Heidi Ganahl, the founder, president, and CEO of Camp Bow Wow, opened her first location in Denver, Colorado, in the fall of 2000. In 13 short years, she has become the largest pet care franchisor in the world.

In 1994, Heidi and her first husband, Bion, had two big shelter dogs that they adored. They needed to go out of town and had trouble finding a place where they felt comfortable leaving their dogs. Shortly thereafter, one of the very first doggie daycares in the United States opened next to her dad’s business. Heidi and her husband would go over and watch the dogs interact. They saw how the dogs loved playing together, and an idea was born.

She and her husband drew up a business plan to do overnight boarding and doggie daycare and added a camp theme to make it upscale and fun. About six months after writing the business plan, Heidi’s husband tragically died in a small plane crash – on his 25th birthday. Heidi’s life changed dramatically after her husband’s death, and the business plan was shelved for a time. During the next several years, Heidi experienced a number of heartbreaking personal and professional misfortunes – everything from making bad investments to the failure of two businesses. She made loans to family and friends, which were never returned, and Heidi was involved in a difficult custody battle for her daughter.

Finally, when Heidi was at her lowest point, her brother encouraged her to follow her passion, go forward with the plan, and open Camp Bow Wow. With a renewed determination to complete that dream, Heidi took every bit of her savings, pulled out the business plan, and began the project. She found a location that she loved and opened the first Camp Bow Wow. It was so well received and successful that she opened a second location near Boulder, Colorado, the following year.

When the first Camp Bow Wow opened, it offered Day Camp (daycare), Overnight Camp (overnight boarding), and Camp Showers (dog baths). “We’re from Colorado,” says Heidi Ganahl. “We didn’t want Camp Bow Wow to be some foo-foo spa place. We wanted it to have the look and feel of a lodge or ranch.

“Everything at Camp Bow Wow is focused on the dog’s safety, their health, and their happiness,” says Heidi with an enthusiastic smile. “We think that if you do that well, success will follow.”

There are usually five to six large indoor/outdoor regular play yards, an Old Camper Lounge (for older dogs that are less active), and a Teacup Pup Lounge (for dogs that are 15 pounds or less). The Day Camp areas have puppy playground equipment, paw- and bone-shaped pools for the guests to splash around in, and lots of room to interact and play.

“The dogs at Camp Bow Wow can play all day – indoors or outside with their friends,” says an enthusiastic Heidi. “And the dogs that are here for overnight boarding get to participate in the Day Camp at no additional charge. Every evening, our boarders get Campfire Treats™ (peanut butter-stuffed Kongs), which they – and their owners – love.

“Our staff receives lots of training,” says Heidi. “All of our Camp Counselors are certified in pet first aid and CPR. In most of the Camps, we have a ratio of one staff member per 15 Campers.

“One of the key things we offer are ‘Camper Cams.’ We were one of the first pet care facilities to put a webcam system in – and our clients absolutely loved it,” shares Heidi. “Now we have live streaming video from 12 to 16 high-definition cameras located in different areas. Technology is a very big part of our business, and we always try to stay cutting edge that way.

“We are launching a new Camper Corral System,” shares an excited Heidi Ganahl. The patent pending systems are made of a heavy duty plastic material that will last 30 to 40 years and is very easy to clean. The new collapsible cabin system opens during the night so you can board dogs in them and collapses in the day so you have more daycare play space.

Camp Bow Wow clients began asking them to expand their services. They wanted pet training and in-home pet care for those pets that couldn’t come to Camp Bow Wow – cats, fish, birds, un-neutered dogs, etc. That’s where Home Buddies steps in. Home Buddies provides a multitude of services while caring for pets in their own homes. Some of the services available are pet food delivery, pet waste cleanup service, dog walking, pet sitting, and care for special needs pets. The services can be customized to meet the client’s needs.

It is even possible to have a Home Buddies Cam® installed in your home. With this wireless camera, you can see, hear, and record your pet’s activities and view them from any computer that is connected to the Internet.

Another facet of Camp Bow Wow developed because of client requests is Behavior Buddies – the dog training division. Puppies as young as 10 weeks old and adult dogs of any age can learn basic and advanced obedience. You can attend group obedience classes or opt for private in-home training.

Heidi began franchising Camp Bow Wow in 2003, and she has now sold over 200 franchises. Today, Camp Bow Wow is the largest woman-owned franchise and the largest doggie daycare company in the world.

“There are about 4,400 franchise companies in the United States, and on The Franchise 500 list, we are #214 out of the top 500,” states a beaming Heidi.

“We will do about $75 million in system sales this year for all the Camp Bow Wows put together.”

Everyone who purchases a Camp Bow Wow franchise gets a lot of training and continued support. “From the time they sign the agreement, they go into a business coaching program, and they work with our real estate and site selection team,” says Ms. Ganahl. “They come out to Colorado for corporate training for about 12 days. The Behavior Buddy training is an additional 14 days. Then we send a team of three people from corporate to their site about a week before it opens to work with the staff and make sure everyone is well trained. They receive about 30 full days of training.”

Another fabulous resource for the franchise owners is the corporate website. It tells about all the services that every Camp Bow Wow offers. They do a lot of nationwide advertising to send people to the website. In 2011, they even ran an ad during the Puppy Bowl on Super Bowl Day. The typical franchisee gets about 200 leads a month from the website.

In 2007, the Bow Wow Buddies Foundation joined the Camp Bow Wow family. This non-profit foundation is involved in many projects all with the core mission of improving the health and lives of animals worldwide. To help homeless dogs find forever homes, many of the Camp Bow Wow franchisees consistently foster two or three shelter dogs from a local rescue and help them find permanent homes. In the last five years, over 10,000 dogs have been placed in forever homes through the efforts of the camps. One in four pets over the age of 10 develops cancer. The Bow Wow Buddies Foundation has raised over $1 million for canine cancer research.

The On Our Way Home Project helps to remodel animal shelters to include play areas. These areas help to socialize adoptable pets and reduce the stress they have in a kennel situation.

The Scout’s Angels Program is working on a very special project at the moment. They are providing the funding for two specially trained therapy dogs that will be sent to Newtown, Connecticut. They will live with two therapists and will serve as mascots to help the town and its residents recover from the tragedy of 2012.

As busy as Heidi Ganahl and her staff and franchisees are, they have many exciting plans for the future. “We are in a high-growth mode,” says an excited Heidi. “We plan to have 500 units open by the end of 2016. We are going to work on growing the Bow Wow Buddies Foundation even larger, and we are going to open some non-traditional sites in places like hotels and corporate campuses.”

Heidi is a highly sought-after industry speaker. She wrote a book about her many struggles and how she turned them into triumphs. In that fascinating book, Tails from the Bark Side, Heidi explains how she turned her lifelong love of dogs into a multimillion-dollar business and how she gives back through the charitable foundation she created. Heidi Ganahl’s remarkable story is one of adversity, inspiration, and entrepreneurship, and it has led her to where she is today... Top Dog of Camp Bow Wow!

Next Article