Diamond Dogs

By Rita Button

It started as many adventures do, with a bottle of wine in the backyard. They made notes and kept most of the promises they made that day, one of them was hanging a chandelier in their reception area.

To Samie Manach and her friend, Megan Boyd, who started Diamond Dogs after the conversation in the backyard six years ago in July, the dogs are their diamonds, valuable and unique, worthy of exquisite care.

Megan and Samie were colleagues at a dog grooming and day care business many years ago. When that enterprise faltered, they wondered about starting their own business. “It was a bit accidental, I would say,” said Samie when I asked her about the beginning. She and Megan researched how to start a business, made lists of what they had to do, and almost magically, it seems to them now, they completed the lists, and there they were, proprietors of their own business! “Things just fell into place,” said Samie, not even once mentioning the hours of work the two of them must have spent to create the success they currently enjoy.

“We had a list of clientele who wanted us to look after their dogs if only we would open our own business. It was very gratifying to know that people wanted us to look after their pets,” said Samie. She also talks about dogs having a sense of humour, a quality less discernible to the uninitiated, so I knew that she must have a special understanding of animals. She loves and understands the dogs in her care, her main reason for enjoying her work. Often, they make her laugh. She also says that, at times, the dogs start barking and it takes a certain kind of patience and vigilance to return the dogs to their usual state of calm happiness at the daycare.

Unconditional love is another reason she loves to work with dogs. Thirty dogs a day give Megan and Samie unconditional love. Who wouldn’t want to experience that in a day’s work? Working with the dogs, the partners also create relationships with the dogs’ owners. They’ve met an amazing assortment of people, all different kinds of people have all different kinds of reasons to own dogs and many of them need care. That’s where Diamond Daycare fits into the picture.

Owning the business is gratifying. Especially in James Bay. “It was tricky, at first, finding a place to rent,” remembers Samie since dog day care centres can occur only in areas zoned industrial. As well, they didn’t want to “step on other people’s toes” by opening a shop in close proximity to another one.

Their current space in James Bay at the corner of Ontario and St. Lawrence is large, a little too large, they worried, for their original plan. They wanted a smaller space, but decided to take a chance on their current location, and it’s worked out well. What they learned by accident, is that the James Bay community is a place where people will always help you out.

As they worked to create the spot where they would always be able to see the dogs and the dogs would always be able to see them, people in James Bay would drop in to ask about their plans, giving them ideas and support. It just felt good, maintains Samie whose positive character makes me wish I had a dog so that I could develop a relationship with the two women who work so well together.

As business owners, they enjoy deciding on the processes and practices they will use to make the work flow effectively and efficiently. For example, they walk no more than four dogs at a time because that’s what they can handle, and that way, each dog gets some individual attention.

They set up the routines to satisfy what dogs crave. A new dog can upset the sense of calm, but with work and discipline, the newcomers become a part of the group and the peace-filled atmosphere returns.

Samie is particularly proud that their employees stay with them for long periods of time, the shortest stint was two years. Their turnover is small. Both proprietors appreciate their employees’ efforts and contributions to the business, although, at times, it feels more like a family!

Samie and Megan share the challenges and the successes. Discussing what went well and also what went wrong is a part of how they maintain their reputation. Samie asserts, “Your name is all you’ve got. We are sensitive to criticism. We want to make it right.”

Last year, the first puppy that Samie helped raise, died. That’s the hard part of the business. Not only does she miss the dog, but she also misses the owners who no longer have a reason to drop by the shop. “But,” she grins, “there’s always another dog to help and another relationship to build.”

Samie and Megan’s happiness with their daily responsibilities is obvious when you enter the building and stand beneath the chandelier. While the dogs may not appreciate the chandelier, their diamond-like sparkle is partly a result of the stellar care they receive at Diamond Dogs!