Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ralph Bernstein. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Ralph thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?
I’m very happy as a business owner. I have the freedom to run the business according to my values, without having to compromise them in order to meet external demands like “maximizing shareholder return.” I make decisions based on what I think (or hopefully know) is good for the business, our employees, and/or our customers. When I’m right, everyone benefits. When I’m wrong, I say that I’m wrong and we adjust things and move forward. Sometimes, my decisions mean we give up some potential revenue and I am just fine with that. For example, in 2023 we provided the equivalent of 3.5 years of free and discounted boarding nights to dogs from various foster programs around the state of Minnesota. And, in this past quarter, we’ve provided free and discounted boarding to a dog who’s family fled the war in Ukraine, a dog owned by someone in transitional housing, and two dogs owned by someone fleeing a domestic abuse situation. The freedom to lead and manage more from my heart and less from my wallet brings me happiness every day.
I NEVER wonder what it would be like to have a regular job because I had one for nearly 30 years. Before I was a business owner, I spent the bulk of my adult life in the corporate world. Even as I advanced in my career, I was never really temperamentally suited for the corporate world. I always chafed against making decisions for short-term financial return instead of long term growth. I also struggled with the slow pace of change and lack of nimbleness that seemed to define the industries — financial services and healthcare — where I worked.
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.
Founded in 2004, Downtown Dogs is the Twin Cities’ oldest and largest dog daycare and boarding facility. I was a customer of the business for several years before purchasing it from the original owner in 2014. From the beginning, we have provided overnight boarding and hourly daycare for dogs of all ages, sizes, and breeds. In 2020, we opened a second business, Dog’s Day Out, providing full service and self service dog bathing, as well as full service dog grooming. The two businesses are located next to each other in the same building. In 2023, we added a retail product section to each business under the banner, “Change Unleashed, Barktique.”
At Downtown Dogs, we have always approached working with our canine customers somewhat differently than other daycare and boarding businesses. Our guiding philosophy is to “meet dogs where they are.” This means that we recognize, and embrace, the idea that no two dogs are the same (just as no two people are the same). We don’t try to force the dogs we serve into a rigid operational model that assumes all dogs behave the same and want the same experience. Again, no two dogs are the same.
This concept flows through everything we do. To start, we accept all breeds, including “bully” breeds which include Pit Bulls, Rottweilers, Mastiffs, and French Bulldogs, to name only some. We also accept all “giant” breeds which include Great Danes, Newfoundlands, St. Bernards, and Wolfhounds, and others. These two groups of dogs have undeserved reputations as being hard to handle and many daycare/boarding businesses don’t accept them out of fear that they will disrupt a “cookie cutter” operational approach. We also accept dogs of all ages, from puppies (they must first be cleared by their veterinarian) to dogs considered “geriatric” (typically over 11 or 12 years of age). Again, these are age groups (particularly older dogs) don’t always fit well into a rigid operational model. So, some facilities won’t accept them or, worse, dismiss them once they reach that life stage. That leaves parents scrambling to find a facility for their dog. We rarely dismiss dogs (more on this later) and have never dismissed a dog because of its age.
Many daycare/boarding facilities group dogs by size. To us, that makes as much sense as organizing books on a bookshelf from largest to smallest. It may be easy to know where to place the next book but good luck finding your copy of “Harry Potter” when it’s sitting next to “The Joy of Cooking” on the shelf. Instead, we group dogs by temperament and play style. We are a large facility with four playrooms, allowing us to group higher energy dogs in one room and lower energy dogs in a another, regardless of the size of the dogs. As an example, two of my own dogs are a four-year old Wire Fox Terrier (Lyle) and a 12-year old Pug (Frannie). They each weigh about 19 pounds but that’s where the similarity stops. Lyle is “go, go, go!” (typical for a terrier) while Frannie prefers to snooze much of her day (typical for a Pug). When they come to work with me (and every day is “bring your dog to work day”), they don’t go to the same playroom.
As I mentioned, we rarely dismiss dogs from our facility. Daycares usually dismiss dogs for one of two reasons — age (which I’ve already discussed) and “aggressive” behavior. I put aggressive in quotes because, from our perspective, oftentimes the behavior is the result of not understanding a dog’s personality and individual needs. The following is one approach we take that allows is to, almost always, provide these dogs with successful experiences.
Understanding a dog’s natural energy cycle: Each of us has our own daily rhythm, knowing when we have the most energy and when we need to take a break. The same is true for dogs. The difference is, dogs depend on us to figure out what those rhythms are and incorporate those rhythms into a positive daycare and boarding experience. To do that, we use what we call, “Tailored Schedules.” We all have friends who are not “morning people.” That is, they function better and are more social when they don’t have to jump out of bed early in the morning and rush right into their day. So too, there are dogs who are not “morning dogs.” They prefer to sleep later and can, sometimes, show more aggression when they have to get up early. However, unlike their human counterparts, these non-morning dogs don’t get to choose their schedule. If their parents have to be at work at 7:00 AM, the dog has to be out of bed and dropped off at daycare even earlier. We know that the worst thing we can do for those dogs is to put them into one of our playrooms the moment they arrive. They aren’t ready to appropriately greet and play with other dogs and that can lead to “aggressive” behavior. So, when they arrive, we give them some extra snooze time in our boarding room and bring them out to the playrooms when they’re ready.
Similarly, there are dogs who are full of energy when they arrive and like to immediately dive in and play. Some of these dogs can play all day but, for many, that energy burst only last for a couple of hours before they need a break (and maybe a nap) to recharge, away from the other dogs. Without that, they may get cranky and show some “aggressive” behavior. This will sounds familiar to anyone who has raised a toddler. Again, we give those dogs a break in our boarding room and bring them out when they’re ready.
Have you ever had to pivot?
Well, it’s a sad story with a happy ending. I spent nearly 30 years in the corporate world – mostly in banking – and assumed that’s where I would stay. Then, in 2011, at the age of 49, my wife suffered a massive stroke and died five weeks later. As often happens in these kinds of world-shattering events, I started to look at my life and especially my career in a new light and realized that I needed to get out of the corporate world. Then it hit me that the absolute best parts of my day (and sometimes the only good ones) were when I dropped off and picked up my dog, Frannie, at Downtown Dogs. I loved the positive energy that I got from seeing all of the dogs and from the big “hello” that greeted me every time I walked through the door. I started to feel that a place like Downtown Dogs was where I belonged. So, in 2013, I called the owner and asked if they had any interest in selling the business. To my delighted surprise, they said yes. A year later, in 2014, I bought Downtown Dogs, traded my pinstripes for jeans and polo shirts, and found my new home. But that’s only part of the happy ending. In 2017, I met someone who loves dogs just as much as I do. Abbe and I got married in 2019 and now share our home not just with Frannie the Pug, but also with Lyle, our mischievous Wire Fox Terrier, and Helen, our sweet (blind) rescue Hound mix.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I think it’s a lot of the things I mentioned when describing our philosophy and approach. We are known for happily taking and working with dogs that other daycare/boarding facilities will not. One thing that all our customers love, and tell others about, is that we know every dog’s name by the second time the dog visits. Customers love it when they come through the door and the person at the front desk greets their dog by name, whether it’s that dog’s second visit, they are a daily customer, or we haven’t seen them in months. Speaking of coming through our door, another thing that we hear about is the way we greet our human clients. Whenever our door opens, everyone gives a big “Hello!” to that person. It’s a big, burst of positive energy. As I know, all too well, sometimes it’s the only positive thing in that customer’s day.
Another thing that’s helped build our reputation is the work we do to support the broader canine community. We work with foster and rescue organizations across Minnesota, providing them free or heavily discounted boarding nights when they can’t find a foster volunteer to take a dog. In 2023, we provided the equivalent of a total of 3.5 years of boarding to 100 foster dogs. We also support those organizations financially through our Change Unleashed program.
I also serve as the board chair of Mission Animal Hospital, the only full service surgical veterinary hospital in the country.
Finally, we have a reputation of being a great place to work, if you love dogs and don’t mind hard work. We are known for being a queer and neuro-divergent friendly employer. We pay better-than-industry wages and offer a range of benefits that is better than many small businesses do.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.dtdogs.com and www.dogsdaympls.com
- Instagram: downtowndogsmn
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DTDMPLS and https://www.facebook.com/dogsdayoutmpls
Image Credits
Caitlin Nightingale Ashley Rick