Elliott and her husband opened their Camp Bow Wow franchise in November 2017 after being customers of the organization for years.
“We just loved that our dogs got to play all day. I think that’s the best part for a pet parent,” she said.
For her, opening up a Camp Bow Wow was an easy decision.
“I love dogs. I love animals, so we never looked at it as, ‘We want to open a business, so let’s look around at what franchises there are,’” Elliott said. “It wasn’t even about opening a dog business, it was, ‘I’m going to open a Camp Bow Wow.’”
The Camp Bow Wow location is off Hwy. 71 in Spicewood. When they first started looking into the area in 2016, they were worried, Elliott said, as there was very little development in Spicewood at the time.
“We had to have faith in the plans for the area and what it would become,” she said.
Despite the business slowing down due to the pandemic, Elliott noticed a change soon after when people began traveling again.
“A lot of them had gotten dogs in the meantime [during the shutdown], and a lot of people had moved into the area,” she said.
While Camp Bow Wow offers all-day care, overnight boarding and grooming, Elliott said 75%-80% of their business comes from overnight boarding, as many of the clients in the area will leave their dogs with the camp to travel.
Overnight boarding with Camp Bow Wow involves each dog getting its own camp “cabin,” or a cubicle that has a cot for the dog, water and space to walk around. Larger family cabins are also available for clients who have multiple dogs.
During the day, the dogs are separated by smaller and larger breeds, and they have seven or more hours of playtime supervised by a dedicated camp counselor, who will spend all day with the dogs in their respective play area.
“A good dog is a tired dog. Many dogs act out because they don’t get the exercise and the interaction they need,” Elliott said. “Parents will tell us how happy they are that they’re picking up a tired dog.”
The camp also offers luxury suites with TVs and webcams for owners to monitor their dogs. Enrichment services can be added for an extra fee. These include games, puzzles, scavenger hunts and agility courses for the dogs every Wednesday.
Shuttle services are available for owners who prefer to have the dogs picked up from their house.
“I feel really strongly that the dogs here are treated like they’re our dogs, and I think that our regular customers would agree,” Elliott said. “We get to know everybody, and [in a way] I feel like the dogs are mine, and our staff gets very attached to the dogs.”
Camp Bow Wow
5200 Electric Ave., Spicewood
512-264-9663
www.campbowwow.com/austin-sw
Hours: Mon.-Sat. 7 a.m.-7 p.m.;
Sun. 7-10 a.m., 4-7 p.m.
