoption events

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Walk), classes (like yoga with your dog or learn to draw your pet), open house, guest speaker, book signing, contest (like your town’s Mutt of the Year or Best Dressed for Halloween), beer tastings and fundraisers.

Refer back to your goals and make sure what you decide is in alignment with them.

Find a Location With your goals in mind, consider location. If you want to connect with new clients, then you might want to go where people congregate. Locations to consider include a local dog park, picnic area, convention center, camp or even a

• Local business events (like a Wine Walk)

• Open house

• Contest (like your town’s Mutt of the Year or Best Dressed for Halloween)

• Guest speaker

• Beer tastings

• Book signing

• Fundraisers

• Classes (like yoga with your dog or learn to draw your pet)

gallery or museum. Think outside the box!

Many popular locations book-up months (or even years) in advance. When you find a location, ask them right away how far in advance you need to book and about rental fees. It is ideal to find a location that does not require a deposit, or only a minimal deposit with a generous cancellation policy.

Set a Date Finding a location should come first. You don’t want to set your date only to find that all locations are booked. Try to set a date that isn’t close to a holiday, unless you are planning

a holiday-themed event. Don’t try to compete with a popular event, like a local music festival or graduation day.

Create a To-Do List and Schedule Outline a schedule for the event itself and then fill in the necessary action steps from your To-Do List on a calendar to help keep you on track. One important key point is to refer back to your goals for the event. If your goal is to get new clients, then you want to make sure you have a way to collect contact information from guests at your event or have a coupon to give them as an incentive to try your services.

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PET BOARDING & DAYCARE

• Social Media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) • Email Newsletters • Press Release to Local Media • Flyers or Posters • Paid Social Media Advertising (Facebook, YouTube, Instagram) • Online Contests • Personal Invitations via Text or Personal Message • Online Calendars & Neighborhood Guides

Devil is in the Details While details and nice touches are what make an event more than mediocre, it is easy to get stuck on them. Don’t let little details take over. Keep your eye on the big picture, and work smarter not harder. If you find yourself getting sucked into nice details, make a list of 3-5 details or nice touches to include in your event, and skip the rest.

Day Before & Day Of Magic happens when everything starts to come together right before your eyes.

Be realistic with how much time it takes to tackle a task. It almost always takes longer to execute than estimated. Plus, you want some moments to enjoy. Remind yourself that it is impossible for everything to go as planned; there will always be some missteps, miscalculations and mistakes.

Advertising If you are planning a smaller event, advertising may consist of a sign at your business or personally inviting a few individuals. However, if you want to draw a crowd, you will have to take more time to advertise. Remember to advertise your business, not just the event.

One benefit of advertising an event versus promoting a product or business, is that local news outlets have opportunities to share your event at no cost. Request that your event be included in the local calendar at the visitor’s center and online.

Write a short press release and submit it to the local news media. Also use your email list and social media to spread the word.

After Give yourself plenty of time to rest after a large event, or at least plan on sleeping in after a fun party. Before too much time passes, strike while the iron is hot with any new contacts. Send pictures of your event to the local newspaper and post on social media. Thank businesses involved and ask how you can collaborate again. Thank attendees and follow-up. Don’t let potential business slip through your fingers!

If needed, assign someone with your work tasks after the event so you can devote yourself to this follow-up.

Take time to look back at the goals for the event, reflect on what you and your team accomplished, pop the champagne and celebrate a success!

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ALWAYS BE

THINKING

LTV

LIFETIME

VALUE

OF THE

CUSTOMER

By Fernando Camacho

18

et me guess…you would like your business to make more money?

Quite a bold and obvious statement, but something I think we can all agree upon.

Yes, you love what you do—nobody gets into the dog business if you don't enjoy it—but we still need to earn a living and try to get the most out of the business. To do that you need to always be looking for ways to increase your revenue.

When trying to bring more money in, almost all of the daycares that I work with are looking in the wrong place. They hire me to help them bring in more customers using online advertising (a very powerful and effective way to acquire new customers), as well as keep their company topof-mind and position it as the best. Before I start building out their ad campaigns, I always start by determining their lifetime value (LTV) of their average customer, and then proactively create a plan to increase that number.

LTV is the most important number to know in your business—and the one

PET BOARDING & DAYCARE

you should be obsessed with increasing.

If you can do that, your business will grow every single year.

What many unknowing business owners do is spend all of their time, money and marketing efforts on getting new customers—which although is important, is not the best way to increase revenue. The best way is to concentrate on your existing customers and continually find ways to serve them more. The reason this is so critical is that it is much easier to convince someone who has already purchased something from you to buy more than it is to get someone new to buy something for the first time.

The most difficult thing you can do is get someone to part with their hardearned money. Before anyone makes a buying decision they have to first know they have a problem, then they have to become aware of the solution…then they have to discover the businesses that can help them…then they have to become familiar with and interested in your company…then they have to be

convinced that they are making a good decision by going with your company, and then (and only then) will they hand over their money to you.

That's a lot of steps in order to get a stranger to become a customer.

With your existing customers, you can skip right to the end of the sales process.

They already know who you are, see the services you provide and are in the habit of giving you money without too much

thought. The only thing you need to do is show them how you can provide more value to them. The easiest way to do that is to provide them with an irresistible offer for your next service offering.

For example: If a customer has been enrolled in a twice-a-week daycare package for four months, you might offer them a deal to upgrade to three times a week.

Something like, they pay the twice-a-week price for the first month of the upgrade

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and then they would go to the regular three-times-a-week price from that point on. Yes, you're not making any extra money on that first week, but if you understand LTV, you know you'll be making a lot more money off of that customer over time.

You can also offer a complimentary service. If you have a regular daycare customer, offer them a grooming package at a discount (or boarding, or training, or anything else that makes sense). If they are happy using you for one thing, they may not need too much convincing to have you handle some of their other needs. But, they may just need an irresistible offer to motivate and persuade them to make the move.

This is an important thing to understand. Just offering them something without a discount (a reason to do it) will have little success. People innately do the same thing they've always been doing and are reluctant to change. That's why you need to give them a nudge to break their habits and make a move to something different.

I recommend trying to ascend people in your service offerings once a quarter.

The good thing is there's always a holiday that provides an excuse for a special limited-time offer. Make it valuable (hopefully a no-brainer for the customer) and time-sensitive to motivate them to take action.

No matter how good you are about increasing the LTV of your customers, you will still need to bring in new customers on a regular basis due to the normal customer churn. So, you should always have marketing in place to get new people coming into your business; however, if you're not first focused on taking amazing care of your existing customers and doing everything you can to help them ascend the value ladder in your company, you'll be going in circles and never realizing the full potential of your business (plus it's exhausting and stressful).

Once you determine your LTV of an average client, you know exactly what you can spend to get new customers.

To do that, just look at your software (or estimate it if you have to) and see what package most (70–80%) of your

NVA is grateful for you.

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You’ve had to acclimate business operations and we are thankful to be part of this always-caring and ever-dedicated community.

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We’d be more than happy to talk through your questions and concerns.

The average customer comes twice a week for one year. They also board their dog for two weeks each year.

customers take. Every business will have a most popular service. Then look to see how long most people stay customers, and do the math to calculate your average LTV of a customer.

Let's use one of my current clients as an example. It's a medium-sized dog daycare and boarding facility in New Jersey. The average customer comes twice a week for one year. They also board their dog for two weeks each year.

Here's the math on that: 2 days of daycare/week for the year = $3,078 14 days of boarding (two, one-week

DAYS OF BOARDING (PER YEAR)

$

+

3,078

= $4,030

DAYS OF DAYCARE (PER WEEK)

$

TOTAL LTV OF CUSTOMER

952

vacations a year) = $952 Total LTV of their average customer is $4,030.

Now that we know that number, I know how much we can spend on advertising. Even if we spend $2,000 to get one new customer (and we always do much better than that), it will deliver a 200% return on investment over time.

You just need to keep in mind that it's not on the initial purchase that's important—it's how much the new customer will bring you over the entire time they do businesses with you.

By knowing the LTV of your customers

and becoming dedicated to increasing that number all the time, you will create a businesses that is unstoppable. Now, go calculate your LTV and then get to work with your marketing efforts and crafting your upsells!

Fern (aka Fernando Camacho) runs Overdog Digital, the digital marketing agency that specializing in dog daycare and boarding facilities. He’s also a popular speaker at conferences, consults with pet businesses all over the country, and is the author of six books. www.overdogdigital.com

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CATS

StressYOUR FELINE BOARDING AREA

W

hen thinking about how to make the environment in your boarding facility more comfortable for the felines you service, ambience is a great starting point. There are many inexpensive and free adjustments you can make to your boarding facility that will improve the comfort of the cats in your care.

While aesthetics are important to the human client, more subtle factors help cats relax and stay stress-free during boarding.

24

By Deborah Hansen Sound Background noise is something we grow accustomed to and easily forget how it affects our feline clients.

Most cats seem to prefer a quiet environment. Very few cats live with dogs that are always barking. This makes it important that your cat area has as few dog noises as possible. Eliminating or muffling barking dog noises is just the tip of how we can manipulate the environment to make our feline clients more comfortable.

PET BOARDING & DAYCARE

As natural hunters, cats seem to prefer nature sounds as background music. Sounds like rivers, forests, waves and birds seem to have a calming effect on cats while keeping the feline’s mind active. Changing your current background music to nature sounds will have a positive impact on the felines you board.

There has been much research done on sound therapy for both canines and humans. Research focusing on sound therapy for cats is significantly lacking. I believe there is

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enough published research on the topic of music and sound therapy for humans and canines that it is safe to make an educated leap to assume the same benefits will be true for felines. Using music that matches the number of beats per minute of a resting cat’s heart rate should provide comfort for the cats in your care.

Some kitties do live in very loud and chaotic homes. These cats can handle louder and more random background noise than other felines. If you know the background of the cats in your boarding facility, it is ok to switch the background music depending on your current residents.

A popular add-on service that can be offered and will enhance the overall ambience of your boarding facility is a private drinking fountain. Adding drinking fountains will not only pull in extra income, but will also add the gentle sound of flowing water to your feline area.

Scent Aroma in your feline area is another low-cost aspect you can manipulate to help the cats in your care have a less stressful experience. There are three different kinds of scent receptor proteins in mammal noses. One of them is V1R. It is believed V1R is the protein that controls a mammal’s

ability to separate one scent from another.

When we think canines have a fabulous sense of smell, keep in mind, humans have two variants of the V1R protein, dogs have nine and cats have 30. With almost three times the V1R protein, a cat's sense of smell is far more intense than ours or that of our dog friends.

When we think of making the enclosure comfortable for cats, we need to especially consider the smells that the felines can smell and we humans cannot.

A good place to start is with the smell of dogs. While some of the cats that enter your boarding facility live with dogs, the smell of dogs sends many felines into a fear response—which in turn will raise the anxiety and stress level of the cat. It is important to keep your cat area as dogfree as possible to avoid the added anxiety that some cats experience around dogs.

We also have the naturally occurring smells from multiple animals being housed in one facility. Research shows that a high-quality filtration system is the best option when considering the overall wellbeing of cats. If a high-quality air filtration system is not in the budget, or it just isn't keeping your boarding facility as fresh as you would like, there are great slow-cooker air freshener recipes online

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that are feline-safe and will make your waiting area smell great.

Keep in mind, commercial air freshening products can be toxic to cats. If your boarding facility decides to add something to the air to make it more appealing to humans, always make sure to verify that the ingredients you are using in your air fresheners are non-toxic to felines.

One of the smells I like to introduce when boarding a cat is the smell of that particular cat’s favorite human. Not only is this free, but it builds the relationship and trust you have with the human client.

Many times during my cat grooming career I have felt cats completely relax when something with the smell of their favorite human was given to them. One of the items I believe should be on the check-in list for boarding facilities is a dry, but used towel of the cat’s favorite human. Some clients prefer to bring used pillow cases or a worn workout shirt.

These items will have the same calming effect on the feline.

Sunlight Another free add-on is time in the sun.

What cat does not enjoy a cat nap in a sun puddle? I recommend letting in as much natural light in your feline area as possible.

While you may be restricted by the number of windows your building has, using a window treatment with less light-control might be something your business can consider. Next time the window treatments are replaced, choosing an option with a lower light-filtering feature will not only allow more light into your building, but will also bring comfort to the felines in your care. If you are limited on the natural sunlight in your facility, an excellent addon option is giving the felines extra time in an area with direct sunlight.

Ambience is a great place to start when catering to a feline client base.

There are many easy and free adjustments you can make in your boarding facility to make the feline’s stay more comfortable and stress-free while increasing your bottom line.

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PROFILE OF SUCCESS

PE T CA R E

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PET BOARDING & DAYCARE

Photo by Natasha Hindmarsh

Photo by Inked Fingers

By Kathy Hosler

Photo by Inked Fingers

a person who is among the first to research and develop a new area of knowledge or activity.

W

hen Bart (DogBoy) and Courtney (DogGirl) Emken began their careers in the pet care industry, they didn't set out to be pioneers—they just had their own ideas about how to run a pet care facility. Some of the procedures and new programs they implemented in their business were unheard of 25 years ago, but are commonplace in the industry now.

In 1995 the Emkens purchased a house and 15 acres of property near Austin, Texas. They put up 10 outdoor runs, fenced in their backyard, and opened for boarding, daycare and training. The business office was

PET BOARDING & DAYCARE

in the kitchen of their home.

Bart was a dog trainer and had worked for other facilities before opening DogBoy's Dog Ranch. He saw the effects of boarding dogs 24/7 in kennels; incessant barking, constant pacing and other self-destructive behaviors. He thought the dogs would be happier and enjoy their stay more if they got to interact with other dogs and had an outlet for their pent–up energy. So Bart began to allow his boarding dogs to socialize together in play groups and he would take them for daily group hikes on the property.

"In 1995, people said I was crazy

31

“In 1995, people said I was crazy to allow dogs that didn’t know each other to play together,” says Bart.

“Now, it is the norm.” to allow dogs that didn't know each other to play together," says Bart. "Now, it is the norm. To my knowledge, we were the first facility in Texas to offer group play with dogs."

DogBoy's Dog Ranch grew from just a few clients to over 200 in just two years. They built their first indoor/

outdoor kennel, and by 1999 they had grown to more than 2,000 clients.

In 2000, Courtney and Bart built their second kennel building, and added an office and retail center. The couple decided to implement another new policy at their facility. They began to require that all the dogs they accepted for boarding

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PET BOARDING & DAYCARE

and daycare be spayed or neutered. Again, people told them they were crazy, and that they would lose customers over this policy. Now, spay and neuter requirements are standard policy at most pet care facilities.

A 2,400 sq. ft. training and wellness center was built on-site in 2010 to further their mission of insisting on only reward-based, force-free, positive reinforcement dog training. Positive training existed back then but was definitely not a focus for other pet care facilities.

"Our entire facility was designed for the comfort and safety of the dogs," says Courtney. "Every time we added a building, we did it on a shoestring. But, we never compromised on quality and safety."

DogBoy's can accommodate upwards of 100 dogs on the property. Daycare varies based on the number of boarding dogs, as compatible boarding dogs also get to enjoy daycare activities. In addition, there are many add-on services such as handmade treats, night walks and tuck-in services.

There are 25 different play areas on the property with lots of space to run and play. Their daycare is not just run, run, run all day long, however, as each day

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includes structured rest times.

"We realize that dogs need more than just a physical experience," says Courtney.

DogBoy's has introduced innovative programs like their ELSA (Enrichment & Life Skills Academy) daycare training program. The ELSA academy is the next generation of training-focused daycare.

It is designed to meet all of a dog's needs; mental enrichment, socialization, play, training and rest.

"ELSA is a form of enrichment daycare," says Bart. "The day is split into a time to run and play, a time for mental enrichment, structured rest times, and using brain and body to learn life skills and manners such as walking on leash, waiting at a door, and other behaviors that benefit dog owners."

In the beginning, boarding made up the most of their business, but in the last five to ten years, daycare and training have really grown.

"Interest in training has really taken off," says Bart. "From the beginning, our goal was to use only force-free, positive training. Now, we have five amazing certified trainers on staff. We offer private and group classes for basic obedience, canine good citizen, puppy classes, board and train, training-related

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daycare, and more."

DogBoy's has a new program called ‘reverse board and train’. "It is where we go to the client's home and train their dog while the owner is at work,” says Bart. "At the end of each week, we meet with the owners, go over everything the dog has worked on, and show them how to maintain the new skills their dog has learned.”

36

Every dog has to go through a fullday evaluation before it can board or be accepted into daycare at the Ranch.

"From the very beginning, we started a color-coded behavior designation for every dog according to what we determined during its evaluation. We have green, orange, and red cards. For example, green card dogs get along with

PET BOARDING & DAYCARE

most dogs and with people and can go in most playgroups of the same size and temperament. Orange card dogs may be more particular about their friends or have handling issues with people. Red card dogs can be human or dog aggressive, or may be at risk for getting injured and are usually not put with other dogs.

A secondary silver card color indicates dogs who need more rest due to health issues or age,” explains Bart.

This color-coded system helps to guide the staff when assigning the dogs to their playgroups. Assigning colors to dogs’ behavior is a system that is widely used in other facilities today.

Another special perk available to DogBoy's clients is the private dog park.

"We wanted to create a place for our clients where they could feel confident bringing their dogs," says Bart. "It's 'members only' on weekends, and only certain green card dogs are permitted.

During the week, customers can reserve the park privately. Weekend members have formed a 'Breakfast Club' that regularly gathers to let their dogs play.”

"Our website, www.dogboys.com, is critical to our success. One of the first comments people make is how nice, easy

to navigate, and professional it is. It really sets us apart," says Bart. "We have a great web designer and content manager who both work hard to keep it fresh. The more information you give people, the more likely they are to use your business.

We do video blogs and visitors can take a virtual tour of the ranch."

"We're pretty active on social media, too," says Courtney. "We have two Facebook pages. One is exclusively where we post client pup 'shout outs'.

It's a really popular add-on service. We used to offer it for free, but the demand got too high. Now we charge $5 per day to post a few pictures or a video of a client's dog. Our clients love to see pictures of their pups having fun."

It takes 30-35 staff members to keep things running smoothly at DogBoy's Dog Ranch.

"Our team works so hard. I tell everyone who wants to work here that it's the hardest 'easy job' you will ever have," says Bart with a hearty chuckle.

"We stress teamwork, integrity, knowledge, caring, respect and passion.

These vare our core values. We also use open-book management; teaching our team about how the business runs. Our staff knows when we are doing well financially or when our bottom line needs a boost. As a team we come up with great ideas to build income."

"We promote entrepreneurship," says Courtney. "Bart and I often consult with people who want to open their own business, or who want to make their facility better. Over the years we have helped foster over a dozen new businesses."

"The reason we are successful is because we care, and we are not afraid to try something new," share Courtney and Bart. "We were one of the very first to offer group play, to require pups be spayed or neutered, and to focus on all positive training procedures. Our hope is that we were the very first 'Dog Ranch' too! “At DogBoy's Dog Ranch we are always innovating. It's fun to be a pioneer!"

PET BOARDING & DAYCARE

37

FACILITY

WRITTEN

systems

By Jennifer Wolf-Pierson, CPACO Whether you call them written policies, standard operating procedures (SOP’s), business strategies or your modus operandi, you probably have one or two of these lying around your facility. So, how do you take them from collecting dust to utilizing them as live, valuable tools? And why would you even want to bring them off that shelf where they’ve been sitting since your grand opening?

Message Control Now is the time to practice message control with regard to how your business operates. Your facility is your vision, not anyone else’s. You put in the work; you’ve spent thousands or even millions to build the business you envisioned, so don’t let individual employees care for your pet guests or interact with your clients in any way besides how you specifically want it to be done. But without written instructions, how will your staff know what you expect of them?

Even the strongest of teams need structure and guidance. Defining your expectations in writing creates the clear message that will be portrayed to your clients through the excellent, consistent operations of your staff. All this is possible if you communicate your vision properly.

Consistency of Care and Service We all like knowing what to expect.

38

That’s why most franchise companies are generally safer bets than complete startups. It’s not just that the franchise puts out a better product or service, but that they provide a predictable service each and every time. Think McDonalds— where you’ll get the exact same burger in Colorado as you would in Florida.

That’s their real magic…consistency of how the product is produced—not only the yummy fries!

When a pet goes home from a lodging stay, our staff is required to make eight things happen at pickup. The following checklist is from our SOP: 1. Introduce yourself by name.

2. Take responsibility for the health and happiness of the pet during the stay.

3. Share something specific to that pet.

4. Make one suggestion for next time.

5. Inform the owner of appetite and elimination patterns.

PET BOARDING & DAYCARE

6. Inform the owner of the last completed meal time.

7. Thank the owner.

8. Help them out to the car.

Sharing the feeding information prevents the parents from having to call us to find out when he is due his next meal at home. They are always thanked and sent home with the same consistent information on their pet’s care. If expectations were not documented for our staff, each person would either not interact with the parent or make up their own script. And, over time, your message and consistency would probably change or cease to exist.

Team Training Everyone wants structure, and, in general, I believe everyone wants to do a good job. Not only are you not going to be able to personally train each new staff member, but you have to remember everyone learns in a different way. As you

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build your training program, make sure that you are not only teaching kinetically, but you are also providing written and visual instructions using your SOP’s. This way, as new topics are introduced, the staff member reads, sees and does the process, covering all the ways that different personalities retain information.

We use checklists that reference the policy or section of the SOP to cover.

We start the topic by having the new

staff member read the section, then we have them watch the procedure in action, and finally, we ask them to do it with supervision. This streamlines the process and helps us guarantee that each topic is fully covered.

Employee Management What is a “win” for a staff member?

How do they know if they are meeting expectations or completing the work to

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your specifications? One of the struggles in staff development is deciding if underperformance is due to “I don’t want to” or “I don’t know how to”.

Your SOP’s are an invaluable tool for employee management, as long as the employee was properly trained. You have probably heard a staff member say, “I was never taught that”, as an excuse for why they didn’t complete a task properly.

During the training process, you can reference your training checklist in the SOP in which the employee acknowledges that they have an understanding and the ability to complete the procedures.

If you don’t have documented, written instructions, an apathetic employee can always hide behind the excuse of lack of training. This wastes your time and theirs. Lift up those who may not understand with training, and push out the “don’t want to” people!

There is a particular author and business coach that comes to mind every time SOPs are discussed. His name is Michael Gerber, author of The E-Myth Revisited. One frequently-quoted chapter, “Chapter 9: Working On Your Business, Not In It,” drives home the importance of written documentation of operations. Within this chapter, one sentence really stood out to me: “Without documentation, all routinized work turns into exceptions.”

Make sure you have expectations for your team members—not exceptions!

Jennifer Wolf-Pierson, CPACO is a certified pet care professional serving the Spring/ Woodlands/North Houston area. Since 2016, Jennifer has served as General Manager at ABC Pet Resort & Spa and coach for Suzanne and Al Locker’s Pet Care Facility Management Boot Camp. The Boot Camp program, in partnership with Turnkey. Inc., a design, build and consulting group, has helped a wide variety of businesses get on track, from start-up to maturity.

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A

s the pet boarding industry has evolved, crate-free options have become increasingly popular for overnight care.

Rather than the traditional suites or enclosures, crate-free boarding allows for a more “like home” experience— usually, dogs sleeping together, often in a cozy environment that has been curated to feel like a room that might be in their homes. Invoking thoughts of puppies snuggled up together on a couch, being doted on by an overnight supervisor, it’s easy to see why this option might be an attractive one to pet parents.

If you’re considering adding cratefree boarding to your portfolio of services, you should ask yourself these five questions before committing.

IS CRATE-FREE

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42

PET BOARDING & DAYCARE

1. Are your clients interested?

Before you consider adding any new service, it’s critical that you understand whether it’s a service your clients value. If your business is established, you may already have the answer to this question, because perhaps they’ve already been asking you for it! But, maybe they don’t know to ask for it. In that case, how do you figure it out?

Take a look at who your best clients and biggest fans are. Is your clientele largely made up of people who use boarding in an infrequent, more traditional way? If so, it’s possible that they prefer the privacy and familiarity of traditional boarding enclosures.

Alternatively, is your client base made up of people who value high-touch services like daycare and customizable service add-ons? If so, they may be open to one more option to tailor their dog’s vacation precisely

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to his or her needs.

Once you have a sense that this might be an attractive offering for your client base, talk to some of them! Ask them what they think, if they’d use a service like this for their pups and even how much they’d be willing to pay.

And don’t forget to look more broadly at the people who aren’t yet your clients. Adding a new service should be more than an opportunity to upsell your current clients—it should bring in new business for your facility.

Do a little research; the last thing you want to do is invest in a service that doesn’t resonate with your clients.

2. How will you price this service?

A huge part of making the decision to add a new service should be understanding the bottom-line impact it will have on your business. Pricing is a critical decision that helps drive the

44

success of a new service—and also the profitability that enables you to offer it.

A few factors to take into consideration when thinking about pricing: • What is this service worth to your clients? Will they see it as a premium service that they’re willing to pay more for? If so, charge more!

• How does this service change your expense model? Does it increase labor? Are you adding incremental capacity by offering this new service?

What additional supplies and maintenance will it require?

• How does this impact the value of adjacent services? For example, if your traditional overnights were not previously supervised, but you’re adding overnight staff to support cratefree boarding, will your clients

PET BOARDING & DAYCARE

pay more for all overnights now that there’s someone in the building 24/7?

• What is your profit margin?

Given all of the revenue and expense implications, where do you need to price to meet your margin goals?

3. Do you have the space?

Once you’ve decided to offer cratefree boarding, it follows that you need to find the space in your facility to do it.

But how much space do you need? And what is the ideal layout?

The first order of business is to find a space that is large enough to allow for the number of dogs per night you’re projecting. You want to be sure there’s plenty of space for each dog to relax in their own quiet space, if that’s what they prefer.

Then, think through how you plan to make the room comfy for the pups while

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Our crate-free space is set up much like a living room; a comfy couch, cots for the dogs, and plenty of space leftover to comfortably accommodate their beds and blankets from home. they’re sleeping over. How will you handle meals and separating the dogs to eat and/ or medicate? You will likely need to add incremental space to account for these operational necessities.

We have about 1,000 sq. ft. for an average of 5-7 dogs per night in our crate-free room. This is relative to the 58 enclosures we have available for overnights in our private suites. Our crate-free space is set up much like a living room; a comfy couch, cots for the dogs, and plenty of space leftover to comfortably

accommodate their beds and blankets from home. Just as we do with our play spaces, we make sure our sleepover room is fully puppy-proofed.

You may have more or less space to dedicate to your new offering. So be sure to take the time to understand whether dedicating it to crate-free boarding is going to give you the best return on your square footage.

4. Are your overnights supervised?

This is one of the critical differences

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PET BOARDING & DAYCARE

when it comes to offering crate-free sleepovers. Groups of dogs must be supervised and, if your overnights are not already supervised, this may change your labor model significantly.

When we opened, we always planned to have supervised overnights, regardless of whether we had dogs in our crate-free room or not. So, it was easy for us to make the decision to add crate-free boarding to our service offerings. However, if you’re used to boarding with traditional, secure enclosures and no overnight supervision, you’ll definitely need to do the math to determine whether this additional service could supplement the cost of introducing overnight staff.

5. What are the criteria?

You likely already have an evaluation process in place for dogs entering your group play programs. Crate-free sleepovers are no different. In fact, in most cases, they require an even more stringent evaluation process.

Think about it; in group play, you likely offer more than one group, so you can divide your pups by size, temperament, play style, etc. But when it comes to sleepovers, you may not have the space to offer this kind of separation overnight— or the payroll to ensure the supervision of more than one group of dogs. Because of this, you should determine what your ideal crate-free boarding group looks like, and the criteria you’ll need to evaluate whether a dog is a good candidate or not.

At our facility, a dog must first pass our temperament evaluation in order to join our overall program. Then, if a parent

expresses interest in a crate-free sleepover, we let them know that there’s a secondary evaluation process that their dog must go through in order to be considered.

It’s important that our team have the opportunity to really get to know the dog and see them in a variety of situations with a variety of dogs. Because of this, we require that each dog be a client of ours regularly (2-3 times per week), for at least three months, before we determine whether crate-free sleepovers are the right fit for that dog.

We’re looking for dogs who are good with all other dogs. They must have the ability to rest in the presence of other dogs, be adept at reading other dogs’ cues, show no signs of resource guarding and, of course, have no history of incidents with people or other dogs.

Even then, the management team may decide, for whatever reason, that cratefree is not the right fit for a dog. This evaluation is as much art as it is science, and we take our responsibility to keep all of our dogs safe seriously—no matter which of our services they’re utilizing.

Crate-free boarding has the potential to set you apart from your competition, provide a new, unique way to connect with your furry clients and create an incremental revenue stream. But like any service, it’s critical that you take the time to evaluate whether it’s right for your market, your business and your team.

Ashley Caywood is founding partner at Zolvy.com, empowering petcare entrepreneurs to take control of their business so they can continue to pursue their passion.

Zolvy provides targeted solutions for the behind-the-scenes challenges facing business owners every day. In addition to her work with Zolvy, Ashley is founder and co-owner of Roscoe’s Bed + Bark in Portland, ME, the city’s first 24/7 supervised dog daycare, growing it to seven figure revenues in less than three years.

Ashley holds an MBA in Entrepreneurship from Boston University.

A to Z Solutions Empowering You To Turn Your Passion Into Profit

You Have: A passion for your business A mission to pursue A team to lead A budget to manage A service to provide your clients A LOT distracting you from building the business of your dreams

We’re here to help.

We created Zolvy to provide online tailored solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing you as an entrepreneur in the pet care industry. Our goal is to empower you with the tools you need to take control of your business, so you can continue to pursue your passion.

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INDUSTRY NEWS

AFTER 15 YEARS IN BUSINESS LUXURY PET HOTEL

CELEBRATES ITS 50TH FRANCHISEE LUXURY PET HOTEL

t the dawn of 2020, K9 Resorts Luxury Pet Hotel marked the beginning of its 15th year in business with the signing of its 50th franchisee. As one of the first luxury pet hotel concepts in the U.S. to franchise, the growth of the brand has proved the novel idea LUXURY PET HOTEL hatched by two entrepreneurial brothers from New Jersey is a success.

In an interview with co-founder and CEO Steven Parker, Pet Boarding and Daycare Magazine discusses how the two brothers launched their business and created an award-winning, national franchise.

Q: What made you and your brother, Jason, decide to go into the luxury pet hotel business?

A: We started our dog walking business in high school because our parents wouldn’t let us have our own dog. The business really took off; to the point where we had to hire full-time employees. Later, as we recognized the growing desire of pet parents to ensure their dogs are cared for as well as a human child might be, we knew there was an opportunity. So, we did some research, studied some of the country’s most luxurious hospitality brands and launched K9 Resorts Luxury Pet Hotel—the Ritz-Carlton of dog resorts.

Q: What differentiates a luxury pet hotel from a standard boarding facility?

A: The two concepts could not be more different. From the construction materials, anti-microbial flooring, hospital-grade HVAC system, cage-free luxury accommodations, high-end architectural elements and employee training program that exceeds industry standards—our facilities are worlds apart from what pet parents might experience at a standard overnight kennel. For our human clients, the standard of care provided to their pet children provides a level of comfort and reassurance they are unlikely to experience elsewhere.

Q: At what point did you realize the franchise concept would be beneficial, and what was the impetus?

A: After operating our Fanwood, New Jersey location for a few years and seeing the demand, we

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knew we were on to something. As we considered how to expand, it became clear there were two practical options to take our business to the next level: expand as a corporate operation or try the franchise model. Both had strong points, but we quickly realized the fastest, most efficient way to grow was to take the operational model we perfected over several years and duplicate it across the country with ambitious business partners who are as passionate about thoughtful pet care as my brother and me.

Q: What type of business person is the ideal K9 Resorts franchisee?

A: We’ve found entrepreneurs who have a strong desire to work with the public and who also want the security of, and are willing to commit to, a proven operating system find the most success with our model. Animal lovers and those who have already worked somewhere within the pet care industry are also a great fit. Really, when you boil the luxury pet resort model down to its essential element, it’s all about customer service—specifically five-star customer service. As such, hoteliers and those who have been successful in a hospitality organization are also likely to find work at a luxury pet hotel like K9 Resorts both challenging and extremely rewarding.

Q: In your experience, what is the biggest misconception people have about becoming their own boss as a potential franchisee?

A: The biggest surprise, if you want to use that term, is that while a franchise certainly does provide a proven road map and a sense of security for

PET BOARDING & DAYCARE

entrepreneurs to launch themselves into business, no franchise is 100 percent turnkey. There’s a lot of work the franchisee has to put in behind the scenes, all with the support of the franchise, of course. From finding and purchasing property for the location and dealing with local municipalities, to hundreds if not thousands of decisions that are part of the construction process—there are countless hours of work franchisees will need to commit just to get ready to begin operating the business.

Then there is hiring staff, training, marketing and advertising of the business.

It’s much more work than many realize if they aren’t familiar with running their own business. We’re there to help and advise, but as a business owner, franchisees must do the work.

Q: What is the interview process like when franchisees meet with you to see if your business model will work for them?

A: That’s another little surprise for

franchisees. Many believe the franchise interview process is a one-way street.

Potential franchisees might believe they, exclusively, are doing the exploration and evaluation of the franchise. The reality is the franchise operators are also evaluating and interviewing the franchisees. The company is entrusting these franchisees with its reputation, as well as the safety and care of people’s dogs on behalf of the company. Before that process can proceed, the franchise must decide if the potential franchisee will be a good fit for the system.

So, it’s more like a date than an interview; both sides are evaluating each other to see if the fit is right.

Q: For those in the pet care industry thinking about working for or perhaps becoming a franchisee themselves, what are some of the advantages of the franchise model?

A: Whether you’re looking at working for a pet care franchise or becoming an

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owner yourself, I think the single biggest advantage is having a mapped-out, well-tested training system. The training program K9 Resorts has created has been modeled and tested across all our locations in different states, with different personnel from different backgrounds in different communities. The result is a refined system that works. From an employee perspective, you’ll get reliable training to ensure you can do your job well with the reassurance that you are fully prepared for just about every scenario. As a business owner, you’re reassured your staff will be able to do their most important two jobs: care for other people’s dogs well and provide best-inclass customer service for both human and four-legged guests. In addition, franchise businesses offer guidance and instruction on building materials, marketing programs, advertising strategies and collateral, and so forth. And unlike independent businesses, franchises have the resources and desire to continually improve their operational model.

Q: With 15 years of experience now behind you, what do you see as the future of the pet care industry?

A: For the last 20 to 25 years, the industry has experienced consistent, year-over-year growth. In that time, dogs have gone from being a utility animal, to a pet, to a member of the family. Families no longer leave their dogs outside chained to a tree. They are inside, with the family, and they sleep in the bed with mommy and daddy. They have their own stockings at Christmas. Pet parents are investing in treats, toys and even pet luxury items like Louis Vuitton collars, leashes and even purses to carry them in. With this new pet culture, there is lots of opportunity.

Fortunately, the luxury pet hotel model is still in its infancy, so the anticipated growth over the next 20 years is considerable as pet parents continue to search for opportunities to both pamper their pets and provide themselves greater peace of mind when they have to be away from their fur babies.

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Wisdom & Grace

So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up.

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