--- title: "A Deeper Understanding of Dogs Sets Hounds Town USA Apart from the Pack" url: https://burnaze.com/article/7209240b-b66c-4254-baf2-03184e22fb48 source: "1851 Franchise" original_url: https://1851franchise.com/a-deeper-understanding-of-dogs-sets-hounds-town-usa-apart-from-the-pack-2707261 category: "Daycare & boarding" industry: "Pets" segment: "Daycare & boarding" published: 2018-07-31T04:23:00.000Z modified: 2026-11-01T02:31:19.623Z image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/0720cbafd3921d22a5e65b1e8a20895d2332.jpg --- # A Deeper Understanding of Dogs Sets Hounds Town USA Apart from the Pack **TL;DR:** Hounds Town USA, a dog daycare franchise, welcomes all dog breeds and focuses on the dog's temperament instead of its breed. The franchise has over ten locations and is growing rapidly, embodying the principles of community and service that inspired its founder, Mike Gould. *originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2018-07-31. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/a-deeper-understanding-of-dogs-sets-hounds-town-usa-apart-from-the-pack-2707261).* ## Story The first thing Jackie Bondanza wants you to know about Hounds Town USA is that it does not discriminate against any breed of dog. The franchise president says all dogs are welcome to have a chance to interact at each Hounds Town location, and that’s made it nothing short of a godsend for owners of bully breeds and dogs with disabilities or special needs. “If you have a dog that even looks like it has a little Pit or Rottweiler in it, it could be turned away from other facilities,” she said. “We believe it is naive and ignorant to discriminate against dogs for their breed. At Hounds Town, we focus on the dog’s temperament instead of what they were born as.” Bondanza recalls a dog owner who was brought to tears when she discovered Hounds Town would take in her Pit-mix puppy. “She couldn’t find a daycare that would take in her little five-month Pit-mix, and she started crying when she found out we wouldn’t just hang up on her,” Bondanza said. Hounds Town’s willingness to give dogs a chance at interaction that other facilities won’t is not just a matter of principle. Bondanza says the franchise is better equipped to work with dogs of all breeds and abilities than most facilities. “Mike [Gould, Hounds Town USA’s founder and CEO] has more than 40 years of experience working with dogs, and we have developed a sort of soft science in how we group and care for dogs, so we’re able to accommodate all dogs.” Before opening Hounds Town USA, Mike Gould was one of the first members of the NYPD’s Canine Unit. Following the attacks on the World Trade Centers in 2001, Gould rented out a factory to take care of dogs for police officers who were working round the clock to repair lower Manhattan. Before long, Gould says it wasn’t just police officers asking for help with their dogs. “Lots of people needed help with their pets in those days, and we were there to help,” he said. “Eventually it spiraled into all sorts of people asking me to keep their dogs there, and we sort of backed into becoming a full-service doggie daycare. That became a full business and eventually a franchise.” Now that Hounds Town USA has more than ten locations and is growing rapidly, the franchise still embodies the principles of community and service that inspired Gould to rent that first warehouse nearly twenty years ago. “We’re here to help people,” Bondanza said. “We don’t BS. We don’t up-charge for medications, treats, belly rubs or anything like that. Believe it or not, other facilities will charge you extra to pet your dog. We don’t believe in that.” Bondanza says Hounds Town’s facilities are “built 18 inches off the ground,” meaning they are designed specifically for the needs of dogs. “We are not fluffy or over the top,” she said. “It’s all built around what dogs need.” That starts with the open-environment, which Bondanza says allows Hounds Town to keep dogs together, simulating a natural pack environment and promoting physical and psychological health. “It allows dogs to be themselves in a way that they don’t often get in other environments,” Bondanza said. “It’s a place where a dog can hump, jump and dump, all safely and comfortably.” And that’s not just for certain packages or time frames. Bondanza says Hounds Town’s daycare service is fully interactive, meaning dogs are never kept alone at any point throughout the day. “If you drop your dog off in the morning and pick him up at night, you can be sure he was playing with other dogs all day,” she said. “Other places will kennel the dogs and then bring them out for 20-minute chunks of playtime, but we believe dogs need to be with other dogs for the majority of the time they’re here. That is what they need, and that is what their owners are paying for.” While each Hounds Town location is designed to accommodate the needs of dogs, they also feature a few touches explicitly for their human counterparts. As the name implies, each facility is styled as a town for dogs. When a customer walks into a Hounds Town, the first thing they see is the sign for Hounds Town Boulevard, a section of the facility that introduces each of the town’s features. The grooming room is called The Hounds Town Day Spa, for instance, and one franchise location recently introduced The Barn Room, a playroom decked out like a farm. It’s all designed to be fun for both dogs and their owners, something the franchise conveys in its prolific social media accounts. “We have built an operation where dogs are having so much fun while getting the care they need, and we want their owners to see that,” Bondanza said. “We post pictures and videos of the dogs in our facilities every day so that owners can see their dogs having fun. It’s fun and gives owners peace of mind.” Crucially for many pet owners, Hounds Town USA is also competitively priced, something Bondanza says is baked into their core philosophy of servicing the community. “You don’t need an accountant to figure out how much it’ll cost you,” she said. “We never want to take advantage of the emotional attachment people have with their dogs to charge them more. We love dogs, but we are equally passionate about helping people. Those are the principles this company was founded on, and that’s how we’re growing as a franchise.” ## Entities - 1851 Franchise (publication) - franchise growth (topic) - Pets (sector) - Hounds Town USA (company) - pet care (topic) - Jackie Bondanza (person) - dog daycare (topic) - breed inclusivity (topic) --- Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/a-deeper-understanding-of-dogs-sets-hounds-town-usa-apart-from-the-pack-2707261). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/7209240b-b66c-4254-baf2-03184e22fb48).