Does your face light up with immeasurable joy when you see dogs? Then you’re like a lot of people in the world, and that doesn’t necessarily mean you’d be the best choice as a doggy daycare owner. What will push you toward success is your patience, even when they don’t listen. What will make you a good daycare owner is the ability to handle multiple dogs of different personalities and to have fun while doing so. If you think that’s you, then check out some of these key tips for running a doggy daycare. For those of you that have what it takes, you won’t want to miss out on this helpful info!
Make Sure You Have the Right Staff
If you want this venture to be a success, then you have to realize that this business isn’t just you. You may be the spearhead, and you may even plan to stay hands-on. But the truth is, you can’t do it all, which means you need to have a good support system.
Your staff is an essential component of the success of your daycare, so make sure that you’re hiring the right staff. Make sure that they have a passion for dogs, not just an admiration when they see them on the streets.
Stay in Touch With Your Motivation
This tip for running a doggy daycare isn’t really about the actual running of the daycare; it’s more about how you can sustain the daycare. It’s similar to our previous point—if you’re not fully in, then you’re going to struggle. It’s the people who have a strong motivation that will make this path work.
So before you even begin, make sure your heart and motivation are in the right place. Then, keep that motivation with you and key in on it going forward.
Pay Attention to Outdoor Behavior
Now, this is the tip that refers to the actual training and watching of the dogs. People will bring their dogs to you for a variety of reasons, but a lot of people will have an underlying hope that you’ll not only watch their pup but train it, too. There are tons of avenues to go down on that front, but the tip that we find most imperative is that outdoor behavior needs as much training as indoor.
Don’t let the dogs follow smart training and behavior techniques inside and then let them get into a mess outside. Follow key tips for keeping dogs out of mischief outside, and stick to it so that owners come back to a dog that’s well-trained both in and out of the home.
Ensure Solid Communication
Communication is imperative between you and your staff, you and the dog owner, and even you and the dog. Do what you can to keep open and transparent lines of communication throughout your daycare’s run. If there’s an issue with a pup, ask your staff to document it. Share those details with the owners. The more open the lines of communication are, the better your chance to deal with things before they turn into big issues.
These are just a few tips—in no way does this cover every single detail of becoming a doggy daycare owner. But hopefully, these tips will help you succeed!