“Why don’t you try to do it full time?” my husband asked not long after Millie had gone home. “You love animals and enjoy looking after them”. I thought about his suggestion on and off for quite a while and decided to give it a go, after all I had nothing to lose. Moreover, while trying to think of something I could do as a change of career at this late stage of my life I had often said that I wasn’t good at doing anything much except looking after animals!
I mentioned my decision to the lady I was caring for and she told her daughter who in turn suggested she would get in touch with a friend who was already looking after dogs and who would be able to give me some advise and tips on setting up this kind of business . In the meantime my husband and I set about thinking up a name for the business as well as addressing some of the more practical hands-on aspects of dog care in our home.
Not long after I received a call from the lady who was already running a very successful dog boarding business not far from me. She was extremely helpful and answered all my questions as well as providing me with information on issues I had no idea about and that hadn’t even occurred to me. Naturally I was very grateful for her help as it saved me lots of time in research and helped me to avoid any pitfalls.
Before anything else I needed to arrange for a gate to be installed at the entrance to my driveway as currently there was nothing there and this obviously wouldn’t do as there was no way of containing dogs within the garden! In addition to that some of the fencing needed fixing or replacing. I set about finding a supplier for the gate and fencing and then sourced someone to do the work. This in itself was frustrating as although it was easy to source the materials it was not so straightforward to find someone to do the work and my project was delayed by a month or so until I could get someone to come. Once my gate and fencing were in place the next step was to contact my local council licensing department and arrange for them to come over and inspect my home to see if it would be suitable for carrying out such a business. This was quite nerve wrecking as I had had to spend the money for the fencing and the gate upfront without knowing if the council would approve my premises as suitable for boarding dogs.
I contacted the council, spoke to one of the animal premises inspection officers and arranged an appointment for her to come over. She provided me with a list of requirements which needed to be complied with in order to qualify for an animal boarding license and which I needed to action and/or have in place prior to the meeting. I worked down each item on the list ticking it off but when the day of the meeting arrived I still had no idea whether I would be considered suitable and whether I would be granted a license to look after dogs.