Meet Candida Petite and Jennifer Roche of Clyde’s Camp in Canton

Today we’d like to introduce you to Candida Petite and Jennifer Roche.

Candida and Jennifer, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
We are all about animals at Clyde’s Camp. At Clyde’s Camp, we aim to give back as a business.

After 2 decades of building our wireless communications company, my husband and I grew it to a point where it could be sold. At that point, we wanted to contribute something back to the community, and as the number of dogs we rescued increased, we moved out of the city and bought Chippewa Farm near Canton so that they had 138 acres to run on.

Upon moving here, we quickly discovered that after the 2008 financial crisis many horses were abandoned or given up due to the expense of keeping them. So, we started rescuing horses, beginning with 3 beloved Clydesdales and a Welsh pony. We soon met Save the Horses and partnered with them to rescue an additional 20 or so horses, some goats, a pig named Penelope, and numerous other animals including 10 rescue dogs here and from Costa Rica.

In addition to the rescue here, I also became involved in the International Animal Rescue’s Refuge for Wildlife, a Howler Monkey refuge specializing in orphaned Howler babies. Unfortunately, Costa Rica’s Howler monkey population is being decimated by electrocutions on the power lines as more development occurs in the rain forests. When I became a board member for them this meant that we were frequently travelling and had a greater need for dog boarding.

The idea for Clyde’s Camp came about after our very large, very energetic black lab ‘Clyde’ was asked to leave several dog boarding facilities for being too energetic and unruly. He was so used to being outside, running off leash in the woods for miles every day he went crazy in the concrete buildings that have now become so popular for dog boarding and day play. We had found a wonderful dog boarding facility, Camp Mimi, but it was in Fayetteville. It had large outside areas where Clyde could run all day. He and his 3 brothers loved to go there. However, when we moved to Canton it was a 4-5-hour drive to take them. So, we decided to set up dog boarding here on the farm in June 2016. Camp Mimi has been a great supporter of ours and Mimi is a wonderful mentor, something every business owner needs.

The concept behind Clyde’s Camp is to let a dog be a dog, to create a place dogs want to come back to and to give owners a good feel when they have to leave their pup. Clyde’s Camp is designed to be a vacation for your dog, with lots of outside play time in large fenced grassy paddocks, lots of water to jump in and out of with your friends, and 6 miles of trails to go walking on each day. We believe strongly that a well exercised dog is a happy, healthy dog. Clyde’s Camp is a premier vacation spot for your dog’s boarding, day play and grooming needs.

Rather than just running a business, we wanted it to give back to the community. Clyde’s Camp does a lot of work with several local dog rescues. It hosts charity runs, dog shows and other events.

All the profits from Clyde’s Camp go to fund the rescue activities at Chippewa Farm with Save The Horses. Clyde’s Camp is also a foster home to several rescue dogs at a time and we fostered and rehomed 4 dogs in our first year.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Generating the initial concept of what we wanted Clyde’s Camp to be, and do, was not hard. We wanted to help animals, create a great location for dog boarding and day play and we wanted our dogs to be outside in large natural areas where they could get significant exercise. What was harder, was to find someone to build the facility. It was incredible to me that there were no clear answers to any question you asked about how to build a dog boarding facility from contractors or the internet. There were 100 conflicting answers to every question I asked. There was no build simple source of information or single contractor that was capable of building a high-quality facility at a cost that made sense. The initial quotes we got on the fencing alone would have taken 8 years to recoup the investment. So, since we had a tractor and an auger we did it all ourselves. Five months later we had a great facility and we knew it was built right.

As a new business, one of the greatest challenges is getting your name and brand out there. There are so many marketing options for promoting your name but very few are cost effective. You can waste a lot of your startup capital if you are not careful with very little to show for it. So, we kept our marketing very local and built our reputation through word of mouth from clients and relationships with our clients trusted resources – their local vets. Now after a year we have built a great reputation in the local community and have lots of repeat customers.

The second greatest challenges in starting a business is patience and having the financial strength to stick through the first 2 years. There are very few businesses that make it overnight. Making sure you have the staying power and being flexible is a key to success longer term. In terms of our market research we expected day play to be a significant portion of our business. However, our experience in this area is that most people will drive their dogs to the metropolitan areas to drop their dogs off at indoor facilities near their work rather than leave them playing outdoors near home. We hope that will change as they learn we are here.

If you have a great product, which I believe we do, a third key area that will make or break your business are your staff. We have 4 key staff members and we picked them carefully for their love of animals. We also wanted to have our staff invested in the business. Every member of staff who works at Clyde’s Camp lives at Chippewa Farm and is devoted to the business and its cause. We believe they are proud to be part of a business that gives back, and that pride shows through in their work and love of the doggie campers. We are proud of our staff, they have all stepped up to the challenges we have thrown at them. We have enabled them to do things they may not have done before, but by running with the opportunity they have been able to grow along with the business. For example, our camp manager, Jennifer Roche, has never run a business before, but she stepped up and took on the biggest challenge of her life. I mentor her, but she runs the business on a day-day basis and she is doing an amazing job – just ask our customers.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Clyde’s Camp – what should we know?
Clyde’s Camp is a vacation location for your dog boarding needs. Daily activities at Clyde’s Camp take full advantage of our wonderful 138-acre farm setting, allowing us to include long walks on our 6 miles of trails; walking and playing in rolling pastures and woods, splashing in streams and taking a plunge in one of our two lakes. In addition, we have 4 fully fenced and secured play areas totaling almost 10 acres, letting our four-legged friends run and play while being supervised by our experienced staff. Every dog’s day is focused around exercise and fun. We have dedicated staff living onsite who are on call for emergencies, day and night.

One area that we believe differentiates us is the amount we walk with the dogs in addition to the supervised play. We sincerely believe that walking with a dog not only provides it needed exercise for its physical health, but it also provides a necessary mental stimulus. If we have a high strung or difficult dog it generally becomes completely relaxed after a few miles on the trails.

We are known by our puppy customers as being the place they want to come. According to their owners some sing on the way in, others have been known to jump out of the car window to get into camp a little quicker, then there are the ones who can’t wait to jump in the lake as soon as they get here, and we have several who have to be dragged out to go home – they just love it here and that makes us very happy. Several of our doggie parents have told us that their dog is a different dog now they come to Clyde’s several times a week, they are calm and happy. Others love to send us photos of their sleeping dogs stretched out after camp.

I am proud of our business in 3 key areas:

1) Our property gives us a unique offering, at 138 acres we can provide the dogs with the opportunity to walk on 6 miles of beautiful wooded trails and are able to give dogs the opportunity to run and exercise outside in large monitored grass and wooded paddocks.

2) Our staff and their love of animals, and their dedication to everything Clyde’s Camp stands for. All of our staff have been working with dogs and horses for many, many years. All staff members are long-term owners of pets and have worked in the rescue and rehabilitation of animals for many decades.

3) Why we do it – everything we do at Clyde’s is for the animals. Either the animals that are customers of Clyde’s Camp or the ones that are rescued at Chippewa Farm. 100% of the profits from Clyde’s Camp go to the rescue work we do at Chippewa Farm.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Essential Qualities of the Business

1. Trying to be the best you can be at what you do and then strive to do it better than anyone else. All at Clyde’s Camp want to provide the best dog boarding, day play or grooming experience for its customers and their pups. We believe this shows in our service and the pride we have in our business.

2. Safety is a primary concern with the close interaction of multiple dogs. Initially we need to establish which dogs are good for group play and which are not. Some are sensitive to certain dogs but good with others. This requires knowledge of the dogs but also requires staff to be constantly monitoring behavior to address problems before they occur.

We also spent a significant amount of effort before we opened addressing dog safety and security. So, our camper entry points are all double gated, fences are 6 feet high and all fencing has anti-dig panels at the base to stop potential escapees.

3. Encouraging our staff to think and act like an owner is a key quality for our business. In doing this, the company benefits from every member of staff being invested in the business and encourages people to think outside their regular job and provide a service at a higher quality level.

Pricing:

• Boarding $40-55 depending on size of dog
• Day Play $35 or 1/2 Day $20

Contact Info:

• Address: 574 Lakes Drive, Canton, GA 30115
• Website: www.clydescamp.com
• Phone: 770-235-4294
• Email: info@clydescamp.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/ClydesDogBoardingCamp
• Other: https://www.facebook.com/chippewafarmga

Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.