DENVER — When a customer walks through the front door at Bark and Play Dog Daycare in Denver, a loud doorbell rings in the building and it is usually met with loud barks from all the dogs staying there for daycare. When Denver7 walked in on Friday afternoon, the lobby was noticeably quiet.
"My daycare business has dropped about 75% in the last two months," said Kimberly Bishop, owner of Bark and Play. "We went from just crazy numbers to nothing."
She has been in the dog daycare business for nearly a decade. The holiday season is usually what she calls her "Super Bowl Time."
"The whole year builds up to this," Bishop explained. "We like to have our best people, have everybody in and trained and everything else by this time. Because it's usually just crawling in here. Everybody's traveling, nobody can take their dogs on the airlines with them. I'm sure they would like to, but that's why I exist — so that people can travel and not have to worry about their dogs while they're away."
As a mysterious respiratory illness continues to spread among dogs, many owners are choosing not to board their dogs at daycares, leading to a lot of cancellations and no new clients.
"I got a calendar up front where, when there's new dogs coming in, we write their names," Bishop said. "We haven't had one in two months."
She has had to cut back on shifts for her employees — a tough decision during the holidays.
"It's hard. Bills, rent, employees. You don't want to let anybody go because they're amazing. But I can't afford to pay anybody, much less myself," she said.
Bark and Play is far from the only dog daycare experiencing the strain.
Denver7 called around to several different businesses to see if this was affecting them as well. All of them explained a massive decrease in business during what's supposed to be their busiest time of the year.
Many parents are opting for pet-sitters instead.
The pet care company Wag! contracts more than 450,000 pet caregivers across the country.
They told Denver7 that they have seen a spike in pet-sitting and one-on-one boarding bookings since news of the illness started to spread.
"We're certainly seeing an uptick in requests," said Wag! CEO Garrett Smallwood. "We're forecasting 40-plus percent year-on-year growth just generally across the business. When things are not great in terms of your pet's health, it's just generally better to have someone there one-on-one full-time."
That advice is also coming from local veterinarians, something Bishop said she understands completely.
"I totally get it," she said. "There's no hard feelings on this side for it. Because, you know, without all the knowledge, I'd probably be doing the same thing. So you know, what can you do?"
Bishop said she and her staff will continue to take all precautions to keep their current clients' pets safe, even increasing their cleaning and pet handling protocols to match new recommendations released by the Colorado Department of Agriculture and Pet Animal Care and Facilities Act.
To keep pets safe, experts suggest owners make sure their dogs' kennel cough and influenza vaccines are up to date, monitor them for signs of respiratory disease (like coughing, sneezing, runny nose, difficulty breathing and fatigue), and take them to the vet immediately if any of these symptoms are noticed.
Several different dog daycare locations have offered suggestions on how to support them as a customer, even if pet owners are making the decision to keep your dog at home for now.
Consider purchasing:
- Private one-on-one lessons if your facility offers training classes
- Gift cards
- Day care or boarding credits to use at a later date
