Small Business Spotlight: K9HQ Doggy Daycare Plus Victoria BC
Happiness. Positivity. Safety. A focus on well-being. Those are the traits Jamie Patterson has built doggy daycare, training, and grooming centre, K9HQ Doggy Daycare Plus, around.
“K9HQ was created to give dogs a safe place to socialize, to learn from each other, and to get physical activity in throughout the day,” Jamie explains. “For us, transparency is huge: we want dog parents to know what’s going on and to be able to log onto our K9HQ cam and see their pups play and enjoy themselves here.”
The K9HQ Guarantee
On top of ensuring that all dogs who come to stay and play at K9HQ Doggy Daycare Plus have passed all up-to-date vaccines and parasite control, they also guarantee the following from their staff and facility:
- Passionate staff that are certified in Canine First Aid
- Structured rest and play rotations, as well as multiple toys and play equipment for dogs to choose from
- Playgroups that are divided based on both size and temperament
- Low staff-to-dog ratio for maximum attention
- Positive training and management methods
- Supervision of the active areas that can be backed by the live feed K9HQ cam
- Low-impact rubber flooring, accessible potty areas, and a strict cleaning and sanitization routine for the entirety of the facility
- A multi-gate system for heightened security
- A screening system to ensure that all daycare dogs are safe and comfortable in our group environment
Why does K9HQ go to such lengths? “These clients aren’t dropping off their dogs; they’re dropping off their children,” says Jamie. “It’s crucial to us that trust is established. By having our webcam and other safety measures in place, dog parents have full transparency seeing our K9 Caregivers in the playrooms monitoring their dogs at all times.”
Doggy Daycares: Not Just For Puppies
A common misconception of doggy daycares, Jamie explains, is that they’re just for puppies, or just for dog parents needing a safe place to keep their dog during the workday. In fact, he says, older dogs often see a significant benefit as well.
“Many pet owners think that daycares are just for dogs to run around and burn as much energy as possible, which can be true, to an extent, for certain dogs and puppies,” Jamie says. “But we have a lot of older dogs who aren’t there for physical exercise: they’re instead benefiting from the mental stimulation of socialization in a group. As people get older we are told to socialize with others and play games to keep our minds sharp. Well, it’s the same for dogs! Friendly older dogs benefit from hanging out, sniffing other dogs, and socializing in order to keep them mentally enriched.
“We had one client,” Jamie continues, “who brought their dog into our care temporarily as a young dog. They came back to us nearly a decade later, claiming that his health and motivation were deteriorating and they didn’t think he had more than a month or two left. They asked if he could come back to K9HQ to try being with other dogs again. Within a week, his owners were blown away at his newfound ‘puppy energy’ and his zest for life was back. Coming back to daycare completely rejuvenated him and he lived another happy year, which we were beyond grateful that we got to share with him!”
How K9HQ Doggy DayCare Plus Came to Be
Jamie took over K9HQ 10 years ago. Through his years of ownership, the long-standing company evolved into a completely force-free facility following only evidence-based handling and training methods. This extended into grooming, training, and daycare services. He upgraded to a high res K9 cam and revamped the facility’s air conditioning to keep an optimal temperature throughout the summer months.
When asked about how his ownership of K9HQ came to be, Jamie responded fondly, “I was a senior operations manager in the biotech industry in the United States and, for many years, had a house here in Victoria; I would basically come in once or twice a year to check on it,” he says. “After seven years of that it was time to ‘get a life’, so to speak, so after I quit my job I decided I was going to come here to Victoria and take a year off to recoup. On December 22, 2010, I went to the local SPCA to rescue a dog and that’s when I found my boy, Kasey, who ended up rescuing me instead.”
“He just turned 11 this past March. After we had taken the year off together, I realized I had to get a job. At the time, I didn’t know doggy daycares existed; but when a friend, who was a business broker, sent me the posting for K9HQ being for sale, Kasey looked at me, and I looked at him, and it was like everything clicked into place. I even met my wife through K9HQ. It was all meant to be… because of Kasey!”
