Episode 292 - How an Aggressive Dog Inspired Katie Casell to Become Miami's Premier Force-Free Dog Trainer
The Poodle to Pitbull Pet Business Podcast
Release Date: 03/24/2023
The Poodle to Pitbull Pet Business Podcast
Are you adding enrichment activities to your services… or actually building a business where your whole team understands enrichment? Could there be dozens of opportunities inside your facility to create calmer, happier and more stimulating experiences for the dogs in your care? And what happens when your staff finally understand the why behind enrichment, rather than simply being told what activities to do? In this episode, we’re just THREE DAYS away from the 2026 Pet Care Enrichment Summit, so I’m giving you another sneak peek at some of the incredible training we’ve got coming your...
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Remember those goals you set at the start of the year? Are you on track to hit them… or did they quietly disappear somewhere around March? And with just 90 days of the year remaining, what could you still change if you got some proper momentum behind you? In this episode, I’m talking about one of the most valuable — and underrated — forces in business: momentum. I’ve just returned from another coaching event in London with a notebook full of ideas, reminders and things I want to implement in my own business over the next 90 days. And yes, despite having been in business for years,...
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What can a dog daycare owner learn from someone enriching a polar bear, giraffe or chimpanzee? Are your enrichment activities actually designed to encourage natural behaviours… or are you just giving dogs something different to do? And could looking outside the pet care industry completely change the way you think about enrichment? In this episode, I’m giving you a sneak peek inside the upcoming Pet Care Enrichment Summit, including highlights from one of my favourite sessions from last year’s event: our Zookeepers Roundtable. One of the things we’ve always done differently with the...
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Is your dog daycare still relying on all-day group play as the main reason clients bring their dogs to you? Are you giving enrichment away for free because you don’t know how to package, position or sell it? And as costs continue to rise, could enrichment be one of the keys to building a better experience for the dogs AND a more profitable business? In this episode, I’m joined by Enrich U Dean Tim Jackson for a special preview of the 2026 Pet Care Enrichment Summit, which takes place from October 12th–16th. This is the third year we’ve run the summit, and we’ve assembled our biggest...
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Is your dog daycare still running on a business model that worked five or ten years ago? Are you cramming in more dogs, adding more staff, and working harder… only to watch your margins get tighter? And what happens if the pet industry changes faster than your business does? In this episode, I’m officially announcing IMPACT 2027 and laying out the big idea behind this year’s event: The Great Dog Daycare Divide – How to Avoid the 2030 Pet Care Extinction Event. For the last 20 years, the pet care industry has been riding a huge wave of growth. If you loved dogs, worked hard, charged a...
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Do you know your pet business could be better… but you keep putting off the uncomfortable decisions? What happens when you stop trying to figure everything out alone and start acting on the things you already know need fixing? And how much could change in just 90 days if somebody actually held you accountable? In this episode, I’m sharing some powerful real-world examples of what happens when dog daycare and pet resort owners stop sitting on ideas and start taking proper action. You’ll hear from Alex Varney, one of the newest Dog Daycare Success Academy members, who attended her first...
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Running a pet business is one of the most rewarding jobs in the world, but it can also be one of the lonliest... Who can you talk to who understands the business critical challenges you face each week... And how much faster can you move when you’re surrounded by people who are willing to share what’s working? And....what could your business look like 90 days from now if you actually committed to making the changes you already know you need to make? Well, in this episode, I’m taking you behind the scenes of the latest Dog Daycare Success Academy immersion event in Annapolis. The theme...
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Are you busy, fully booked… and still wondering where all the money goes? Do you know your staff deserve better wages, your facility needs investment, and you should be taking more out of the business yourself? And what if the biggest thing holding all of that back is simply that your prices are too low? In this episode, I’m talking about the real cost of staying cheap and why fixing your pricing is about far more than adding a few dollars or pounds onto your daily rate. After delivering a live training on how to build a highly profitable dog daycare that attracts affluent clients and...
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Are your prices attracting the wrong kind of clients? Could charging more actually make your pet business more desirable? And how much is fear costing you every month you remain underpriced? In this episode, I’m tackling one of the biggest and most expensive problems in the pet industry: undercharging. After coaching more than 3,000 pet business owners over the last decade, I’ve seen the same pattern repeatedly. Owners start too cheap, stay too cheap, and allow the complaints of one or two vocal penny-pinchers to dictate their entire pricing strategy. I explain why low prices don’t...
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Are you drowning in ideas but struggling to decide what deserves your attention? Do you keep consuming more information without actually making meaningful progress? And what are the three things your business genuinely needs from you over the next 90 days? In this episode, I’m sharing the highest-return investment I’ve ever made in my business: hiring a coach. After spending two painful years trying to build an online store without a clear strategy, vision, or plan, I eventually realised I didn’t need more information. I needed someone who could help me ignore the noise, identify the...
info_outlineKatie Casell was born, raised and still still lives in Miami - a true Miamiam - where she now serves the community as Miami's number #1 force-free dog trainer.
Katie has been holding a dog leash since she was in dipers, and grew up with a love for dogs and horses, a passion she inherited from her animal loving dad, who also trained dogs, horses and parrots.
She worked as a groom aged 17, but then fell into a sales job selling pest control, before she started 20 year career with a floral importer.
Katie could see the writing on the wall with her sales job, and so started her own side hustle pet business in 2002. This ran alongside her regular job until 2011, when she adopting an agressive dog called Brisco, the dog who inspired a life-long love and career in dog training.
A cancer scare in 2017 finally gave her the push to follow her passion, and go all in with her dog training business.
Katie has been on thorough training journey learning from some world class training mentors, and she ended up specialising in helping leash reactive and leash agressive dogs with her private one to one training services. She also does puppy sessions to provide some light relief from the intensity of the aggressive dog cases.
In this awesome interview you will discover;
- How creating connections with local vets helped stimulate referrals and bring clients to her fledgling business
- Why Katie and I are cooking up an exclusive, high-end, luxury offer for her affluent dog training clients
- Why she niched to aggresive dogs as an homage to her first dog Brisco.
- Why you need good training AND business mentors IF you want to accelerate your career.
- Why dog trainers need speak to dog owners fears in their marketing materials
- The amazing sliding doors moment that led to Katie finding her husband...
Katie was a great guest, and an awesome coaching client I love working with, you'll get so much from her inspirational story.
To find out more about Katie's services check out her website here
To grab a ticket to the next leg of Dom's USA seminar tour click here
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You can grab a copy of Dom's brand new book How to Disnify Your Pet Business, click here to get your copy now