What Supplies are Needed When Starting a Dog Daycare Franchise?

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If you’re an entrepreneurial spirit who loves animals, perhaps you’ve considered venturing forth into a dog-related profession. Dog walkers are often in high demand in urban areas, but the gigs can be inconsistent, and the salary may be lower than you’d like. Dog-sitting could be fun — but it requires you to go to other people’s houses and spend all your gas money getting around town to sit for your canine friends.

What supplies are needed when starting a dog daycare? Who will you hire? There are many questions to answer if you’re planning on owning and operating a new business. Starting a dog daycare, especially when it’s a part of a franchise, can be a fun, fulfilling, and lucrative opportunity for business-minded individuals who have a passion for pets. If this sounds like you, read through the following information to determine the basic staff, supplies, and equipment you need to start a dog daycare franchise.

Staff and Equipment

One of the best parts about opening a franchise is that the heavy legwork has already been done for you. You’re not building a business from scratch or struggling to get the word about your startup — the business’s brand, logo, and reputation should already be in place. Plus, when you start a franchise, you have access to some awesome training opportunities that will give you more information about running your business, communicating with your staff, and providing the best dog daycare in your location.

Staff

When opening your new franchise, your focus may be on finding a good spot for your daycare facility, prepping it with the best quality food, treats, and play areas that you can afford. Soon, you’ll realize that hiring the right people to work with you — and with your four-legged clients — is of paramount importance when starting a dog daycare. Whether you’re in the stage of receiving resumes from potential employees or beginning the interview process, take some time to learn more about the roles below and learn what important parts they play in keeping your daycare running efficiently.

Managers

Owners and managers do many of the same things when running a small business, but there are some key differences in their roles. While you may focus on communicating with new clients, overseeing the budget, or improving the facility, your manager will be your right-hand man or woman who keeps the day-to-day operations afloat. This professional doesn’t need to have a degree in business or leadership, but higher education, and especially leadership training, doesn’t hurt here.

This person should have specific qualities such as great leadership and communication skills, the ability to supervise staff, integrity when working independently, and supreme attention to detail when overseeing the facility every day. You’ll want to find a manager who is as dedicated to the dogs’ wellbeing as you are, of course — but this passion is a given trait that should be evident in all your employees.

Daycare and Boarding Staff

While your manager will work closely with the staff, the daycare and boarding employees you hire will work one-on-one with the dogs themselves. These individuals should be excited about caring for animals, and they should have the ability to problem-solve as needed. Dogs can sometimes be unpredictable, scared, anxious, or even aggressive, and your staff should know how to handle these situations with ease and in a way that does not make others — whether they are staff, clients, or other dogs — uncomfortable.

When a client brings a dog in with a daycare question or arrives for their first day at the facility, your staff member will be the first friendly face to greet this person and interact with the new furry friend. Be sure that your staff can interact with several types of people and that they can communicate in detail with potential clients. Your staff should make clients feel welcomed and that their dogs are in good hands. After all, many people consider their dogs to be their babies — and whether or not they leave them in your franchise’s care may be dependent on the feeling they get when interacting with a staff member. Staff members should be in good physical health and willing to lift and play with the dogs as needed.

Supplies and Equipment

While you may have needed to focus your people skills and communication abilities on the hiring process, you will now need to devise a well-organized plan for stocking the daycare with all sorts of items for your canine clients. It’s not just about food and treats — though obtaining several types of these items is crucial for the dogs’ health. Consider the below items and dog daycare accessories when stocking your pantry and kitchen:

• Food and treats: Make sure to account for any dog allergies or sensitivities. You may want to keep puppy food and senior dog food for all types of clients.
• Cleaning supplies and trash bags: Dogs can be messy! Before opening your daycare, be sure to stock up on paper towels, wet wipes, and non-toxic cleaning liquids.
• Leashes: Depending on your facility, you may have a large yard for the dogs to play in, or you may take walks throughout the day. Either way, it’s good to have a few leashes as a backup in case you need to transport a dog or two from one place to another.
• Refrigerator: You’ll need to refrigerate some types of dog food as well as medicine for dogs who need it.
• First aid kits: Compile a first aid kit for humans in case of an emergency with your staff as well as one for dogs.

Facility

You probably won’t keep your dogs in cages all day — or ever. Most kennels and facilities are moving away from isolating dogs inside crates all day long for mental health reasons. Ensure that your canine customers get enough rest inside by creating soft spaces where they can lie down, and try to keep dogs of the same age ranges and temperaments together. For example, don’t keep senior dogs with playful puppies that want to jump on them all day long, and try to not keep a tiny dog with many larger dogs.

Inside and outside play areas are ideal as dogs will need lots of love, attention, and space to run around in all day long. They’ll also need to be comfortable: While you can’t control the temperature of the great outdoors, it’s important to do your research on ideal temperature ranges for dogs and adjust your thermostat accordingly. Central air and heat are best as they give you the most control year-round.

Get Everything You Need With A Hounds Town USA Franchise

While a franchise opportunity won’t spell out the details of every workday for you, it can do the heavy lifting in the beginning and give you a strong brand on which you and your future clients can rely. If you’re considering opening a dog daycare, get in touch with Hounds Town today to discuss opportunities. We’d love to speak to anyone who loves dogs as much as we do.

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