Planning Permission
Most people underestimate the planning process and what their local council will expect. Getting this wrong early can cost months and significant money.
Dog Daycare Startup Support
Dog Daycare Startup Support
We share the templates, systems and experience we built from scratch — so you can start faster and avoid the mistakes we made.
15+Years
Running
Running
5★Licensed
Daycare
Daycare
Est.2011
Cobham
Cobham
The Reality
The problem new daycares face.
Starting a dog daycare is not as simple as renting a field and opening the gates. Most people run into the same three walls.
Licensing & DEFRA Rules
The paperwork and licensing standards confuse new businesses. Knowing exactly what inspectors look for before they arrive makes all the difference.
Operations & Pricing
Many daycares open with the wrong pricing structure or insufficient systems and struggle to become profitable. Getting this right from the start matters.
Where This Comes From
We're sharing what we wish we'd had.
Duncan's Dog Co. started in 2011 with a simple idea: create a place where dogs could run, play and be cared for properly.
When licensing first came into the industry, we were one of the early businesses going through the process. At the time there was very little guidance available.
We had no templates. No handbook. No clear roadmap. Like many small businesses, we figured a lot of it out as we went along.
Every policy, procedure and system had to be built from scratch. Over time, those lessons became the foundations of the business. The advice and templates we now share come directly from that experience: from the real, day-to-day running of a licensed dog daycare.
★Family-run since 2011
How We Help
What we cover.
Everything we share is grounded in real experience. Not theory: what actually works when you're building and running a licensed daycare.
Licensing & Compliance Templates
Ready-to-use policy documents, staff training records and DEFRA compliance templates built from our own inspection experience.
Planning & Council Guidance
Practical advice on navigating the planning process, what councils look for, and how to present your application effectively.
Pricing & Business Structure
How to price your services from day one, what to charge for, and how to structure memberships, deposits and late fees.
Day-to-Day Operations
The systems, routines and staff management structures we use to run a 90-dog-a-day operation smoothly and safely.
Staffing & HR Foundations
Induction templates, role structures, training logs and the frameworks we use to hire and retain a reliable team.
Direct Access to Experience
Ask us directly. We answer from 15 years of doing this — not from a course, a book or secondhand knowledge.
Why People Come to Us
Advice grounded in reality.
Established in 2011. We've been through every stage of growth, change and challenge a daycare can face.
One of the first daycares to be inspected under the Animal Welfare licensing framework. We know what it takes.
Our advice comes from running a genuinely large operation — not a small hobby setup. The systems scale.
Every template, document and piece of guidance we share is something we use or have used ourselves.
Get Started
Ready to build your daycare?
Reach out and we'll have a conversation about where you are and how we can help. No pressure, no sales pitch.
Contact Us