Barking Mad

A Barking Mad franchise is a dog holiday care business, and the franchisee is a coordinator rather than a carer: dogs stay with vetted host families while their owners are away.

The company has over 20 years of experience and more than 60 franchise owners across the UK. It is part of Franchise Brands plc, a company listed on the London Stock Exchange, which also owns Ovenclean.

The model removes the two biggest constraints in pet care. There are no kennels to build or lease, and the franchisee is not personally walking or boarding every dog. Instead they recruit and vet host families, match dogs to suitable hosts, and manage the bookings, collections and returns.

Why Choose the Franchise Barking Mad?

The role is coordination. The franchisee builds a local network of host families and a client base of dog owners, then handles the matching and logistics, which is what makes the business scalable without premises or staff.

Support comes from a Support Centre team covering marketing, IT, finance and business development, alongside the collective experience of the national franchise network.

Discovery is deliberately low-pressure. The company runs informal online sessions at a time to suit the candidate, with no presentation or input required, allowing a prospective franchisee to make their own evaluation before going further.

The franchise fee covers the initial licence, a comprehensive training programme, bespoke CRM software, and business equipment including uniform, marketing collateral, business cards and letterheads, along with operational items such as branded doggy holiday suitcases and dog tags. Sundry costs on top include vehicle livery from £350 and a Quickbooks subscription from £5 a month.