Today we’d like to introduce you to Colton Brooks.
Colton, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My mother opened up Brooks Canine Center in 1989. I started out as a kennel cleaner when I was 10 years old. Throughout the years, I have worked just about every position in the company including daycare attendant, pet sitter, dog walker, trainer, and as of early 2017 I have recently taken over ownership. We started off in a small location in Northbrook focusing mainly on training. Throughout the years, we have continued to expand and have added daycare, boarding, dog walking, and pet sitting. Currently we operate out of a residential address providing a homey, rural feel that our customers’ dogs love.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
For the most part, the business hasn’t faced too many struggles. We became very well known for our training early on in our company’s life and have kept our loyal customers throughout the years. In the late 2000’s, we had a very large facility that housed upwards of 100 dogs for boarding. Unfortunately, this was right during the decline of the economy and many people were going out of town less and less frequently. We needed to adapt and figure out what would be the best situation for us as well as the dogs. Once we decided to relocate to the rural, residential style facility for the dogs, everything has went great! We noticed we had more flexibility to add on different areas for the dogs’ playtime, we have someone on premises each night, and due to the amount of fresh air that runs through the daycare area, we have kept out many of the common kennel illnesses and have become one of the healthiest kennels in the area.
Please tell us about Brooks Canine Center.
I am currently the C.E.O. of Brooks Canine Center. I run day to day operations and teach a beginning obedience class. Brooks Canine Center specializes in dog training and behavior. We tend to be the place that when other trainers run into a wall with a dog, they send them to us. We work on everything from basic obedience to severe aggression issues. The thing that I am most proud of in my company is my amazing staff. Our kennel manager, Eduardo Cruz, is one of the most naturally gifted pet care specialists I have ever seen. Both of our trainers, Elizabeth Kass and Ginny Rominski have been with us for over 10 years. Their love for dogs is unmatched. They build strong relationships with every dog that they work and have an amazing work ethic that results in wonderfully trained family dogs. My mother who started the company almost 30 years ago still to this day strives each and every day to make our clients as happy as possible and to improve the stay of every dog that comes through our facility. It is not hard for me to run the business when I have a staff who is as professional and amazing as they are!
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I could do one thing differently, I would have focused on administrative organization earlier than I did. Before I took over daily operations, things tended to be a bit disorganized when it came to client and pet records. We switched over to a fantastic program called Propetware that helped us get everything in order.
Pricing:
- Daycare: $28/day
- Boarding: $45/night
- Training: Starts at $125/hour
- Pet Sitting: Starts at $65/night
Contact Info:
- Address: 454 South Lyman Avenue, Des Plaines, IL 60016
- Website: www.brookscanine.com
- Phone: 847-299-DOGS (3647)
- Email: colton@brookscanine.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brookscaninecenter/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrooksCanineCenter
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/brooks-canine-center-des-plaines-2
Image Credit:
All images are property of Brooks Canine Center
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