TROY – Mikayla Cavaness grew up around dogs. Now, she’s caring for them in her own way, where the dog’s happiness and fulfillment are the priorities.
Cavaness owns Fetching Pet Company, a dog-grooming and daycare business in Troy that specializes in dog behavior and enrichment. The daycare is structured so dogs have designated play and rest times with enrichment experiences, while the grooming takes place one-on-one in a private suite meant to decrease stress. Cavaness explained the importance of not just loving dogs, but understanding them.
“At Fetching Pet Company, we’re just basically rooted in understanding dogs’ natural needs, behavioral needs and their emotions,” she said. “It’s not just about getting them in, doing assembly-line grooming or letting them play. We really care about fulfilling them as a whole, which I think is really important.”
Cavaness started working in her mother’s dog-grooming business as a teen. She attended school to become a trainer and behavior specialist, but found that most of the methods focused on aversive conditioning, with shock collars and physical punishment as the norm.
When Cavaness adopted her German Shepherd and realized he was reactive, she decided there must be a better way to train and care for dogs than what she had been taught. She began researching dog behavior and eventually opened Fetching Pet Company as a science-backed alternative to other grooming and daycare services.
“We’re focused on not just free-for-all playing or assembly line-style grooming, but we’re focused more on fulfilling dogs’ natural behaviors and instincts,” Cavaness said. “That’s essentially what the cornerstone of enrichment is, so that can be done through puzzles, socialization, nutritional enrichment, comfort-based enrichment.”
When you take your dog to Fetching to be groomed, the dog and the groomer work one-on-one in a private suite. The dog stays with one person the entire time.
The daycare alternates periods of rest, play and obedience training for the dogs. The dogs attend daycare on recurring days, so all the dogs who come on Mondays, for example, are familiar with one another and the staff at Fetching. This helps eliminate stress and fights. Dogs also have their own private time in the “sniff space,” where they can explore scented items. The sniff space’s theme changes every month.
“It’s definitely set up more like a children’s school and less like what people imagine a typical dog daycare to be, because we rotate them through those structured activities,” Cavaness said. “I feel like most places aren’t necessarily designed for the dog. They’re designed for the flow of movement, but not necessarily what would be the most comfortable for the dog itself. We’re being very intentional about it.”
As part of the business’s current remodel, the dogs can experience “fear-free paint colors,” daylight-mimicking lighting and low-impact anti-allergen flooring, all meant to minimize stress. The grooming suites and kennels also play DogTV, which “sounds ridiculous,” Cavaness joked, but is scientifically-proven to calm the dogs and stimulate their attention.
Cavaness noted that there are very few regulations or certifications in the animal care industry. She pointed out that there aren’t many science-backed dog daycare or grooming facilities in this area. Since Cavaness is a behavior specialist and her staff is consistently training, she believes this sets Fetching apart from other facilities. She loves serving the Riverbend region and caring for dogs in the community.
“I feel like a lot of facilities, they’re owned by dog lovers, but not necessarily dog professionals,” she added. “I think that kind of gives us an edge in this industry too, that we are trainer and behaviorist-owned, and most of us are very educated in that realm of things. We’re not just dog lovers, which is obviously very important too, but there’s much more to it than just that.”
For more information about Fetching Pet Company and their services, visit their official website at FetchingPetCompany.com.
