What can a dog daycare owner learn from someone enriching a polar bear, giraffe or chimpanzee?

Are your enrichment activities actually designed to encourage natural behaviours… or are you just giving dogs something different to do?

And could looking outside the pet care industry completely change the way you think about enrichment?

In this episode, I'm giving you a sneak peek inside the upcoming Pet Care Enrichment Summit, including highlights from one of my favourite sessions from last year's event: our Zookeepers Roundtable.

One of the things we've always done differently with the Enrichment Summit is deliberately bring in experts from outside traditional pet care. Because if you want to get better at enrichment, there are few better people to learn from than professionals whose entire job involves creating stimulating environments and experiences for animals in captivity.

You'll hear fascinating examples involving servals, polar bears, Arctic foxes, parrots and giraffes, and discover why great enrichment isn't about randomly chucking an activity into an enclosure and hoping the animal enjoys it.

It starts with the animal, the behaviours you want to encourage and the experience you're trying to create.

In this episode, you'll discover:

Why Enrichment Should Be Goal-Based – How zookeepers start with natural behaviours rather than simply dreaming up activities.

What Happens When Enrichment Doesn't Work – Why an animal completely ignoring your intended outcome doesn't necessarily mean the activity failed.

The Importance of Species-Specific Enrichment – What polar bears, parrots and giraffes teach us about designing experiences around the animal in front of you.

Why "Use It or Lose It" Matters – How animals need opportunities to practise natural behaviours and develop important physical and mental skills.

How the Environment Becomes Enrichment – Why food, movement, scent, other animals and even unexpected changes can all create valuable experiences.

I also preview this year's Pet Care Enrichment Summit seminars, where we have 12 presentations across six days, including dog trainer and daycare owner roundtables, breed-specific enrichment, scent work, behavioural workflows and another brilliant line-up of zoo professionals.

Remember, this years enrichment summit brings you more learning opportunities than ever with 12 sessions over 6 years.

And you can get a LIVE ticket and lifetime access to the recordings by clicking here now

Thanks to our amazing show sponsor TailPro click here to find out more about their amazing booking app

Click here to grab an early bird ticket to the this years Pet Care Enrichment Summit now!

Is your dog daycare still relying on all-day group play as the main reason clients bring their dogs to you?

Are you giving enrichment away for free because you don't know how to package, position or sell it?

And as costs continue to rise, could enrichment be one of the keys to building a better experience for the dogs AND a more profitable business?

In this episode, I'm joined by Enrich U Dean Tim Jackson for a special preview of the 2026 Pet Care Enrichment Summit, which takes place from October 12th–16th.

This is the third year we've run the summit, and we've assembled our biggest line-up yet, bringing together dog daycare owners, trainers, enrichment specialists, scent work experts, zookeepers and animal welfare professionals for an entire week dedicated to doing pet care differently.

Because here's the big thing… Enrichment isn't the future anymore. It's the present.

The old pile-'em-high, cram-in-more-dogs, low-priced, all-day-play daycare model is becoming increasingly difficult to operate profitably. Costs are rising. Payroll is getting BIGGER. Clients expect more, but simply squeezing another ten dogs into the building ISN'T a sustainable growth strategy. Modern pet care businesses need to create better, more personalised experiences for the animals in their care — AND learn how to communicate, package and sell those experiences to pet parents.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Why Enrichment Is No Longer Optional – Why the changing economics of dog daycare mean facilities need to rethink the traditional all-day-play model.
• What Pet Businesses Can Learn From Zoos – How zookeepers approach enrichment, welfare and animal environments — and the lessons you can bring back into your own facility.
• Why Your Team Needs to Understand the "Why" – How deeper enrichment knowledge helps your staff confidently educate clients and sell your services.
• How to Turn Enrichment Into Revenue – Why giving enrichment away for free makes the transition harder, and how to start creating experiences clients actually want to buy.
• Why One Activity Doesn't Fit Every Dog – How breed, age, personality and individual needs should influence the enrichment experiences you provide.

We also reveal some of what's coming at this year's Pet Care Enrichment Summit, including dog daycare and trainer round tables, breed-specific enrichment, zoo enrichment, behavioural workflows, scent work and much more.

If you want to immerse yourself in modern enrichment, steal ideas from some incredibly smart people and - importantly - learn how to actually make money from implementing them, grab your early bird MEGA discounted ticket now at: enrichmentsummit.com

The 2026 Pet Care Enrichment Summit runs October 12th–16th, and I highly recommend grabbing the VIP ticket so you get lifetime access to all the recordings.

A huge thank you to this week's podcast sponsor, TailPro, the all-in-one management platform helping pet businesses save time, streamline operations and deliver an exceptional customer experience.

Find out more at tailpro.uk.

Is your dog daycare still running on a business model that worked five or ten years ago?

Are you cramming in more dogs, adding more staff, and working harder… only to watch your margins get tighter?

And what happens if the pet industry changes faster than your business does?

In this episode, I'm officially announcing IMPACT 2027 and laying out the big idea behind this year's event: The Great Dog Daycare Divide – How to Avoid the 2030 Pet Care Extinction Event.

For the last 20 years, the pet care industry has been riding a huge wave of growth. If you loved dogs, worked hard, charged a fair price, and looked after your customers, you could usually build a successful business. But the market has changed.

Competition is more sophisticated. Corporate operators and franchises are expanding. Costs are rising. Staffing is harder. Margins are shrinking. And dog owners are becoming more selective about where they spend their money.

As a result, I believe the industry is splitting into two very different camps: pet care "muggles" still playing by yesterday's rules, and pet business "wizards" building more premium, experience-led, affluent-attractive businesses designed for the future.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• The Great Dog Daycare Divide – Why the next few years will separate businesses that adapt from those that get left behind.
• Why the Warehouse Model Is Breaking – How more dogs, more staff, more hours, and more hustle eventually lead to thinner margins and burnout.
• What the New Model Looks Like – Why personalised care, premium pricing, automation, authority, and better leadership are becoming essential.
• The Signs You're Stuck in a Muggle Mindset – The phrases, assumptions, and habits that reveal your business needs an upgrade.
• Why IMPACT 2027 Is Different – How two days in Florida can help you rethink pricing, marketing, systems, customer experience, and the future of your facility.

You'll also hear from Paul Paradis and Eve Molzhon, who share why deeper, more specific business education, better customer experience, and being surrounded by ambitious people can completely change the trajectory of your business.

If you want to join me at IMPACT 2027 in Florida, head to: petbusinessmarketing.com/impact27

The early bird offer is live now!

Thanks to our amazing show sponsor Tailpro, click here to find out more about their amazing booking app.