Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Allison Weeks. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Allison, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Has Covid resulted in any major changes to your business model?

I owned a thriving pet care company with 16 people on my team and over 600 clients spanning North County San Diego. When the shutdowns first began, I thought, “Ok, we can outlast this, no problem.” So I encouraged our dog walkers and pet sitters to use the down time to their benefit and enjoy the break! Many had been extremely busy over the prior holiday season, so some time to rest and recuperate would be welcome. We discussed things to do in the meantime, such as applying for assistance and taking online courses that would help expand their pet care and industry knowledge, and we stayed connected through Zoom chats, email, and text.

But as the pandemic and the shutdowns continued, my once busy “go-getter” team of 16 began to dwindle as, one by one, individuals decided to leave and find work in industries less affected by COVID-19. Soon my sizable team was down to only 6 members (including myself), and the “temporary” slowdown had been dragging on for almost a full year. It was time to make the hard decision to change directions with the company.

While requests for pet sitting and dog walking were nearly nonexistent, dog training requests were high in demand, especially considering the “pandemic puppies” people had recently acquired. So I decided to seize the opportunity to switch gears. My career started with dog training, and with over 12 years of experience I felt confident that this was a direction I could take my business easily. But despite my confidence, there was still so much fear.

I procrastinated fully committing to the switch, because pet sitting and dog walking had been such a large part of my life for so long. I dreaded setting a final date for those services and making the big announcement. However, once I did, I found that a huge weight was lifted.

I had been so deep “in the thick of it” managing pet sitting emergencies and covering services for sick sitters, all while trying to continue to grow the business, that I hadn’t been able to catch my breath enough to realize just how much work certain aspects of the business were. Now, having slowed down and taken a step back, it was clear how much simpler things could and would be:

There would be no more midnight emergencies or sitters getting locked out of client homes.
There would be no more arranging and rearranging pet sitters’ schedules a dozen times to accommodate client needs and account for route efficiency.
Holidays would no longer be jam-packed with requests for pet care, to the point that family time was condensed or shifted to a different day.
For the first time in 9 years, I would actually get to take a vacation and not have to worry!

All the fears, all the ideas, and all the passion boiled down to making some very hard and very smart decisions. My job suddenly became less hectic, and my time more abundant. I revamped our website to showcase our new training service menu and hired a second professional dog trainer to the team. And because my standards of service and care stayed high as ever, we continued to bring in 5-star reviews and consistent word-of-mouth referrals.

Since making the transition, it has been a long road, and finding top tier trainers to join my team has not been easy at all. But I bring even greater focus into my work, as I move toward building a team of highly skilled trainers that have the right energy, qualifications, and positive mindset to make a real difference in the lives of dogs and their owners.

Personally, I have rehabilitated numerous dogs from rescue groups that were labeled “unadoptable”. So to watch my trainers positively impact a dog’s behavior and to hear the success stories from our clients is immensely rewarding for me. My work makes a real difference in the lives of people and their pets, correcting dogs’ undesirable behaviors and keeping them safely in their homes and out of shelters.

Going forward, my goal is to create a strong educational element to my business model so that pet owners can learn how to change their pets’ behavior themselves, using balanced training techniques based in dog psychology. The more a client is involved in training, the better outcomes we see for their pets, so engaging pet owners and empowering them to initiate training on their own is a key strategy to helping pets live happier, healthier lives.

I look forward to what the future holds and am very proud to own a business that has been able to survive the worst of times and thrive — not despite them, but because of them! Adaptability has been the key to my success, and I am so proud to have pushed through the doubt and fear to create an even better business than I could have without the challenges. I had considered closing shop completely. I had considered selling the business (if that was even an option). I had considered sticking things out until our clients started traveling again… In the end, streamlining the business and offering only dog training was the best decision I ever made, and I never would have done it if COVID had not affected my business so drastically.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

When I was young, I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up. Professional dog training was something I stumbled into and then never wanted to leave out of my life. I have always loved animals and the more I learned about dogs, the more fascinated I became.

I started training dogs professionally when I opened my first business in Las Vegas, Aunt Alli’s Pet Care back in 2010. It was not easy being a female business owner and especially not as a 125lb dog trainer, showing owners how to handle their 150lb mastiff. I really had to prove myself with knowledge and skill, plus excellent customer service. Thankfully I had my “proof of concept” right by my side: my 130lb Great Dane who would assist me in working with other dogs who needed more exposure to well-balanced and calm dogs.

When I moved to North County San Diego and opened Peticularly Perfect, I included pet sitting and dog walking in addition to training services. I started working with local rescues, working with dogs that had been labeled “unadoptable”. It was insanely rewarding.

When covid-19 hit, I switched my business to offering just dog training services. I created a service menu of in-home, private dog training packages so clients could maximize their time with a trainer practicing and learning skills and techniques to use with their pup. We have now added additional trainers and can offer a board and train option. We are also working on introducing a group class to our monthly calendar.

I like giving hope to clients that feel they are stuck and just don’t know what to do when a behavioral problem arises with their beloved pet. Many people do not want to rehome or turn their dog into a shelter and thankfully seek training assistance instead. It makes me so proud to own a business that can provide that: hope. Then back it up with results.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Customer service has been my number one reputation builder by far. With dog training in particular, both handling clients with a sense of delicacy and tact and managing client expectations are key to providing excellent customer care throughout the training process.

First, in the world of dog training, a lot is dependent on a dog owner’s desire to follow the trainer’s instructions and their ability to follow through between sessions. However, many pet owners see their dog’s behavioral issue as something that “just happened” and miss their own part in developing or encouraging undesirable behaviors. It is hard to admit that you could be the problem!

So it’s wise to be delicate and to exercise diplomacy when sharing dog psychology techniques with a client who comes to realize the underlying problem. Ultimately, training the dog is the easy part… getting the human on board is often much harder. Being tactful in our approach and understanding the perspective of the owner has been integral in helping us build lasting relationships with our clients.

Then, managing client expectations is essential. Dog training is not magic, and it doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a (sometimes tedious) process of baby-steps, working on training games the dog can accomplish, and gradually making it more challenging until you can finally tackle the tough stuff. However, it does get easier as you progress, because you’ve laid the foundation with practice and patience. So we offer clear and actionable items for clients to follow through on, and we limit the “homework” for sessions so they don’t become overwhelmed.

Ensuring that clients know how important their involvement is from the start and providing consistent support throughout their training journey makes all the difference. And following up after training to check in and make sure everything is still on track is equally important.

Mistakes will always happen from time to time, and even when they don’t – even when you provide flawless service – you still can’t please everyone. When an unhappy client comes forward, making sure to hear them, to put yourself in their shoes, and then to provide real, measurable solutions is not always easy… but it is critical to maintaining integrity and a great reputation.

You will never be able to please everyone and you will never be able to avoid all issues. But how you handle the issues will set you apart.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Free online platforms have been instrumental for us. Small businesses can take advantage of online review based sites and social media platforms – especially ones designed to market to their community – to alert potential clients of their services and their personal story. Building up a portfolio of great reviews and establishing a presence in the community has been the number one source of new clients for us.

A close second is word-of-mouth referrals. Clients who have struggled to train their dog in the past are often very vocal about their success after using our services. Any of their friends or coworkers who might also be interested in training are quick to contact us, once they have a firsthand account of the possibilities that quality training can provide.

Contact Info:

• Website: PeticularlyPerfect.com
• Instagram: @peticularlyperfect
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PeticularlyPerfect
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/peticularly-perfect-escondido

Image Credits
Ali Peterson