Q&A: On The Uniqueness of JP Dog Owners

On a recent Friday morning, Beecher Park is bustling with energy. Canine energy, that is. It’s morning playgroup time for JP K9. Owner/operator Jennifer Jones has four dogs under her charge and JP K9 dog walker Rebecca Fuda three. Other dog owners and walkers stop in so their pooches can join in, each new entry greeted with a huge welcome of barks. 

After two-and-a-half years working for a large pet care company, Jones launched her business in 2004 as a way to provide more personalized attention—and in her own beloved neighborhood of JP. While Fuda took over, Jones took a moment to talk about growing the business and JP’s dog-friendly factor. The dogs (including Jones’s own Tilly), meanwhile, affectionately checked in with Jones during the interview.

What made you decide to start your own business?

I started doing this over nine years ago. For the first two-and-a-half years I worked for another pet care company. I learned a lot there I also learned a lot about how I think a pet care business should be run. 

I don’t happen to think it should be a larger operation. I think it should be kept smaller so you can really interact with your clients and have a personal relationship with them and the dogs. 

What’s unique about your business?

I only do Jamaica Plain. I keep my service area very small. It’s my home. I love it here and I like not having to leave JP. I also think the needs of the Jamaica Plain dog owner are unique in a way. 

How so?

I think because there are so many parks here and so much open space, the dogs here socialize a lot more. Because of that, the dog owners interact with each other a lot more and trade information. There’s something that grows out of that. People here are very knowledgeable about their pets and what it takes to raise a healthy, happy dog. I think the expectation for a pet care company is higher in a way, and I appreciate that. 

Were you always a dog person?

Everyone in my family has always had dogs. We’ve always had multiple dogs. I also was an only child and I grew up kind of in the middle of nowhere in Maine. My dog was kind of like my sibling in a way, my companion. I had a German shepherd mix, Beaureguard, and we would trek through the woods together.

I’ve always been a dog person. When I first started dog walking, originally, I had been unemployed for about six months and I had an art degree and was looking for more of a creative job. The economy was bad and I just couldn’t find anything. I saw an ad for a dogwalking job. I thought that would be a fun thing to do while I looked for a real job. . . It was also very appealing to me that I could have a job where I could bring my dog to work with me.

As time went on, I thought: ‘I love this. This is totally the job for me.’ I couldn’t see myself doing anything else.

What gave you the confidence to start your own business?

I was very tentative about it for a while because I was still pretty young. I think it just took me gaining some maturity and confidence to know that I could handle the other parts of it: the back-end stuff, keeping track of the numbers, sending invoices, and dealing with the actual clients, scheduling visits. 

What about the, um, picking up after the dogs aspect of the job? Especially on a dirt surface like this, it must be challenging.

When I’m picking up after my dogs, I’ll pick up what else is around, even if it’s not my dogs’. I call them karma poops. In case I miss seeing something someday. 

You seem very aware of individual dogs’ personalities here.

I think that’s also why I’ve been fairly successful, because I am very attuned to dog behavior and dog personalities and I understand that not all dogs are the same. You interact with a dog based on who they are.

It seems like these dogs are all friendly with each other.

I do walk a few dogs who have some major anxiety issues and can be aggressive towards other dogs or toward people they don’t know, or both. I’m always willing to work with people in that way. There’s usually a way to make it work. Of course it has to be a one-on-one walk.

I enjoy those dogs because it’s a challenge and it’s very rewarding to have a breakthrough where you get that dog to trust you. If a dog has issues like that, their world is very limited so to be able to add to their world is a nice thing.

Contact JP K9 at the company's Web site, Facebook page, by email at info@jpk9.com or via phone at 617-983-JPK9 (5759).