Why Enrichment Academy replaced Daycare at the Mutt House
Gone are the days of playing & sleeping your dog’s life away. When I was a Pet Sitter in Massachusetts, I used to offer doggie hikes. I would go house to house and pick about 10 dogs and stuff them in my Ford Explorer, and then head to this park in Stoneham that had trails running off of it. The dogs would dump out of the Explorer, run into the field and see other dogs, and I would start off on a trail. They would all run after me and we would hike for an hour. We would run into another walker with their dogs and they would briefly interact and then both groups followed their leader. I did 2 of these a day and paid my Team to do most of the home visits. Watching these dogs play, chase, dig, sniff and run was so Amazing!!! They got to be dogs!!!
I started hearing about doggie daycare and they had quite a few around where I lived in MA. I thought that would be cool if everyone brought their dogs to me. I ended up selling off my big Pet Sitting business to 3 of my walkers and moved back to Texas in 2004. I wanted a doggie daycare, so I made that happen in October 2004. I think I was the 4th daycare in Houston, TX.
It did not take me long to realize that stagnant dogs posed fight risks and other behaviors. Your job was constantly trying to control excitement to ensure you did not have a dog fight. I perfected this over the years, so that we hardly ever had a fight, but that also meant daycare was more boring, not only for the dogs, but for the Team. I really missed those group hikes and seeing how much Fun those dogs had on a daily basis. It just has not cut it for the past 20 years. Yes, 20 years of dogs mainly sleeping all day and playing on occasion and that is it, sad to say. When we rolled out Fitness Day Camp a few years ago for the dogs that did not do well in the daycare setting, once again I saw dogs be dogs. They used their senses and strength and had this sparkle in their eye. We rolled out Enrichment for people to add to daycare, but most customers thought that daycare was enough. They are getting to play and exercise, so not many add-ons from daycare. We offered a Combo Pkg that included both and still were left with just a few customers that participated. One day I was scrolling through FB and ran across what they were calling a Scent Room. I was intrigued and wanted to know more. I found out that these 2 guys in the UK, Dom & Tim, were offering a class called Enrich U. It was not just about Enrichment, but how you incorporate it into all your services so that all the dogs that walk into your facility are automatically enrolled in things that allow them to use their innate abilities. At first, I could not figure out the logistics and wanted to know more. I signed up my Managers and Trainers and we all got certified through Enrich U in December as well as I joined Dom’s business coaching platform.
We offered good stuff but did not incorporate it into the dog’s daily lives at the Mutt House. This was a whole new way of looking at daycare in a “hybrid way”. I was sold and had to sell the team on it as well. We started by doing our first Immersive Experience Room in December and the dogs LOVED IT! Then in January changed from just doggie daycare to Hybrid Daycare (Enrichment Academy). We are slowly working through the logistics and the dogs getting used to doing one-on-one (Enrichment or Etiquette Class), rest time (Meditation Room) and group time (Social Skills class), as well as a much needed snack.
The dogs are having so much Fun in just the first 4 weeks of rolling it out, and the Team is no longer bored just trying to avoid fights all day. We do smaller group play sessions and match up the dogs better, so they get more quality Social Skill time. This is letting dogs be dogs and use their innate abilities throughout the day. You have daily options and even the Immersive Experience is changed daily! We don’t want bored dogs or humans, which now sets the Mutt House apart as Houston’s Premier Canine Enrichment Center & you are a part of it!
~molly taylor