🚨Bobi the once reported World’s oldest dog, has been stripped of his title.

The vet world said that if Bobi was 31yrs old that it would be the equivalent of a 200yr old human, which isn’t currently capable of happening from a biological standpoint. Also the owner didn’t have enough documentation to back the claim definitively.

THIS WEEK'S TOPICS:

• 😲 Find out what 100 owners are feeding their dogs

• 💆 $200 for dog massage therapy

• 🏡 Should you open a doggy daycare?

😲 FIND OUT 100 OWNERS ARE FEEDING THEIR DOGS

A few weeks ago we helped run a survey all about what owners were feeding their dogs, along with insight to how much they spend, their satisfaction level, and what other foods they’ve tried before.

We got ~100 responses and since you all are such a great audience we wanted to make sure we shared some of the results with you!

The dog deets

Not surprising, but there were a LOT of different dogs represented in the survey. Here’s how they shake out:

• The biggest dog weighs 180lbs while the smallest weighs 8lbs!

• The average weight was 55lbs (some big boys & girls)

• 60% of dogs were males

• The youngest dog is a little over a half year old, and the oldest is 15.5 years old

• The average age was 5

Spending habits

Majority of owners (38%) spend between $50-100 per month on food. And some people get away with less than $25 per month!?

Brands

When it came to what people are currently feeding their dogs, Purina and Blue Buffalo lead the way. There are also a few different brands out there we have never looked at or heard of!

However, when asked what foods owners had previously tried but switched from, Purina and Blue Buffalo led the way.

So it's easy to tell that those two dominate the popularity. Also, interesting note is that it seems like Science Diet had a few folks that switched off, but not many currently using it.

Brands switched from:

But do people like their food?

Seems the answer is mostly yes. We kind of expected more people to not love it, but use it because of cost or other reasons.

The most common complaints seem to be around the type of food (kibble) and that the dog is bored of it, or not seeing specific results like skin improvement:

"Frida can get picky and sometime doesn’t feel like eating, would like to not have to add toppers but necessary sometimes so she eats her full meal"

"My dog will not eat it without toppers or canned food mixed in."

"I’m not seeing any improvement in his skin issues"

Which brings us to another one of our findings, which is 60% of owners use some sort of toppers to jazz up their pup's meal:

We had a lot of fun combing through the data and hope that you enjoy some of these results!

💆 $200 FOR DOG MASSAGE THERAPY

In the heart of major cities such as, New York, a unique trend is emerging that highlights a growing specialized treatment, which serves a wide range of dog archetypes, including emotional support dogs…

And that special service happens to be dog massage therapy.

Dr. Andrea Y. Tu of Behavior Vets of New York points out that dogs, much like humans, are susceptible to the energies and emotions of their owners.

This empathetic connection, while beneficial, can also lead to stress and anxiety in dogs, especially in a city as bustling and demanding as New York.

The story of John Demsey (who was canceled), a former executive at Estee Lauder, exemplifies this phenomenon.

Demsey told the NY Post that his dogs provided immense emotional support during his personal trials, absorbing his stress and sadness, which, over time, manifested as mental health struggles in the dogs themselves.

To combat these issues, Demsey turned to luxurious treatments such as monthly lavender baths and massages for his Frenchie (Sugar) and his Goldendoodle (Roxy) at the DOG store on 61st street —

Demsey pays $400 for both of his pups monthly massages, so $200 a pup each time.

These therapies are not just about pampering; they claim to offer genuine relief and recovery for stressed-out pets, improving their quality of life significantly.

From a business perspective, the continued demand for pet wellness services, particularly in high-stress urban environments, presents quite an opportunity.

For instance, if a therapist charges $100 per session and conducts five sessions per day, they could earn $500 daily, translating to approximately $130,000 annually, assuming a five-day workweek and two weeks of vacation. Now this estimate doesn’t account for overhead costs and other add-on services you could provide, but you get the idea.

(P.S. - some states do not let anybody except a licensed veterinarian to massage dogs, if that doesn’t apply to you than you can become certified through the NBCAAM).

To put it into perspective — the average salary of a Veterinarian in 2022 across the US was $103,260.

Looking at the broader market for a second — if you take a look at Tik Tok there’s tons of videos that have racked up millions of views of owners massaging their dogs…

@littlemanyu

MANYU MASSAGE DAY!! #dogsofttiktok #cute #asmr #littlemanyu #shiba #shibainu

We’re sure it’s only a matter of time before somebody out there starts holding online workshops to teach you how to massage your dog! It might already be happening.

One group of dogs that we think could really benefit from this is our seniors. With chronic arthritis, hip and joint issues, sore and stiff muscles, they could use a nice rub down once a week!

 🏡 SHOULD YOU OPEN A DOGGY DAYCARE?

Do you ever look at your dog(s) and think "gosh it would be nice to get paid to just play with them"?

Well, that thought that we just made up for you might not be that hard to achieve thanks to franchise options we've found for opening a doggy daycare!

The Ruff Idea

For those that aren't familiar with the franchise business model, it's when a business licenses its operations—along with its products, branding, and knowledge—in exchange for a franchise fee to another entrepreneur / business.

Basically, it's a shortcut to starting a business by leveraging an existing brand and know-how.

Best example is probably McDonald's, which actually only owns about 18% of it's restaurants while franchising out the rest. The franchisee's get to use the McDonald's brand, while McDonald's gets to collect a monthly royalty fee.

Franchise Options

The top dog on the block when it comes to franchising a doggy daycare is Dogtopia.

Started in Virginia in 2002, they've since transformed to the fastest growing pet franchise in the country with over 260 locations, and on track for 400 by 2025.

Here is the help you get from Dogtopia if you decide to start a business as a franchisee:

• 🏡 Help with real estate for your daycare (finding, analyzing and building out)

• 📆 30 day owner training on the basics of the business and franchise

• ✍️ Custom training curriculum for employees

• ✂️ Grand opening marketing support

• 📱 Website and mobile app for customers

• 👥 Owner networking w/ other owners

This mostly amounts to a "playbook" of what you need to do to start and run a successful doggy daycare.

But nothin' comes free, and with Dogtopia you are going to have to shell out some serious cash. Dogtopia estimates that you will need between $700k - $1.4m as an initial investment.

This covers their $50k franchise fee, construction, equipment, employees, and other things needed to get running.

You can finance this using government programs like the US Small Business Administration, which typically requires 10% - 25% down.

Dogtopia recommends you have at least $300k of cash on hand to manage all this (if you are financing the $700k - $1.4m) and a net worth of $1m.

Don't forget that they also take a 7% royalty from monthly revenue.

We've also found other franchise opportunities from DogDrop ($300k-$500k initial investment, $50k franchise fee and 7% royalty) to a variety of other dog businesses.

Seems like a serious investment, is it worth it?

This definitely isn't a hobby business, and shouldn't be tackled by someone with no experience, but the opportunity seems to be there.

You know we are biased and believe that the dog industry is a great place to do business and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. Here are some stats to keep in mind:

• 67% of households in the US own at least one pet

• 75% of millennials own a pet

• There are more than 90m dogs in the US

What's nice about a franchise is you don't have to build up the brand, or start marketing from scratch.

Doptopia has multiple ways to make money beyond daycare (product sales, boarding, grooming, etc), and the daycare services are typically recurring revenue, which provides a great base.

Something is going right to drive the company's growth, and since there seem to be plenty of prime areas still available, we'd give this the initial thumbs up as a good opportunity for those with the necessary capital and know-how!

DOGGYDEX™

Winner 🏆: BITCOIN

Proudly introducing the DoggyDex™, an index comprised of 10 publicly traded companies whose primary focus is the dog/pet industry.

List of tickers used can be found at the very bottom of the newsletter.

The yellow line-plot in the chart represents these companies above (DoggyDex™) and their combined performance against both the S&P 500 and Bitcoin on a weekly basis.

Pawformance is measured by % gains & losses.

• 🫡 Patrick Stewart stands up for Pitties: Listen to Patrick Stewart make his case for why Pit Bulls shouldn’t be banned in the UK.

• 👔 How dog breeds would dress if they were human: Somebody put together an AI compilation of different dog breeds dressed up as humans according to their personalities.

• 🪟 Dogs love to greet New Yorkers: This duo, Posey & Ralph, love to hang out of their NYC window to catch pets from any passerby.

DOGGY B-DAY

• $CHWY - Chewy: E-commerce platform for pet supplies

• $IDXX - Idexx Labs: Vet point of care instruments and vet software

• $FRPT - Fresh Pet: Pet food company

• $PETQ - PetIQ: Pet health products and medicines

• $PETS - PetMeds: Online pet pharmacy

• $ZTS - Zoetis: World's largest producer of meds and vaccines for pets and livestock

• $TRUP - Trupanion: Pet insurance company

• $WOOF - Petco Health & Wellness co.: Pet health & wellness company

• $BARK - BarkBox: Subscription service providing dog products, services, and experiences

• $PET - Wag! Group Co.: Tech platform that allows pet owners to connect with industry professionals for services such as, walking, training, etc.