All Dogs Unleashed offers a full-service dog care experience that includes boarding, grooming services and day care. The company also specializes in best-in-class training. This all-in-one approach to dog care has given this franchise an upper hand in both the dog-training and pet-boarding industries. Clients have grown to rely on the company for consistent and reliable care for their four-legged family members. By Kelsi Trinidad
All Dogs Unleashed offers a full-service dog care experience that includes boarding, grooming services and day care. The company also specializes in best-in-class training. This all-in-one approach to dog care has given this franchise an upper hand in both the dog-training and pet-boarding industries. Clients have grown to rely on the company for consistent and reliable care for their four-legged family members.
After seeing the success of their friend’s dog-training business and their shared passion for dogs, friends Brian Claeys and Travis Lux decided to pivot their careers to become entrepreneurs and open their own dog-training company. Both friends had grown up training dogs, but wanted to really invest in learning the best and most-effective training methods for pet dogs. All of this led to 2007, when the duo decided to create All Dogs Unleashed.
The duo’s training business took off and started attracting other friends and trainers who wanted in on the business’s success. The owners offered licensing agreements that allowed the company to start expanding its reach. In 2021, after accumulating 12 licensing agreements, Claeys and Lux decided that franchising was a better option for expanding their successful brand. The company currently has 16 franchisees and 19 locations.
What sets All Dogs Unlimited apart from other dog-training franchises is that its franchisees maintain a facility. Other companies in this industry use an at-home training model, which makes it difficult for franchisees to scale their businesses and makes it hard for them to move out of an owner-operator model if they wish. The model used by All Dogs Unleashed allows for its franchisees to scale their businesses by accommodating more dogs and hiring employees.
During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company was confronted by uncertainty, but the All Dogs Unleashed model was resilient and was able to grow during these few years, despite the many challenges businesses were facing. According to Claeys, the rise of people working from home contributed to an increase in dog-training demand.
“When they stayed home with their dogs, they figured out that this dog needs some training, so our training went from like, ‘Hey, it’s busy’ to now, ‘Hey, it’s extremely busy,’” said Claeys.
Additionally, dog boarding and day care facilities were considered essential during the pandemic, so essential workers’ pets could be accommodated while their owners went into work. This allowed for a strong uptick for the All Dogs Unlimited boarding and day care side of the business. It was this combination of services that allowed the business to not only stay afloat throughout the pandemic, but to thrive and grow. Claeys reported that the dog-training business at each location saw record-setting business during this time.
At the core of All Dogs Unleashed’s success is excellent customer service and the lifelong relationships that are built with customers.
“We realize every time we have to communicate with the customer is an opportunity to be great and make that customer feel special and appreciated,” said Claeys.
Kelsi Trinidad