Camp Run-A-Mutt cage free daycare and boarding stands out for four reasons:

• Concept
• Support
• Technology
• Reputation

CONCEPT

Andy was an energetic Springer Spaniel who loved the outdoors, running on grass, climbing, jumping, hiding and mostly water, an uncurable water dog. He loved being with other dogs and humans 24/7. The concept of Camp Run-A-Mutt came from the love and respect owed to dogs like Andy and any dog who walks through our doors.

When given a choice, any dog owner would want the same for their dog. Our franchisees love offering the public an alternative to cages, where dogs are free to play in the sun and sleep with other dogs and humans, just like at home.

Camp Run-A-Mutt offers five revenue streams:

1. Cage free daycare - Dogs can play and nap freely outside on nice days and inside on other days. Never in a cage, never left alone.
2. Cage free boarding - This works because it's a dog's instinct to "pack board", like their wolf ancestors, and the way they sleep at home. Our cage free concept is a safe, proven method that generations of dogs have loved since 2008.
3. Cage free grooming - Dogs are free to play until their groom with no drying cages.
4. Positive reinforcement dog training - Builds a strong bond between dog and owner using gentle, reward-based methods.
5. Retail - The basics like dog food, treats, leashes, collars or whatever your creativity comes up with.

Being privately owned, we are flexible and support other revenue streams, especially ones that give back to the community. What's good for the dog(s) is good for the business.

SUPPORT

We understand that in most cases you are putting your life savings on the line. It's a leap of faith in your skills and abilities and we are here to support your dream.

• Training begins on day one of your signing of the Franchise Agreement. Official class training is a two-week course consisting of half in a classroom setting where you will learn our software, website editing, marketing, social media, dog behavior/psychology/body language, temperament testing, operations & procedures, staffing and administration. The other half of our training is at one of our locations, with the dogs and staff ("Bootsie Camp" style) where you'll learn hands-on what was taught in class. Classroom lessons are taught by the Camp Run-A-Mutt founders, and classes are practical and fun.
• Your territory is protected by a five-mile driven radius. However, you may open a "satellite" location within your territory for no additional franchise fee.
• We assist in site location, layout and design guidelines.
  • We work with you and your real estate rep to find the perfect property before you sign the lease.
  • You can use your own building contractors saving you building costs.
  • Your buildout will cost less because we don't require you to fill your play space with expensive cages.
  • We work closely with you on the layout with the goal of making your Camp as efficient, beautiful, safe and fun as possible.
  • We provide guidance on how to work with local authorities for permitting purposes.
• Business to business marketing material is available for local businesses, dog friendly apartments and condos.
• We use AI cell phone tracking data to find where your potential customers shop, commute and socialize. This information is valuable for the property search and marketing.

TECHNOLOGY

Camp Run-A-Mutt was the first to mix dogs basic needs of sunshine, exercise and socialization with state-of-the-art technology for their humans.

• Muttcams: live streaming cameras that anyone can watch from their computer or cell phone. No downloading, logging in or hoops to jump through: anyone can watch. Transparency is our best-selling feature to dog owners and potential franchisees. All our locations display the Muttcams Central page on a large monitor and is the first thing a potential customer sees. When folks see our park like setting and dogs playing outside, they're sold!
• Software: CRAMWARE was created by one of the founders (former senior web developer for USA Today) who saw a need in the industry for software that is reliable, easy to navigate, and created by someone who is actually in the dog service business. When our franchisees have a question or suggestion, they talk to the creator. CRAMWARE is free to our franchisees.
• Digital chalkboard: Along with the Muttcams Central monitor, we support a beautiful and fun digital chalkboard that displays in your lobby: services, prices and specials with seasonal art and graphics that we update remotely and regularly.
• Compare for yourself, our website is the best in the industry. We use mostly pictures of real dogs from our Camps. It is professional, beautiful and user friendly with customer registration capabilities, so you begin growing your customer data base on day one.
• Camp Run-A-Mutt intranet provides communication to the franchisors and franchisees in a chat room format. Anything you may encounter in your new business has most likely happened to others. Let the experience of our CRAMily help you. Also, our intranet system gives you access to all our marketing and promotional material, templates, legal forms, HR forms, updates, customer forms, etc. to run your business.

REPUTATION

Reputation and integrity is everything, and Camp Run-A-Mutt has the most respected name in the industry.

• Current Camps rank 4.7 to 5.0 in Google, Yelp and Facebook.
• We are BBB Accredited with an A+ rating
• Many honors include, but not limited to, Inc. Magazine, Inc. 5,000 (listed in Fastest Growing Private Companies list three years in a row), National Geographics, Humane Society and multiple local "Best in City" awards.

OUR STORY

Founders, Dennis, Severn and Mikel of the original Camp Run-A-Mutt saw what was out there and decided (with the memory of Andy guiding them) to create a dog paradise that they would bring their own dogs to. There were musts for this dream: cage fee (for daycare and boarding), splash pond/water feature, outside space with paw friendly turf, inside space with paw friendly rubber flooring. When they took a dilapidated car repair property on a busy corner in San Diego, CA and began turning it into what resembled a park, neighbors took notice. They made mistakes, costly mistakes, time consuming mistakes and business mistakes, but even with a recession, the word of mouth got out that Camp Run-A-Mutt was something different and the dogs started coming in. After a year and a half, because of size limitations, they had to stop taking new customers and figure a way to help as many guests, and their humans, as possible.

Their struggle of getting the business off the ground was full of costly lessons and they knew if they could do it again, or support someone else doing it, they could help them do it right the first time. Franchising seemed the obvious choice. Their first franchised location was intentionally only 3.5 miles away to take the burden of overflow from them. Soon San Diego had seven Camp Run-A-Mutt locations, and the brand became nationwide. Since starting to franchise in 2010, they've guided dozens of locations on how to do it safe, efficient and right the first time, because, you only have one chance to make a great first impression.

WHO WE'RE LOOKING FOR

A Camp Run-A-Mutt franchisee should have three qualities:

1. Did you uncontrollably say "AWWW" when you saw that puppy picture earlier? If you did, go to the head of the class. First and foremost, franchisees must be dog lovers. And not just love dogs but respect them and treat them with care, as if they are their own. Once a customer sees the love, caring and respect you and your staff give to their dog, they let down their guard and allow their loved one to spend time with you. This business makes money only when customers feel good about leaving their dog(s) with you. While we can help with all aspects of running a successful dog daycare business, we cannot teach how to love and respect dogs. The perfect franchisee already has that quality. Put another way, we want to help people make a career doing what they love.
2. Basic business sense. While we teach you all aspects of running a business, we look for franchisees who have a basic understanding of great customer service, leadership, patience, people skills, presentation, a thirst for learning, multi-taskers, comfortable with computers and not afraid to step out of their comfort zone.
3. We would do this for free if we could, but it takes money to start any business, even if you're passionate about it. We are looking for franchisees who are properly funded, able to support the build-out and still have funds left over for working capital until the dogs can start paying your bills.

Military and First Responders get 50% off franchise fee

Want more information? Submit a request and one of the co-founders will reach out to you. You'll find we respond quickly, respect your time and always remember that your success is our success.