• Industry Growth 
  • Strong National Brand
  • Current Economic Opportunities
  • Several Successful Ownership Personas
  • Affluent Customer Base  

The Dog Care and Service industry continues to grow at a significant rate even during these challenging times.  Dog adoption and puppy purchase rates are higher than they have been in recent years as new Pet Parents are eager to use the “work from home” time as a training period for their new Best Furry Friends.

This may be a perfect time to own a Dogtopia.

Significant Industry Growth  

  • According to Statistics Canada Canadian Households spent $8.3B on their pets in 2017. This was up 15% from a spend of $7.2B in 2015. 
  • According to the Canadian Animal Health Institute [CAHI], 41% of Canadian Households have at least 1 dog.  
  • While cat ownerships remained steady or declined slightly, dog ownership amongst Millennials is growing significantly. In 2018 in Canada there were 8.2M dogs up from 7.6M in 2016, an increase of 8% in two years. That is a large number of dogs that require Daycare, Grooming, Boarding and other dog services offered by Dogtopia. 

 Strong National Brand in a Fractured Industry 

  • The Pet Care industry in Canada is still an immature industry with the bulk of existing operators being independent and lacking the strength of scale in terms of operating support.  
  • Dogtopia has invested heavily in the business’s back–end support so that owners may focus on maintaining the high standards of the facility and serving Pet Parents well. Some of the major investments to support all Dogtopia locations are in: 
  • Marketing 
  • Technology
  • Environmental Biology and the Health of the dogs  
  • Canine behaviour, and 
  • Online Learning Pathways 

Dogtopia Canada has just opened its 17th location, making it the largest chain of Full–Service Dog Care businesses in Canada.  Following in the footsteps of Dogtopia in the United States, Dogtopia Canada is positioned to be the fastest growing full-service Dog service businesses offering Daycare, Boarding, Grooming and Training in all locations.   

 Current Economic Opportunities  

  • The current cost of money [Canadian Prime @ 2.45%] makes money both available and relatively inexpensive.  
  • Prime Real Estate locations that may have previously been unavailable or unattainable may now be within reach. 
  • Employee pools may be larger and more interested in the growing pet care industry. 
  • History has shown that the Pet Services and Pet Care industries fair better than most during economic downturns  

Several Successful Ownership Personas 

There are several successful categories of owner/operators, including: 

  • Corporate refugees looking to do something on their own, 
  • Family business of Parent and Child working together with the goal of Child taking over the operation, 
  • Family Offices or Private Investors looking to maximize the benefits of scale through multi–unit ownership, 
  • Another key to success is the willingness to invest in hard work and a management team to professionally operate the business has like any business,  
  • A love of dogs is great but is not the magic bullet to a successful business! 

 Affluent Customer Base 

Dogtopia and the Dog Daycare and Boarding service business in general thrive on two distinct customer groups; 

Boomers; 

  • Empty nesters who love their dogs and want them to be socialized and exercised while the lead busy lives 
  • Travel extensively and need a Dog Boarding facility for their Best Furry Friend that is more than a kennel. 
  • Have the means to indulge in treating their Dogs to a better level of care than traditionally offered. 

Millennials; 

  • According to the Financial Post and others, “Millennials use pets as starter kids”. 
  • Millennials are driving increased spending on Fur Babies up as they indulge their Best Furry Friend without limits with treats, daycare and other luxury lifestyle. 
  • Affluent Millennials are willing to spend on healthcare and veterinary services for their dog with less concern for cost than previous generation. 

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