EP 562: Inside A Small Dog Daycare That Builds Trust

What makes Karen Smith with Woof Tone In and Spa a good neighbor?

You can tell a lot about a pet care business by what it refuses to become. Karen Smith opened Woof Tone In and Spa as a boutique doggy daycare, overnight boarding, and grooming spa with one clear promise: stay small enough to actually know the dogs and the people who love them. If you’ve ever worried that your pup will feel like “just another kennel,” this conversation hits home fast.

Karen shares how her journey began after immigrating to the United States, getting her first puppy, and unexpectedly stepping into a veterinary receptionist role that grew into 21 years in veterinary management. That experience shaped how she thinks about safety, stress, and trust, and why she wanted to create a more home-like dog boarding experience than what many pet parents expect.

We talk about one of the biggest misconceptions in the industry: not all doggy daycares are the same. Karen explains what “enrichment” really means when the goal is to help dogs thrive, not simply burn energy, and why understanding each dog’s personality and needs matters.

We also get practical about growth, including the marketing experiments that didn’t work, the social media strategy that did, and how creative TikTok skits started driving real calls and bookings. Karen explains how evaluations and temperament testing help place dogs into the right groups, and why that structure can be especially powerful for anxious dogs that need time and consistency to feel safe.

If you’re searching for trusted doggy daycare, dog boarding, or a grooming spa and want to know what to look for before choosing a place for your dog, press play.

Subscribe, share this episode with a fellow dog parent, and leave a review with the one thing you’d never compromise on in pet care.

Guest Info: Woof Tone In and Spa
 Website: https://wooftoneinnspa.com/

Transcript

Welcome To Good Neighbor Podcast

SPEAKER_00 0:00

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Sophia Yvette.

SPEAKER_01 0:10

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of a doggy daycare? Well, one may be closer than you

Meet Wolf Tone In And Spa

SPEAKER_01 0:17

think. Today, I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Karen Smith with Wolf Tone In and Spa. Karen, it's great to have you on today. Now we are so excited to learn more about you and your business. So go ahead and tell our listeners just a little bit more about what you do. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 0:34

Well, thank you for having me, and I'm excited to share it as well. So we are a boutique doggy daycare, and we're pretty small in size, and we don't want to get too big. And we want to keep it small so that we can establish relationships with all the clients and the pets and so that we know them, you know, as they walk in the door, we know their cars and whatever. So we do the doggy daycare, we also do boarding overnight, um, and we have a spa as well for grooming.

From Immigrant To Pet Care Leader

SPEAKER_01 1:05

Very cool. How did you originally get into this industry, Karen? I'm so curious.

SPEAKER_02 1:12

So um I immigrated here with my husband about 23 years ago, and we decided when we built the house, we decided we were going to get a puppy, and I always wanted a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel. So I found a breeder and eventually we got it. So I had to start looking for veterinary care for it. And anyway, I found one in the church bulletin and went there and they made me so welcome. Um, I don't know if it was my accent, um, but they were just so nice and asked me to apply for a job, and I was like, okay, yeah, whatever. So after a couple of weeks, they actually called me to say, Hey, you know, there's a job going in reception here, and I'm like, I know nothing about veterinary medicine, but I ended up, I went for the interview, and the next day I got the call to say I got the job, so then I was a veterinary receptionist. Um, I was in that career for 21 years. Um, I'd worked myself from receptionist up to hospital manager. Um, and then the first time I ever had my dog that we had to board it, um, the veterinary care was great, but I always felt that nobody could look after your dog the way you can at home. So I wanted it to be more of a home feeling, and so that's exactly I've had it in my head for about 16 years, and finally um I had an illness that made me lose my job, um, which was really sad for me. But um, once like I lost the job, my husband had said, you know what, let's go ahead and do it. Um I couldn't believe it. So I had everything was all scripted for me, um, and then we just went from there and we spent about eight months remodeling this place and to get it where I wanted it. Um, and then that was us. We opened in September of 2024.

Why All Daycares Are Not Equal

SPEAKER_01 3:07

Wow, Karen. So today, what is the most common misconception you come across in your industry?

SPEAKER_02 3:15

Um, so here now, um I think the most common misconception is people tend to think that all doggy daycares are the same and boredon are the same, and they're definitely not. Um, you've got your corporate places, um, and they kind of are run by the same, you know, they stick to the same agendas, and but here we like to do enrichment um and build relationships as well. So um, yeah, so that's definitely a huge misconception about the business.

Social Media Marketing That Works

SPEAKER_01 3:44

Now we know that marketing is the heart of every business. So ideally, who are you looking to attract and how are you reaching them today?

SPEAKER_02 3:54

So basically, um, we had tried all sorts of marketing um and spent lots of money doing it, and we get one client from it, and so we decided, you know what, let's try the social media. So we did Facebook, Instagram, um, TikTok, and we have a YouTube channel as well, although there's not much on the YouTube channel yet. Um, but we went that route, and the amount of calls that we get because of we do these crazy TikToks, our groomer Liv has like she's got a great imagination, so she's got us starning little skits every other day. So basically, it's been from all of our social media, and then word of mouth, we have a really good reviews and everything like that. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:42

Wow, are you doing little clips or have you ever thought about having a podcast for the business before?

SPEAKER_02 4:48

So we're actually we're about to start a podcast, so you are our first one. Um, but yeah, we we've actually been buying like the mic and the you know everything that we need to set up. So um I've got the first few um written out and know what you know it's going to be about, but um, so that's basically where we're going next with it.

Life Outside The Kennel

SPEAKER_01 5:10

Now, outside of work, what do you make for fun?

SPEAKER_02 5:14

So I don't have a lot of time outside of work just now and because we haven't found um the correct staff yet. Um, so I'm basically working near enough seven days a week because I don't want it to be one of the businesses that you introduce a new staff member and a few weeks down the line they're no longer there. So I want everybody to recognise. Um, so basically, my time off um I watch soccer, I'm a huge soccer fan. Um, I just enjoyed the World Cup there. Um, but my soccer team is um Celtic from uh Scotland. So both me and my husband are really, really huge Celtic supporters. So we actually go to different places where they're playing as well. So that's basically um what we do for fun.

SPEAKER_01 6:02

It's a very fun hobby.

Trust Building Care And Temperament Testing

SPEAKER_01 6:07

So, Karen, through our conversation today, I can tell you have a lot of passion for what you do. So, what is the number one takeaway you would like our listeners to gather today from learning about woof tone and spa?

SPEAKER_02 6:21

Um so basically just know that we are um the type of um doggy daycare board and spa that we like to create relationships, and we feel that by having relationships with the clients, then they know and they can trust us, um leaving their pups with us, and that means everything to us. Um, we have three great um staff members just now who are just so committed to looking after dogs and just enjoying them, and that most of the clients we've actually had some pets that come in here that are really high anxiety, um, but after the three or four visits, like they don't even look back now to look at their parents. So that's something heartwarming, and knowing that your pet does have anxiety, um, and then what can change when they come to places because everything is all um evaluated. We do um evaluations and temperament testing on every dog coming in and for daycare, so we make sure that they're suited to each group that they're going to be in, so it's not just they're just flung in there, you know, willy-nilly, but yeah.

How To Find And Contact Them

SPEAKER_01 7:32

And for those who may be looking for the perfect doggy daycare or spa for their pets, where's the best place for them to go to find you?

SPEAKER_02 7:41

So you can find us on all of our social media. We're on Facebook, Instagram, um, and TikTok, but um we also have our website um and it's www.wooftoneinspa.com.

SPEAKER_01 7:56

Well, Karen, I really appreciate you being on the show today. We wish you and your business the best moving forward. Thank you. I appreciate you.

Nominate A Local Business

SPEAKER_00 8:06

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpfrisco.com. That's gnpfrisco.com or call four six nine two two one nine three four five.