DOGGY DAY CARE

Bruce’s is one of the leading doggy day care brands in the UK and boasts nine state-of-the-art centres across the country with services also encompassing dog training and grooming.

The company, founded by South African-born and Australian-bred Bruce Casalis, does, however, come from humble beginnings. Bruce is a lifetime dog owner and dog lover. From his early days as a toddler where he’d regularly be found sleeping in a crate with a litter of puppies, Bruce has been genuinely passionate about dogs and dog welfare.

Bruce moved to London in 2007 and had a successful career in the world of sales but was beginning to feel unfulfilled in his 9-5 office job. When Bruce’s cousin told him that dog owners in the UK pay for dog walkers, something he’d never experienced back in Australia, Bruce couldn’t quite believe it. The idea that people would pay him to spend time with their dogs and keep them happy seemed almost too good to be true. His sales brain quickly worked out that he’d only need to walk eight dogs in a day to match his office salary, which he could do in just a few hours.

This got Bruce thinking that if dog owners were willing to pay for their dogs to be taken for a walk in the park, surely, it’d be better to be able to take them somewhere that was fully bespoke and designed to fulfil the dog’s every need. This is when, in 2008, the idea for Bruce’s Doggy Day Care came about. Bruce began to canvas Clapham Common with a simple survey asking dog owners their views on his new concept of dog day care.

In 2009, Bruce launched Bruce’s Doggy Day Care in a few acres of Surrey countryside in Cobham, understanding the love that pet owners have for their dogs and basing his business model on that of the nursery sector. The unique model proved a revelation in the pet care industry. Fast-forward 14 years and Bruce’s Doggy Day Care has become the UK’s recognised market leader in dog day care and socialisation, with nine sites across the UK and plans for further expansions throughout 2023.

To help drive the business forward in this exciting next chapter, Bruce’s recently appointed Ben Mann as its new Managing Director. Mann has worked at Bruce’s in various roles for over five years, and his career predominantly being in the events & hospitality sector, has allowed him to bring a fresh and innovative approach to taking the business to the next level.

Mann said: “Both sides of my career revolved around people. You start to build themes for catering, from seasonal ingredients and new menus through to wine pairings. For doggy day care, walking, playing, and caring for dogs is one thing, but how do you enrich the overall experience for staff and dogs alike?

“Throwing an afternoon tea party for dogs might seem cute and lovely, and is certainly more interesting for our staff, but how do we make it engaging for the dog? Can we hide items around the centre for them to sniff out, create food and drinks that are stimulating? Can the dogs chase and run and play? It’s thinking about what everything you do means for the customer, and that’s largely our dogs.

“I believe we do enrichment better than anyone else in the world and my plan is to be the best dog hospitality provider in the world. Disneyland for dogs if you will”.

Keen to push the boundaries of marketing in the pet industry and help set itself apart from its peers, Bruce’s appointed Stir, a creative PR agency, for 2022/2023. Spanning multiple timely news moments, the brand has launched campaigns that have featured a variety of adorable furry friends.

Bruce’s creative marketing endeavours have included launching the UK’s first ever advertising campaign made specifically for dogs, consisting of bus stop advertising placements that promoted its newly launched North London site, and a doggy tea paw-ty event, complete with lookalike Queen Elizabeth II, to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee.

Bruce’s also got involved in celebrations for National Walk Your Dog Week, where Bruce Casalis himself made a world record breaking attempt to walk 37 dogs simultaneously, grabbing various national newspaper headlines along the way!

The most recently opened site for Bruce’s also marks its first in the midlands, as Bruce’s Solihull opened its doors following a ribbon-cutting with the local mayor on Monday 5th December. The site sits in the idyllic location of Umberslade Farm Park, where local dogs enjoy a paradise in which they can stretch their legs and socialise in the beautiful West Midlands countryside.

The centre is Bruce’s first expansion out of the South and Southeast of England, where it has built a glowing reputation for its unrivalled premium dog care service. The launch of the site has included a flurry of activity to engage the local community including a pop-up doggy kissing booth for dog lovers on Valentine’s Day and an Easter egg-stravanganza open day.

Kevin Fyffe, Operations Manager at Bruce’s Solihull, said: “The most incredible part of our opening in Solihull has been the integration and acceptance of Bruce’s into the local community. From Local Councillor, Mark Cargill, attending our opening to cut the ribbon, to all the incredible people we’ve met at our Valentine’s and King’s Coronation events, it’s really felt like Bruce’s has been welcomed with open arms, and has been a real hit with the people in the town.

“We have a wonderfully friendly team at Solihull, but the real Superstars are the dogs! We’ve welcomed them in all shapes and sizes, ranging from a Great Pyranean to a Chihuahua! Most of the dogs who attend are chauffeured in our pioneering, air-conditioned Bruce’s doggy buses to and from site, where they enjoy the beautiful Umberslade countryside at our 5-star 5-acre site.”

The Solihull opening is the latest development in an extremely exciting time for the Bruce’s business, which shows no signs of resting on its laurels as it continues to expand and set the precedent for doggy day care in the UK. With a brand-new site confirmed to open in August at the beautiful Battler’s Green in Radlett, and multiple other sites being considered across the country, visit bruces.dog to explore your nearest centre and sign-up your four-legged family member for a taster session they will never forget.