
	JANUARY 2006

PRICING CHANGES

Due to the cost of running the Mutt House increasing with more employees and management, increase on rent and upgrades and repairs, we have made some business decisions to change pricing and package options. This is to ensure we can continue to offer you these wonderful services and hopefully even better what we offer your pooches. Hopefully this does not affect your pooch coming to play at the Mutt House. Our pricing will still be below our closest competition.

This will all go into effect starting Feb 1st, 2006

Highlights:

1) You will now have 60 Business days or 12 weeks to use your packages instead of 40 business days.

2) Packages now will be 10, 20 and 30 day packages, but the daily rate will be increasing.

3) Everytime you buy a 30 Day Package, you will receive a Coupon for 10% off an entire Retail Purchase as well as a Free Bath Coupon.

4) Everytime you purchase a 20 day package, you will receive a 10% coupon off an entire Retail purchase.

5) Everytime you purchase a 10 day package, you will receive a 5% off coupon off an entire Retail purchase.

Pricing:

Daycare:

Daily Rate: $26/Day, $23/Day 2nd Dog

10 Day Package: $24/Day, $19/Day 2nd Dog

20 Day Package: $23/Day, $18/Day 2nd Dog

30 Day Pakcage: $22/Day, $17/Day 2nd Dog

Baths:

$18/Smaller Dogs (additoinal for excessive brush outs or excessive drying time)

$25/Larger Dogs (addtional for excessive brush outs or excessive drying time)

$23/Smaller Dogs Spa Bath (includes a full body massage)

$30/Larger Dogs Spa Bath (includes a full body massage)

Add $3 for teeth brushing

Training:

$179/Basic Obedience: 6 Sessions, plus 1 seperate walking session, also includes the basics of Pet First Aid and a Pet First Aid Kit.

Private In Home Training: $25 per 1/2 hour session

Dog Walks/Home Visits:

$5 for 10 minute walk while dog is attending daycare or boarding. We have quite a few request for some neighborhood walks while dogs are boarding, so we now offer that service if you think your pooch needs a bit of time outside our facility while visiting.

We now offer Home Walks and Taxi Service within our immediate area: (Currently case by case basis)

$15 per home visit (20-30minutes) 1 Dog or Cat: This includes feeding, checking mail, watering plants or whatever within reason. There is a discount for multiple visits in a day and for addtional pets.

$5/Taxi service One Way within our immediate area. (Currently case by case basis)

VALENTINE SOCIAL: February 11th

Saturday, Feb 11th, we will have a Valentine Social. We will provide food and drinks and activities for the dogs. It is free to attend. 1-3PM There will be small and big dogs attending and off lead out back, so please be cautious and watch your pooch at all times to ensure their safety. There will be games and gifts for the dogs. Please RSVP, but not required to attend.

2005 Re-Cap

We opened Oct 22, 2004 and were bombarded in Nov & December with people wanting to board their dogs in our cage free facility because everyone else was full. In the middle of all of it, we got married Jan 1st, 2005 on a Carribean Cruise out of Galveston. It was crazy temperment testing up to 5 dogs a day at times, and every dog getting use to the facility, the routines and their fellow pooches. We slowly started hiring employees as more dogs started to attend regular daycare in 2005. You do everything by what you think will work, and then the dogs prove you wrong. We experimented with fencing, gates, holding areas, toys, dog beds, dog bowls, cleaning products, employee shifts, chaging the outside from pebble rock to concrete and outdoor carpet. Building a half wall at the entry way to keep customers from reaching over the fence and starting chaos with the small dogs...you know who you are..ha ha... We tested out different retail products and food products. We had a lot to learn and quickly. We were amazed at the wear and tear on the facility, especially Steve who had to keep doing repairs and changes for me. We had good employees and not so good employees. We worked long hours, sometimes days straight if we had to do the overnights as well. Money kept going out as quick as it came through the door, plus some. By the end of 2005, we were wore out, had about 13 employees, a manager and an assistant manager, about 35 dogs a day for daycare and a two month waiting list and no money to show for all the work. 2005 was long and hard, but a great success in the business world!!! Now 2006 is here. Our goals in 2006 are to ensure that the Mutt House continues in its success, and starts moving into more money coming in than going out, and that we better the facility for the dogs and customers, and maybe even expand to a second location to accomodate more pooches. No matter what we do in 2006, our first priority is to ensure a safe fun enviornment for our doggie customers. We want every dog to have a fun, safe well loved time when at the Mutt House. Doggie daycares are popping up all over Houston, some will do well and some will not, some will take good care of the dogs, and some will not. We want people to choose the Mutt House because it is clean, safe and run by responsible people who take wonderful care of their dogs. I think you can have a great facility, but it is the people that care for your dogs on a daily basis that make the difference. I hope we provide and continue to provide you great customer service and a huge level of confidence in dropping your pooches off with us. We look forward to another great year in 2006, and wish all of you and your families a healthy and prosperous 2006 !!! Steve & Molly

New Products:

Tuffies: Toys that are made tough for pooches that are hard on their toys. They are extra layered and sewn, and have a quiet squeak and a rattle sound as well.

Aunt Jeni's: We now have a complete freezer of Aunt Jeni's Raw food. We also carry Aunt Jeni's treats and supplements.

Grain Free Kibble: Nature's Variety now has Grain Free Kibble. It is called Raw Instinct and they use tapioca as the main ingredient to bond it together. Many dogs with allergy issues are due to the different grains used in most kibbles, not the meats. So if your dog suffers from any type of allergies, you might try a grain free kibble or raw food or both. Our distributer is running out of it as quickly as they receive it, so we currently only have 4.4lb size bags.

Supplements: We carry a few brands of Supplements that are helpful for many conditions of your dogs. Here are some suggestions:

Changing Food and do not want your dog to get an upset stomach? We have Holistic Transition by Eagle Pack, that keeps your dog from having an upset stomach when transitioning to different foods.

Loose Poop?: We also have Holistic Solution by Eagle Pack that stops the loose poop fast. The first 3 people to respond to the newsletter will receive a free Holistic Solution or Holistic Transition.

Does your dog need fish oils (Omega fatty acids) for healthy coat and skin?: We also have a new Omega Fatty Oils supplement with a pump. So it is easier and cleaner to use.

Is your dog on antibiotics?: Antibiotics for humans and dogs not only kills the bad bacteria, but the good stuff needed for proper digestion as well. There is a Digestive Supplement by Aunt Jeni's that helps restore the good bacteria back into your pup during and after a round of antibiotics.

So the next time you have skin, joint or digestive issues with your pup, see if we have something natural that can help.

IMPROVEMENTS:

We hope to be making many improvements in 2006, and here is the list:

1) We still need to upgrade to more cameras for better views of your pooches

2) We need to already replace the outdoor carpet and put up new tents out back, possibly a more permanent carport type of thing.

3) We will building a 1/2 wall between the 2 play areas, so we do not have so many issues with the dogs lunging at each other over the fence that currently divides the two areas.

4) We are hoping to soon have a mural painted on the side brick wall, which I guess is more for the humans than the dogs.

5) We will be doing a new sign on the building along with creating a permanent logo.

6) There is always a possibility of a 2nd location in 2006 since we do currently have about a 2 month waiting list. We will let you know if that will occur when we make that decision. We almost opened a 2nd location in 2005, but decided it was not the best business decision at that time.

SANDY STILL NEEDS A HOME

We still have Sandy living at the Mutt House. She is such a sweet dog and would make a great addition to a family. She seems to be getting over her jealousy issues, so I think she would be fine as a second dog or an only dog. She is very content living at the Mutt House, but that is not a life for a dog. She needs to be able to go for walks and rides and cuddle in front of the TV in a real home. Please get the word out about Sandy, so we can start her 2006 off in the right direction!!!!