The Columbia Chronicle
March 8, 2010 - http://columbiachronicle.com/dogs-day/
Joseph Giannini owns Urban Out Sitters, a local Chicago doggy day care service. His business started 10 years ago as a dog walking service and has since grown into a lucrative kennel and boarding service. Giannini said the key to success in the industry is customer service—for the person just as much as the dog. Dogs haven’t developed the ability to spend money just yet.
“One of the things I’ve learned about this business is it’s not like a cup of coffee,” Giannini said. “If you want a cup you can get it anywhere. Coffee is coffee. Day care is not that way. [Customers] usually select us because they feel a certain comfort level.”
Giannini said his business stays competitive through its customer service. Their hours are long and they offer a taxi to get dogs to day care if the owner is occupied. Giannini said while people can be excessive in the amount they spend on their dogs, it isn’t a problem unless it’s affecting other aspects of their life.
“Their dogs become more their children than their pets, so I think people start looking for the services as they would for their child,” Giannini said. “Is it spending too much money? I don’t know. If you’re avoiding your other bills or other things in life to take care of your dog, then maybe you have an issue.”
Giannini said he buys his own dogs Burberry dog collars. He doesn’t buy any Burberry products for himself.
“I’m not a fashion diva,” Giannini said. “I don’t wear anything fancy for the most part … It just becomes another one of those things for us as humans to indulge [in], spend our money. We do it for our dogs and it makes us feel good.”
He said the reason people form such strong bonds with their dogs is because the dogs love their owners unconditionally. That, coupled with the fact that dogs are helplessly dependent on their owner for food and shelter, makes him or her feel needed. Giannini said that’s where much of the strangeness comes from about dog owners.
“At the end of the day, they’re still our pets,” Giannini said. “They’re not human although we treat them like it. I certainly don’t discriminate against that person. We try to clear that up right off the bat. They are dogs. They play like dogs, they don’t play like kids. They bite. They do all the nasty things dogs do.”
Giannini said Urban Out Sitters is practical, so any dog owner that wants a pet to be held once every hour most likely will not get their wish. That is not to say the company dismisses the owner’s bond with a beloved pet. Giannini said part of the reason he started his business was because he wanted to provide the care he would want for his own Rottweilers, whom he said he loves to death
