Robin Bennett was thrilled. Her new business had grown so fast in one year that she could now hire an employee.
Hiring an employee is a pretty standard event for most businesses. But Bennett’s business was different. It was 1995, and Bennett, a seasoned certified dog trainer, had just opened one of the country’s first dog daycares.
Unlike overnight boarding, which serves dog owners when they go away on vacation, dog daycare is like child daycare, serving people who love their dogs so much that they are happy to pay someone to exercise and play with them. Owning a dog daycare means being responsible for a group of unleashed, energetic dogs for extended periods. These dogs usually like to run and play, but they don’t necessarily know each other very well or have canine social skills. So you must constantly watch, understand, and manage their interactions.
If you’re running a dog daycare by yourself, as Bennett did for her first year, you’re the only one watching the dogs. That means 10- to 12-hour days without any breaks. You can’t work on your website or balance the books during the day. You can’t check your email or talk on the phone very easily. You certainly can’t go out to the bank to make a deposit. You can’t even close the door when you go to the bathroom.
That’s why Bennett welcomed her first new employee with such a big smile. She introduced the new staffer to her seven canine clients, talked about their personalities, and proudly showed her around the facility. And then Bennett realized that, finally, after a year of long, grueling days with no breaks and no freedom, she could go out for lunch, which she did.
She took a deep breath as she walked out the door, heading to the sub shop to pick up a sandwich. This was a major milestone, and Bennett was proud.
But when she returned 20 minutes later, she was horrified by what she saw. Blood was on the floor, on her new employee, and on two of her daycare dogs. It turned out that it looked much worse than it actually was – a small ear puncture, easily healed. But Bennett suddenly realized she possessed specialized skills, knowledge, and experience that most people did not. More importantly, she saw that growing her business was about more than just hiring nice people who like dogs.
These daunting realizations didn’t slow her down. Working with dogs was all she had ever dreamed of since she was a little girl, and even later, when she served as a proud U.S. Marine Corps colonel. So she started looking for information, scouring dog behavior boards, talking to trainers and pet sitters, and reading whatever she could find about dog group dynamics. But there wasn’t much information out there. Dog daycare was virtually unknown in the 1990s, with no industry standards, regulations, or even basic business information available.
By the early 2000s, dog daycares had started popping up all over the country. Bennet saw that the models, styles, and competencies of these well-intentioned businesses varied wildly. They did, however, have one thing in common: Nearly all the owners were working very long hours with slim to no profit margins — and no lives.
Bennett continued to grow her own business into Virginia’s largest dog training company while helping other dog daycares and networking with other pioneers in the field at dog care and behavior conferences. When she published her book, All About Dog Daycare: A Blueprint For Success, she instantly became a sought-after speaker herself. It was at this time that she met Sue Briggs, another dog daycare owner facing the tricky business of employee training.
It wasn’t long before Bennett and Briggs partnered up to write a new book, Off Leash Dog Play, about group dog behavior and canine body language, complete with tools and techniques dog daycares could easily implement. Then they created a formal staff training program called “Knowing Dogs,” whose goal was to ensure daycare dogs were emotionally happy, not only physically exhausted.
Today, Bennett and Briggs are known as The Dog Gurus, helping pet care professionals launch, grow, and profit by showing them how to build a sustainable business with staff that truly know how to read and manage dogs. They’re also working to help set and raise standards in this still virtually unregulated industry.
Bennett is still thrilled to be working with dogs and the people who love them. It was a pleasure to catch up with her recently.
Monica: How did you become so passionate about dogs?
Robin: It’s kind of ironic. I didn’t grow up with dogs, but I have always loved dogs. I was the kid asking my parents for a dog every Christmas, every birthday, and every holiday. But my dad was often overseas with the military, and my mom had four kids. She had her hands full without having a dog.
So I used to dog sit for people. The neighborhood dogs would always be at my house. I just loved them. But I didn’t own my first dog until I left home.
I’m retired from the Marine Corps Reserve. At one point, I requested leave to go to dog training school as a hobby. When I came back, I began doing dog training on the side, and people started offering to pay me.
I had never thought about training dogs as a career, but it turned out to be a lucrative one. I stayed in the Reserves but left the Marine Corps to start my own dog training business. That grew into consulting, which I’m doing now.
Monica: You pioneered one of the first dog daycare centers a couple of decades ago. Was there a need for dog daycare at the time, or were you guided more by your instinct that it would become something big?
Robin: I had heard about daycares, but they weren’t nearly as popular as they are now. I’m a certified professional dog trainer, and I have been offering in-home dog training lessons. After about four years, I was tired of driving to people’s houses all the time, and I said, “I want a facility where people can come to me.”
I leased office space and opened my training studio, but most of my training sessions were on weekends and evenings. I thought, “How can I generate revenue to pay for this facility using time during the day?” That was when I realized I should open a dog daycare, even though very few people were doing so. It wasn’t a well-known business model. I knew that dogs needed another outlet because so many of my training clients were busy.
I thought I knew how to do it, but I had my eyes opened once I started. It’s one of those things you learn on the job. When I opened my daycare, I worked by myself and offered daycare only on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Within a year, the daycare was so full I had to open five days a week—and then I had to hire staff to help me.
None of that was in my plan. I was not expecting it to grow as big and as quickly as it did. I really just thought it would be a way to generate a little more revenue to cover the rent, so I was surprised when it took off as quickly as it did. A year later, I had to move to a larger location. By then, I saw the direction that the industry was going.
Monica: As you know, many dog daycare-related businesses exist today. How do you continue to be the leader in that space?
Robin: When I first started, there was no information about dog daycare. Once I opened my own, people started asking me, “How do you do daycare? “The irony was that I didn’t have the time to talk to people because I was so busy running my own business.
However, I had written down much of what I had done, like certain procedures and lessons learned. I just started giving this document to people for free. Later, I started asking for $25 to cover my costs. The funny thing was that I was trying to get people to stop asking me questions. It turns out that if you write a book, people want to talk to you more, not less.
Then people really began coming to me to ask questions. I started getting requests to speak at national conferences. That’s how I became known in the industry — from publishing that book. Then I partnered with Susan Briggs after meeting at conferences. We shared a common passion for keeping dogs safe, both physically and emotionally, in this uncharted industry. We became partners to help our own staff understand how to do things better and ended up writing another book together. That book ultimately turned into our staff training program for daycare and boarding staff.
Now we primarily do consulting and staff training products. We have been instrumental in pushing the industry into safer standards. So far, it’s been an unregulated industry, with many people doing it in ways we don’t consider safe. We promote the safety standards we developed and the trade association has adopted, and we try to help others see that there’s a right way to do this.
We are also trying to get our members and followers to use an enrichment-based daycare model. We put our hearts and souls into understanding society and industry trends and staying ahead of them.
Monica: You’ve become a premier resource for dog daycare owners, helping them get their lives back and build sustainable businesses. Does that include helping them to bring structure and balance to their business?
Robin: It does. When Susan and I started, we focused primarily on getting them to operate their daycare safely for the dogs. That was our passion initially. But then we started to see that many pet industry business owners loved dogs but didn’t really have a business background.
Susan and I both became frustrated with a popular myth about this industry: “If I run a pet care resort, I’ll never take a vacation,” or “If I own a pet care resort, I’m not going to get rich.” We were really trying to say, “You should be making money, and you should be able to take a vacation if you’re running your business properly.”
We can tell these people how they can put systems in place to grow their business. We look at how they price their products and services to ensure they’re making money. Some of these are basic business principles, but many people don’t know them; they only opened their businesses because they love dogs.
Our focus is really to encompass all of that. We talk about how to operate a safe facility, but we’re also talking about how to operate a profitable business that doesn’t burn out the owner.
Monica: What mindset does a person need to own a dog care facility successfully?
Robin: It is truly that love of animals. I think most of the people who get involved have that. They really want to do what is right, but there’s much more to it. If you’ve had multiple dogs in your life, then you obviously know how much love they can give us.
People need to realize that many things might never have affected their own pet, but could be problems for animals that come into their care. For example, understanding that they might be destructive, or that they’ll sometimes try to get out, or they might have separation anxiety and try to jump the fence. It’s a huge responsibility to take on multiple dogs from other people who are paying you: making sure you have a safe enclosure for all those dogs, that you have a safe environment, that you check them to make sure they’re eating, and that they aren’t sick.
It can be really emotional because you get attached to those animals. The best part is meeting all the pets and pet parents. But we all know how hard it is to lose an animal. So the other side is when you’ve owned a pet care facility for a long time and gotten to know the animals and the families so well. When a dog passes away, it’s emotionally hard for the staff.
Monica: Does a dog daycare owner need to be able to read the dogs to better understand their personalities?
Robin: Yes, absolutely. One of our biggest pet peeves is people who don’t understand that. We have a whole training program called “Knowing Dogs,” which is all canine body language; it is how dogs talk to us. They are so easy to read if you have an education and understanding of canine body language.
You have to know how to keep the dog safe and happy, and to help him enjoy whatever situation he’s in. If you don’t know how to do that, you should become educated before you have dogs enter your facility. If you make a mistake, the result is usually an injury, and that’s where we want to avoid making them.
Monica: You’re a one-stop shop where people can get everything they need to start and run that type of business.
Robin: Yes. We offer staff training and business consulting programs. We help with finding the location and zoning, which is often the hardest part of opening. We have an online consulting program called “Launch Formula” to help people get their business up and running. We offer business consulting programs to help grow existing businesses and staff training programs.
Monica: What are some of the common myths that people believe about this type of business?
Robin: The biggest myth is that it’s easy and it’s quick money. In fact, it’s a lot of work. If you’re doing lodging as well as the daycare, it’s 24/7. The busiest times for a lodging facility are usually over the holidays. A lot of people forget about that.
Many people don’t realize how many staff they will need, especially if they just like working for themselves. You usually get to a point where you have to hire others, so you have to be able to manage and lead people. Many people get into the pet industry because they love dogs but don’t like people. That backfires eventually because you have to work with people, too.
A lot of people also underestimate how quickly they can open. Getting a facility and going through the zoning approval process in your community can take months, often a year or more. If you’re building from the ground up, it can take two or three years. Even if you’re leasing a property, getting the proper zoning and occupancy can take a while.
Monica: What are some of the benefits of being in this type of business, not just from a financial standpoint but from the satisfaction of knowing that you’re taking care of other people’s pets?
Robin: I always say that the first five years, when you’re your own boss, you’re the worst possible boss. You would never work for somebody as demanding as you are of yourself. So the first two years can be hard. But eventually, if you grow your business properly, you can get to a point where you have more freedom and flexibility, and a lifestyle that your business supports.
Another huge benefit is working with the animals. You fall in love with them. Every day, you have 40 to 50 different animals that you can play with and love. You get your favorites.
If you’re offering boarding, it might be cats, rabbits, birds, or whatever. I think that’s a lot of fun. Every day, you see different animals and different environments. You have a lot of variety in what you’re doing from day to day, and the dogs will keep you laughing.
Monica: What drives you to continue to do what you do day to day? How does your work fulfill you?
Robin: It goes back to my love of dogs. I have always loved dogs, and I honestly think that the better people understand dogs, the better relationships they’ll have with them. My ultimate passion is to improve our dogs’ lives, which in turn enriches our own. Every single business owner has hundreds of clients and the ability to impact all of those individuals, all through what they’ve learned through us.
Monica: Would you do anything differently if you had the opportunity?
Robin: I probably would have opened with a larger facility. That would have saved me from having to move three times. I would also have had a more formal staff training program. When I first started and hired my staff, we just trained on the job. It’s not the best way to train. I would also do staff training differently.