IF YOU HAVEN’T SHOPPED AROUND, YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE MISSING
In a struggling economy, even an affluent consumer finds themselves more inclined to shop around for the best price. As a Howard County resident, dog enthusiast, and professional writer, I was considering work at Club Pooche, but I wanted to understand the competition before I could feel connected to owner Elisa Kamens’ mission. While Club Pooche has the lowest price-per-day versus Howard County’s biggest doggie daycare/boarding competitors, I wanted to differentiate its value. The disparities I found were shocking, from look and feel to amenities and professionalism. The most interesting thing was, however, that had I not visited the major competing daycare/boarding centers, I would be quick to take for granted the level of care given at Club Pooche. Strangely enough, for me the most compelling difference was the smell.
When I started shopping at a major franchise competitor, I had never toured Club Pooche. With no previous knowledge of doggie daycare, I walked into a major competitor as a virgin consumer of the product, my only prior experience having been a brief boarding of my dogs at Petsmart. At first, I was actually relatively pleased with my experience. The owner seemed to have my dogs’ best interest and special needs at heart, and it seemed to outweigh the inconsistency in investment between the bright and friendly entrance area vs. the no frills daycare area in the back. I didn’t know what I was missing. A second competitor was very busy and was notably less thorough in providing me with information about their facility.
FACILITY DESIGN MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE
All dog owners know then pungent smell of dog urine, and as stated before, this really stood out to me at both competitors. The heavily franchised company’s facility smelled clean on entry, but as you move back into the area where the dogs are cared for, the stench is startling. At my second stop, even the office areas had been permeated by the foul odor. One competitor advised me that they had a problem with a bordatella epidemic in their daycare population, and frankly that wasn’t surprising at all. I don’t doubt that these places make attempts to sanitize, but they are just not designed with the same care or attention to detail that was put into Club Pooche.
I could go on for quite a while picking apart all of the smaller differences, but I think the heart of the story comes to this; what type of environment would you send your best friend to? For me, the choice was evident when I walked into Elisa’s Red Branch Road location. The front area was certainly more lavish, offering convenience products to busy owners, but as I toured the facility it was obvious where her investment was: the pet’s experience. There wasn’t even a faint smell of urine in any part of the building. Floors were fully tiled in most areas with plentiful drains, making cleanup more effective than the filthy mop and bucket seen used on a competitor’s unfinished concrete flooring. The play yard was well lit and ventilated, with full climate controls like those of your home. A franchised competitor had no apparent temperature controls in the play areas and the putrid urine smells didn’t support the possibility of a well-designed ventilation system.
Villas at Club Pooche were outfitted with more comfortable bedding, and I was shown a washer and dryer on site where bedding and bath linens are cleaned regularly. The outdoor play area was mulched with playground chips; rakes and cleanup tools were visible. Dogs are let out and accompanied, more closely simulating their lives at home than a competitor’s plastic strips allowing free exit to an asphalt patch. The competitor with the smallest facility had claimed an average of up to 90 dogs a day, without adequate “naptime” pens to accommodate that many animals, whereas Club Pooche averages a more comfortable volume of dogs per day and has two large rooms full of kennels for pets to get some alone time.
DO YOU TAKE YOUR DOG TO A WAREHOUSE OR A SECOND HOME?
Every step further into Club Pooche made it undeniably clear – this is what every pet owner thinks they are taking their dog to. Unfortunately, without taking the time to shop the competition, they may never realize that their pricy doggy daycare/boarding pales in comparison to the quality of life offered by a lower priced location. Where are the additional profits going at the franchises? It must be going to their aggressive advertising campaigns, because it is certainly not being spent on the facilities.
