 The family farm reinvented: Success with a Doggie Dude Ranch—By Debra Costner Published: April, 2009  Camilla Grey Nelson is right at home at her Doggie Dude Ranch in Petaluma Entering the Dairydell Canine center has the feel of a wine-country bed and breakfast. The Bunk House is absolutely beautiful – clean and very well-maintained! Each room is spacious with attached play yards that are 50 feet long and 24 feet wide. And of course the guests generally walk on four paws. Dairydell does not even resemble a kennel! It is in fact a Doggie Dude Ranch that will make your pooch drool. As we approach each of the kennels she greets each dog by name, “This is Sarah. Isn’t she just precious? Look at these adorable puppies – we have a Labradoodle, a Golden Retriver. Hi sweetie. Hi Casey.” It is clear that Camilla Gray Nelson has found her calling. “When you know you’re in the right profession it’s so energizing,” she says. Nelson grew up on a dairy farm in Petaluma. “When my family got out of the dairy business, around 1985, I was living here, and the barns went fallow for 3 years,” explained Nelson. “I had just rented the house from my dad, and the property wasn’t being used. My brothers used to milk cows here, and of course we still owed the property taxes on it.” Nelson’s original life plan was quite different. “I got my masters in public administration and thought I’d have a career with the government,” said Nelson. “But when Reagan took office, I got laid off my job and didn’t know what I’d do after that.” Obviously Nelson had a passion for dogs, and had made them her hobby. She was showing dogs and started breeding them. But one dog really changed her life. “Maddie was my competition dog. Maddie was the dog that I learned all my advanced training skills with. It was like she was my soul-mate!” exclaimed Nelson. “She was a nationally ranked obedience Dalmatian two years in a row. She was good! If it weren’t for her I would have never gotten into this business.” As an obedience trainer, Nelson understood the importance of good dog behavior. And she knew that the success of her breeding business would increase exponentially if her puppies were properly trained. “So I included a free four-week training course with each sale,” she explained. “By the time I had bred litters and litters for people, and they started telling their friends, that’s when I started getting calls from people I didn’t know, asking ‘How much do you charge for [dog] training?’” One day while gazing out her window, a vision came into view, “Why don’t I try converting the barn into a ‘board and train’ facility and then I could really utilize it. That was the turning point for me.” That was the start of Dairydell and the Doggie Dude Ranch. It began 20 years ago, and since then Nelson has expanded the facility and continued to expand the business and services. Originally she didn’t really have a business plan. “I had a plan – it was called survival and reinvention! I figured I’d just go with what the universe provided,” says Nelson. “What I love about this, is that I’ve managed to keep the family business in tact by reinventing it.” Across the country many independent farmers have faced the realities that they cannot maintain the small family farm. As the industry has changed, most of the families sold the land off to larger farming operations. “My father died three years ago and he was kind enough to leave me this property,” says Nelson. Although her business had grown over the years, it still couldn’t support her on the property in its current form. But she loved the land and didn’t want to sell out. Nelson decided to take a big risk and create the ultimate Doggie Dude Ranch! Her business plan now included more than doubling her capacity and greatly expanding the training programs and boarding opportunities for clients. “So I mortgaged the property and decided to have more services available to serve more people: grooming, training, short-term and long-term boarding, group classes, personal trainers, and private consultations,” says Nelson. “We try to offer everything a dog owner needs to live successfully and happily with their dog.” Her plan seems to have succeeded, as she took the business from annual earnings of only $20,000 to over half a million dollars last year. As their reputation has grown, so has the clientele. They now have clients that fly in from all over the country to utilize their services. The Dairydell training style is unique and very effective. “It’s not the training of the dogs that’s so difficult. The challenge for the dog-trainer is re-training the owners,” says Nelson. “Our training is unique, in that it’s geared for women.” In fact in nearly 80 percent of all households, the woman is responsible for taking care of the dog. “Women have certain characteristics that are advantageous to them in training, and other characteristics that weaken them in training,” says Nelson. “So my job is to help women introspectively look at themselves and point out the things that they’ve been doing that were well-intentioned, but give the absolute wrong message to the dog. We teach them to control without getting emotional, without raising your voice. It can be difficult for women to learn.” The important lesson for women is that they must learn to lead their dogs. “The dogs won’t obey if they don’t think they have a leader,” explains Nelson. Jan Wahl adopted two new puppies earlier this year, and they seemed to be out of control. A friend recommended Dairydell to her. Wahl took her dogs in for obedience training. They were still in residence during our visit to the ranch. “Jan’s dogs, Duke and Ella, have been staying here for the three-week training,” said Nelson. “They go home on Saturday.” Today Wahl has become a huge fan of Nelson. “I have had dogs my entire life and never met anyone who ‘gets them’ the way Camilla does,” says Wahl. “Camilla explains how to understand the way your dog thinks. She breaks it down so that both you and your dog win! Dairydell is a wonderful environment where the dogs learn and are loved by an excellent staff.” Once the dogs go home, they can always come back for a visit or quick refresher. “We offer life-long support to the owners – we are always available for drop-ins,” says Nelson. Another successful expansion has been with their boarding kennels which are spacious and beautiful which the clients really appreciate. “We separate the dogs [in the kennels] based on their play style,” explains Nelson. “I know as a behaviorist, that play style is the key to having conflict-free dog play.” The property is now being fully utilized. In addition to the boarding and training, they have a private dog park with hiking trails and they can even train your dog to herd sheep. They also offer complete grooming and salon services. “I love the hard work. I learned that from my father. He was all about be the first, the biggest, be the best,” says Nelson. “He was the first dairyman in California to have a rotary milking barn. I remember he went to England to get it. I am my father’s daughter! He has got to be so tickled with me right now.” | ||
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