Dog Daycare for the Modern [Helicopter] Pet Parent
In this episode, we get to know Shaina Denny, Founder and CEO of Dogdrop Dog Daycare. Shaina's dog, Poppy, was a playful, energetic puppy and inspired Shaina to use her extensive business skills to benefit dogs and their families. Dogdrop members (the dogs) and their humans get top-notch care and customer service in conveniently located centers. Committed to the quality of the care they provide, Dogdrop also prioritizes their employees with dedicated and extensive training programs and thoughtful scheduling that prevents burnout. Learn more about this awesome organization as Isabel and Shaina exchange pet industry experiences and dig into the many benefits of flexibility in pet care. Enjoy!
Listen to Episode #102 Now:
BIO:
Shaina Denny is the Founder and CEO of Dogdrop— an LA-based start-up building the next generation of dog care. Shaina went to business school in Shanghai and ended up staying in China for over three years to work at early-stage tech start-ups before returning to the US to get involved in the growing LA tech scene. She has her Masters of International Business and is a co-instructor and guest lecturer at Whittier College. She's passionate about international business, lifelong learning, and her mini dachshund, Poppy!
Transcript:
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Announcer: This is Pet Life Radio.
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Announcer: Let's talk pets.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Welcome to Covered In Pet Hair, a boozy show for pet lovers on Pet Life Radio.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: I'm your host, Isabel Alvarez Arata, and today I have the pleasure of having a drink and a chat with a lady that is catering to the modern dog parents in a very specific way.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: I will tell you all about her and introduce you as soon as we come back from these messages from our sponsors.
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Announcer: Let's Talk Pets on petliferadio.com.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Welcome back to Covered In Pet Hair.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: I'm your host, Isabel Alvarez Arata, and today I have the pleasure of having a drink and a chat with a pet parent, a researcher, an entrepreneur.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: She's a foodie, a wine snob and a cocktail connoisseur.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: She's originally from Seal Beach, California and currently lives in Los Angeles.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: She's fiance to Melissa, dog mom, to a six-year-old miniature dachshund named Poppy.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: She's co-founder of Dogdrop Daycare.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Shaina Denny, welcome.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: So good to have you on the show.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: It's Shaina.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: I've been listening to all the interviews you've done.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: I have nothing but fantastic things to say about your journey and I can't wait to learn more about you.
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Shaina Denny: Thanks, Isabel.
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Shaina Denny: I'm excited to have a cocktail or mocktail with you and talk about that.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Absolutely.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: OK, so I want to know all about your brand of Doggy Daycare because as we all know, especially experienced dog owners know that the quality of Doggy Daycares ranges immensely.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Yes, and not all Doggy Daycares are good enough for my dog.
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Shaina Denny: Does your dog go to Doggy Daycare?
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Not because we live in El Paso and I work from home, but when I lived in Northern Virginia, we had tons of Doggy Daycares to choose from and there are only a select few that I would have considered as appropriate for my pets.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: And I want to learn all about what makes you guys different, special and innovative.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: But before I do that, I want to introduce our drinking game today.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: So anybody at home participating in our drinking game, anytime you hear this word.
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<v SPEAKER_5>The secret word is poppy.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Take a drink of whatever you're enjoying, could be a mocktail, a cocktail, whatever it is.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Just have fun with it, but please be over 21 to partake in the US.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Never drink and drive and always drink responsibly.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: So what are you having?
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Shaina?
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Shaina Denny: I am having a homemade lemonade and raspberry mocktail mix.
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Shaina Denny: I know it's a little blurry right here with a little cucumber on top.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Very nice.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Very fresh.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Sparkling is always a good idea.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: I am actually having a sparkling cocktail myself.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: This is actually a rose sparkler that I made up.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: And thanks to AI, I named it and it is made with this really cool deep rose.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: This is not sponsored, but deep rose lemonade that I found at Whole Foods.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: And if you like rosewater flavors, oh, this is so good.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: So I had to make a cocktail with it.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: So cheers to you.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Thank you for being my guest.
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Shaina Denny: Thank you.
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Shaina Denny: I actually love rosewater and I've not heard of deep rose.
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Shaina Denny: So I'm definitely going to try it out next time I'm in Whole Foods.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: I know I'm addicted.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: I actually go to Whole Foods just to get it now.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: It's so good.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: It's so refreshing.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: And because it's in Whole Foods, I assume it's Whole Food, even though it probably isn't.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: It has to be.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: It has to be to be on their shelves, right?
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: All right.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: So I always introduce this show with a game and this is no different today.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: We are celebrating the end of 2023, bringing in good vibes for 2024.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: But before we get into the New Year's resolutions of it all, I want to play a game with you, Shaina.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: And it's called Doing the Dog on Thing Dogdrop Edition.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: So I'm going to give you one minute on my handy dandy clock, which I'm going to stop right now, otherwise I'm going to cut you off.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: And I am going to ask you in that minute to tell us why your doggy daycare, Dogdrop, is better than all the other doggy daycare concepts out there.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Are you ready to play?
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Shaina Denny: Let's do it.
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Shaina Denny: Start the countdown.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Three, two, one, go!
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Shaina Denny: Dogdrop is a new kind of dog daycare.
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Shaina Denny: Why we think it's better is because we created it because we couldn't find a solution that met the standards of our helicopter dog parent needs, such as myself and Isabel, I get the feeling you might be one of us too.
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Shaina Denny: We start with the basics and that comes with the quality of care.
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Shaina Denny: So in dog daycare, it's a highly unregulated industry.
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Shaina Denny: So we're actually trying to change that and create our own gold or dogdrop blue standard when it comes to our training with the staff.
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Shaina Denny: The other part is on flexibility, especially for the modern day pet parent to have very flexible access in and out, pay in 30-minute increments, especially when you're working from home, get your dog out for an hour or two to socialize, have a few uninterrupted podcasts, interviews, all of the above.
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Shaina Denny: And then the third component is really on the tech.
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Shaina Denny: So we build all the technology ourselves so that we can provide our pet parents a better experience.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Amazing.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Very few people can be as succinct.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: You had two seconds left to go.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Congratulations.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: That was fantastic.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: So I, like I said, I heard a lot of your interviews because I like to research obviously my guests and get a feel for what they're about.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: And as with many of my other guests, there was a dog that started it all.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: So tell me about Poppy, how you got her and what it's like been like raising her.
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Shaina Denny: Yeah, definitely.
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Shaina Denny: So it always I think that's the common theme, especially in the pet space, that it always starts with the dog and a pain point that pet parents have experienced.
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Shaina Denny: So a handful of years ago now, I got my miniature dogs and Poppy.
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Shaina Denny: And at this time, I actually was about to be working from home.
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Shaina Denny: This was even pre-pandemic.
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Shaina Denny: So I thought, there's no better time now.
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Shaina Denny: I'm more than capable to watch the dog, all the usual things that you tell yourself.
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Shaina Denny: How hard could it be?
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Shaina Denny: And two weeks in, I realized I was quite naive with that.
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Shaina Denny: She needed a lot more socialization and attention than I can give her.
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Shaina Denny: I would take her out for a walk, and I wanted to go out for a walk as well, and it'd be 45 minutes, and next thing you know, we're back inside and she's at my leg again saying like, hey, that's it.
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Shaina Denny: So that's really kind of started it.
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Shaina Denny: I was like, there's got to be a better place.
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Shaina Denny: So I discovered a local dog daycare, quite popular one here in Los Angeles, and was sort of met with disappointment after disappointment on the pet human parent experience.
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Shaina Denny: And so somehow got fixated on this issue and anything for our dogs and decided to build a better solution.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: That's awesome.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: It really does always start with somebody either dropping the ball or just not meeting your standards.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: I had a professional pet sitting business for 15 years before the pandemic in Northern Virginia and it started because no pet sitting business would call me back.
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Shaina Denny: Yeah, that's it.
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Shaina Denny: You get answering.
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Shaina Denny: For us, we text real-time at all times and provide pet parents updates consistently throughout the day.
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Shaina Denny: Something that easy.
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Shaina Denny: We're like, if your dog is under our care, you can reach us at any time.
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Shaina Denny: We can provide a photo or video, we'll give you a real-time update all from fun stuff, who's their best friend of the day, until like more functional information.
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Shaina Denny: Did they go to the bathroom?
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Shaina Denny: Did they eat all their food, half of it?
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Shaina Denny: So pet parents are better prepared when they pick up their dog.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: I love that so much.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: And I love the idea that you do like 30-minute increments because you don't always need a 9-to-5 situation or solution.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: And for socializing, that shorter period might actually be better for the younger pets because they get overstimulated like kids in like with a long day at daycare.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: They might actually pick up some bad habits, but like if you give them that maybe one or two hours of socialization every few days, it's kind of optimum.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Do you feel like people are using your services for that?
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Shaina Denny: Oh, yeah, definitely.
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Shaina Denny: That was one of our biggest kind of theses when building this is that most the modern dog parent doesn't need Monday through Friday, 9-to-5 daycare.
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Shaina Denny: There are some folks that still might, but that most people just need a couple hours here and there.
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Shaina Denny: And that was really what we were going after is to provide something more flexible so that they're not locked into paying more than they have to.
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Shaina Denny: And also that we are open for quick drop-offs and pickups anytime throughout the day.
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Shaina Denny: We even have some members who drop off in the morning for an hour, take their dog, work from home.
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Shaina Denny: People want to spend time with their dog as well.
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Shaina Denny: And then maybe they're going to go out to drinks later in the afternoon or hit the gym or something and they can actually come back in and just pay for what they use.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: That's amazing.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: And what are your hours?
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Are you also open on weekends?
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Shaina Denny: We're open on Saturdays.
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Shaina Denny: We're closed on Sundays.
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Shaina Denny: On the daycare, we find it just as important to make sure that our team, the care team members are able to provide the best care.
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Shaina Denny: And in order to provide the best care, having folks that are rested and have, you know, suitable working hours is really important to us.
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Shaina Denny: So it's always hard to balance in because we want to be able to meet customer and member needs.
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Shaina Denny: But we also want to make sure that we're providing a sustainable workplace for pet parents or sorry for our employees as well.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Of course.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Absolutely.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: I love that so much.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: It really is important.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: You can't work yourself to death and then expect to have patience and, you know, good reaction time when things go wrong.
00:10:37.188 --> 00:10:40.468
Isabel Alvarez Arata: Inevitably, working with animals, you have to be ready for a worst-case scenario.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: And how are you going to do that if you're just exhausted and overworked?
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: So I totally agree with that.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: So how do you cater to the modern pet parent other than your flexibility?
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Is it a membership-based kind of situation?
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Shaina Denny: Yeah.
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Shaina Denny: So it's a membership-based.
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Shaina Denny: Okay, so our community, we're really at the forefront about the safety and the health of the dogs and that comes through everything, right?
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Shaina Denny: Making sure that all members in our community are vaccinated so that we have their health records on file and we'll actually go ahead and call the vets and retrieve their health records ourselves to take that off of the plate of pet parents.
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Shaina Denny: And so the membership really helps with that component as well and ensuring that the dogs get to know each other.
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Shaina Denny: Dogs are living, breathing animals.
00:11:23.508 --> 00:11:29.128
Shaina Denny: And so once they get to know the group, it's always very helpful for more frequent visitors too.
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Shaina Denny: And then I think definitely in terms of that communication aspect is the level of service that parents and our generation really expect.
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Shaina Denny: We expect transparency.
00:11:40.828 --> 00:11:43.228
Shaina Denny: Not all information is always super positive.
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Shaina Denny: Your dog is, you know, a dog.
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Shaina Denny: It's not every day is a great day that we're all so honest is like, hey, we're looking out for this.
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Shaina Denny: Or, you know, someone's actually a little sleepy today, we're going to make sure that they have enough rest or is maybe a bit more reactive than they typically are.
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Shaina Denny: So we want to keep pet parents just as informed and really build that trust and so that we can deliver the experience that pet parents expect.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: That's amazing.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: I have two young children and I remember when I first sent my oldest to school, I was disappointed because of the lack of communication because I was used to the pet industry where we at least my service providers always communicate and let me know what's up.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: And now sometimes I feel like with my kid, all I hear is the bad stuff.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: You're right.
00:12:25.768 --> 00:12:30.128
Isabel Alvarez Arata: Like it needs to be a balance of the good, the bad, the functional, like did he poo?
00:12:30.148 --> 00:12:30.728
Isabel Alvarez Arata: Did he pee?
00:12:30.748 --> 00:12:31.268
Isabel Alvarez Arata: Is it soft?
00:12:31.288 --> 00:12:32.128
Isabel Alvarez Arata: What does it look like?
00:12:32.388 --> 00:12:34.168
Isabel Alvarez Arata: So I totally agree with that.
00:12:34.408 --> 00:12:35.768
Isabel Alvarez Arata: So I want to take a break right now.
00:12:35.788 --> 00:12:41.048
Isabel Alvarez Arata: When we get back, I want to ask you more about your locations and your plans for 2024.
00:12:41.188 --> 00:12:42.148
Isabel Alvarez Arata: So don't go anywhere.
00:12:42.168 --> 00:12:45.228
Isabel Alvarez Arata: I will be right back with Shaina of Dogdrop Daycare.
00:12:48.308 --> 00:12:50.028
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00:13:41.128 --> 00:13:42.208
Announcer: Let's Talk Pets On Pet Life Radio.
00:13:42.228 --> 00:13:42.928
Announcer: Pet Life Radio.
00:13:55.075 --> 00:13:56.675
Isabel Alvarez Arata: Welcome back to Covered In Pet Hair.
00:13:56.695 --> 00:13:58.415
Isabel Alvarez Arata: I'm your host, Isabel Alvarez Arata.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: And today, I have the pleasure of having a drink and a chat with Shaina Denny of Dogdrop Daycare, which is catering to the modern pet parent, dog parent specifically, in ways that I feel like we all have been craving for decades, making it easier, making it flexible, making it a community rather than random people just showing up every day at daycare.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: I love all that you've told me so far.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: I'm totally in.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: How many locations do you have?
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: I know you started in LA.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Where are you right now?
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Shaina Denny: Yeah.
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Shaina Denny: We opened our first location in downtown Los Angeles in the Arts District neighborhood in 2020.
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Shaina Denny: Today we have three locations.
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Shaina Denny: Two are in Los Angeles.
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Shaina Denny: We have one location in Denver, and we're opening our first location in Fort Lauderdale in Florida in early 2024.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Congratulations.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: I know you're a franchise setup.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: How many states are you able to franchise in?
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Shaina Denny: We're currently franchising across the US.
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Shaina Denny: There's only a handful of states that we're not franchising in.
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Shaina Denny: Open in all different markets and excited to meet different operators to bring Dogdrop to more pet parents in their neighborhoods.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Absolutely.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: It's such a cool idea.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: People who want to go into the pet industry, but they don't know where to start.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Having the opportunity to franchise an awesome concept like this really makes the whole thing so much easier.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: And you have the backing of this brand, the technology.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Will you tell us a little bit about why your technology is different and why you felt the need to make that part of your brand?
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Shaina Denny: Yeah, I'll start with that is that, of course, we have a philosophy always buy before you build.
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Shaina Denny: And so if there's something that's available and out there, there's no reason to build it yourself.
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Shaina Denny: When we started Dogdrop, we looked into every possible solution before deciding to build something.
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Shaina Denny: And we Frankensteined a ton of different apps and Google Sheets and every CRM together so that we could deliver on our overall promise to pet parents, which goes back to the quality, convenience and flexibility.
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Shaina Denny: And with those as our core values to our dog parents, we actually decided to build our own digital product so that we can deliver on that promise.
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Shaina Denny: And our team has a very strong tech background as well, so it's very natural for us.
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Shaina Denny: And then we can be fully vertically integrated and control the entire experience, from the offline to online experience as well.
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Shaina Denny: And so this allows us to operate our locations more efficiently, everything from the basics, payment processing, health records, everything that a location needs to run and operate.
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Shaina Denny: And then for pet parents to be able to manage their profiles, track their usage and get other benefits that way.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: That's amazing.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Again, as I said, I was a professional pet sitter, and I couldn't have done that without software.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: I never created my own software, so I had to use what existed.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: And I agree, sometimes it just wasn't quite right.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: We would have to work around it.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: But because you have your site set on multiple locations, multiple operators, it makes so much sense to have started with the technology.
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Shaina Denny: One thing that also really stands out is our business model is very different with the membership and quick stops and paying in 30-minute increments.
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Shaina Denny: So using an existing software that was out there was just getting in the same box of traditional dog daycares.
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Shaina Denny: And we're like, hey, that's not our business.
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Shaina Denny: And we don't want to be in that business model.
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Shaina Denny: Our business model is focused on these quicker stops, different payment processing, everything there for members to actually pay for just their utilization.
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Shaina Denny: So that was really important for us as well.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: That's awesome.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: OK, so I learned about your previous experience.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: You were in tech, you were in B2B, you did a lot of work, a lot of work in China.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Why China?
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Shaina Denny: I was always really interested in China, like coming from a background of interest of importing and exporting products just sort of on the side.
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Shaina Denny: And so the culture definitely interested me as well as the business environment.
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Shaina Denny: So I ended up going to business school in China in 2015 and then ended up staying there for about four years.
00:18:14.015 --> 00:18:17.735
Shaina Denny: So after school, I completely fell in love with especially the startup scene.
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Shaina Denny: It's very fast paced and I think gives you a lot of opportunity for growth and exploration.
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Shaina Denny: So I stayed there, was in Shanghai for a few years and then moved up to Beijing.
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Shaina Denny: Definitely interested, not in the pet industry at all, primarily more in hardware, but it's been great to kind of transition and move back to the US and break into a new industry.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Yes.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: And in one of your interviews, you said you were working, what, like six days a week.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: What was it?
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Shaina Denny: The company that I worked with had this like coin term.
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Shaina Denny: They call it the 996.
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Shaina Denny: So from nine to nine, six days a week.
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Shaina Denny: It's kind of just a cultural phenomenon at any tech company over there.
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Shaina Denny: So definitely a different work-life balance here.
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Shaina Denny: But I mean, also starting my own business, you kind of work for crazy hours.
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Shaina Denny: And I think most people probably did the same while pet sitting and having kids and having a podcast.
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Shaina Denny: So yeah, yeah, yeah.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: No, I think that you prepared you for small business ownership and large business ownership, which is where you're headed.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: So I love that so much.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: I think that, you know, we have to start somewhere.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: And sometimes it's the grind that gets us where we're going.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: I love I love your outlook.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: I know that you started manifesting with your mom as a kid.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Tell me about that.
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Shaina Denny: Oh, I think for I'm like, you really dug deep into some of the interviews.
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Shaina Denny: I mean, I think a family is also really interested in like manifesting your your dreams.
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Shaina Denny: And I know some people kind of find that like, oh, ironic, or you have to it's not true.
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Shaina Denny: But I think unless you can see yourself and believe in something, it'll know it's really hard for it to actually become.
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Shaina Denny: And so it's kind of take that same philosophy.
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Shaina Denny: What we're doing at Dogdrop is really believing it and seeing this vision in a world where we can see dog drops all across the country and around and now actually having to work and put in the hours and put in the work and actually execute on that vision.
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Shaina Denny: So all of that helps build the building blocks to get there.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Absolutely.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Okay, so we're going into a new year.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: This is the last episode of 2023.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: And I want to invite you to play a game with me, which is called Resolutions 24.
00:20:30.735 --> 00:20:37.375
Isabel Alvarez Arata: And it's just about resolutions, your resolutions, kind of digging into what your thoughts are on resolutions.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Are you ready to play?
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Shaina Denny: Let's do it.
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Shaina Denny: I haven't given it much thought, so you're going to put me on the spot.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: I know I'm putting you on the spot.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: This is even better.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: I think about resolutions like the last quarter of the year, like the whole last quarter of the year.
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Shaina Denny: Yeah, it's funny because, well, you might ask this, but I break them down into quarterly resolutions rather than annual resolutions.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: I did not have that planned, but I will ask about that.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Okay, so do you believe in resolutions like for the general public?
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Shaina Denny: Yeah, so when it comes to personal or professional business resolutions, I think maybe I use them interchangeably call it resolutions, objectives, goals, but I definitely think doing something without a plan very rarely gets you to the finish line.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: True, true.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: How long do you think most people stick to the resolutions?
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Shaina Denny: Till what?
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Shaina Denny: January 30th?
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: I've given up before that even.
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Shaina Denny: I think, you know, I don't know, probably just anecdotally, I think most people pretty, pretty quickly.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: So tell us about your quarterly resolutions, how does that work?
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Shaina Denny: Yeah, so that's actually why I break resolutions and use a term, you know, to cover like personal and professional and even for business into quarterly goals and objectives.
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Shaina Denny: And I think that's why businesses have quarterly reports as well, because it's a lot easier to track something and really push for the next 90 days and track your progress over a 90 day period.
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Shaina Denny: Of course, I want to know where I'm headed over the next 12 plus months, but then actually break them down into things that are attainable and reachable.
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Shaina Denny: So that's how I really look at them and kind of break them down into buckets where you say like, hey, maybe at 12 months, I want to be over here.
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Shaina Denny: But what are the four steps that are going to get me there?
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: I love that.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: That is such a good idea.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: I've never thought about that.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: And I love a new beginning.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: So I feel like every quarter feeling like a new beginning is way more helpful than once a year.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: So if you had to attribute a resolution to Poppy, what do you think hers would be?
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Shaina Denny: Oh, let's see.
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Shaina Denny: She's getting a little lazy these days.
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Shaina Denny: I think her resolution would be to try to go out for like three walks a day.
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Shaina Denny: She's right now at about two walks in like one play session.
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Shaina Denny: So I think getting out on more walks would be one.
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Shaina Denny: And I think she'd definitely ask for more treats.
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Shaina Denny: This dog never treat motivated or food motivated until literally the past year.
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Shaina Denny: So when we're training her, it's like nothing would get her motivated.
00:23:13.755 --> 00:23:17.955
Shaina Denny: Even like it could be a nice piece of like meat, raw meat, anything.
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Shaina Denny: She wouldn't do it.
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Shaina Denny: But this past year, I think whatever hit her in her sixth year, but she's definitely more treat motivated.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: That's interesting.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: I was going to ask if you changed the treats, but that wasn't it.
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Shaina Denny: No, I think it's just in her, you know, every just like humans, their minds and taste buds or whatever.
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Shaina Denny: So yes, it's true.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: It's true.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Absolutely.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: So what are your resolutions in terms of being a dog parent?
00:23:46.455 --> 00:23:48.595
Isabel Alvarez Arata: What do you have in mind for 2024?
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Shaina Denny: I think for myself, I have a miniature dachshund.
00:23:52.215 --> 00:24:01.495
Shaina Denny: And so one thing that I take that's really important to us is to ensure that she doesn't jump off the furniture or stairs, anything of that sort.
00:24:01.775 --> 00:24:05.595
Shaina Denny: So I think continuing to stay disciplined as we've had different scares.
00:24:05.975 --> 00:24:11.815
Shaina Denny: And sometimes we can get lazy or again, focus on the convenience of ourselves like everyone.
00:24:12.095 --> 00:24:13.815
Shaina Denny: And so I'm like, oh, she'll be fine.
00:24:13.835 --> 00:24:16.395
Shaina Denny: Or I don't need to push that cushion there.
00:24:16.655 --> 00:24:20.575
Shaina Denny: And I think that's one thing that I just want to make sure I'm very cognizant about.
00:24:20.595 --> 00:24:26.215
Shaina Denny: So it's the top resolution that I have going into next year.
00:24:26.215 --> 00:24:28.935
Shaina Denny: And that she'll, you know, every year getting a little older.
00:24:28.975 --> 00:24:34.135
Shaina Denny: And so for us to make sure that we are not getting lazy as dog parents.
00:24:34.555 --> 00:24:39.535
Shaina Denny: And we're, you know, even if it takes 10 extra seconds, we're going the mile for our dogs.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Absolutely.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: I think that's so important.
00:24:42.015 --> 00:24:50.215
Isabel Alvarez Arata: And it's the little things like moving the cushion and getting up and, you know, off the couch when you're comfy to help them back on the couch or whatever.
00:24:50.455 --> 00:24:53.075
Isabel Alvarez Arata: For me, it's Kira loves her daily walks.
00:24:53.095 --> 00:24:58.735
Isabel Alvarez Arata: And as it gets colder, I live in El Paso, Texas, because I love the sun and I love the warmth.
00:24:58.795 --> 00:25:00.835
Isabel Alvarez Arata: And when it gets cold, I get lazy.
00:25:01.075 --> 00:25:05.755
Isabel Alvarez Arata: So, I'm with you, just making those little extra efforts to make sure that their needs are met is so important.
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Isabel Alvarez Arata: Great job.
00:25:06.775 --> 00:25:10.495
Isabel Alvarez Arata: So, what do you usually do to celebrate New Year's Eve?
00:25:10.515 --> 00:25:14.395
Isabel Alvarez Arata: Are you like the type that goes out and has like party, party night?
00:25:14.855 --> 00:25:19.495
Isabel Alvarez Arata: Or are you more of the one that stays in and creates a vision board or somewhere in between?
00:25:19.955 --> 00:25:21.475
Shaina Denny: Probably somewhere in between.
00:25:22.255 --> 00:25:28.915
Shaina Denny: I do like to, you know, go out and celebrate, but I also I take the New Year's great time to like feel good about yourself.
00:25:28.915 --> 00:25:34.815
Shaina Denny: Like I want to go into the New Year feeling good, not exhausted or anything of that sort.
00:25:35.655 --> 00:25:40.515
Shaina Denny: So it's a balancing act too, because you want to still celebrate with friends while you can.
00:25:41.095 --> 00:25:43.915
Shaina Denny: This New Year's I'll be in Colorado.
00:25:43.935 --> 00:25:49.435
Shaina Denny: We're going to Steamboat as well with my friends and get in some snowboarding.
00:25:50.355 --> 00:25:51.035
Isabel Alvarez Arata: So fun.
00:25:51.095 --> 00:25:51.575
Isabel Alvarez Arata: Awesome.
00:25:51.835 --> 00:25:53.235
Isabel Alvarez Arata: So you lived in China.
00:25:53.255 --> 00:25:56.655
Isabel Alvarez Arata: China has obviously a world famous New Year's.
00:25:56.675 --> 00:25:57.635
Isabel Alvarez Arata: It doesn't align with ours.
00:25:57.995 --> 00:26:01.455
Isabel Alvarez Arata: What did you learn about their culture and new beginnings?
00:26:01.475 --> 00:26:04.815
Isabel Alvarez Arata: And did you adopt any of their rituals for new beginnings?
00:26:04.835 --> 00:26:11.195
Shaina Denny: When I lived in Beijing, I actually lived with in an apartment in my roommate was Chinese as well.
00:26:11.215 --> 00:26:15.595
Shaina Denny: So I got to celebrate Chinese New Year's with him and his family in a very traditional sense.
00:26:16.415 --> 00:26:22.635
Shaina Denny: Before that, I realized the whole month you need to wear earplugs when you're sleeping, they'll do fireworks all month long.
00:26:23.375 --> 00:26:26.755
Shaina Denny: So much more like for us, we have one big night of celebration.
00:26:26.815 --> 00:26:32.915
Shaina Denny: It feels like forever when you're trying to sleep and fireworks and firecrackers going off.
00:26:33.135 --> 00:26:33.895
Isabel Alvarez Arata: The poor dog.
00:26:33.915 --> 00:26:37.655
Isabel Alvarez Arata: All I can think is the poor dogs and the animals like just panicked for a month.
00:26:37.815 --> 00:26:38.535
Shaina Denny: They must.
00:26:38.895 --> 00:26:39.715
Shaina Denny: I'm not quite sure.
00:26:39.735 --> 00:26:43.755
Shaina Denny: I think maybe they're used to it or something because it's more frequent.
00:26:44.195 --> 00:26:49.635
Shaina Denny: So yeah, definitely like to get involved whenever traveling somewhere and understand their culture.
00:26:49.655 --> 00:26:53.335
Shaina Denny: And if you have the opportunity to be with more of like a local as well.
00:26:53.635 --> 00:26:54.315
Isabel Alvarez Arata: Yeah, absolutely.
00:26:54.515 --> 00:26:57.575
Isabel Alvarez Arata: And do they have like New Year's resolutions for their new year?
00:26:57.595 --> 00:26:59.755
Isabel Alvarez Arata: Do they do similar like goal setting?
00:26:59.795 --> 00:27:00.855
Isabel Alvarez Arata: Is that traditional?
00:27:00.875 --> 00:27:02.615
Shaina Denny: A little different than the goal setting.
00:27:02.635 --> 00:27:08.075
Shaina Denny: There's something called like the translation is like a red envelope.
00:27:08.095 --> 00:27:08.995
Shaina Denny: You might have seen these.
00:27:09.015 --> 00:27:13.535
Shaina Denny: They've kind of gained more popularity in Western culture over the last few years.
00:27:13.555 --> 00:27:14.715
Shaina Denny: And so you can give a gift.
00:27:14.735 --> 00:27:19.975
Shaina Denny: Most people give money in the red envelope and kind of the best for New Year.
00:27:20.075 --> 00:27:24.875
Shaina Denny: But I'm not the expert on exactly what other traditions they have.
00:27:25.275 --> 00:27:30.335
Isabel Alvarez Arata: So basically going into the New Year thinking prosperity, prosperity, prosperity.
00:27:30.395 --> 00:27:33.235
Isabel Alvarez Arata: I'm trying to manifest prosperity too, for sure.
00:27:33.915 --> 00:27:37.335
Isabel Alvarez Arata: Especially after all the spending I've done on like Cyber Monday.
00:27:37.335 --> 00:27:38.375
Isabel Alvarez Arata: So I totally.
00:27:40.175 --> 00:27:42.715
Isabel Alvarez Arata: I have one last question for you and this is a big one.
00:27:42.715 --> 00:27:44.575
Isabel Alvarez Arata: So what is your hope?
00:27:44.595 --> 00:27:45.775
Isabel Alvarez Arata: What is your goal?
00:27:45.795 --> 00:27:48.575
Isabel Alvarez Arata: What are your dreams for Dogdrop?
00:27:48.695 --> 00:27:50.315
Isabel Alvarez Arata: Where do you guys want to go?
00:27:50.315 --> 00:27:52.075
Isabel Alvarez Arata: How many locations are you after?
00:27:52.095 --> 00:27:52.855
Isabel Alvarez Arata: Tell me about that.
00:27:53.175 --> 00:27:57.255
Shaina Denny: Yeah, so I think there is no large household name in dog daycare still.
00:27:57.275 --> 00:28:05.235
Shaina Denny: There are some players with even a couple hundred locations across the United States, but the average person is still quite unaware of them.
00:28:05.595 --> 00:28:29.755
Shaina Denny: And I think for us, that's where we see the big opportunity, is that there will be a household name in dog daycare, that this is a service that's going to only increase with traction and utilization as parents realize how important dog socialization, mental stimulation is, that it's just as critical to a dog's complete and whole health as having a healthy diet and fresh dog food too.
00:28:30.115 --> 00:28:37.695
Shaina Denny: So for us, our mission is to just to focus again on the three core components of our company, convenience, flexibility and quality.
00:28:38.055 --> 00:28:46.175
Shaina Denny: And if we can get there and be more convenient for dog parents to have access to quality daycare, then that for us would be an accomplishment.
00:28:46.515 --> 00:28:47.135
Isabel Alvarez Arata: Absolutely.
00:28:47.155 --> 00:28:50.135
Isabel Alvarez Arata: It sounds like you guys are going into a really good market.
00:28:50.155 --> 00:28:55.155
Isabel Alvarez Arata: I'm from Miami, so Fort Lauderdale is a great place to have a doggy daycare.
00:28:55.635 --> 00:28:58.735
Isabel Alvarez Arata: Lots of long commutes, lots of pet lovers down there.
00:28:58.755 --> 00:29:00.455
Isabel Alvarez Arata: So I think that's a great idea.
00:29:00.475 --> 00:29:01.955
Isabel Alvarez Arata: I wish you nothing but the best.
00:29:02.155 --> 00:29:04.835
Isabel Alvarez Arata: How can my audience learn more about you?
00:29:04.835 --> 00:29:09.375
Isabel Alvarez Arata: And tell us from a pet parent perspective and from somebody who wants to learn about franchising.
00:29:09.795 --> 00:29:10.215
Shaina Denny: Sure.
00:29:10.215 --> 00:29:15.115
Shaina Denny: So you can learn more at dogdrop.co, dogdrop.co online.
00:29:15.415 --> 00:29:16.735
Shaina Denny: You can find me on Twitter.
00:29:16.795 --> 00:29:18.095
Shaina Denny: It's Shaina Denny.
00:29:18.855 --> 00:29:20.535
Shaina Denny: Pretty active on Twitter there.
00:29:20.555 --> 00:29:32.555
Shaina Denny: And if you're interested to learn more about what we're doing, we also sell compostable poop bags and paw and bum wipes and other daily dog essentials online on our website and have other franchise opportunities.
00:29:32.575 --> 00:29:40.855
Shaina Denny: And we're just really interested to work with folks that are just as passionate about pets and also are tech savvy and have an operator mindset.
00:29:41.715 --> 00:29:42.615
Isabel Alvarez Arata: That's amazing.
00:29:42.635 --> 00:29:46.095
Isabel Alvarez Arata: Well, I just want to propose a toast to you and wish you a very happy new year.
00:29:46.115 --> 00:29:47.775
Isabel Alvarez Arata: Thank you so much for being my guest.
00:29:47.995 --> 00:29:48.615
Shaina Denny: Appreciate it.
00:29:48.635 --> 00:29:49.295
Shaina Denny: Thanks, Isabel.
00:29:49.815 --> 00:29:50.515
Isabel Alvarez Arata: My pleasure.
00:29:50.535 --> 00:29:54.855
Isabel Alvarez Arata: It's always great to speak to somebody who's passionate about pet care and doing it right.
00:29:55.255 --> 00:29:58.835
Isabel Alvarez Arata: I also want to propose a toast to my executive producer, Mark Winter.
00:29:58.855 --> 00:30:04.835
Isabel Alvarez Arata: Thank you, Mark, and to our audience and wish you a super happy and safe new years.
00:30:05.195 --> 00:30:07.695
Isabel Alvarez Arata: I also wish you all the best in 2024.
00:30:07.715 --> 00:30:09.815
Isabel Alvarez Arata: Here is To A Life Covered In Pet Hair.
00:30:09.975 --> 00:30:11.495
Isabel Alvarez Arata: Because there's no better way to live.
00:30:12.455 --> 00:30:19.975
Isabel Alvarez Arata: To learn more about Covered In Pet Hair, please visit coveredinpethair.com or petliferadio.com Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time.
00:30:20.795 --> 00:30:26.835
Announcer: Let's talk pets, every week, on demand, only on petliferadio.com.