Dogtopia’s CEO and President Neil Gill joined The Safari podcast to talk about building stronger relationships between pet parents and their dogs, the concept of the humanization of dogs, his vast experience in franchising, and more.

“Our core demographic is the female millennial and she treats her fur baby like it’s a child, and so do we,” said Gill of the Dogtopia model. “And if we’re really serious about that — which we are — then you’ve got to take it to the full extent. Our Head of Real Estate and Design has spent 26 years in the children’s daycare sector. Kathy’s now been with me for three years and we’ve done a complete redesign of our spaces to ensure absolute safety.”

He also talked about Dogtopia’s focus on creating better canine citizen. “We start with socialization. A well-socialized dog is a dog that can hang out and be safe in a greenbelt, that’s calm when you have visitors visit you at home, that you can take out to restaurants, that can live in an apartment peacefully. Once the dog learns its basic socialization techniques by hanging out with other dogs, then we move on to some of the education components, where we work with them on basic commands, door control…And then, of course, exercise.”

Not only will your dog be better behaved after attending daycare, but they will find their BFFF (best furry friend forever). “We know that dogs in daycare meet their best furry friend, and they fall in love with them,” said Gill. “It’s quite incredible the relationships that develop in those playrooms. They pine for each other when they’re not in daycare.”

Listen to the full podcast here:

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