How to Start an Indoor Dog Park: Low Budget and Applied Method

Health is a vital criterion for everyone. In a world where the concept of mental health in general is taken for granted, it is a must that we pay special attention to it even when it comes down to our precious little munchkins. We can be extremely protective of our pets. Take it from an overprotective dog owner. From all the terrible pollution in the air to all kinds of dreadful accidents, we want to protect them from anything and everything in our control and we take as many measures as possible, to ensure their safety and well-being. But sometimes, in the interest of looking out for them, we forbid them from the most basic activities, something as elementary as playing in a park.

Now, it is important to remember that a simple walk or a stroll in a park is really essential for our dogs. It is necessary for them, in order to maintain their physical and mental health. It ensures their fitness and it has been observed to be responsible for a significant decrease in anger and resistance, in most troublesome dogs. Not only that, it gives them some time off the leash, which in turn gives them a sense of independence and opportunity of being freely mobile without restrain or control. It becomes a very liberating exercise through which they get various occasions to socialize with other dogs and further form many warm and enriching relationships within their own community.

An added benefit to the whole experience is that since the surrounding is so encouraging, it can be an ideal place to teach and train your dogs to be on their best behaviour at all times and teach them certain mannerisms you deem necessary.

Keeping in mind how effective and efficient a dog park can be, you can make your home more comfortable and exciting for your dog by including an indoor dog park. It will not only boost the content of your dog but will also make a very conducive environment for him to play around and stay healthy. Not to forget, it can be a very promising alternative on days when the weather is bad outside.

The following are the fundamental steps to create a warm and welcoming indoor dog house. This will benefit not only the dogs of the neighbourhood but the dog owners as well.

 Research Your Market:

It is important to know what kind of business you might be getting yourself into. Some indoor dog parks levy extra charges for certain services. It is important for you to know and keep those records. Visit various parks and try to comprehend the working system of that place. You must try and understand how the regular day operations are carried out and what extra perks can they provide. Talk to the owner of these parks and learn all the tips, tricks and suggestions they have to offer about running the business while ensuring a safe experience for the dogs.

 Legalities:

There are certain rules and regulations we have to follow to keep our practices in check and to ensure that our activities don’t interrupt the day-to-day work of people around us. You will have to visit the local town hall or the municipal parks office, to learn more about the same. You also have to be aware and up to date about all the permits and licenses that are involved to get the process started, allowing you to be fully legal and within your rights for starting the business, all while ensuring that your attempts don’t work against the needs of the neighbourhood.

You must ensure the ordinances and noise restrictions that are levied on barking dogs, to ensure the you practice necessary measures to tone down the racket caused by howling dogs in your care. You must engage with a veterinarian to be updated about the medically obligatory vaccinations for dogs. Whereas you must bear in mind to ask the customer to maintain and submit you a file proof by the dog’s veterinarian of all the vaccination he has had and of any specific health or behavioural concern. Some states deem the submission of proof by veterinarians necessary.

Rules:

You must make it a priority to keep certain rules in place to maintain the decorum of the place. But you must also be open to leave some wriggle room in difficult situations like in case of a female dog in heat which might become the cause of unwanted pregnancies or fights of her admirers. You might even consider some ground rules for unneutered dogs. They often become a target of harassment from the neutered dogs in forms of roaming, violence, mounting and marking. Unneutered dogs are known to have certain social and behavioural concerns themselves.

 Location:

You must be careful of the location you choose for your dog park. You would want it to be away from areas of high traffic, industrial buildings or any busy roads to avoid any unfortunate mishaps with an escaped dog. You should also avoid any place near a competitor for any unnecessary pessimistic environment.

Business Plan:

Now that you’re beginning a business, it is crucial that you have a business plan to reach the milestone you plan to reach. You must begin the actual physical process of progressing your indoor dog park plan. You must start preparing the ground, bring in all the amenities you need and sit down with your account and discuss the budget, the expenses, the revenue, the start-up cost, the daily functional cost, advertising policies, the turnaround time for profits etc. You must take a final reviewing glance at all the regulations, guidelines, ordinances and all the requirements deemed compulsory.

Marketing Strategy:

Here comes in the usual marketing. You begin publicizing your establishment to as many offices, schools, houses, community centres, newspapers, libraries, veterinarians, restaurants and stores as you can get. You begin making tie ups with several veterinarians for emergencies in return for referrals, stores for buying features for your dog park and restaurants and hotels, agreeing to take care of pets arriving in with customers. Most importantly you will try to make nice with the neighbourhood residents and making them feel welcome and letting them entrust you with their dogs, be it for a bad weather day, or a weekend.

You must also focus on online advertisement and creating your own website for your institution. You would also want to be threaded in to various local, real world and online pet associations.

Employees:

Now is the time to hire employees. You are in need of hiring staff who will assist you in your office work and help you out with grounds maintenance, payment collection, waste removal, cleaning and setting up the place, attend and address concerns with dog owners and essentially take care the dogs. You would want to hire a receptionist, who would handle the front desk and attorney for legal and liability issues, to create a list of basic requirements for the employees and to keep all activities. You require staff that are willing to take responsibilities and can handle tough circumstances and make tough calls in your absence in the best interest of your establishment and are unpersuasive loyal to you in all situations.

Here is a youtube video with various tips and tricks to further help you with your indoor dog house.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=468s-gUO7Bg

Source:

https://webcoat.com/benefits-dog-parks-communities