Start, grow, or trouble shoot your dog business

Why Consult Features How It Works Details The Team Reviews Pricing Policies & FAQ

Make success easy with friendly, personalized, 1-on-1 coaching

One-on-one support

With a friendly, down-to-earth dogbiz consultant in your corner you’ve got a tireless support department determined to help you succeed.

Customized to you

We personalize the process to your needs, goals, timeline, skills, and work style to maximize your ability to work with dogs for a living.

R+ businesses only

Just like you, we’re dog pros dedicated to spreading the word about positive reinforcement, so we work exclusively with R+ dog businesses.

Highly experienced

We’ve been helping R+ dog pros succeed with their dog businesses since 2003—you benefit from that wealth of experience.

Why consult with dogbiz

Make your dream reality

Whether you’ve long fantasized about working with dogs for a living or currently have a part- or full-time dog business underway, we can help you transition to a full-time business that covers your financial needs.

Get your phone ringing

Struggling to get those first few clients? Long-term business experiencing a slump? We’ll help fine-tune marketing and intake processes to get your phone ringing and your schedule full. We’ll increase your comfort with the sales process, too.

Make more money

If you’re like most of our clients, you’re in this for the love of dogs. But to stay in long-term and help the most dogs possible, we’d like to see you make a good living doing what you love—so let’s make sure your rates and policies really work.

Help more dogs

In addition to being more financially viable for you, a strong, healthy business also means the opportunity to positively change more dogs’ lives. Our consultants can help you set up to help more dogs, whatever size business you have or dream of.

Save time & reduce stress

Many of our clients initially report feeling run by their businesses instead of the other way around. If that’s you, we’ll help you gain control of your time and business. You’ll feel much less stressed with problems solved and time for yourself and your own dogs again!

Keep a leg up

Forgive us the too-tempting pun, but with a dogbiz consultant on your team, you’ve got a leg up on success. We’ll be there to guide you out of the rough times, cheerlead you through the hard work, and celebrate your well-deserved successes.

dogbiz Business Consulting features

Convenient Scheduling

With consultants throughout the U.S. and abroad we’re able to offer a wide range of days and times to accommodate across time zones and work around your schedule, be that a traditional job, dog training classes or private training clients, or long busy days walking dogs or running your daycare.

Move Forward at Your Speed

Need to get up and running or solve a problem quickly? Let’s put the pedal down and keep it there. Juggling your business start-up or growth along with other obligations and pressures? Let’s take things one step at a time, on your schedule. We’ll work with you at whatever pace suits your goals and daily reality.

Get Help Just Where (and How) You Need It

Though our packages (below) describe various topics that might be covered, your needs will dictate your personalized agenda with your consultant. We’ll tackle just the areas you want help with, customizing the topics, speed, and level of detail and support to your goals, skill sets, and work style.

We’re Dog Pros Helping Dog Pros

Unlike most business consultancies, we’ve all worked in the industry doing what you do or hope to do. We’re all R+ dog trainers, and many of us have also been dog walkers or pet sitters, or run dog daycares or boarding facilities. We understand where you stand, know how to talk dog, and get just how quirky our industry is.

Benefit From the dogbiz Think Tank

Though you’ll work and develop a relationship with a friendly, dedicated consultant, you’ll have the full force of dogbiz behind you. We take a unique team approach to our work, meeting regularly to discuss cases, share ideas, and brainstorm together, guided by dogbiz founders Veronica Boutelle and Gina Phairas, so you get the benefit of our full expertise.

How dogbiz Business Consulting works

You sign up.

Email [email protected] or call us at 510.525.2547. You can choose a consulting package now or try a single hour first before you decide.

You choose the best date and time for your first call.

We’ll send you a wide range of days and times to choose from. You tell us which is the best fit.

We match you with a consultant.

We’ll assign a consultant who matches your schedule and your consulting goals. Prefer to request a particular team member? Just let our office know.

You fill out our pre-consulting questionnaire.

We ask questions about your goals, questions, concerns, and background information on your business or dreams to help you and your consultant to hit the ground running in your first hour together.

You and your consultant meet by phone, Skype, or Zoom.

The process is highly personalized, but you can expect in your first hour to lay out goals for the process, pick the most pressing area of need, and get down to work. Your consultant will leave a few minutes at the end to recap, set next steps, and schedule your next appointment if you have a package or have decided to choose one.

(We don’t teach hard sales techniques and we don’t use them ourselves, either, so you’ll never feel pressured. We’ll simply lay out the options and you choose what’s best for you—whether that’s one more hour, a package, or to take the ideas from your first hour and run with them on your own.)

Business Consulting details

Meet Our Team of Experts Waiting to Help You Succeed

What dog pros say

“Since working with you my business has really grown! Thank you for all the ideas, suggestions, and confidence boosting. The impact of your advice has been huge, I am so glad I contacted dogbiz when I felt ‘stuck’.”

– Stephanie Stanton-Linder, Allstars K9 Training, Mission, BC Canada

“Things are going great since we worked together. I took your advice to heart and have immediately had an increase in business, especially longer term training clients. The work is rolling in and I’m going to need a break soon!”

–Caroline Spark, City Dog, Country Dog, Portland, OR

“We started from scratch, knowing only that we wanted to run a boarding kennel. dogbiz guided us all along our journey, putting our business one step ahead of the competition and helping us avoid the pitfalls of the dog business world. It’s been a great experience!”

– Nicole Gonzales, The Country Life Kennels, Paicines, CA

Pricing

$ 210 for a single one-hour consult

Best for clear-cut technical questions or to give the consulting process a try. (If you then choose a package, we’ll pro-rate your first hour into your package.)

$ 585 for a 3-hour Business Boost package

Great for fine-tuning an established business. Perhaps focus on a new marketing approach, adding services, adjusting rates and policies, getting a handle on time management, or addressing staffing issues.

$ 900 for a 5-hour Start Up or Growth package

All the essentials for giving your business a great start out of the gate—defining services, setting rates and policies, designing your marketing plan, putting together a team for logo and website design, running numbers to make sure ends will meet, looking at your legal paperwork requirements, etc.
For established businesses, use your time to check rates and policies to protect against revenue loss, refine or launch a marketing plan to bring in more business, put strategies into place for time management and efficiency, improve your sales comfort and strategy, help solve problems and reach goals, etc.

$ 1650 for a 10-hour Business Development package

The 10 hour plan provides additional time for your consultant to support you through implementation of your plans, oversee your logo and website design process, and provide structure to keep you motivated, organized, and moving ahead as you set up your new business or refine or grow your existing business.
We also recommend the 10 hour package for those seeking transition plans from full-time non-dog employment to full-time dog business owner.

$ 350 Add a Paperwork Support package

As part of your consulting package, if needed, we’ll help you determine the legal paperwork required for your business and show you how to access and file it. But if you’d prefer a little extra help, we can do your filing for you. Includes your business license, fictitious business name, and any additional paperwork necessary, such as Limited Liability Company articles of organization, state service mark, and EIN or Tax ID #.
Please note: This service available only to clients purchasing a multiple hour consulting package.

“I just booked the highest paying client for one service in my 9-year career. I honestly didn’t know this was possible. I wanted to write to express my gratitude for your business coaching and for dogbiz.”

– Kayla Young, Cincinnati, OH

Ready for some friendly help from the dogbiz experts?

Sign up for consulting

You don’t have to start, run, or grow your dog business by yourself. Your business requires the spending of money, time, and effort—protect those investments by working with a consultant who will help you spend them wisely, make sure you get the most from them, and steer you away from common, costly mistakes that slow your progress.

Or call 510.525.2547 to get underway!

Or save money combining dogbiz products and consulting:

Check out our discounted Business Success Packages.

Industry Discounts

Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner Member?

By special arrangement with KPA, we offer a $50 discount off any consulting package to KPA Basic, Plus, and Premium members: You worked hard to earn your KPA designation, and your potential clients should know about it. Learn how to leverage your KPA status through marketing projects designed to make the most of your affiliation with the Karen Pryor Academy.

CATCH Canine Trainers Academy Student or Graduate?

By special arrangement with CATCH Canine Trainers Academy, we offer a $50 discount off any consulting package to CATCH students and graduates. Learn how to market and grow your business leveraging your CATCH affiliation and using creative marketing projects chosen to match your skill sets, personality, and comfort zone.

Victoria Stilwell Positively Trainer?

By special arrangement with Victoria Stilwell, we offer a $50 discount off any consulting package to VSPDT trainers and VSA graduates: Learn how to leverage your connection to Victoria through marketing projects designed to make the most of your brand’s connection to Victoria’s.

Dogs & Storks and DABC Licensed Presenter?

By special arrangement with Family Paws Parent Education, we offer a $50 discount off any consulting package to Dogs & Storks and Dog And Baby Connection licensed presenters: Learn how to leverage your presenter status to market your business, including strategies and language for comfortably and effectively approaching OBGYN clinics, doulas, baby boutiques, and other specialized marketing connections.

Consulting Policies & FAQ

What is your refund and cancellation policy?

Consulting time is non-refundable. That said, consulting time you purchase will not expire and you may use it over any length of time you choose.

Because we want to see you moving forward toward your goals, and because we keep our schedules limited in order to provide individualized support for each client, we require 7 days’ notice for consult cancellations. Appointments cancelled with less than 7 days’ notice will be counted against your package, so please plan carefully to prioritize your business success.

Can I choose which consultant I want to work with?

Absolutely. Just let Deborsha know who you’d like to work with when you sign up.

How long do I have to use my consulting hours?

There’s no time limit—use your hours at the speed that works best for you. Need to take a break? No worries—your unused hours will be there when you’re ready to get back to work.

Do you guarantee results?

We endeavor to provide the best possible advice, customized to your situation and goals, but we cannot control the economy and other factors which influence business success, so we cannot guarantee business results. What we can guarantee is that we’re invested in your success and will work our tails off to help you achieve it.