Social media is usually a carefully curated place of perfect pictures and success stories. Well, we are shaking that up today. We are laying bare the truth of the situation we find ourselves in.
HPWT has just celebrated its 3rd birthday as a business but sadly we are struggling to make ends meet since opening the dog day care. We thought, maybe naively, that we would grow faster than we have.
We’ve built an amazing centre - everything exceeds the Code of Practice - we did this to be the best we could. Our pens can house 17 dogs all measure above 110m2, the code requires just 66m2!!! We have CCTV for extra set of eyes on dogs at all times.
We pride ourselves on our communication. We use Gingr as our client management system meaning you can create and manage your own bookings, pre purchase discounted packages, and best of all see your personalised DAILY report card. No copy and paste here, just an honest run down of what your pup has been up to, what they enjoyed and who they made friends with.
We’ve build something special. Our current clients know this. But we need new clients to remain open. As a business owner laying bare our situation means swallowing a lot of pride, admitting maybe a few mistakes, and a genuine call for help. We want to remain open, our current clients want us to remain open, and I’m sure once you’ve been here once you’ll agree too.
The other arms of our business, walking, training, dog sitting all offer amazing services too - we strive to be industry leaders in the care we provide. All walks get a report card too!
#happypawswaggytails #keepingtailswagging #hpwt #dogdaycare #doggydaycare #dogdaycaremelbourne #dogdaycareflemington #supportlocalbusiness #supportsmallbusiness
Our custom play equipment is FINALLY fully assembled and into our 3 pens and the dogs have been LOVING it.
Some of our regulars have mastered the climbing frames instantly, and the tunnels have provided a great short cut when playing chase or a nice place for Basil or Muffins to take a nap!
We love the custom pieces in our Happy Paws colour scheme, along with the extra stimulation they provide for dogs in our care. #happypawswaggytails #keepingtailswagging #hpwt #customdogplayground #dogdaycare #doggydaycare #dogdaycaremelbourne #dogdaycareflemington
Regulars to our page and centre may have noticed some new play equipment in the background of our photos.
We had 6 pieces custom made for our business and the dogs have been checking out the agility A-frame this week. With gentle encouragement, handfuls of treats, and loads and loads of praise several of our regulars have mastered the climb and understand that treats are often delivered at the peak of the A-Frame. Baxter, in particular, will bark at other dogs to get off so he can climb up! Even our littlest, a 14 week old puppy, has quickly mastered the climb.
Next week we will introduce some of our other play equipment into pens and let the dogs explore what we’ve got. #happypawswaggytails #keepingtailswagging #hpwt #agilityequipment #dogplayground #custommadeequipment #aframe #dogdaycare #doggydaycare #dogdaycaremelbourne #dogdaycareflemington
Sabrina has made it clear that her favourite place to be at any given time is in the laps of Happy Paws Heroes. She happily engages with enrichment time but often gravitates back for cuddle time overseeing the rest of the dogs from the staff laps. She’s short and sweet and a great ambassador for the dachshund breed. #happypawswaggytails #keepingtailswagging #hpwt #dachshund #dogdaycare #doggydaycare #dogdaycaremelbourne #dogdaycareflemington
Muffins is a giant puppy at just over 13 months old. Sometimes we forget just how young he is. Muffins bounds in with endless energy ready to play with all dogs big and small. He’s a perfect gentleman for treats. Muffins is very close with Basil and Yumi, often sharing the same bed during nap time. #happypawswaggytails #hpwt #keepingtailswagging #groodle #giantpuppy #dogdaycare #doggydaycare #dogdaycaremelbourne #dogdaycareflemington
Another day care regular is Miss Yumi - small and mighty. She loves to boss the bigger dogs around, and has found underneath the chairs a great place to launch her attacks from. She packing big dog energy in a little fluffy body. Yumi has fast become a staff favourite happy to curl up in laps for pats and rest time and then comes alive during play and enrichment time. #happypawswaggytails #keepingtailswagging #hpwt #pomeranian #dogdaycare #doggydaycare #dogdaycaremelbourne #dogdaycareflemington
Whippet Higgs has made himself at home at day care very quickly. He’s a fan of the rough play with other dogs, Bulldog Lewis is his best sparring partner endlessly playing tug of war and loves running around with everyone’s favourite toy - he’s the fastest so usually gets to keep it. Higgs has also helped a training client whose history as a street dog has left her with some distrust of other dogs - Higgs chill nature and ability to ignore other dogs meant he was perfect for pairing her with allowing her to explore another dog safely and without fear. Higgs has certainly made every staff member laugh at least once per visit. #happypawswaggytails #keepingtailswagging #hpwt #dogdaycare #whippet #doggydaycare #dogdaycareflemington #dogtrainermelbourne
Whippet Higgs has made himself at home at day care very quickly. He’s a fan of the rough play with other dogs, Bulldog Lewis is his best sparring partner endlessly playing tug of war and loves running around with everyone’s favourite toy - he’s the fastest so usually gets to keep it. Higgs has also helped a training client whose history as a street dog has left her with some distrust of other dogs - Higgs chill nature and ability to ignore other dogs meant he was perfect for pairing her with allowing her to explore another dog safely and without fear. Higgs has certainly made every staff member laugh at least once per visit. #happypawswaggytails #keepingtailswagging #hpwt #dogdaycare #whippet #doggydaycare #dogdaycareflemington #dogtrainermelbourne
The walking team have been super busy this week with multiple regular faces. New face Pacho is joining us for some weekly walks - he was sure to be on his best behaviour today at his meet and greet. #happypawswaggytails #keepingtailswagging #hpwt #dogwalkermelbourne
The walking and training side of our business is still going strong - even though we’ve been a bit slack posting about our gorgeous doggos lately. Massive week with well over 40 individual appointments. We’ve got multiple staff out each day giving one on one individual sessions (except our few multidog households). We started as a business catered to individual services and despite the pivot in our day care, we remain committed to individual walks and training. We have also been able to welcome our first few clients to the day care centre for training sessions. After years of training at clients houses and in the streets, we finally have an indoor centre where we can control the environment better and produce better training outcomes. #happypawswaggytails #keepingtailswagging #hpwt #dogwalkermelbourne #dogtrainermelbourne
We’ve had a blast today with the start of our second week open. Next week we are open full time Monday to Friday.
We have some special prices dropping into the Gingr app tomorrow so make sure to check them out. 10 sessions for $500!!!!!!! That’s just $50 per visit for your first 10 pack!
