585: Building Client Trust Through Niche Services with Niki Lepine & Steph Law
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How do you build trust with clients while offering specialized pet care services? Niki Lepine and Steph Law of Dog Jogs share how they carved out a niche in pet care by focusing on reactive dogs, shift workers, and personalized dog jogging services. They discuss how they built a loyal client base by addressing unique pet care needs, the importance of clear communication, and why community engagement matters. From offering pet first aid courses to hosting monthly dog walk meetups, Niki and Steph break down the strategies that have helped them stand out in a crowded market. If you’re looking for ways to specialize your services and build stronger client relationships, this episode is packed with inspiration!
Main topics:
Creating niche pet care services.
The benefits of dog jogging for high-energy dogs.
Setting client expectations with clear communication.
Supporting shift workers with flexible pet care.
Building a pet care community through engagement.
Main takeaway:
“We try to build those relationships and be close to our clients. It’s not just a job.” — Niki Lepine
Understanding your clients’ specific needs helps build trust and loyalty. By offering specialized services—like jogging for high-energy dogs or tailored care for reactive pets—you create solutions that make life easier for pet parents. Niki and Steph share how they’ve turned their passion into a thriving business by focusing on clear communication, strong client relationships, and creative community engagement. 🐾
✨ What’s one way you personalize your pet care services? Share in the comments!
About our guests:
Nikki Lepine: is the co-founder of Dog Jogs, a premier dog running and walking service in Edmonton, Alberta, created from her personal experience with her beloved rescue dog, Koda. After adopting Koda—a senior dog with a history of separation anxiety—Nikki discovered that exercise was key to keeping him calm and happy. However, balancing shift work and ensuring Koda received enough activity was a challenge, leading her to recognize a need for reliable pet care for busy pet parents. This inspired her to team up with Steph Law to launch Dog Jogs, helping pet owners provide the same peace of mind she sought for Koda. Today, Nikki is passionate about enriching dogs’ lives through movement, adventure, and companionship, ensuring every pup in their care stays happy, healthy, and well-loved.
Steph Law: is the co-founder of Dog Jogs, where she channels her love for dogs and passion for supporting pet parents into a thriving pet care service. She and Nikki started Dog Jogs after seeing firsthand the challenges of balancing work and pet care, especially for dogs with high energy or anxiety needs. Understanding how important regular exercise is for a dog’s well-being, Stephanie is dedicated to ensuring every client—both two- and four-legged—feels supported and cared for. With a strong background in client relations and team leadership, she helps guide the Dog Jogs team in providing reliable, high-quality exercise and companionship for dogs across Edmonton. Whether it’s a brisk jog or a leisurely walk, Stephanie is committed to making a positive impact in the lives of both pets and their people.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/yegdogjogs/
https://www.instagram.com/dog_jogs/
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Pet care, dog jogs, reactivity issues, pet first aid, virtual consults, client relationships, business growth, staff training, community engagement, pet services, dog walking, pet training, pet care market, client needs, pet care industry.
SPEAKERS
Nikki, Steph, Collin
Collin 00:00
Music. Welcome to pet sitter confessional, an open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter. Today. We're brought to you by our friends at tying to pet and pet perennials. We're super excited to dive into a topic that I know actually comes up quite a bit in discussions, is, how can we take a dog walk and do something different with it? How does that work in marketing and training and all sorts of things. And what better people to tackle this topic? Is Nikki Lepine and Steph law with dog jogs. They're gonna be on the show today talking about their journey into pet care, how they manage and operate their business, and how they make sure they have the right staff and meet their clients needs with excellence. Super excited to have both of you on the show to talk about this. For those who aren't familiar with what you all do, could you please tell us a little bit more about yourselves?
Steph 00:47
Yeah, absolutely. Thank you first of all for having us on your show where, yeah, long time followers as well. We're all the way up, or, I guess, yeah, up in Canada from you guys. We're based in Edmonton, Alberta, and we specialize in jogs, hence dog jogs. But we also offer other services like dog walking, dog training, cat visits,
Collin 01:11
pet first aid and that kind of stuff.
Nikki 01:15
Introduce ourselves. Oh, yes.
01:16
Well, I'm Nikki,
Steph 01:19
so you know who's speaking and on staff?
Collin 01:23
Well, yeah, and so you offer quite a bit right now. But how did you both get started doing this? So it kind of all started.
Nikki 01:33
We're coming up to nine years. So before that, I had adopted COTA, and he was a mixed mutt, big dog, probably half Pyrenees, half German Shepherd. So he wasn't your typical Pyrenees, who is lazy and sleeps a lot. He really liked to be active, and as did i He also had separation anxiety and some reactivity issues to work through. So when I first adopted him, we left a window open, he jumped through the window. We lost him. We found him. So it was like he was just out searching for his people, right? And so after speaking with the vet, they said, maybe try exercising him a bit more to settle him down. I said, Can I take him for runs, because I'm a runner. And she was like, yeah, like, take him for a 5k run and kind of see how he does from that and after that, we were we were set. We were running buddies. He helped me train for many half marathons that I've trained and did over the years. And his separation anxiety, we did some training as well, but the extra activity really helped settle him down with that. So I was also a shift worker at the time, so my days were inconsistent. So that's kind of where dog Jobs came the idea because I needed help certain days, certain times, and there wasn't really that service at that time, and he wasn't really a daycare type dog. Also, like those, hours didn't work for me with the shifts I worked. So it was really difficult to always be relying on friends. My family doesn't live in Edmonton. I'm from Calgary, a town, like a city three hours away. So it was just one of those like struggles of like, what do I do with my dog when I'm at work for 12 to 24 hours and he needs to run so he's not anxious at home, so that's kind of where dog jugs came
03:23
from to begin with. So
Collin 03:26
I think often we forget a lot of the guilt that the pet owners carry around with them. And I've even had some reach out to us and basically say, like, Hey, I've used up all of my friendship capital, and I've run out of people to ask for help, and I'm tired of relying on these relationships. And you know, then to for them to reach out. It's like, Oh, wow. Like, yeah, you don't even like, this is, this is what I do, and there's no capital spent with me, because I'm happy to be here. It does. You can almost see that change in that client's kind of life whenever they realize what kind of resource we can be,
Steph 04:03
totally, yeah, absolutely, yeah, especially even, like, depending on the frequency, if they're, like, a multi like, several times a day, like your that's really hard to ask of even your neighbors, or, yeah, people who even have the time, but it is a big commitment,
Collin 04:20
yeah, and it kind of, you know, it does put weight on our shoulders, I guess, in that sense, because it is a big commitment, but I have to reassure our clients, at least, of, no, you're not asking too much, right? You're asking just the right amount for your pet, and we're happy to meet that, right? And sure, there are things that we just won't do or can't do, but there's always that conversation of, I don't, do you guys get that where your clients are like, I'm so sorry to ask, but, and you're like, No, like, this is what I literally what I do. Yeah? Like, Oh, can we do meds? Absolutely, unless, yeah, you know, like, that kind of thing, yeah. I
Steph 04:54
think people kind of get, yeah, they're surprised where you can I'm much, like, I'm sure you're. Selves, you can basically customize like the services according to the pets needs. So if you need lunch fed, do you need medications? Do you need certain gear to be put on certain medical your dog won't
Nikki 05:11
go to the washroom on a walk, so you have to head back home and spend some time in the backyard. You know, little things like that. You're like, oh, right, yeah.
Collin 05:20
And so you're you're out running with coda. You're doing that. It's helping with your shift work. Nikki, how did you start translating this into an actual business, though, and serving others? Well,
Nikki 05:30
I told Steph that we're going to start a business. Okay, so really, yeah. So Steph and I are married, and that kind of happened after COTA, so we obviously, then I had Steph to help me with COTA, but then it also became just this idea of, like, this really helped our dog. So I wonder if this would help other people in our community. And we were like, Let's just start this as our side hustle. Like a lot of people in the peck community do, they're, you know, it's, it is we love our animals. We love spending time with them. I bet I could do this for other people and help serve our community that way. And so we just thought it would be, we'd run a few dogs here and there. And within six months of starting dog drugs, we had to look at hiring help. Because I was like, I can't run this much every single day while working full time, while I'm still working my full time job. Yeah,
Collin 06:26
Steph, what was that like, you know, getting this business off the ground and helping Nikki with that and kind of, you know, how was the transition into the life of a business owner for you
06:34
both? Yeah, I mean,
Steph 06:37
it's definitely a roller coaster. It's incredibly rewarding, but navigating something that was quite foreign to both of us was quite challenging. But I feel like, yeah, it's something that we both are incredibly happy that this has rolled out the way it has for us. We never really envisioned it to be what it is now, even like nine years ago, but even just having the community in terms of, like our clients, even people that don't use us, but know of our services, our staff members, it's, yeah, it's a really cool, cool thing. You
Collin 07:18
said that phrase there, navigating something quite foreign to us, and I really like that describes so much of the journey of the business owner, isn't it like? So much is just like, well, I've never done that before, and well, who knows, and I guess I'll have to learn. And it just, but it's that mindset of like, I I guess that's just what I do next, and I've got to tackle that. And it's kind of doing that over and over again.
Steph 07:45
Yeah, absolutely. It's, yeah, you basically throw a bunch of spaghetti on the wall and see what sticks right. But, and like you said, you just you see the value that you're providing for people that can't be there for their pets, and I think that's just like the biggest driver for us.
Collin 08:07
Well, that that value too, like that does start with us, right? I I have to know that what I do is valuable, so I can, you know, so I can bring that forward to other people. Because if I don't, if I don't have value, and if we don't see value, if we're just kind of doing it and going through the motions, well, clients pick up on that pretty easily. Yeah, yeah,
08:26
totally, yeah. And
Nikki 08:28
I think, like, that's part of it too, is like they're not just clients, and it's not that we necessarily believe we're a family, but like, we are very close with a lot of our like, with we try to build those relationships and be close to our clients. We're devastated when they let us know that their pets, it's time to, you know, cross the Rainbow Bridge and time to say goodbye. It is. It's hard for our staff members as well. They've all spent so much time and built relationships with those pets. So I'm like, it's not just, yeah, it's not just a job, right? For
Collin 08:59
all of us. Yeah, well, and you said that word family too, that's really been, you know, worn down and abused by corporate culture like, and really what it was is just like, oh, like, welcome to a really toxic work environment, but we're gonna guilt you into being here. Welcome to the family, right? It's like, oh no. And so we, too have had to struggle, like, with how we describe this relationship, because we do want to be more than just transactional. A transaction does happen, but it's, it's, there's so much more going on here, especially with the level of trust that people place in us.
Nikki 09:32
Oh, absolutely, yeah, like they're trusting us with their home, their family member, their furry family. It's, there's so much trust in it, that it is transactional, but yeah, the relationship is a huge part of that for them to build that trust with us as well and our team, since we're the people that hire our team members, and they trust us to hire the right people.
Collin 09:55
Steph, you mentioned about the community that was growing and helped. You grow this business and what you were connected with? How did you or how do you work in the community and help grow and expand the connection you have with those people?
Steph 10:10
Yeah, a lot of the time, I feel like it's pretty organic, whether we're, I don't know, at the grocery store, and someone sees our sweater with our logo on it, and you just, like, strike up a genuine conversation. Or there's a lot of the times that we do like to give back to the community, whether it's personally or via the company that's also really important to us, through several different, I guess, venues, streams, but just really being invested in our clients, again, people even on social that we you know, we might not have even met in person, but we have that connection with them because we believe in the same things and we value the same things and same thing with our staff too, like they're obviously very important to us too, and we tried to show them through different venues, different venues, of streams as well.
Collin 11:08
Really, really highlighting them too, right? Like, no, like, here's part of our community, and you kind of mentioned the people that directly use you, the people who just know about you might not use your service, and then your your team as well. I'm continually shocked by the people who don't use us, but like reshare our posts, or like comment and things like that. I'm like, what, where are you? Where did you come from? Why are you?
Nikki 11:33
Yeah, people who are in like Facebook groups who are like, I've never used them, but I think they're amazing. And yeah, like share, and you're like, Oh, thank you so much. Like,
Steph 11:39
the biggest random compliment,
Collin 11:43
I know it's like, like, No, you literally are a stranger to me and you believe in me so much. Like, wow. Like, that means so much. Yeah,
Nikki 11:51
absolutely. Sometimes we also host a monthly dog walking meetup, so that's open to everyone, so whether they're our clients, or people who just, we have a Facebook group. So if they join the group, and they can make it, we plan it for all over different parts of the city and surrounding areas. So and we just do it once a month, because that's the time that we have to do it. So we pick where we're going, all of that, and then you're free to show up. And yeah, so some months we'll have up to 20 people. Sometimes two people show up. But it's just, it's a community based thing, and we do different areas so that people who maybe can't drive to certain locations can come and it's just open, so that you can chit chat if you're working on skills with your dog, and you need some people who have pets that are okay around, like a reactive dog, you can bring your dog and work on those things, and you know, it's a safe place. So yeah, that's been a really cool thing we've been doing, actually, since COVID. So, yeah, that's one way that we're trying to bring the community together a bit as
Collin 12:53
well. So how do you arrange that? Do you have certain ones done for types of dogs or temperaments or behaviors, or do you kind of, is it just a general understanding that, hey, in order to show up for this, your dog has to kind of be okay with others around.
Steph 13:10
Um, we do. It's kind of like a general, I mean, in the description of the group, we are, like, you know, labeled as a safe place. But, I mean, I think it's also because, like our, the niche of our the majority of our demographic, of our clients, they do have some type of reactivity. So if it is something that people are working on, as a general rule, everyone does give each other room. So especially if we're, you know, meeting at a place at like, 10am or something. Usually, if we're waiting for all members who are coming to attend every you can see the parking lot everyone is, like, scattered about, you know, six feet, just to make sure. But people are really good about advocating for their pets, too in those situations. But it's really become kind of, yeah, like a monthly practice for people who are, you know, just really proactive with learning those skills with their pets and everything too.
Collin 14:08
That can be really isolating for people who have some sort of reactivity with their pet, and a lot of it is just okay. I've got to become insular, and I can never interact again, and I just have to be by myself, and I just as a pet owner, can be really lonely in those and really ostracized from the rest of kind of the pet owner community, because you look you got on Tik Tok, you on Instagram. What do you see? You see all the cool videos of all the dogs at the dog park doing their fun thing and groups and whatever. And kind of feel like you're missing out on something. So be able to have that where it's like, no, there's just a general understanding here. Here's what we're working on, we're practicing, and we're just it builds a lot of confidence in the client too, to know that they have their a good relationship with
14:47
their dog. Yeah,
Steph 14:49
absolutely. And like, how stressful, right? Even, like, you have to obviously do some type of physical and mental enrichment. And if you're stressed or afraid, to even walk. Your neighborhood, like how scary and like how, like, you said, isolating, but yeah, this way you can absolutely practice those things and explore different parts of the city that you might not have been prone to do by yourself. Yeah,
Collin 15:17
now you mentioned you kind of have that niche of reactivity. Was that something that you you sought after, or you kind of found yourself in, given the kind of services you were offering, how did that get to where you are now? Kind
Nikki 15:29
of both because COTA was reactive and we had taken training classes, it was already just a natural thing for us, like it doesn't stress us out to work with reactive dogs and so, yeah, it just was a natural progression. When people were like, Oh, my dad, my dogs reactive to, like, bikes, and we're like, oh, that's fine. Like, we can do our best to avoid them, that kind of thing. We're not dog trainers, so we're not going to train your dog, but we can bring treats and try to reinforce that when they're doing, you know, passing a bike positively. But, like so that kind of thing. But we have, I guess, in the last few years, been talking about it more in our marketing as well, because we have put a few of our staff through dog training programs. So our office manager, Reina, is also a dog trainer, and so we launched Dog Training Services. Well, I think two, just over two years ago. So yeah, it's been one of those things that we've trained our staff as well to how to work with reactive dogs, or how to avoid as best as possible, and, yeah, how to help them calm down after if they do have a big reaction, and those kind of things. So
Steph 16:36
we kind of like evolved into it. I think especially after COVID, it's kind of become more so our niche as well with our demographic, because we offer, like, only private walks. We don't do pack walks. We don't do off leash walks as well. It's strictly just like dogs from the same household that can be on the private walk. So it's, yeah, I think naturally kind of developed into our niche well,
Collin 17:02
and especially with the prior, prior experience with coda, right? You're kind of walking in there again going, No, I actually have this, like, base layer of knowledge and what I'm comfortable with. And I'm sure some of those clients had originally been turned down by people who said, No, I can't work with that. Like, I can't handle that. And so for you to come in and say, oh, yeah, that, Oh, I've seen that 100 times. Like, yeah, I got that. Here's a plan like that, and then to grow from that, like, oh, wow, here's all we're finding this niche. What kind of skills, what kind of knowledge you really do, just start building off of that foundation. And I think it's important to remember that, like everybody has a foundation, we just have to find it. Sometimes I might have to dig down a little bit to figure out where my my strength is, so that I can build off of it. Yeah, absolutely.
Steph 17:47
But like you said, there are we even still to this day, like, we do have a lot of clients, or, oh, like, you know, I've already contacted a couple companies, and they're not comfortable walking my dog, who is reactive. And it is something that, yeah, we can confidently handle among our entire team.
Collin 18:06
Have you heard of time to pet Chris and from raining cats and dogs? Has this to say? Becoming
Speaker 1 18:11
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Collin 18:36
looking for new pet sitting software, give time to pet a try. Listeners of our show will save 50% off your first three months by visiting time spent com slash confessional. Well, that gets into a question that I had about about your jogs is, how do you determine who's going to be a good fit for those and kind of, what's your screening and onboarding process for that?
Nikki 18:56
Yeah, so we have a pretty detailed application process, so obviously, people will fill out our first little application. We send them a follow up, few questions. I can't remember exactly how many, and there's another they have to send in a video, which then they go to an interview, or maybe they don't. So they have to kind of pass through our question, like our question application phrase with answers that we like to hear. Typically, it's like that they either have some understanding of reactivity or positive like reinforcement training, that they are a jogger, not always, but if people are willing to run in all weather. We are in Canada. It was minus 30 last week, so we're still actively, uh, outside with a lot of the dogs. We've got lots of Huskies who enjoy that weather. Might not be running the entire time when it's minus 30, it's hard on everyone, but some of the dogs love it. So if they if they love the weather, those kind of things, yeah.
Collin 20:01
Yeah, so, and then I kind of forget where I was going, because it's one of those things of so the the process is there. Again, you're designing at each step. I'm sure you're collecting different information for that, but I you know hearing that this is a multi step process to get involved with this. It's like, yeah, because some people aren't going to be as committed to that, and some people, like you have to test and screen across such a diversity of of skill sets and attitudes and behaviors and mindsets for this, because I know, like, like, we have a hard enough time getting people to understand that, no, I'm just gonna walk the dog in the rain. Like to know that, like, No, I'm jogging in minus 30, like that. Like that. The differential between those two is quite, quite, quite a bit.
Nikki 20:51
And it's one of those things too. It's like, we wouldn't, like, obviously, we still do it with safety in mind, and it's up to our staff. Like, if you're cold and you think the dog is cold head inside. Our clients are also always okay with the decisions our team makes, and we put it always on our team that if you're cold head in, our clients aren't going to be mad, and if they are, you can send them to us, because we told you to go inside and you made that decision. But no one ever is it's chilly like they're fine if you've cut the service and head inside to play and cuddle with their dog. But it's one of those things we wouldn't expect our team to do anything that we wouldn't and haven't. I we used to do several dogs a day in the minus 30 and we there's a there's a half marathon in Edmonton that's called the hype, like the hypo half. So it's like, hypothermic, yeah, and
21:41
it often falls on one of the cold days of the year. So
Nikki 21:45
my best half marathon time I've ever done because
Collin 21:49
you were trying to get warm.
Steph 21:53
Yeah? Your personal best, yeah,
Collin 21:58
I like heat too. I would run to the warmth as well. It's a great motivation for this kind of specialty thing. How are you how are you equipping your team with this? Do you have standardized leashes or harnesses or stuff that you like to use, or do you kind of use whatever the client has on hand
Nikki 22:19
more? So what the client has on hand, we do recommend that like for jogs, that they should have a harness at least, but it just depends on the dog as well and their training. So if it is a dog that like bowls a lot on walks, we probably wouldn't recommend them for jogs, just because they probably need to learn a little bit more about loose leash walking before they're running, because that can be just a little bit of a disaster sometimes depending so those kind of things. But our staff, yeah, typically just use what the client has. We do provide.
Steph 22:54
They're called micro spikes, like for running. So they basically attach to almost any like footwear that you utilize outside, and it just provides quite a bit of traction on the snow and ice.
Collin 23:07
But there's lots of snow this year. Yeah. Yeah, like you said, then there's that judgment call that you kind of have to train on policies and procedures and then just leave it up to the team to go, Hey, if you've determined, we've got your back 100% and you go be safe with the dog, there's not, there's no really amount of equipment and stuff that you can give somebody to make something safe if it's just inherently going to be unsafe to them.
Steph 23:34
Yeah, exactly, yeah. And there's like, yeah, a ton of like, modifications and like that they could provide, and it's still just as enriching, right? But obviously, every dog is different. Every person, person is different. Their tolerance to whatever the weather is can be different. So that's kind of why we leave it up to the staff.
Collin 23:54
Well, I know a big thing that gets discussed a lot about in the Facebook groups are things like, you know, shoes and footwear. You guys have recommendations for people if they're interested in this, because I know, you know, we can burn through a pair of shoes really fast, and I'm sure it's even more so if you're out there putting in the miles with the jogs. I mean, it's all
Nikki 24:12
with preference as well. But my favorite running shoes are ASICs.
Steph 24:16
Yeah, my favorite are usually Nikes. But yeah, ASICs are really good. The hookahs are really good. The on clouds are really good. And
Nikki 24:26
then we also have, what are our winter boots called, because baffins. Oh, yeah, our baffins are pretty they're made for really cold temperatures, so if it's
Steph 24:38
Canadian, but yeah, they're made for, like, minus 30 kind of weather.
Collin 24:45
And again, it's about knowing I have to both set up for success, but also have the policies behind that when you're when you're bringing people on, you mentioned that they have to have kind of an already an understanding of reactivity or positive reinforcement. How do you layer in extra. Knowledge on top to set that person up for success.
Steph 25:03
Yeah, I feel like that's integrated into, like our mandatory, kind of standardized training. So after a successful candidate passes through the application process, they do have to go through this multi step training that we have set up first day is kind of like orientation, slash, we go through, like, all our policies, procedures, expectations, etc, and then we do have a couple days in field with some of our senior staff, and that's basically going through again, the expectations and policies, like set, obviously, in person, and then we also do later down the road, a few training sessions, actually, with Reina, who is our certified dog trainer as well. So that's really emphasizing tools that our joggers can kind of put in their toolbox of dealing with more complicated behavioral tendencies. So whether that's Yeah reactivity or
Nikki 26:07
yeah when we're planning out their training, not that we don't really consider them difficult dogs, but we try to pick the more difficult situations. So it'd be like, oh, like, here's like Merlin are one of our favorite dog jogging clients. Everyone knows him. He's a fantastic runner, like he's going to help you get your personal best if you're a runner, he's also very reactive, or can be, but he is so well trained that as long as you have treats, you know that you can keep him from reacting. So it's just training them while working with Merlin, so that they can get them to understand how far before he'll have a reaction. So like his, I can't think I should Yeah,
Steph 26:47
his threshold Exactly, yeah. And just how to be proactive with a lot of those circumstances.
Collin 26:52
I'm sure that is tricky, having those kind of examples of No, here's a really good progression. Here's us working up the ladder. Here's where this threshold is and see this very clearly defined signal like this is picturesque of what you want to look for, because for people coming in, it can be difficult, especially if it's a real fast signal or something like that. It's like, wait, what can we rewind? Like, no, it's a living animal. I can't
27:17
rewind again. Do it again?
Collin 27:19
Just put painted watching
Steph 27:22
well, and it can vary her pet too, right? Like it might, it won't look the same either, and it might not be as obvious for
Nikki 27:29
certain days, if dogs have bad days too, right? Well, like they're not feeling great, or some they've already been triggered in the morning on a different walk or something, and they'll have an off day, just like as humans, where you're like, I'm really angry today, and I anything's going to set me up, just like those dogs. So I
Collin 27:46
think that's one of the hardest things to that, not one of the hardest things, but it can be difficult to get new people and new new employees to understand that of, look, we're going to see this dog every day. That doesn't mean it's going to be the same dog every day, and to kind of not set up that. What's my screening process for, for, for getting to know what kind of dog I'm talking to today? Did they have a bad morning? How do I tell that for this particular dog in this particular situation, and not just treat everything as always the same, or everything is going to be, oh, everything's perfect, right? It's like, Yeah, I know, I know it went great yesterday. That doesn't guarantee it's going to go great today. And we have to. That's why we have these steps in place, is to make sure we understand what's going on. Yeah, exactly,
Steph 28:32
yeah. And just trying to make it like, as positive and as proactive as you can for
Nikki 28:39
everybody, and yeah. Like, even, like, for Merlin, for example, like, if the jog really isn't going well because he's having a really bad day, of reactions turn it into a walk, if it's easier to manage, like, it's just, like, that's how flexible our clients are with Yeah, our services and yeah. Like, that's what we let our team know as well. So like, even though you showed up to do a jog, you might need to modify it.
Collin 29:01
Now is that, are they just, are you just attracting those kind of go with the flow clients, or is that clearly laid out in some sort of onboarding process for them, going, Hey, we reserve the right to make XYZ changes. How do you build that kind of culture of flexibility in your business?
Nikki 29:16
I think both to tell you the truth, our client like our client base is just like, they're fantastic humans who just really care about their dogs and understand, like, I want the best for them. So if you need to head back to our yard and play rather than have my dog bark at the mailman who he hates, that's great. That's better than having him triggered out on this walk. Yeah, I feel like, because a lot of our clients have reactive dogs. They're already they have that guilt about their dog reacting and that worry that, like it'll make it worse, kind of thing if, if they have a reaction or that it would just might even scare some staff. You know, they don't want a staff to be upset or something like that. So they're very flexible, yeah, in what we we do, but it is part of our. Policy as well. So we reiterate that in our consults and even just sometimes in our messaging to clients as well, just to remind them,
Steph 30:07
yeah. And I think it helps in like, you know, like under the rare circumstance like that, someone I don't know, for example, is upset that we did modify for certain reasons, usually after having a conversation and, like, just being fully transparent as to, like, why that happened. Like, I don't think we've ever had a client. Like, still oppose that after understanding, I think it's more
Nikki 30:32
of like, an aha moment. Like, yeah, oh, right. Like, that makes so much sense now that you've explained that, I can't even think of the last time, but yeah, yeah, no,
Collin 30:42
but that's a great example of where that clear communication just kind of helps everybody be on that same page. And especially in the context of having clients who have dogs who are predisposed to this reactivity, the client themselves have experienced the I'm going for a walk today, and then three minutes in the nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, going back home like they've experienced that, and so being able to relay that to them, and especially, what we found is not just that it happened, but what we worked on through that process, and what we tried and that, you know, and why we ended up coming to the down the decision tree that we did, that's when clients, like you, like you, said stuff really understand, like, right? Okay, that makes total sense now, yeah,
Steph 31:23
exactly. And that's the thing. It's like, like, yeah, we we have clients that obviously don't enlist in our training services, and that is totally fine, but that doesn't mean that obviously we're not going to take precautions to make it an or, sorry, a positive service, right? Like you don't have to actively train in order to have, yeah, a positive, progressive session with them. And the last thing that we want to do is obviously enhance those behaviors, or reward unexpectedly or, if not intentionally reward those behaviors. That's the last thing we want to
Collin 32:04
do, right? Yeah, I love that. Yeah. It doesn't have to be called. You didn't have to book a training session to get some benefits out of this, right? Like, it didn't that, because that's just what we get. That's how we operate. And clients really do appreciate that when they're like, Man, I see that you tried here, and that the effort that you put into this,
Nikki 32:23
yeah, and it's clear for our staff to like to be transparent in their updates that they send, like, if something like that happens, just tell the client exactly what went on. And that's why you chose to do what you do, and they typically understand and appreciate that. Right
Collin 32:40
now, I know you mentioned some of the services that you offered. I did notice in here that you offered pet first aid and CPR classes. When did you start offering these seven years, not coming up to seven years. So we took pet first aid
Nikki 32:57
prior to dog jogs, just to have some more learning and understanding. We lost a cat to a medical emergency that could have been prevented if we had more understanding. And so that is why we took pet first aid. And when we took the course, we're certified in walks and WAGs pet first aid. It's a Canadian curriculum, curriculum, and it's a 10 hour class, but we took the class and we're like, oh my god, it's 10 hours. It's going to be such a long day. But it was such good learning, hands on learning with like, with our dogs in class to practice on, obviously not the CPR, but wrapping them and that kind of stuff. And we were just like, this was such a great class. Like, more people need to take pet first aid and learn about these illnesses and disease and like, what to do if your dog is choking, if you have to provide CPR, all those kind of things. So that's why we became instructors a few years after we started dog jogs, just because we're like, now's the time we have this business, and this makes sense for us to offer it.
Collin 34:04
What's been the reception of like that from the community? I mean, do people immediately recognize that as a need or a thing, or how's the how's the process of getting people to take
34:14
that? Yeah, I feel like
Steph 34:15
most people, and maybe this is the same for you, like they didn't know it was a thing, yeah, and then, but especially in, like, the pet community, I think I feel like, once they understand it's a thing, it's like, you don't even have to convince them. They're like, this makes sense. And I think they just, everyone just wants the best for their pets, and this is just like another stepping stone for that.
Nikki 34:41
And a big piece right is talking about prevention, and then often it means going to the vet earlier than you thought. So a lot of it is teaching, teaching that. So it's like, if you have a concern about your pet, don't wait.
Collin 34:55
Yeah, because we've, we've all seen those stories or talk to vets who somebody you know sat on an. Three for a day too long, a week too long, and now it's like there's very little that I can do here. And I think part of, part of that education for the PEPFAR state and CPR is just getting people to to trust that gut a little bit earlier and to listen to that little warning bell instead of just trying to say it'll probably be fine, right? I think, you know, I a lot of our clients, well, they're still eating fine, or they're still doing XYZ fines. Like, yeah. But also, what if we just had it looked at like, when we just did that? Like, could we,
Nikki 35:30
yeah, it's less expensive and painful and painful for the pet if, yeah, depending on you'd rather get a like, it was nothing than Oh, it's much worse,
Collin 35:40
yeah. Well, and you mentioned how people just want the best for their pets, and I think often we then internalize that and say, Okay, I have to offer the best service. But in reality, a lot of the times, what we need to do is make sure that our clients are working with the best information and that they have the best knowledge, and that that really is where we can start empowering our clients to make those decisions, where before they weren't able to or therefore, they didn't know what the options were. I mean, I just did a meet and greet two days ago, three days ago, and the client was I was there ostensibly just to talk about potty breaks and let outs for her two new Golden Retriever puppies. But by the end, she was peppering me with questions about, like, what's the best dog food, and what's the best this? And what it wasn't like, Can you recommend a dog food? It was, what's the best? And it was like, Okay, I have a lot of information to get to you, right? Like, there's a lot to talk about here, but it was a reminder to me too, and to hear both of you talking about this, people seeking this best in this information, like they want to do right by their pet, and we can really help them in that, in that journey.
Steph 36:49
Yeah, absolutely, well. And on the flip side too, like it really empowers our staff to to be able to kind of advocate for those pets too, and like, something that sometimes clients don't even notice certain things that, like, oh, you know, like,
Nikki 37:05
Oh, your dog has been really, like, they are scratching and shaking their head a lot. So we've helped clients. We've pointed out ear infections or UTIs and things like, Oh, you're there was blood in your dog's pee today in the snow, so you should get that checked out.
Steph 37:19
But yeah, and like, it's both sides, right? It's just like you said, the more information, whether it's clients, whether it's staff, have in their toolbox, like, the better we can provide for our pets and do right by them.
Collin 37:34
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Nikki 38:30
It's booming. Yeah? Overall, yeah, pet, pet everything, right? So whether it's pet businesses like ours, or off leash groups that do walks the pet stores. So many have popped up. Yeah, people on, you know, Instagram who sell bandanas and other products like that, is everything you can think of. So it is booming in Canada as well. We've seen a lot of changes over the years. We've been open. We've seen solo people come and go. We've seen businesses like similar to ours, probably more so they have ICs, independent contractors, come and go. As of late in the last year, we've seen a lot of solo people open up again. And then rover really wasn't a thing until the last, I want to say two or three years, it's been more popular where I think it was more popular in the States before here in Canada. But yeah, it's just kind of progressing. A lot of businesses we used to partner with, so like, small, local treat makers and bandana makers that we partnered with, like, seven years ago, they're no longer in business or just burnt out and didn't want to do it anymore kind of thing. So we're always kind of looking for new people to network with and connect with and help promote their small business as well.
Collin 39:58
What is that process like for you? I mean. Because, you know, partnerships, having these come and go, how do you continue to stay engaged with the with that part of the community and that part of the industry?
Nikki 40:07
I mean, sometimes it's hard, right? You're like, as a business owner, we have so many things to do, and then you're like, Okay, got a network, and I am burnt out this week. Or, you know, we're short staffed, and you're like, I so sometimes we do put it off a little bit, but I feel like with social media, that's one of the easiest ways, is to just message someone to be like, Hey, do you want to do a giveaway? Or just, hey, tell me about your products a bit more. We're looking for someone that we want to give some of our clients some bandanas with, so like, that kind of thing. So just building a relationship with them as well.
Steph 40:42
Yeah, I feel like it's here in particular, like the pet industry slash community is actually pretty supportive of each other, like, regardless of whether you offer the same products or the same services, etc, etc. But yeah, I feel like everyone's, like, pretty supportive of each other, yeah, even
Nikki 41:01
with the other businesses, like, if, if there's someone who's messaged us looking for, like, someone to look after their cat, to give medications 12 hours apart, that's something we don't do. So we, of course, refer them out to we've got at least three connections, probably a few more actually, like in the city that we know will do that. So we're like, oh, we don't offer that, but please check out these. This person solo. This is a business, so we can refer them to someone who can probably help them. Or we ask them to like, do you have room for this to kind of service next week? They're kind of a last minute someone canceled on them. So we can reach out to those people, because we have a relationship with them as well.
Collin 41:42
What you mentioned, Nikki, the power of the social media there. Like, it really is. It is so wonderful. Like, yeah, sure, I need to go door knocking and I need to go talk to people, but also I can do some networking from my couch, and I can say, right? That's really helped me reframe over the past couple years of what quote, unquote networking looks like, like. It's not just going to a stuffy meeting and talking to people and rotating chairs or whatever. It's like, No, I kind of just want to sometimes jump on Instagram and tell somebody what they're doing is really cool, or that I really like their new display or something like that. Think that's really where you start to get or can see a lot of traction come from. It's just these, Hey, that looks amazing. Great job. Like, what? What can we do more together things like that?
Steph 42:27
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I think it's also just, like, a lot less intimidating, too, than doing that in person. And, like, some people might not necessarily be extroverted or extroverted enough to, like, do that on a regular basis. Yeah, we both
Nikki 42:43
find that very challenging, introverted where we're like, we can do it, but we really have to power power ourselves up and talk ourselves into it. We're like, we're going to this place today to talk to these people, but on Instagram, I'm like, Hey, how's it going?
Collin 42:58
Yep, sitting outside that, sitting outside the groomer shop, just like the world's biggest pep talk, right? And it's just like, Yeah, I can do it. And especially when you are burned out and you're exhausted and like, the last thing I want to do is talk about my business, because I'm I might not be really happy with where it is right now, or I might not have just, you know, gotten some news that somebody's leaving my business, and I gotta go in and, hey,
Nikki 43:22
actually, to be nerds. Here's what Steph and I used to do before going into places. So we'd drive together because we're coming from our place, and we would be like, Okay, we're gonna pump ourselves up, hands in go dog jog and just like, really be dorks about it, just to get ourselves pumped to be like, yes, but
Steph 43:43
you always come out of it. You're like, it's, it wasn't that bad.
Collin 43:47
Yeah, no, it is. You do you come out? Because either you go, Okay, well, that's someone that I don't have to go talk to again because they weren't really interested in me. Okay, great. I can one last thing I have to do next time, or I got somebody to talk to me, and we are developing a friendship and relationship over this. And it's like, okay, I really see that benefit, but you're right. Like so many times, we stop ourselves before jumping over that threshold. And it comes in so many forms, but like having that support, and, you know, having you, you two, having each other to be able to hoorah right and come around this thing like that. Just it, having somebody that you can do that with, or a group of people with, really helps at every stage, meaning that community that we're developing is so much more important than even, than a lot of us even remember or know about, you know, yeah, 100% Yeah, yeah. And it was
Steph 44:36
just, I think that's the thing. It was when we were first starting out and networking. It was just that was really inspiring, just to see all these other companies just being so supportive. And it was just something that we knew that, yeah, we wanted to be, obviously a part of, but also emulate as well. I
Collin 44:56
think that's important. You're right. Like many times we go. Working for the thing that we want. And too often it's like, oh no. Like, I kind of have to do it first. Like, I kind of have to be that one to do this and say hi, if I really want to develop that culture, both both internally and externally in my community. Yeah, I know you, you all do so much interesting stuff with your business. You know, you know you do the pet for state and CPR. Do you do dog dogs? I know one thing that you do also is you doing the virtual consults for new clients. How is this going for you? I think you started this back during COVID. Is that right? Yeah, that's correct.
Nikki 45:36
Obviously, because we weren't supposed to go to people's houses, we're like, how can we pivot to keep bringing people on? Because we had a lot of health professionals reaching out, being like, I need you guys. So we were like, Okay, well, we can't come to your house. Can we do a phone call? Can we do a FaceTime? And so it progressed from there, just trial and error a little bit in during COVID. But yeah, maybe Steph does more of the consults than I do typically,
Steph 46:04
yeah. So now we either do Yeah, most clients do request some sort of Yeah, either phone call or virtual consult, and we basically just go through a lot of our questions that we have on profile. And obviously we do ask a lot about background. If there's any medical things that we need to take in account what they're looking for in terms of care aid to determine whether we are a good fit, as well as like behavioral tendencies as well. So we go through that quite detailed, and then if there are any tendencies that could potentially risk the safety of our team, whether it be environmental or, you know, some behaviors we obviously talk about, like the severity of that, and the owners like experiences with that. And then if it is concerning, under that circumstance, we will determine whether we send our dog Train Arena to do like the first service, which also doubles as like our first physical evaluation. But if there's there aren't necessarily anything that like we are concerned about, then we will just send one of our senior staff, our head jogger, to kind of evaluate the first physical evaluations. And those are meant to essentially just ensure that all the information provided is accurate. So in terms of everything from Access instruction to
Nikki 47:38
one of their harnesses, yeah, everything their reactivity, like, oh yeah, they did react when they saw a bike, yeah?
Steph 47:45
Or it wasn't as severe as, you know, initially thought they
Nikki 47:49
said they were really yeah, they pulled like crazy, and it was not bad,
Steph 47:54
yeah. So it's actually yeah, like, we haven't looked back, and it's proven to be so, so much more efficient time wise, for us as well and as well as for the clients like they can quickly Meet us on like a lunch break, their 15 minute kind of like coffee break, just to kind of discuss and even determine whether we are the service for them. But it's just, yeah, proven to be, like, super efficient, and we've had a lot of success with it.
Collin 48:24
Now for that second meeting that you talked about, is the client typically home? Or do they need to not be present for that? That's completely
Steph 48:32
up to them. I do feel like, if they can be, a lot of our clients do want to be there for the first service. I think is just kind of, you know, you just want to ensure that, oh, like, I've never had a dog walker. I don't know if my dog will actually go with you, that kind of thing. And they just want to make sure everything goes smoothly. But yeah, I would say majority of them are usually home to the first visit, and then it's, yeah, pretty smooth sailing after that.
Collin 48:57
And so do you still have the option for them to do an initial in person. Or are you strictly virtual consults right now? Strictly
Steph 49:06
a virtual consult unless, obviously there are, yeah, like, big behavioral tendencies or safety concerns
Collin 49:14
well, and I love it because, like you said, it does really help us meet our clients, like when they need us in a much more convenient manner. And I think what it also does is it, it helps remove a lot of those barriers to me showing up at your house. I mean, so we, currently we, we have done some virtuals in the past. We currently are not offering them, but we do sometimes struggle with, Okay, well, does this three o'clock on Friday work, or does 215 on Monday work or, like, it's just like, nope, here's a 15 minutes, boom, because I don't have to worry about travel time. They don't have to worry about getting the house ready or anything, or getting, like, it's, it's just so much more efficient. You said that word for on both parties, yes, US is operating a business, but also the client's life, and at the end of the day, like we're. That's
Speaker 2 50:00
really, really valuable to them. Yeah,
Steph 50:03
absolutely. And that's the thing. It's especially nowadays, like, everyone's time is so valuable. And if you're able to, obviously, like, and we haven't, yeah, like, all of our clients have been incredibly transparent about their own pets, if anything, like, they're almost, like, more critical, more critical about their own. But
Speaker 3 50:22
like, they're just the worst on leash. And you're like, you're like, What are you talking to? Sweet angel,
Collin 50:30
let me, let me tell you a story.
Steph 50:34
Yeah. So it's proven, yeah. Like it's really, it's just Yeah, been a very, very big success for us. And it's just, yeah, it just makes sense. One thing we
Nikki 50:44
were really pushing for more so during COVID, not as much now, but we would get clients to send us pictures or videos of, like, how to unlock their door, because not everyone has the same keyless entry. So then, you know, some you've got to twist something or stuff like that, or like, if you have to, like, pull up and pull in the door so that we would know the tricks to get in, just because, like, sometimes that's kind of forgotten so or where they kept their harness and treats and stuff to find. So then it's just easy, and we can throw that in as a document into time to pet for our staff. So if they want to see they can go look at those photos. Sometimes that can be a barrier for staff. They are not staff clients. They didn't necessarily want to do that. So we're like, that's fine. We can get a to take those photos to when they do go
Collin 51:31
do the visit. So yeah, kind of having that standardized. It sounds like you Okay, please send us a photo of location, of food, how to open your door, because you're you're right. That's, I do way too much training with our staff about this,
51:43
pardon me, how to open doors.
Collin 51:47
Oh my gosh, dying, oh gosh. Like I do. It feels like sometimes way too much training for about, like, doors of like, yeah, the door can be shut, locked or latched, and sometimes none of those. So it's like, it is important to know like that, that entry and and kind of going, whatever we can do with the clients level of comfort to help smooth this process out. And it sounds like both of you are, you're really trying to walk that line of figure out, like, how do we make this efficient, still get the information we need, and make the client feel secure and and still trust us through this process, like we're not just some fly by night company and who's just going to show up in the middle night. And you know, you know, take whatever they're worth, because we did a zoom call, like, right? Like you're going, No, we need to have some processes in here and set our clients and our team up for success as well, while also going, how, what is necessary? And I love kind of that thought process, going, do we, do we really need that? Is that, is that essential to operate, how we operate?
52:46
And we were finding
Nikki 52:47
it wasn't necessarily. We asked our staff, right? And they're like, oh, I don't even look at them. And you're like, oh, okay, you just go into the house and you figure it out. You're like, you know, we also tell our clients, like, if your dog has thrown up and it's not listed in your profile where the cleaning supplies are. We're going to look under the sink in a cupboard. You know, we're going to look in those general places that most people will keep those things. So they know that we're not searching their house for whatever, but we're going to look for what we need. So that's kind of just known as well, that we're not going in and going into rooms and looking for things, unless we can't find your pet, then we're going to look for them, but we're going to look for those things. So that's why they're pretty detailed. And like, yeah, closet by in the kitchen towels, yeah, poo bags, all of that. So yeah, that's been one of those things that has helped clients and our team as well. Yeah, I
Collin 53:37
don't want to be one aimlessly wandering your house, but I will if I have to. So just be ready.
Nikki 53:44
Yeah, and our team feels bad. They're like, I can't find the cat food. And you're like, just look in the cupboards. It's okay. Like you are there. Feed the cat. It's okay. Yeah,
Collin 53:52
that the client will understand you are doing your job, right? Well, I love getting to hear your your story, your background, and really, what I get a lot of is just your enthusiasm and excitement for what you do. Like it really is just like contagious to hear the love and the passion behind all this. What are you excited about in the next 510, years of running your business?
Nikki 54:16
Well, one of the things we're doing, we're focusing on this year, is a bit of a restructuring from within, so just giving our team more opportunity for internal growth. So that is probably going to take longer than just this year. So probably the next five years, we'll be looking at adding in more positions and that kind of thing, just to keep staff longer we have, we have such amazing people that work for us. Often they are students, so when they finish school, it's time to move on. And we're like, Well, if we can keep them a little longer, that would be awesome. So that's one of the things. We're building some internal courses as well for our staff right now. So that'll probably take for the amount of ideas that we have, it'll take five to 10 years also. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, just big projects like that that we're really excited to get continue to work on, and that will help build our company and give even more local people jobs in the city. So that's really
Collin 55:15
cool for us to do. Yeah, that's really exciting, especially the courses right when you can start internalizing those keeping within the company of like, not only can I help have my team members contribute to this in some way, like, you know, your trainer that's on staff, like, you brought that in house and to go, No, this is dog jogs in everything that is in and how we do things. It's not because I know, if you take a lot of external courses, they'll be like, ask management to exactly how you'd handle the situation. It's like, Could I just not have that? And I'll just tell you that make this a lot easier.
Steph 55:49
Yeah, yeah. It's a lot easier to kind of, yeah, customize like, to like you said, how we do things particularly and our general demographic. But it is, yeah, really exciting to just be able to streamline everything, and then if anyone needs to access anything, it will be just all in one place.
Collin 56:08
That's cool. That's really exciting. I'm really excited to hear how that process goes for both of you. Nikki Steph, thank you for coming on the show today, taking time out of your busy schedule to share with how you work and how you meet your client's needs, and how you continue to adapt and evolve your business at each step. I know that there's a lot here, so if people want to follow along, get in touch and see everything that you both are doing, how can they do that?
Nikki 56:33
Probably Instagram is the best. So our handle is dog underscore, jogs. We're also on Facebook. I think our handle is yay. Dog jogs, a little bit different. And then if you wanted to email, if you had questions, um, hello at dog dash dogs.ca,
Collin 56:52
perfect. Well, I'll have those links in the show notes and on the website for people to get connect with you. This has just been an immense pleasure and a whole lot of fun. Thank you both so much for coming on the show, thanks
Steph 57:01
for having us. Vice versa. We Yeah, we really appreciate your time. And the opportunity
Collin 57:06
niching down certainly brings a lot of benefits to our business, and one of the ones that gets often overlooked is the amount of trust that it builds with our clients. Why? Because we immediately meet their needs. They see us as the one exact thing that they were looking for, for them and their pet, the trust builds from there as they see how we serve them with their specific requirements and their specific needs, just as Nikki and Steph have focused on jogging and running with their dogs and the reactivity that they can work with with their clients, we need to figure out and hone in on ways where our businesses are meant for a very specific subset of people and pets, fostering close relationships with them through the quality service that we provide. We want to thank today's sponsors, time to pet and our friends at Pet perennials for making this show possible. And we really want to thank you so much for listening. We hope you have a wonderful rest of your week, and we'll be back again soon.
58:06
You.
