Love My Doggy Day Care Earns OPCU Certification!
Hey Dogs & Dog Moms & Dads – We Are Getting Ready For You!
Our entire management staff has been busy getting trained on the advanced skills of pet care! And I have to say – despite it being a learning experience with tests and all, it has been a lot of fun! More importantly, it’s just one way we are ensuring that we can deliver on our promise to you, to provide a loving, safe, and secure environment that promotes the overall health, happiness, and well-being of your best friend!
Both our General Manager (GM) and our Director of Operations and Canine Enrichment (DOCE) attended the Pet Boarding and Day Care Expo in Hershey, PA, and spent three days taking courses and sourcing products, supplies, and equipment for Love My Doggy Day Care. They enjoyed a broad range of courses, including topics such as Safe & Fun Playgroups, Green Sanitation Techniques, Vaccine Protocols, and even customer service related courses customized specifically for pet services.
Our DOCE, who is already a Level 2 Animal Care Technician, has joined the ranks of the Animal Behavioral College to earn her certification as a Dog Trainer, Behaviorist, and Nutritionist. Meanwhile, our GM & I went to Florida to be trained on the operations and facilities management of a pet facility, as well as spend some intense hands-on time learning how to supervise off-leash play groups. This was seriously a blast! We not only got an education in things like dog personality types, dog play styles, reading dog body language, pack mentality, and more – we also got to apply what we learned to everything from slowing down play, to breaking up doggy disagreements, to helping shy dogs socialize, to keeping the play areas spotless despite dozens of dog doing what dogs do. It was truly an invaluable experience for us both. We even got put to work in the grooming salon, bathing, shaving, clipping, and trimming away – with proper supervision of course! Training was provided by Richard Witherall, a recognized industry expert and published author and reviewer of numerous pet care publications, such as Boarding and Daycare Magazine.
Additionally, all three of us have all completed the Outstanding Pet Care University (OPCU) Level I certification, which was comprised of 11 different courses. This allows Love My Doggy Day Care to boast being among the first to earn this certification in the region. The OPCU is the leading provider of education and training for pet care professionals, and its certification program (www.outstandingpetcareuniversity.com) is the only certification for pet care professionals working in the pet boarding, dog day care, and grooming industries.
Finally, we have also participated in the Dog Gurus (http://thedoggurus.com) Knowing Dogs 101 and 201 training courses. The Dog Gurus is team of world-renowned dog experts, Robin Bennett and Susan Briggs. These courses will be the basis for our staff training, and so as part of this training, we even went through “train the trainer” training!
We certainly hope that our taking our education and certification so seriously demonstrates a strong commitment to the highest standards of care and safety for your pets, as well as service standards for you!