May 17, 2017

Meet Carol Barnett of 2nd Family Dogs

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Carol Barnett.

Carol, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
This business has been a long-time dream. When I retired from corporate America in 2012 I used my retirement savings to build this business and now each day is living my dream. I have used other dog kennel facilities before building my own and found them to be lacking in some way or another. I used this experience to build a business that encompassed everything I wanted for my own dogs.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Obtaining a loan to purchase the land and build our facility was challenging during the financial downturn but we kept at it and got the financing we needed to build our version of Disneyland for dogs!

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about 2nd Family Dogs – what should we know?
2nd Family Dogs is a family owned and operated dog boarding, daycare and grooming business in McKinney. We opened in 2013 and for the four years we have been open we have won awards for Best Pet Resort in McKinney four years in a row and Best Pet Grooming twice. We have 5,000 square feet of indoor play space and 16,000 square feet of outdoor play space. Our play yards are equipped with plenty of shade, mister systems, playground equipment, play pools and a full size 27′ long swimming pool. We have an onsite manager 24 hours a day so that dogs are never left in an unattended building. We have 12 web cams that customers can watch their dogs on, both inside and outside, and they are view-able either from our free 2nd Family Dogs app or from our website. Our staff members are trained in dog behavior and dog handling so that they can provide safe and loving care for all of the dogs. We have a veterinary hospital grade air filtration system and a dedicated cleaner every day to clean and sanitize every kennel and play area. We are dedicated to caring for dogs and we also provide support for 3 rescue groups with dedicated kennels for dogs waiting for foster parents. These kennels are provided at no charge to the rescue groups so that more dogs can be rescued while waiting for their foster parents to become available. We accommodate special dietary needs and medication administration. We love dogs and it shows when you visit us or watch us interact with your dogs on our webcams. Dogs are our passion.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I am fortunate to have a brother, Steve Baum, who has several engineering degrees and who designed our state of the art facility. Steve’s design is different than most kennels and has created an environment that is unique and allows customer to be part of all aspects of their dogs stays with us because our kennels, indoor play rooms and huge outdoor play areas are all visible on camera. Kennels are not segregated into areas with hallways that are not visible to customers. Steve’s design is amazing. One of our dog handling managers, Blake Andrews, has been with us since we opened and has helped us with processes and training for new employees as our business has grown so that we maintain very high standards of care. Our grooming salon manager, Jesskay Murphy, has been with us since opening day and is responsible for the salon and the awards we have won for grooming. Jesskay is a top notch groomer herself as well as the salon manager. Jared King, our front desk manager has ensured that customers are well taken care of and created a friendly and efficient team to support our customers.

My close friend, Bryan Pickett, helped me secure funding for the business and our excellent construction company led by Brian Baca built our facility in a beautiful and collaborative method and completed the project on time to meet our opening day deadline. David Craig of Craig Ranch was instrumental in supporting us with the zoning and planning commissions. We have been blessed with strong partners and excellent team.

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