By STU CLAMPITT
Pawsitively Spoiled pet sitting was founded in 1990 in Kokomo and now has both a franchise location in Noblesville and opportunities for locations in Westfield, Carmel, Zionsville and more.
According to Pawsitively Spoiled’s owner, Nicole Peel, the business grew organically over the years mainly from word of mouth until she had to quit her full-time job in 2016 to focus on this. By spring 2017, she needed to hire help. The business has consistently grown, month after month, from 2016 to 2020.
The business focuses on in-home pet sitting, as opposed to kenneling, where a client’s pets stay at home while their people are away.
Photo provided
“That can be a vacation where we make one to four visits daily,” Peel said. “One visit would be typically for a cat or small caged animals, or three to four visits per day for a dog. The other need we fill is for dog walking services – no, I am sorry, but we can’t walk your lizard.”
Dog walking can take place for people who are at work during the day or just because people aren’t able physically or don’t have time.
“We are actively seeking new franchises which are for sale in most parts of the country,” Peel told The Reporter. “A few local areas that we would like to see locations include the west side of Hamilton County (Carmel/Westfield/Zionsville), north side of Indianapolis, Brownsburg area and Greenwood, and many areas in other states.”
Franchises sell for $20,000 and startup costs on top of that can be as low as $4,000 to $5,000. Peel is also are willing to help with in-house financing if someone is a good fit but needs help with the costs.
“There are huge benefits for about 95 percent of all pets and owners,” Peel explained. “We don’t charge per pet. If you go to a kennel and you own three dogs it would be $35 to $50 per night per dog, so that racks up pretty fast.”
Photo provided
Pawsitively Spoiled charges per house, not per individual pet the way kennels do.
“If you have just one dog it can be comparable, but if you have two or three dogs or also have a cat or a guinea pig or fish that need to be checked on too, they could be paying $800 or $900 to a kennel for a week and still have to have somebody else come in and check on the other animals,” Peel said. “Also, when we come in, we pick up any packages, we collect the mail, we turn on and off lights, keep an eye on the house to make sure everything is secure.”
There is also a big convenience factor.
“We have a customer who’s leaving tonight to go on spring break and I’m starting with their dog tonight at bedtime,” Peel told The Reporter. “By getting ready to leave tonight they would have had to drive their dog over to the kennel this morning and dropped him off. If they get back on Saturday night at 8 o’clock the kennel would not be open, so when they get home their dog would not be there.”
Pawsitively Spoiled representatives can come three or four times a day throughout your trip. They coordinate when you are coming home and do their last visit a couple hours before you return.
The anxiety and health of the animal is a major benefit too.
“A lot of dogs and cats go through a lot of anxiety in a kennel,” Peel said. “We have heard horror stories from veterinarians and also from dog owners that the dogs are never the same again after they get home just from sitting in a cage for a week or being in an environment where they may have been in a fight with another pet. We prevent all that because it’s just your dogs that are used to living together at your home.”
There is also the possibility that a dog can pick up an illness at a kennel, such as parvo or kennel cough.
Photo provided
They will also take care of pets for people who are working during the day and do not want their pets to be alone for eight to 12 hours while they are working. They will walk the pets, visit them, play with them, or whatever the client needs.
More info about the business can be found online at PawsitivelySpoiled.net.
Information regarding the franchise opportunities is online at PawsitivelySpoiledFranchise.com.
Any questions regarding franchising can be directed to Nicole at (765) 860-2204.