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 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 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 long stretches of time. 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 watch, understand, and manage their interactions constantly.
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 staffs 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.