Unleash Your Entrepreneurial Spirit With These Dog-Focused Franchises

The global pet industry is expected to reach nearly $500 billion by 2030, and Bloomberg reports that a substantial amount of this growth can be attributed to “the premiumization of food and services resulting from the continued humanization of animal companions.” With more and more people devoting unprecedented amounts of time, energy and money to their pets, there has never been a better time to get into a pet-related franchise.

These dog-focused franchises help man’s best friends live their best lives — and are great investment options for 2024.

Central Bark

• Unit Count: 40+
• Initial Investment: $552,769 - $934,172

Central Bark is a whole-dog-care franchise with dog daycare, boarding, training, enrichment, grooming and retail offerings. Founded in 1997 before dog daycare was a common offering, Central Bark was started for the right reasons and still boasts a science-based, care-first model that makes pet parents feel comfortable.

In addition to an average unit volume of over $730,000, according to the brand’s 2022 Franchise Disclosure Document, Central Bark offers a supportive, passionate leadership team and franchise system to ensure owners can feel good about what they’re doing as they pursue financial success.

Wag N’ Wash

• Unit Count: 25
• Initial Investment: $296,670 - $960,200

Wag N’ Wash is a franchise model that offers everything pet parents need to keep their dogs’ tails wagging. Whether it’s retail items like food, treats and toys; a self-serve dog wash station; or professional grooming, nail trimming and nail grinding services, Wag N’ Wash is committed to keeping pets and their parents happy.

While the Wag N’ Wash model is still emerging, it is backed by Pet Supplies Plus, the pet supplies franchising giant that reported an average unit volume of $2.7 million in its 2022 FDD. It’s clear the pet industry is a lucrative one, and with the backing of such a successful brand, Wag N’ Wash is positioned to take off in the coming years.

The Dog Stop

• Unit Count: 25+
• Initial Investment: $543,000 - $1,010,100

The Dog Stop has everything a pet parent could need, all in one stop. With boarding, grooming, daycare, retail and training offerings on-site, and additional in-home services available, franchisees can address a wide range of demand and capture a larger market share.

“By combining all of the services under one roof, we have created a much better business model for our franchisees and better experience for the dogs,” said Jesse Coslov, founder and CEO of The Dog Stop. “Our customers (both two and four-legged) frequent The Dog Stop for daycare, overnight boarding, grooming, obedience training and retail purchases, so they feel well-adjusted, confident and genuinely excited to be in our facilities.”

The Dog Stop’s transparency practices take the commitment to comfort to another level. Policies in place at individual locations support the brand’s human customers in feeling fully confident to leave their furry friends with The Dog Stop.

“One important way to do this is by providing readily available tours and 24/7 web cam access to the public,” said Coslov. “Any facility that stands by a policy to not allow for impromptu tours and does not provide webcam access to the dog play areas and boarding rooms should be a serious red flag for potential customers.”

By getting ahead of the inquiries and setting a baseline expectation of transparency, The Dog Stop can avoid these concerns altogether and build confidence from the get go.

Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming

• Unit Count: 200
• Initial Investment: $287,800

Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming is focused primarily on grooming services, but that isn’t all. The franchise strikes a nice balance between exclusively grooming and branching out to include a myriad of dog care services, reporting that 66% of revenue comes from grooming, and the other 34% comes from retail sales.

This is an important structure as it allows franchisees to develop strong skills and teams that will establish Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming as the expert provider in the community.

Dog Training Elite*

• Unit Count: 243
• Initial Investment: $159,050 - $186,750

Dog Training Elite is a national dog training franchise that focuses on great training through great connection. With decades of dog training experience, the franchise understands that most dog training is situational, and it has built its model accordingly. If dog owners want their dogs to behave for them, they need to be doing the training. If the dog needs to improve its behavior at home, training should take place in the home. Dog Training Elite’s mobile model allows franchisees to address varied needs rather than providing a single strict offering like training at a facility or a board and train program.

“Our focus is making the community better through service dogs, therapy dogs and well-behaved pets,” explained Betsy Feaster, CEO. “We believe that if a client has a very good relationship with their dog, no matter what tool we use to help improve that relationship, they will be able to go out into the community and help other people better understand dogs and how they can fit into our lives.”

By using balanced training techniques, Dog Training Elite owners support their communities in creating happier, better-behaved dogs with customized training protocol to address the needs of each specific dog and owner.

Dogdrop

• Unit Count: 3
• Initial Investment: $302,000 - $568,000

Dogdrop is a dog daycare franchise that focuses specifically on elevating the daycare experience. Rather than restricting pet parents to half and full-day schedules only, the franchise bills by the half-hour, meaning dogs can be in daycare all day or for a brief 90-minute break.

In addition to the flexibility Dogdrop offers owners, the business model focuses on the health and wellness of the dogs during their time on-site, providing owners even more peace of mind and reducing complications for franchisees.

“A huge value proposition of why dog parents choose Dogdrop is because we’re a safe and vetted place to drop off their dogs,” said Shaina Denny, co-founder and CEO of Dogdrop. “When they see how seriously we take the good fit test, which is the behavioral assessment, or how seriously we take current vaccinations and flea and tick protocols, that’s really what attracts them to our system.”

Dogdrop’s model has streamlined operations without reducing the quality of care pets and their owners receive, creating an attractive model for franchisees. While the franchise is focused on daycare exclusively, rather than including things like overnight boarding and training, the dogs do receive enrichment and decompression periods throughout the day.

“We’ve provided a very simple and easy-to-operate model, which is very attractive,” said Denny. “We don’t try to train everyone on everything in terms of offering too many services. It’s also a smaller footprint and lower amount of employees, so the business was made to be quite scalable.”

If you’re a dog lover looking to break into entrepreneurship, consider investing in a franchise that combines your personal and professional passions.

Every great franchisee had help buying a franchise. Want to learn more about how 1851 helps franchisees find the right franchise opportunity? Visit www.1851growthclub.com and start your journey.