Rural System, Inc.
 Sustained rural lands; sustained profits




The Dogs Group
A Pet- and Working-Dog System


Dogs can be many things to the people of the region. Some are pests and problems, others are family members, helpers, protectors,
and working dogs. The Dogs Group is devoted to the superior care and training of dogs, their health, and their responsible roles within the society. It promotes responsible day-care for dogs, active uses for dogs in security, patrolling, visiting hospitals and other health-care places, reducing wild dogs and their effects, and adopting responsible ordinances related to dogs.

The Group provides membership in a local or regional organization, an e-mail news and notes, occasional meetings, veterinary clinics, sponsors superior feeding-for-health programs, and conducts fairs and demonstrations.

It is particularly interested in the psychology of dogs and trainers and in achieving rapid training of dogs for responsible roles in society. Eventually hiring staff and recruiting trainers who are talented, the Group offers on-site boarding and training programs.

With select areas, it operates exercise programs for dogs, and operates weekend "play areas" and special walking pathways for dogs and people who care for them.

A special health care monitoring program is conducted and health scores assigned based on a computer analysis of data on each animal. Close work with the College of Veterinary Science at Tech and its students is anticipated. The group seeks research grants related to dogs, especially as related to products and activities from other Rural System, Inc. activities (e.g., Coyote, Good DogSafety and Security, Novosports, The Raccoon Group).

It works with vertebrate pest control people to appraise the use of dogs in protecting livestock from coyotes. It shares interests with The Coyote, a group interested in the wild canids. See Dr. Y.V. Jhala's article (pdf) on dna of dogs world wide. It also shares interests in the hunting dogs related to quail, deer, bears, and raccoons. It uses dogs in surveys of wildlife transects and conducts demonstrations of well trained dogs, especially those used in hunting and in wildlife resource management (outlined by Fred Zwickel in "Techniques of Wildlife Management," 1971, pages 319-324, art by Larry Toschick).

Funds are made from memberships, equipment sales, percentage of trainers' fees, housing, boarding of dogs of various participants in other Rural Systemactivities, sale of superior feeds, commissions from book sales, and from people attending an annual conference (with exhibits, demonstrations, crafts, etc.). It seeks advertisers and works for commissions and discounts (such as through http://coolpetsites.com) It may expand to work with hunting dogs (bear, raccoon, fox, etc.). See also Good Dog below.

This is a region-wide business and works actively to gain members and participants world-wide. Much part-time employment and expert work is expected.

Good Dog

Good Dog is an ancillary enterprise that offers to owners of tracking hounds (typically raccoon hounds) an opportunity to quantify the goodness of the hound. The owner brings the dog(s) to a course which is on land of Rural System. A miniature radio transmitter is attached to a dog with a collar. After a scent trail has been laid out by the staff, the dog is released and tracked by radio. The match between the path taken by the trails person and the dog is made and an analysis done. The squared deviation is used, a chi-square statistic. The dog that does not deviate from the scent path gets a score of 100.

Owners pay to have their dogs run the path. They are given an official result that can be used in dog sales, wagering, and as a statistical trait in breeding dogs for improved hunting abilities. The route may be used for military dogs (used in patrolling areas, etc.) and for evaluating the effectiveness of certain drugs (e.g., caffeine) on enhancing scenting abilities.

Connections may be available with The Dog Park showing dog-friendly areas and dog care.

Estimated development cost......$60,000
Estimated 5th year profits....... $8,000

Income Low Moderate High
Memberships 300@$35 10,500 20,000 30,000
Trainee Customers @ $200 4,000 8,000 10,000
Feed and Equipment Sales 5,000 8,000 10,000
Annual Conference 5,000 6,000 10,000
Publications 500 2,000 5,000
Play-area Admissions 500 1,000 2,000
Health Monitoring Program 2,000 3,000 8,000
Totals 27,000 48,000 75,000
The table at the right
suggests gross economics
of The Dogs Group enterprise

There are potential subscriber commissions with The Bark quarterly and other publications or corporations.

Idea (2/2003 - RHG) Develop a harness for a dog-cam (reportedly used with seals to study fish). This could give a dog's view of game, scenes at field trials, and all of the things that dogs find interesting. Sell dog-cams and the results of using them to TV stations, etc.

Estimates
Initial costs with two-person staff with part-time employees, kennels, fences, equipment, computer programs - $50,000. Estimated gains are shown above.

Perhaps you will share ideas with me
about some of the topic(s) above at
RHGiles@RuralSystem.com.

Maybe we can work together
... for the good of us all
... for a long time.
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