Welcome to Jolly Dogs: Same business, new faces

Jolly Dogs has been the brainchild of Toni Powell and her father Kim who our Jolly Dogs family know and love.  Toni has now made the brave decision to move onto new adventures in her life, so after close to five years we wave a paw goodbye and now it is Rodney and I who pick up the leash to take Jolly Dogs onto it’s next adventure.

Why a Dog Day Care business? And what gives us the right to do this?

For me personally, it has been a long time coming. When I was a banker I would day dream of setting up a dog day care business; I have always loved dogs and could see that there was a real need for a safe and fun environment for working professionals to drop their dogs off during the day to keep them busy and happy. When Bayley came into my life 13 years ago, there was no such place, and the guilt I had as a “solo working mum” meant early mornings & late nights walking Bayley and keeping him exercised and stimulated.  As well as this there was also the odd time sneaking out of work, and relying on friends to pick him up during the day for more adventures.  My philosophy was always a tired dog is a good dog and I was always looking for ways to exercise him, hard when I was working a 50 hour week!  So in the quieter times at work I would dream of setting up a day care facility, but somehow work and life just got in the way. Lack of money and being on my own was also a large factor!

Over the years I had dabbled with the dream, I looked at doing a Grooming Course, looked at a Grooming Franchise, talked to other Day Care owners but somehow the right opportunity was never there. So the banking career continued.

Fast forward five years and disillusioned with my job took me to into the internet where on Trade Me I googled “Dogs” under “Businesses for Sale” to see what was there, and up popped North Shore Day Care facility.  I felt sick to the stomach moment. Was this fate?  Was it teasing me?  Did I have the courage to do this?  I asked for the information and sat on it for two days before doing anything about it.  I grew up on the North Shore and most of my working career and all of my family are shore-side, so this was perfect for me!

In the interim, whilst emailing my friend Rodney I mentioned it to him; knowing he had a passion for dogs.  Rodney lived in Fielding though, so a North Shore day care was hardly on the agenda for him.  Little did I know that he was dead keen. It was only his prompting and persuading me to go and have a look at it that got me over the line and gave me the courage to go and meet Toni.  We chatted to her and right away we could feel her passion and see what a great, clean, positive and happy facility she ran.  Our excitement took over and before we knew it, we were organising a business plan, discussing how we could run it, and putting an offer on paper!  This was accepted and the rest is history.

Why do we think we can do this?  Two reasons. One is our respective passions for dogs. They come first in our lives and we both love dogs and enjoy all our dealings with them. Secondly, is our complementary skills. Rodney has a background in canine behaviour, has bred Labrador dogs and worked with large packs of dogs on farms. He has also studied Canine Behaviour and Nutrition.  However for him to do this on his own would be hard, as he doesn’t have a business background. That is where I come in. Whilst this is my first business venture, I have spent 12 years in banking working closely with small businesses advising them on everything from cashflow, to financing and strategy. I have also worked for KPMG as a consultant and for Barfoot in Property Management. So while this is new to me, I know I have the skills to run the business; while Rodney keeps the dogs safe, happy and entertained. He will also be providing training both individual and groups.

So we welcome you to come on this Jolly Dogs journey with us. We will laugh, cry and I am sure make some mistakes along the way, but one thing is sure, we both have the passion, drive and commitment to take the wonderful business that Toni has started and drive it into the next hemisphere.  We thank you for your continued custom and interest in Jolly Dogs and welcome you to come in and meet us anytime.

Philippa Shaw - Alpha Dog