Colorado dog hiking service unleashes franchising expansion plan
A company that takes dogs on hikes plans to expand across Colorado and nationwide after unleashing a franchising initiative.
Golden, Colorado-based Hike Doggie, a startup founded by pet parent Kath Allen, takes Coloradans’ K-9 friends of any breed on two-hour hikes across the state. Allen and her team of 23 serve “most of the Denver metro,” or from Evergreen to just west of Aurora and from Arvada to by Littleton and the Denver Tech Center.
She was inspired to start the company after seeing a “void” in dog activities besides dog walking. Dog hiking lets dogs be dogs, she said.
“To be out there with three other dogs, to make dog friends and sniff new smells is when a dog gets to be a dog,” said Allen, Hike Doggie’s president and founder. “Not every dog can be an agility dog or a hunting dog, and not all dogs can go to day care, or even dog parks. So it’s like, ‘what does my dog do?’”
The company has completed more than 50,000 dog hikes since its founding in 2016, Allen said. It hopes to grow by the end of next year to areas including Fort Collins, Aurora and Colorado Springs, and then plans taking its business to Colorado’s seven border states and beyond.
The way to do that, Allen said, is by adding at least 15 franchisees by the end of next year.
“For us to grow and continue to grow all over Colorado and outside of it like we want to, it had to be franchising,” Allen said. “Any other way would’ve been too expensive and too slow financially.”
The company recently signed its first franchisee, Barrett Marcum, who acquired 10 Hike Doggie territories. The franchise’s area includes Parker, Highlands Ranch, Centennial, Lone Tree and Castle Pines.