Pet Boarding and Day Care Trade Shows – How Much Fun Does That Sound?

The other week, Michelle, Mauricio and I attended Barkleigh Production’s Pet Boarding and Daycare Expo in Burbank. Mauricio attended seminars on all sorts of things related to doggy day care, dog socialization, assessing dog behavior, managing group play and everything cool related to overall pet care. Michelle went to seminars on training (humans), hiring, and customer service. I went to all things related to heating, ventilation and air conditioning, noise control, and drains. Clearly Mauricio had way more fun than Michelle or I.

This is not the first time I’ve attended an event like this, and this is the second year in a row that the three of us went as a team. I have to say that even after almost 20 years of providing pet care in San Francisco, I always learn something at these events. Sometimes it’s something you pick up at a seminar, sometimes at the trade show, and often it’s at the bar chatting with other pet professionals, but I always come back with some new idea or insight.

I also come back reinvigorated to continue to improve Pet Camp, as well as with the realization that the Pet Camp counselors are truly an amazing group! When I hear about employee turnover, attitude problems, and just general gripes from other owners, I realize how fortunate I am to have the managers and counselors that have joined Pet Camp over the years. I also realize the amazing quality care that the counselors provide, the attention they give each and every camper, and how they love the dogs and cats at Pet Camp as if they were their own pets.

So, you ask, what are you going to change after this educational blitzkrieg? What really cool thing did you buy at the trade show? Well, Mauricio plans on rolling out some incremental changes in play group; nothing super big, but a continued evolution of what we are already doing. Michelle will be adding some fun stuff to the Pet Camp on-boarding process for new counselors. And me? Well, I purchased some really cool pill cutters (yup – that’s the level of detail we focus on a Pet Camp).

Thanks for reading.