“Making friends” - How I market my dog massage business to a no-kill shelter
Dog massage has not fully arrived as a viable option for owners who simply wish to provide a wonderful experience for their dog. Nor has it really arrived as a standard veterinary option after surgery or to help reduce stress or to deal with problems of old age. At the Bancroft School where I received my training, we called ourselves “ambassadors and pioneers” for dog massage. I saw our task as getting the word out knowing it would probably take a while. This is different from human massage (even horse massage) both of which have achieved general acceptance in the culture. So my approach has been to affiliate with excellent dog related businesses whose clients would benefit from massage. My first connection was with a large no-kill shelter in my area. I did my internship there with the plan of helping their dogs get adopted more easily. I asked to work with some of their more challenging dogs, either frightened or aggressive, to see if massage would help them settle down. I was fortunate to have good results with some of these dogs which led to people in the shelter wanting to know more about massage. I taught a general session to over 20 volunteers showing them what they could do for the dogs in the shelter. This then led to teaching a four-week (for pay) course going more deeply into what owners can do with their dogs. I gave 25% of what I got back to the shelter. I became part of the shelter team and attended some of their outdoor events. Dog massage is a very good “draw” at a dog fair and brings people over to the table. For my next course which will start in September, the shelter has used their excellent resources to connect with several thousand people telling them about dog massage
No comments:
Post a Comment