The Trouble with Corporate Dog Training and Boarding Companies

So you want to get your dog trained or you need to board your dogs while you go out of town; the first thing you do is go to the internet and run a search for companies in your area. What typically pops up are a handful of large, franchised boarding and training facilities. Here are a few things to consider before taking your dog to one of these facilities.

• First and foremost, most franchised dog training/boarding facilities are land grabs. Meaning, they are following the fast food business model in which the real estate is where the value of the company is, not in the training and boarding. When you purchase services from one of these companies you are paying the land note for them. This allows the company to scale and purchase more land in valuable locations (think major cities). Once the company acquires enough real estate they bundle and sell it as a portfolio to other investors which brings me to point number two.
• Franchised or corporate training/boarding facilities are owned by or answer to investors. Investors obviously care about one thing, the money line. Franchisees have to keep the money train running so the investors can cover the aforementioned land notes. This doesn’t exactly correlate with quality assurance but rather it’s a volume game. On to point number 3.
• Franchising is about volume. The more dogs that come in and out the door, the more land the company can acquire, the more money that ends up in the investors’ pockets. This may work for hamburgers but when you’re dealing with dogs it’s a whole different animal (pun intended). Dogs require a tailored approach. Considerations for breed, drive, personality, home environment, and early training must be considered. McDonald’s does sell a lot of hamburgers but few people say that they are going to McDonald’s because they sell the “best” hamburger.
• The same young, inexperienced chaps that are making your fast food are training your dogs in the corporate facilities. They pay low wages to inexperienced personnel to keep their costs down. To be clear, there is nothing wrong with employing young people in the canine professions but they should work under the guidance of a skilled mentor for a significant period of time. Typically, franchise models will fly their new trainers to a headquarters location and train them for a period of time. Once the training period is over they are sent back to the franchise location. Canine training is a skill that takes many years to develop. Any trainer worth their salt will tell you that they are constantly learning no matter how many years they’ve been training. Some logical questions you may ask when inquiring about one of these companies are as follows. When is the last time the owner or head trainer for this company was here? Does the master trainer live in Virginia yet you are at a location in Phoenix? How many times does the owner/head trainer visit this location per month/year?
• This brings us to our final point. As you have already concluded, all of the above points center on quality control. How do investors or remote trainers maintain quality control over 26 franchised canine training or boarding locations in every major city? In short, they don’t…they charge more because they have to pay higher bills, they hire inexperienced personnel, and unfortunately they aren’t focused or concerned about the end product that is your dog. You may get an expensive hamburger but it won’t be the best you’ve ever had.

As an alternative, do some research and develop relationships with some reputable trainers/care takers in your area. The next time you leave town or receive training your stress will be notably lower and your wallet a little heavier.