Thousands of pet lovers who travel are using the services of Sleepover Rover, an alternative to commercial kennels, pet hotels and house sitters.
The company, founded in 2004 by two Phoenix area women, now cares for dogs in Arizona, California and Nevada, with plans to franchise their service in Florida in 2008 and nationwide in 2009.
Sleepover Rover identifies dog loving retirees, stay-at-home parents, or professionals who work from home offices as hosts. Clients of Sleepover Rover travel guilt free, knowing that their family dog is well cared for by a loving host family within their own community.
'The demand for our service actually exceeds our ability to keep up with requests,' said co-founder Maggie Brown. 'It's a win-win situation because we work really hard to make it a good experience for both the client and the host. Everyone benefits, and the host families look forward to the next sleepover.'
Maggie Brown and her good friend, Tina Meyers created the Sleepover Rover® services largely because they refused to subject their own pets to kennel care when they needed to be away from home.
Both women have extensive experience in the pet care industry. Meyers is a former veterinary practice manager. Brown was district sales manager for a large pet supply and boarding franchise. 'Of course, both businesses employed animal care professionals who worked hard to keep the animals fed, walked, and clean,' said Brown. 'Nevertheless, I will never forget the haunted eyes of the dogs as they looked out at me from behind the bars of their runs or metal cages. Why had they been abandoned into such a strange and bewildering environment by the people they loved and trusted?
'They were terrified by the smell of antiseptics, tick dip, and blood from the adjoining veterinary hospital as well as by the constant noise of barking dogs all around - some of them quite large and intimidating!'
Each of the Phoenix women had cultivated a neighborhood host family to care for their dogs and continually worried about what they would do if their host family became unavailable. And they did not feel free to travel without a lot of advance planning. Together they created a network of reliable host families that now operate in Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, Las Vegas, Denver, Phoenix, Tucson, and Grand Canyon.
This summer, Sleepover Rover and PETCO Animal Supplies launched an Arizona Summer Pet Safety campaign to help Arizona pet parents keep their furry family members safe and happy during the hot summer months.

The two companies worked together to compile Summer Pet Safety Tips - available to all pet parents for free and covering topics such as heat stroke, pool safety, predators, cars, water, shade, summer haircuts, chemicals, paws, heartworm, monsoons, sunburn and exercise tips.
The guide was published to help residents who are new to desert living and unaware of the extreme heat conditions in Arizona, as well as existing residents who may be aware of some dangers but not aware of others, said Brown. 'Our aim was to get the word out and help parents keep their canine companions safe and happy during the summer months.'
Sleepover Rover, Inc. captured the 2007 Phoenix Chamber of Commerce Athena Powerlink Award, which is an international award that recognizes and nurtures the growth of companies founded by women. 'As a result of winning the Athena Powerlink Award, we now work with a group of mentoring professional women,' said Brown. 'They are helping us to do everything right in order not to expand too quickly.
'We will spend probably one more year becoming solid as a company before franchising to target states such as Florida,' said Brown. 'The following year we will become a nationwide franchise.'
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Contact MJ REYNOLDS at mreynolds@dmenet.com