This ‘Cross-Country Grandpa’ Is All Set To Open THREE Indianapolis Dog Training Elite Territories! Meet Doug Pfaff!

Sometimes, the best things in life happen by chance. That’s how Dog Training Elite's new Franchise Owner, Doug Pfaff from Indianapolis, IN, first came across the opportunity to own a dog training franchise.

He found out about Dog Training Elite while researching business opportunities. Immediately, all the benefits stood out for him.

But how did he go from casually finding a business opportunity to deciding to venture into this fantastic entrepreneurial journey? Let’s find out.

Doug's Background

For Doug, entrepreneurship is not new. He has an extensive background in sales management, training, and recruiting in various industries. Most recently, he was a sales coach and trainer for a national Home Healthcare franchisor. And when he’s not working, you’ll find him renovating a beautiful mid-century home he’s recently purchased, running with his dog, Olive, and visiting his grandchildren.

All this experience was a powerful indicator that entrepreneurship was the best fit for him, and a path to keep exploring if he wanted to see more growth.

But what attracted him the most about the prospect of setting up a new business is working with people. After all, he’s been a coach for years. “I really enjoy working with people, and providing good customer service,” Doug says. “The fact that I can build my own business to do that and also work with dogs is a bonus. Instead of coaching salespeople on selling, I’ll be coaching dog owners on how to train their dogs.”

The Malinois Foundation

In addition, Dog Training Elite has created a nonprofit, the Malinois Foundation, to provide service dogs for veterans with PTSD and other needs, first responders, women survivors, and children with special needs.

While the home-based model and the low initial costs were attractive, he found plenty of other characteristics that set Dog Training Elite apart.

Flexibility Of Dog Training Elite's Business Models

The flexibility of this model was a huge differentiation factor for him. With Dog Training Elite, Franchise Owners can work under two models: The owner-operator model, which allows Franchise Owners to train dogs themselves using Dog Training Elite's proven training method and have more of a hands-on approach to working with pets and families.

The semi-absentee model means the Franchise Owners don’t take on training tasks. Instead, they focus on growing the business and building a reliable training team, giving them enough time to spend with family or to keep their day job.

The different training modes and business models give Franchise Owners a ton of flexibility when it comes to running their business, planning their workload, and forecasting their income in a resilient and profitable industry.

Dog Training Elite's Success

But for him, the one light-bulb moment that made him decide to franchise with Dog Training Elite was hearing from other franchises through recorded validation calls. Hearing other Franchise Owners’ success stories and experiences was the best way for him to determine Dog Training Elite was a good fit.

This positive impression was only reinforced when Doug met the Dog Training Elite team and Founder John Mestas, at the Dog Training Elite Discovery Day in Salt Lake City. “It was so much more than sitting in a conference room meeting people and watching presentations,” Doug says. “We were given the opportunity to go out and observe a group class, a training appointment in a client’s home, and then a public access training session for a service dog. Being able to see Dog Training Elite’s trainers in action really helped me better understand the model and the potential.”

Doug is so confident in the model that, for him, one key to succeeding in this new franchise opportunity is to follow the model and put Dog Training Elite’s training into practice. But people are important, too. So, he believes hiring the right team will be crucial for the growth of his new business.