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After their mommies and daddies drop them off, the clients ofthis Orange County, California, day-care center spend their dayromping on the jungle gym, playing with toys, and listening tomusic. Those who prefer to chill out can lounge on sofas whileothers participate in etiquette lessons. When it's time for apotty break, the day-care denizens toddle on over to an indoorgrassy area constructed specifically for this purpose and, well, gowith the flow.
Not just anyone is admitted to the center, which charges $25 perday, including snacks. Like any good program, the center screensits applicants. Candidates can't bite, and they have to playwell with others, be spayed or neutered and walk on all fours.
Laurie Zurborg, the 27-year-old owner of Wags & Wiggles DogDay Care, believes that pooches in and around the Californiatown of Rancho Santa Margarita shouldn't be leading a dog'slifesitting home all day in solitary confinement, pining for a goodgame of frisbee. So last August, the former veterinary technicianopened the doggie day-care center, one of only 200 in the UnitedStates, according to information available from ONElist.com.
The biggest challenge, Zurborg says, has been getting potentialclients to understand the service she and her three employeesprovide. "People think this is just a boarding facility or isa froufrou thing for the rich," Zurborg says. In fact, mostclients are middle-class folks who work long hours and don'thave time to exercise their pets during the week.
Zurborg and her husband, David, 39, started the business withapproximately $25,000 in savings and a bank credit line. Thebusiness expanded so quickly that within a few months, they movedto the larger facility, where the center is now located, andthey're looking to hire more employees and open a secondlocation.They expect sales to exceed $100,000 in their firstyearnot exactly kibble.
Contact Source
Wags and Wiggles Dog Day Care, (949) 635-9655, www.wagsandwiggles.com.
