dog day care

redmimosa

Hi, considering starting a dog creche/ day care business and just wondering if a)people would be interested and b) how much ye all would be willing to pay?!

know there is one place charges 30 euro a day, a bit pricey perhaps??

Location would be south dublin (d 12) thanks:D

SuzyS1972

what qualifications do you have to run one before you start ?

Lauragoesmad

I used to do it when I lived in England last year. You can make excellent money but the people leaving their dogs will expect the best of references (and rightly so) and proof that you have experience with a dog like theirs. I used to mind a weimaraner named Cody five days a week as his owners both had to do long hours for a few months in work.

popppy

I think it is a great idea......I only work part time so I would not need to avail of this service but I can imagine many dog owners who work full time would be interested. reckon €30 per day is rather steep tho, maybe €15-€20 would be more realistic ? Good luck with it

yogidc26

My wife does it and we charge €40-€50 a week so you might be a little off with €30 a day

Goffie

Hi
That's far too much to charge, IMO.
You'll need to be fully insured, have lots of experience handling different types of dogs in a group, have a car/van, excellent references from vets etc.

How would you see the dogs spending the day - play, walkies, rest etc or kennelled?

How will you deal with people who are consistently late picking up doggie? Will you be alone with the dogs? How many will you take at a time?How would you deal with a fight/accident while dogs are in your care?

I occasionally leave mine with his walker from 8.30am - 5.30pm for €20 if there's work being done on the house or I have to go away for the day.

Think this through carefully - why should people trust you with their beloved dogs? Do you have any kind of training?

Lauragoesmad

Goffie wrote: »

I occasionally leave mine with his walker from 8.30am - 5.30pm for €20 if there's work being done on the house or I have to go away for the day.

Think this through carefully - why should people trust you with their beloved dogs? Do you have any kind of training?

The same reasons you chose to leave you fella with his walker maybe.;)

redmimosa

Firstly thanks for all your responses.
Well I don't have formal qualifications with dogs but from what I have looked up many of these would not be worth their weight in... well anything really. I am open to correction in this regard, would love if there was a good qualification I could get.

I work part time with horses and have qualifications in that department. Also have had dogs and been around them all my life. Is qualifications really the first thing that people would be concerned about when considering this service?
I have just started dog minding recently and it is going well so far. As to how a person would react if there is a fight between dogs well I think it is pretty much the same as a vet emergency in the stables, a call has to be made whether to call the vet or not, most of the time to to err on the side of caution.

As for the price, I did think 30 euro was steep, read an article in the sunday business post about a new business which charged that. Not sure how they are doing?! What does anyone think about location?

SuzyS1972

I think you are totally wrong - my friend is half way through her dog training psychology course and is a mine of information.
She can assess and know why dogs are behaving in a certain way - can understand their body language and pre-empt fights before they start.

I would def not leave my dogs with someone that didn't have these qualifications.
My dog walker is always going on seminars and that and has a lot of relative experience.

99% of their care is about that with me the walk is about 1% of the importance.

Have you experience breaking up dog fights - I have and it's a scarey thing when they are going 90 at each other.

houndsoflove

Yes i agree you should have qualifications first. Do an animal care course.
After all you can't run a child day care without qualifications.

GingerG

Hi

I live in Ringsend and am wondering if anyone knows of any Doggy day care places in the area or near city centre?

cocker5

GingerG wrote: »

Hi

I live in Ringsend and am wondering if anyone knows of any Doggy day care places in the area or near city centre?

http://www.muttugly.com/play.php

cocker5

redmimosa wrote: »

Hi, considering starting a dog creche/ day care business and just wondering if a)people would be interested and b) how much ye all would be willing to pay?!

know there is one place charges 30 euro a day, a bit pricey perhaps??

Location would be south dublin (d 12) thanks:D

Firstly, what a great idea! We need more places for animals etc.

ok here's my experience and what i think!

Firstly €30 per day is very expensive... €20 then yes, but €30 i think is a step too far for most people...

these guys only charge €15 - €20 per day:
http://www.muttugly.com/play.php

I tried looking for Doggie Day Care for my cocker, as my working hours now a longer etc but couldnt get one anywhere! Instead i have a dogwalker: http://www.walkies.ie/ She is great, collects him and other dogs, brings him up into the mountains and walks him for over an hour, then drops him home etc... so he's gone for about 3-4 hours per day etc... she charges €20 per day...

Secondly i dont belive you need any qualification personally, I wouldnt be sneding my dog to be trained etc but to be entertained and kept happy in other dogs company for the day...

Plus for extra benefits you could do a course in dog grooming and offer this as a service... lits of people would avail... i know i would!!

Im not sure whether D12 would go for the idea to be very straight with you... you need to target, prosperous areas where dog owners can justify spending their money on Doggie Day Care etc - just my honest opinion...
Maybe Dublin 6 etc or if you cant get the unit in these areas pick up or drop off the dogs for an extra fee etc...

Following links may be of some hlep:

http://www.doggydaycaretips.com/start-dog-daycare-center/prepare-dog-daycare-business-plan/

variety

Agree with others - €30 is far far too expensive.

If mine goes 5 days a week it costs €15 per day, if 4 days, costs about €18 p/d, 3 days = €22 p/d and so on.

I think even the €15 is an extortionate amount. If she goes 5 days a week for a month it costs on avergage €325 p/m. :eek:

I recently looked for a rent decrease and was over the moon with €100 p/m

mohenley

sorry to jump in on this topic but i was wondering if anyone provided dog walking/day care services in County Kildare (Newbridge area) for when owners would be on holiday? don't particularly want to use kennels as he is happy in his environement. We are off for 2 weeks in november and would love for someone to provide our dog (blind terrier) with walks, some attention (which he loves) and food (we would provide).

cocker5

mohenley wrote: »

sorry to jump in on this topic but i was wondering if anyone provided dog walking/day care services in County Kildare (Newbridge area) for when owners would be on holiday? don't particularly want to use kennels as he is happy in his environement. We are off for 2 weeks in november and would love for someone to provide our dog (blind terrier) with walks, some attention (which he loves) and food (we would provide).

http://www.kildarehorsesitting.com/dogcatservices.html

or have you thoygh of kenneling which is "home stay"?? its where your dog will stay in the minder house (NOT A NORMAL KENNELLS) he/she would be kept company all day rather than a few hours every day, just getting a sitter if your away for two weeks may leave the dog very lonely during other times!

Here's who i use for my guy... she's brillant, the dog stay in her kitchen... she's great with dogs with disabilites:

http://www.yuppiepuppie.ie/

or http://www.walkies.ie/html/splash.html

Best of luck

DeadlyByDesign

I will be getting a great dane at some stage in the next few months and may need a walking/sitting service as I work 9-5. My question is, will the dog even through training still see you as the authority figure? My biggest fear is that the start seeing the sitter or the walker as their master.

mohenley

thanks!!

is this expensive? our dog is stray which we found in Jan (during cold spell) no owner ever turned up so we have kept him. we leave him during the day when at work as have no choice and he seems happy enough (who knows what he went through before) but he is very well mannered.

cocker5

DeadlyByDesign wrote: »

I will be getting a great dane at some stage in the next few months and may need a walking/sitting service as I work 9-5. My question is, will the dog even through training still see you as the authority figure? My biggest fear is that the start seeing the sitter or the walker as their master.

ok, im not too sure what your worried about the be honest??

A dog walker will walk your dog for an hour or so per day, they will not be involved in the training etc of your dog... unless thats what you want and pay them for.... so assuming you may just be after a normal dog walker, then this wont affect the master thing..

From my experience we have a dog walker, my dog adores her, but he still knows who his parents are (hubby and i , if you know what i mean)... we dont do the whole master thing with our guy, he's such a sweetie he doenst require it to be honest..

So to some it up will your dog think your dog walker is his owner? Def not, you will be feeding your dog, playing with your dog, walking him/her at weekends etc... your dog will see the dog walker as fun and will be delighted to see them but they wont think they are their owner :rolleyes:

cocker5

mohenley wrote: »

thanks!!

is this expensive? our dog is stray which we found in Jan (during cold spell) no owner ever turned up so we have kept him. we leave him during the day when at work as have no choice and he seems happy enough (who knows what he went through before) but he is very well mannered.

Fair Play to you for keeping him! Very sweet thing to do he's ery lucky to have you guys!

ok our home stay kennels with Barbara cost €19 per day, this includes food etc, she keeps them in her kitchen and he sleeps there at night etc...

http://www.yuppiepuppie.ie/

our dog walker too is €20 per day for pet sitting, she too does home stay kenneling not sure how much.... but she's very good too..

www.walkies.ie

The link i sent you on, im not sure how much that lady charges, but i was say its in and around the same etc!

mohenley

thanks, i have dropped her an email

Eibhin

Hi there

I have PM'd you my details.

I do home boarding including day care for dogs, I am based in Shankill, Co. Dublin. I have completed a Canine First Aid course.

I am also the owner of a 14 year old blind dog so I am fully aware of their needs. If you dog would like to come to spend an afternoon or a night before committing to a long stay, that would be perfectly fine.

Give me a call if you need any more information and I will be glad to help.

Thanks!
Eibhin

hpsheba

I use a doggy daycare for my 3 fur babies and I pay €15 per dog per day. The company have a purpose built premises and all the staff are trained in canine first care and the full time staff all have extensive training, which is ongoing, in animal training and behaviour.

I personally would not be comfortable in leaving my dogs in an environment where the person looking after them did not have some type of formal training and qualification. I was unlucky enough to have been stung before by a dog walker who thought it was acceptable to use choke chains on my dog and was charging me €17 per dog per hour for the privilage I was lucky enough to find about about this on the first day that she had them and it has compleatly changed how I go about looking for someone who I would trust with my dogs. I was lucky that soon after this happening a doggie daycare opened close to me and it has been great, for me and my dogs.


I work with dogs myself full time and I would suggest if you do decide to go ahead that you at the very least ensure that you are not in sole charge of a big group of dogs. Owners can be very vague in regards to their dogs behaviour ( I probably am too, blinded my the fact that my dogs are perfect LOL ) and it can be hard to keep an eye on several different groups and size of dogs on your own. Also premises, even in this recession can be costly plus you will have to organise safe flooring, crates/kennels areas, insurance for yourself and the dogs in your care, vet associataion should something bad happen.

I am not trying to put you off but I have heard quite a few people talking about doing this recently and I really dont think its as easy as some people think. Also I dont think its acceptable to call yourself a doggie daycare facility if you just crate dogs for the day and bring them out for a 30minute walk which I have heard of happening. Daycare to me means happy dogs, being socialised in a secure area by trained experienced staff.
Recently there seem to have been a few courses advertised in relation to working with dogs, maybe you could contact someone who operates a daycare facility and speak to them and ask what the pitfalls are and what if any course they have done and did they find them useful??


Anyway best of luck

ISDW

The thread asking about opening a doggie day centre is 2 years old, it was resurrected by someone asking where to find daycare for their dog.

hpsheba, you're obviously far too busy looking after the dogs that are lucky enough to come and visit you every day for their grooming to have noticed a little thing like that:p

hpsheba

:p:p trust me Doh!!!! There is a reason why I don't post much on any forums ha ha

Log-on

My mom uses a Dog walking service in ranelagh, its www.doggiewalks.ie
She seems pretty happy with it, We have a Kerrin terrier, Who goes 5 days a week, She pays around 12 euro pre walk

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