Today we’d like to introduce you to Tabitha Trimm-Hooson.
Hi Tabitha, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Growing up in rural Georgia, I always had pets. Dogs that we rescued or cats that claimed us, my love for animals has always been a driving force in my life.
Back in 2009, my husband (then boyfriend) started work at this little doggie daycare buried at the intersection of Midtown, Westside, and Buckhead. Being from the country, daycare for dogs was a new concept for both of us, but it was perfect for the job he was after. Getting to work with dogs every day, see them grow from puppy to senior and avoid the constant sorrow of the vet industry he was previously a part of that just weighed too much on his heart.
It wasn’t until after I graduated college and we tied the knot—finding myself in search of my next adventure—that I hopped in to help out on a very busy Memorial Day. The owner at the time poked his head out of his office and offered us the business. As he watched us working together, we reminded him of his early ownership with his wife and hoped to pass it on to a trusted couple that would treat the dogs and the staff as well as he did.
Having owned this business for nearly 11 years, I can completely understand where he was coming from. Our staff is like our adopted family, and each of these dogs are like my own and I could never trust them over to just anyone. I have watched some of these dogs from puppyhood, celebrated life events with their family, and mourned losses when our fur-babies move on to cross the rainbow bridge. I truly love having such a strong connection with each and every one of them. Nothing makes me as happy as getting tackled like Fred Flintstone by an excited dog as they pull their owners into our building, excited for another day of daycare.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Neither my husband nor I had degrees in business but plenty of youthful optimism and a naive sense of ‘how hard could this be?’ Hard as it would turn out. We learned the truth in all the business idioms the hard way.
Learning when to hire, when to invest more, and when to unfortunately part ways. It’s been wonderful being the jumping off point for so many young people to find what they want to do as a career and proud though sad to see them go. Challenges and daily problems have allowed my engineering degree to come in useful.
In 2016, the canine flu entered Georgia and cause mass panic. We never had a case but the idea of viral spread lead me to develop a new drinking system to provide dogs with safe, filtered water constantly while playing. A design I’m very proud of. Things eventually smoothed out with the lessons learned… then 2020 hit.
We were able to stay open to serve our first responders dogs as they did even more work than ever before, kept our staff paid with the help of the federal and city relief fund, and were blessed with clients willing to contribute to our go fund me to make sure we were still around when the world opened up.
The problem reversed in 2021 as all of the dogs adopted in lockdown needed daycare for the first time but staffing was harder to ramp up to meet the explosion of demand. The dogs needed extra care and time adapting to the world outside their house and away from the comfort of the parents 24 hours a day.
Now things have started to even out, the patterns of service needs are still settling and every day is a challenge to meet the new and evolving needs of our clients in a shaker economy and work from home realities. But we look forward to adapting and growing.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Wagging Tails has been helping Atlanta and its visitors with their dogs mental and physical wellbeing for over 20 years. We pride ourselves on the small town, everyone knows your name, feel for the big city. Our people and our clients become like family, we help raise their dogs from puppyhood to old age, we grieve right alongside the family when our fur baby’s walk the rainbow bridge, and we celebrate when the next generation comes trotting through our doors.
We invest in our people, accepting less profit for a steady work force that adores the job and views coming to work as the reward. Even when our people move on to the careers that draw them away, many still hold on to one or two days a week so they can keep in contact with their fur-kids.
We believe in making sure every dog is treated with love and cater to their individual needs to give them the best experience. And we don’t want to nickel and dime the parents to do that. Our goal is that they leave tired and happy.
No matter if they are native Atlantans or visiting our great city for the day, we will great them with the finest southern hospitality and settle their dog in like they are at grandmas house. We love dogs and will make the world revolve around them while they’re with us.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
If you’re visiting Atlanta, come on by, we are one of the few daycares located conveniently close to downtown that accept dogs coming in from out of town. So feel free to bring the WHOLE family and we can look after them while you see the sites!
Pricing:
- Half Day Daycare (>5 hours) – $25 for the first dog, $15 per additional dogs
- Full Day Daycare – $35 for the first dog, $25 per additional dogs
- Boarding (per night)- starting at $48 for the first dog and $28 per additional dog for the first 5 nights. Extended stay discounts for 6 or more nights
- $250 + daycare for Play and Train package, 6 weeks of recorded training while your dog is at daycare
- Baths start at $25 for a small dog simple bath to $75 for a giant dog’s deshed bath with all the extras
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.waggingtailsatlanta.com
- Instagram: /waggingtailsatlanta
- Facebook: /waggingtailsatlanta
