A dog day care center is the ultimate business for the entrepreneur who loves animals. Business is booming in the pet care industry with Americans spending 34 billion dollars per year on their pets. Almost half of all households in this country own more than one pet. Americans love to coddle their pets which is where your dog day care business can fulfill a need.
Most people work during the day, giving them less time to spend with their faithful canine friends. A dog can become lonely if left home alone all day and may ultimately exhibit destructive behavior due to separation anxiety. It's a welcome relief to pet owners to have the option of taking their dog to dog day care center for a day of fun and frolic.
As an owner of a dog day care center, you would provide a large play area where dogs can play, interact, and socialize on neutral territory. What kind of services can you offer? In addition to playtime, you can offer such services as dog training, grooming, boarding, swimming, dog photography, dog birthday parties, and dog spa services such as massage. You would probably want to avoid these additional add ons initially in order to keep your start up costs down. You can always add more service on an ongoing basis.
How much space do you need to start a dog day care center? A large warehouse space is perfect, particularly if it opens onto a large outdoor area that can be fenced in for outdoor doggy activities. If you're interested in offering a pool for swimming, you need to make sure you have the room to build it. It would be ideal to have an area in the front which you could convert into a store where you sell doggy treats, premium dog foods, dog toys, bones, and other impulse purchases. These make phenomenal add on sales. Most people can't resist getting their dog a treat to take home. Other equipment you might need for the dog play area are some tunnels and other items for climbing on and jumping through to keep the dogs stimulated.
It's important you make your facility as safe as possible by ensuring the dogs have no route to escape. Make sure fences are high and secure and all doors are kept shut at all times. Dogs should be required to be spayed and neutered and up to date on all vaccinations in order to participate in dog day care. Your staff would need to be well trained in how to introduce a new dog to the group and how to judge whether a dog is a good candidate for dog day care. You don't need an aggressive dog causing problems for the other dogs. You would also need a well thought out system for dealing with the occasional dog fight that might break out. Careful employee screening and a training program should be provided for all employees You may also consider limiting the number of dogs you take in on a daily basis in order to make sure each dog gets adequate care and attention.
The dog day care business is one with great potential, particularly if you add on services such as grooming and boarding. Could this fun, animal oriented business be for you? Why not give it some thought?
