Ep. 140 – Tough Talks & Tricky Situations: How to Prepare Your Dog Daycare Team for Angry Clients, Staff Problems & Unexpected Emergencies…

Do your team leaders know what to say when a staff member isn’t performing, a customer is angry or something unexpected happens in your facility?

Are you promoting brilliant dog people into management roles… and then expecting them to somehow figure out leadership for themselves?

And how do you train your team for those difficult, stressful situations that might only happen once a year — but when they DO happen, you really need them to get it right?

In this week’s episode of the Pet Boarding & Daycare Podcast, Dom is joined by returning guest Alex Varney from Pinnacle Pets and Considerably Bold to talk about one of the biggest challenges facing growing pet care businesses: developing confident, capable leaders.

Alex shares the thinking behind her new Rough Call Leadership Deck, a set of 92 real-world scenarios designed to help pet care teams practise everything from underperforming employees and unhappy customers to emergency situations and those weird, unexpected problems that inevitably crop up when you’re running a busy facility.

Alex explains why role-playing difficult situations before they happen can dramatically improve how your team responds under pressure, including the fascinating OODA Loop she learned about through her local police department. She also shares a painfully honest example of getting a difficult staff conversation wrong herself, explains how that mistake inspired her new Say This, Not That presentation at Hershey, and reveals why practising the words you want your leaders to use can prevent emotion taking over when it matters most.

Plus, Dom shares why consistent communication can become a powerful marketing asset for your pet business, and Alex reveals what happened when she finally implemented the substantial price increase she’d been putting off.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

Why Great Dog People Don’t Automatically Become Great Leaders – Why leadership is a skill that needs to be deliberately taught, practised and developed.
How to Train for the Weird Stuff – Why practising unusual situations, difficult conversations and emergencies helps staff make better decisions when the real thing happens.
The Rough Call Leadership Deck – How Alex turned years of staff training notes and real-life problems into 92 scenarios pet businesses can use to develop their leaders.
What Is The OODA Feedback Loop – Discover what Alex learned from the police about decision-making under pressure and how role-play can help your team respond faster and more effectively.
Say This, Not That – How emotion can make even experienced leaders say completely the wrong thing — and why preparing for difficult conversations matters.
Why Communication Is a Business Asset – Dom’s thoughts on podcasts, books and other media that allow you to consistently build familiarity and trust with potential clients.

A huge thank you to Canine Lab Testing for sponsoring this week’s episode. Canine Lab Testing makes faecal testing quick and straightforward, allowing you to collect samples on-site and receive results the next day — helping you protect the dogs in your care, give clients extra peace of mind and potentially create an additional revenue stream for your business.

Find out more at CanineLabsTesting.com

Thanks also to our amazing guest this week Alex Varney, connect with Alex at ConsiderablyBold.com

There are now less than five weeks to go until the Pet Boarding & Daycare Expo in Hershey, and Dom will be delivering THREE presentations this year, including his brand-new Top Dog, Top Dollar session and the Pet Business Mastermind Experience. You’ll also get the chance to see Alex Varney’s new Say This, Not That presentation, plus a packed line-up of speakers, vendors and pet business owners from across the industry.

If you’re serious about making 2027 a bigger, better and more profitable year for your pet business, get yourself to Hershey.

Grab your tickets at petboardingexpo.com

Want to work with the World Leading Pet Business Coach? Add your name to the waitlist for Dom’s Exclusive coaching program The Dog Daycare Success Academy now by clicking here now.

Episode Highlights

[02:14] – Dom introduces the newest member of the Hodgson household, Barbara the Brussels Griffon, and previews what’s coming up at Hershey
[05:50] – Why ten years of podcasting has become an authority and business-building asset for Dom.
[09:29] – Dom explains why regular communication creates familiarity, familiarity builds trust, and why pet businesses shouldn’t rely entirely on social media.
[15:58] – Alex reveals what happened after implementing her biggest price increase in ten years — including the customer pushback she was expecting but didn’t get.
[18:04] – Alex shares her experience since joining the Dog Daycare Success Academy and the impact it’s had on both her team and her leadership.
[21:01] – Why promoting people into leadership without giving them the skills to lead creates problems — and how Alex began using role-play to solve it.
[23:00] – A real example from Alex’s Rough Call Leadership Deck: how should a manager deal with an employee who isn’t keeping up with the pace of the business?
[28:45] – Alex introduces the OODA Loop and explains why practising stressful situations helps staff make better decisions when something goes wrong.
[33:30] – How to use scenarios and gamification in meetings, coaching sessions and everyday staff training.
[35:17] – Alex shares the painful leadership mistake behind her new Say This, Not That Hershey presentation — including the three words she immediately regretted saying to a departing employee.