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17 Top Pet Care Franchise Opportunities

Feb 27, 2023
6 min read

Updated: 7 days ago

Pet care franchises allow animal lovers to run a business they're truly passionate about. The industry has seen plenty of recent growth, and it continues to offer a wide range of opportunities.

Whether you're interested in grooming, boarding, retail, or veterinarian care, there's a business ready for your investment. Below, we've listed 17 different pet-industry franchises that might be right for you.

Pet Care Franchise Opportunities

1. Pet Supplies Plus

Total startup costs: $536,520–$1,965,005. Initial franchise fee: $49,900.

Pet Supplies Plus is a leader in the pet-industry franchise space. Their locations offer a wide range of products and services for all kinds of four-legged family members. You'll be able to provide clients with everything from pet supplies to grooming services, oral hygiene care, flea treatment, and more.

Learn more about Pet Supplies Plus.

2. Wild Birds Unlimited

Total startup costs: $231,635–$376,392. Initial franchise fee: $40,000.

Wild Birds Unlimited offers a more niche pet franchising opportunity. With a focus solely on birds, the business provides a wide variety of bird-related products, including bird food, feeders, houses, baths, and field guides. Their brand also gives extensive support to its franchisees and seeks to make each location a thriving resource for bird enthusiasts in the local community.

Learn more about Wild Birds Unlimited.

3. Pet Wants

Total startup costs: $148,150–$239,400. Initial franchise fee: $53,500.

Pet Wants offers a uniquely scalable business model to its franchisees. For the first year, the company helps owners with a mobile or event-based business model. Here, the objective is to foster local relationships and acquire subscription-based customers for delivery service.

After this, franchise owners are assisted in expanding their business by launching a retail pet store and grooming center that offers Pet Wants food, personalized treats, and premium pet accessories.

Learn more about Pet Wants.

4. Camp Bow Wow

Total startup costs: $954,606–$1,229,536. Initial franchise fee: $50,000 (discounted to $25,000 for VetFran/first-responder applicants; $125,000 for a 3-unit package).

Camp Bow Wow offers pet lovers an opportunity to open their own doggy daycare. Each location is staffed with "Counselors" who focus on creating a safe and fun environment for the animals under their care. The company's leading boarding, daycare, grooming, and training services have helped it grow to more than 200 locations across the United States.

Learn more about Camp Bow Wow.

5. Dogtopia

Total startup costs: $664,355–$1,478,820. Initial franchise fee: $49,500.

Dogtopia is a rapidly expanding holistic care provider for dogs. Its franchise network presently has over 350 units sold and in development. While daycare services are the brand's bread and butter, franchisees can bring in additional revenues through channels such as overnight boarding, training sessions, spa care, and grooming services.

Learn more about Dogtopia.

6. PetWellClinic

Total startup costs: approximately $286,450–$498,450. Initial franchise fee: $49,250.

PetWellClinic is a revolutionary walk-in veterinary wellness clinic that offers top-notch care for dogs and cats. They focus solely on providing basic vet services (no hospitalizations) on an on-demand basis, without the need for an appointment. Their state-of-the-art technology, design, and operational systems set them apart further as an efficient pet care provider.

Learn more about PetWellClinic.

7. VetCheck Pet Urgent Care Center

Total startup costs: approximately $495,000–$719,000. Initial franchise fee: $50,000.

With a VetCheck franchise, you can rely on the company's support at every stage of the process. Whether it's picking a location, finalizing the buildout specifics, planning the grand opening, or ensuring long-term success after your clinic opens, they'll collaborate with you to make informed decisions that promote the growth of your comprehensive practice.

The brand focuses on serving pet owners during business hours, in the evenings, and on the weekends. Additionally, their culture emphasizes cutting down on long wait times and high costs of treatments commonly associated with most veterinary clinics.

8. PetSmart Veterinary Services

PetSmart offers veterinarians the opportunity to own and operate their own independent practice inside a PetSmart store under a long-term agreement. This isn't a traditional franchise — it's an independent-practice-ownership model where you hold equity in your own business, while PetSmart provides the location, facilities, and back-office support for day-to-day operations. PetSmart doesn't publicly disclose a standard franchise fee or total investment range; costs are presented individually during the application process.

Specific benefits of working with this nationally-recognized brand include:

  • Recently remodeled clinic locations

  • Help with back-office operations like pricing, advertising, hiring, and reporting

  • Access to internal marketing and in-house business practice consultants

  • Field training and support

  • IT support and assistance with medical record keeping

  • Buying power and existing vendor relationships to help manage costs

  • Building maintenance services (ex: cleaning)

9. Central Bark

Total startup costs: approximately $700,000–$1,500,000. Initial franchise fee: approximately $45,000–$55,000.

Central Bark is among the largest networks for dog daycare services in the United States. Their brand focuses on enriching the lives of dogs through a combination of their extensive personal experience and the latest canine behavioral science. With your own franchise location, your services will include Enrichment Doggy Day Care, overnight boarding, grooming, training, and more.

Learn more about Central Bark.

10. Scenthound

Total startup costs: $328,099–$549,869. Initial franchise fee: $49,900 for a first unit (discounted for additional units).

The Scenthound brand derives its name from five essential areas of dog care: (S)kin, (C)oat, (E)ars, (N)ails, and (T)eeth. The company's business model focuses on membership-based customers, recurring pet wellness checkups, and locations in high-traffic areas. As a franchisee, you'll also be treated to the organization's highly collaborative training and support systems.

Learn more about Scenthound.

11. Fetch! Pet Care

Total startup costs: $88,567–$103,667. Initial franchise fee: $62,500.

Fetch! Pet Care is a franchise business that provides various pet care services such as dog walking, pet sitting, and partial overnight care to provide pet owners with peace of mind while they are away from home. Their low startup costs and extensive support make the brand's franchises easier to start for many.

Learn more about Fetch! Pet Care.

12. Dog Training Elite

Total startup costs: approximately $174,000–$296,600. Initial franchise fee: $110,000.

Dog Training Elite provides a personalized dog training franchise opportunity. You'll be able to provide in-home leash, bathroom, anxiety, aggression, and service dog training to pet-owning clients utilizing the Classic Conditioning or Pavlovian model.

Learn more about Dog Training Elite.

13. EarthWise Pet Supply

Total startup costs: $467,000–$863,000 for a standard storefront (a mobile GROOMBAR grooming-van format starts around $30,300). Initial franchise fee: $45,000.

EarthWise Pet provides a range of franchise models for animal-loving entrepreneurs. You're able to launch a GROOMBAR franchise, EarthWise Pet Franchise, and a Dee-O-Gee franchise. There are also blended options that incorporate the different franchise offerings into one location. In 2023, the EarthWise Pet family also acquired the Pet Depot banner, adding it alongside EarthWise Pet, GROOMBAR, and Dee-O-Gee under one shared franchise-development platform.

Learn more about EarthWise Pet Supply.

14. Wag N' Wash Pet Food and Grooming

Total startup costs: $513,000–$1,318,000. Initial franchise fee: $49,900.

Wag N' Wash franchise locations come with a variety of services including grooming, self-washing stations, a bakery, toys, and other pet supplies. Owning a Wag N' Wash franchise also allows you to tap into the company's best-in-class purchasing power to help control your costs. In 2025, Wag N' Wash separated from Franchise Group Inc. into an independent entity specifically to accelerate its franchise growth.

15. The Dog Wizard

Total startup costs: $118,900–$198,250. Initial franchise fee: $60,000 (discounted 10% for first responders).

The Dog Wizard is a training company that helps dog owners with a variety of needs. Their services help canines through separation anxiety, aggression management, rehabilitation, socialization, early (puppy) development, and general problem solving. With a franchise of your own, you'll be able to provide group classes as well as private training sessions to your clients.

Learn more about The Dog Wizard.

16. Hounds Town USA

Total startup costs: approximately $542,000–$1,278,000. Initial franchise fee: $49,000 for a single unit ($88,000 for 2 units, $125,000 for 3).

Hounds Town USA offers a comprehensive pet service business. With a franchise of your own, you'll be able to provide dog daycare and boarding services, as well as grooming and spa treatments, including hypoallergenic baths. The brand also offers cat boarding and dog taxi accommodations.

Learn more about Hounds Town USA.

17. Sit Means Sit

Total startup costs: $16,775–$163,750. Initial franchise fee: $30,000.

Sit Means Sit offers a franchising model that brings premium home-based dog training to clients. Other revenue streams offered through the opportunity include board and training packages, Sit Means Sit dog collars, and online store product sales.

Franchisees are put through a rigorous three-week training program at the company's headquarters in Las Vegas. After that, they are provided with hefty business support for launching their franchise and continuing its success.

Learn more about Sit Means Sit.

How Jumpstart Finance Can Help

At Jumpstart Finance, we love supporting new franchises. That's why our loans come with quick pre-approvals, and competitive rates. With our simple application process, you'll have your franchise off the ground in no time. Submit your deal here and connect with a Loan Advisor today.

Startup cost and franchise fee figures listed are current as of October 2026 and are drawn from each franchisor's public disclosures. These figures change over time — confirm current requirements directly with the franchisor before applying. This article is for informational purposes only and is not financial or legal advice.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published as "21 Top Pet Care Franchise Opportunities." It was comprehensively fact-checked and updated in October 2026.

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