A Minimum Investment, Maximum Profit Home Business!

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If you do accidentally cut too far, you can stop the bleeding with a styptic pencil or with a special powder that's available from pet supply dealers. Obviously, though, you will have hurt the animal . . . and you can be sure it won't relish the idea of having its nails trimmed again! Sometimes, when a beast's nails have been allowed to grow too long, the quick will have descended further down than is normal. In such cases, you'll have to trim just a little at a time. (If a dog or cat has extremely long claws, we don't usually take on the trimming job . . . in stead, we advise the owner to have a vet perform the task, with the animal under anesthesia if necessary.)

Grooming/clipping. There are a lot of "cockapoos" (a term that's applied to a poodle crossed with a cocker or other small breed) in this world . . . and they all need their coats cut back regularly. You won't have to give such a dog a fancy trim . . . just an even haircut all over. The job can be accomplished with an inexpensive pair of canine hair clippers.

People sometimes ask us to provide a special cut, but we tell them we leave the unusual jobs to the professional groomers. Still, we have enough regular long-coated customers to make that basic clipping a profitable part of our enterprise. Depending on the size of the dog and the condition of its fur, we charge from $10 to $15 for the service.

Boarding. Keeping animals is the bread and butter of any pet care business, so we try our best to make sure our visitors— and their owners—stay happy. Upon the arrival of each dog or cat, we ask its guardian to fill out a contract form, providing basic information and noting any special care instructions. We always get the name of the customer's usual vet, too, in case the pet should become sick. If the owner prefers, we agree to take the dog or cat to our vet in case of an emergency . . . but that arrangement must also be specified on the form. At the end of an animal's stay, we have the customer sign and date a statement that he or she has received the pet in good health. These relatively simple precautions help us avoid any potential legal snags.

Our boarding fees are $3.50 per day for a cat and $4.50 to $8.50 a day for a dog, depending on its size (these prices are comparable to those charged by vets and large kennels in our area), plus the cost of a bath and dip. We always advise the pet owner, in advance, that a bath and dip (or a flea powder dusting for a cat) are mandatory while the animal is in our care. It's also a good idea, we've found, to quote the total fee whenever possible.

Boarding care, of course, includes a daily feeding. The "dinners" we serve consist of a small amount of canned food mixed with a large portion of dry meal . . . but we recommend that our customers supply us with some of the animals' usual food—so that we can keep the pets on their accustomed diets and avoid any stomach disorders—and most owners prefer to do so. The boarding rate remains the same, however, because preparing individual dishes requires more time.

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