Earlier this month I had the pleasure to board my first pup, Bailey! I’ve written about dog boarding in the past (via Rover and Wag), but up until now I’d only ever managed to walk dogs or get paid to do nothing.
I was eager to start building my dog boarding business and excited to play with a new pup, so I accepted Bailey’s booking even though she wasn’t a perfect match (she was about 40 lbs, which was larger than ideal; my dog is maybe 10 lbs at most).
My first boarding didn’t go perfectly, but it wasn’t all bad, either. Let’s look at what went right and what could have gone better.
What went right?
Bailey is a sweetheart and a very cute pup. We had tons of fun with her, and she was a huge cuddler. After being with us for a day or so she must have decided we were alright, because she chilled out considerably. This made our job pretty easy.
We ended up having an event at our house during her stay with quite a few people, and Bailey was extremely well behaved. In fact, we had to put our dog up, while Bailey took it all in stride! She was also great with other dogs and our cats, whom she mostly ignored.
Bailey’s owner ended up extending her stay multiple times, which I think ultimately worked out well. I would not have initially accepted such a long stay (10 nights), but it ended up working out great. Even though it was really just one long stay, it got booked as three separate stays in the app, which was ideal. Multiple stays from the same owner show up differently on your profile as rebooks, which help improve your profile and ranking. Eventually, the owner also left us a great review, and based on her comments I feel confident about having won a repeat customer.
During the stay, I took plenty of pictures, and even generated some automated videos based on the photos and videos I took, commemorating the stay. This was my first boarding, so I wanted to go as far above and beyond as possible to surprise and delight my customer!
What could have gone better?
As stated, Bailey is bigger than my ideal client. What’s more, she is still a teenager in dog years, so she has a TON of energy. Taking care of her definitely involved a little more work than my dog (especially during the first day or two as she was settling in), so it wasn’t quite the “no work added” situation I’d been envisioning.
That being said, it wasn’t enough work to complain about, either, and we would definitely book Bailey again and enjoy it. Our household definitely missed her a bit when she left, although we were also glad for the calmer atmosphere.
For Bailey’s size dog, especially a puppy, I would charge more in the future. I have my rates set low while I try to attract business, but even so I would add an extra charge for a dog like her in the future. I also didn’t charge extra for picking her up, which I wouldn’t normally do. This was in part because I was hoping to build good grace for a nice tip (which didn’t materialize) and part because I didn’t know how to do this in the app yet. Lesson learned.
https://food4wallet.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/img_5356.movThe final score.
Overall, I’m very pleased with my first boarding. While it may not have been “perfect” in some regards, the truth is I learned some things, had fun, and brought in some extra cash. I ended up making about $200, or roughly $20/night. Here’s to the next one!
