Today we’d like to introduce you to Barbara Arnott
Hi Barbara, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started Pet Pals Dog Care and Training when I was 12 years old. About 10 months before COVID shut the world down. I recall my first “bissness card” was a hand written and stamped flayer that I passed out on my bike that I received as a Christmas present, to every single house in my neighborhood over the corse of a week. I was 12 and was on a mission and was not letting anyone or anything stop me. When I started my business, my mission at the wonderful age of 12 was to create a way for people to have access affordable to dog training and pet care so that we could have better trained as well as balanced dogs in society and more knowledgeable pet owners. Without people having to pay hundreds of dollars to get the information or to train their dogs. I started going to different seminars and different training sessions from other dog trainers to learn the ropes as well as already knowing what I knew about dog training. Once COVID hit my business slowed down almost to a halt. But then I took a step back a saw bigger problem facing our community when covid hit than what I originally set out to fix and that was that these people could not get out of their houses to walk or train their dogs, nor did that have any information to even do so and that’s where I came in. I supplied budget friendly dog walking, grooming and basic training services but that was just the beginning. Over the next few years, I began to grow my business and even started to raise service dogs to help the visually and mobility impaired for a nonprofit organization based out of Kansas called KSDS, which also helped me learn even more about dog training and canine behavior. By the age of 15 I have over consistent clients. I have expanded my business to include behavior modification training, Canine Good Citizen training as well as wedding handling and training services. I did all of this while also balancing both high school as well as over 9 extracurricular activities. By the time I reached 16, I have established my own website as well as created business cards for my business and distributed those among the community. I now have over 170 established clients. I am now 17 and have a fully functional website and have over 19 services offered with my business. I have trained two service dogs for the nonprofit organization KSDS while also owning my business as well as going to high school and participating in over 11 extracurricular activities out of school and having 200 established clients with my business and am now raising my 2nd service dog for the nonprofit KSDS.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road I have had my fair share of challenges along the way one of which being the fact that being a female in a male dominated line of work is not easy and comes with its own set of challenges such as people doubting me or demeaning me due to my gender or even my age. Starting at such a young age was also a challenge because it was not often that people would see a 12-year-old girl training dogs and having all the tools that they need to know what they need to know what they are doing but I did, and it was a challenge to gain peoples trust and to prove myself with my knowledge and skills to them. One obstacle that I faced was the large amount of off leach dogs in my area that caused frustration to both me and my clients and often caused some of my reactive clients to backslide in there training or have even put lives in danger.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Pet Pals is a dog training and animal care business. I care for all animals from small animals such as dog cats, rabbits, guineapigs, and other small pets, but we also care for livestock and exotic animals such as snakes, birds, horses, chickens, goats you name it, and we can care for it. We also provide dog training and behavior modification services, basic and advanced grooming services for all breeds, services for weddings including training, weekend and summer daycare, long term 3+ weeks boarding services, short term 3+ days boarding services, walking services, Advanced and basic trick training. I specialize in basic and advanced dog training behavior modification/ reactive dog training as well as dog reactive grooming (grooming dogs who would be aggressive or stressed in a typical grooming environment) I also specialize in basic and advanced grooming services. What sets me apart from others is that when I train dogs I do so with their owners so that their relationship can grow, I help the owner understand what their dog is thinking and what the cause to their actions are rather it be there genetics or environmental or otherwise. I help the owners so that they can have a better relationship with their dog and so the dog can have the coping skills to have a balanced reaction to whatever they come up against and a less stressful life and set all dogs and there owners up for success. I am most proud of the fact that the dogs that have gone through pet pals have been able to have a less stressful life and be more involved in their owner’s lives and that the training that they have received through pet pals will stay with them for the rest of their life. I want my readers to know that it is never too late to train your dog no matter what they need help with, and pet pals can help with that.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I am not necessarily one to believe in luck, but I do believe in being in the right place in the right time so that people who are meant to be in your life are put in it. as well as working hard for your goals and your dreams and perusing what you believe in not matter what you are faced with.
Pricing:
- Puppy Training Session-$20(per session)
- Behavior Modification Session-$25(per session)
- Board and Train-$55 (starting as per day)
- Short Term Board-$30 (starting at per day)
- Long Term Board-40 (starting at per day)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sites.google.com/view/petpals1225-barbara-arnott/home
- Instagram: PetPals1225
Image Credits
@peytonelizabethpotography (for headshot photo)
