Kelly Johnson can trace her current career back to high school where she managed to land a co-op opportunity at a dog-training school.
She’s never looked back.
Johnson’s work life has been all about helping to take care of the favourite family pet. But along the way she also became an entrepreneur as owner of Ruff Haus, a dog daycare that moved into new facilities three years ago after its original location was expropriated.
“Growing up, I always wanted to do something in the animal field,” explains Johnson.
Her friend’s mother owned a training school in Markham where Johnson trained and eventually worked, teaching her own classes. Since those early days she’s seen the development of a new industry supporting the care of the favourite family pet as dog daycares started popping up.
While living in Barrie in 2013, Johnson connected with one of those daycares — Ruff Haus — where she started trained dogs.
A few years later, the owner at the time decided to move to Australia and Johnson bought the daycare.
She now runs a thriving business, caring for 45 to 55 dogs during the week days, running training programs on the weekends and providing grooming services as well. She has a staff of nine, including two trainers.
The increased prevalence of dog daycares reflect the passion of their owners. Pets are often like children valued family members, she says.
“They are no longer just the pets — they are their babies, they’re kids, so they invest in them like they would their own children,” she observes.
Pet adoption spiked during the pandemic when families were forced to spend more time at home and less time with others.
While dog daycares took a hit as non-essential services during that period, Johnson later found increased demand, particularly for training and grooming services, which was severely backlogged. Currently, the grooming service is scheduled 12 weeks in advance.
There are now pet daycare franchises operating across North America and the forecast for the pet market is continued growth for the next several years. There is also a market for luxury services with some daycare facilities providing spa services, gourmet meals and personalized services.
In Barrie, Johnson has noticed a more than doubling in available daycares since she moved here two decades ago — and that’s in addition to the in-home services that are also available and other related services.
Barrie veterinarian Julie Deroo says the uptick in pet ownership was absolutely noticeable between 2020 and 2022.
“There’s an increased need for both veterinarian and daycare services” as a result, she says.
The advantage of daycares for pets, especially dogs, she says, is it allows them to both socialize and expend their energy. And it’s a service she uses for her dogs, Loki and Willow.
Deroo remains busy with her own work and relies on Johnson’s business to take care of her dogs.
Johnson says she maintains a relationship with veterinarians across the city and tries to be active in the community, working with local organizations and participating in fundraisers.
The move to new facilities, she says, allowed for a fresh space with two large, open areas.
“Everything is indoors so it’s all completely climate controlled,” she says, adding that dog-safe disinfection is applied through the facility regularly.
