The $100K Mobile Pet Business You've Never Heard Of

Issue #174

April 9th, 2025

Quick Hits:

🏀 NBA player, Tyrese Haliburton, launches new sneaker inspired by his dog

😔 Doodle demand is still driving inhumane breeding

📈 Chewy’s vet clinics exceed expectations

🏔️ This dog is shredding some powder to close out ski season

😭 The Cleveland Browns say goodbye to their chocolate lab mascot Moose

The pet care industry is witnessing a new wave of mobile services that bring everything from grooming salons to vet clinics straight to customers’ doorsteps.

Just this month, two of the leading mobile dog groomers in the US – Barkbus and Groombuggy – announced a merger to form what they call the nation’s fastest-growing mobile grooming brand.

In a LinkedIn post, Groombuggy co-founder Sander Daniels noted that the combined company now serves major markets including Los Angeles, the Bay Area, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Atlanta, Miami, and is launching in the NY Tristate area.

This merger underscores how quickly mobile pet services have scaled by catering to busy, urban pet owners who demand convenience without skimping on quality. With more pet parents juggling demanding jobs, going back to office, and packed schedules, the demand for flexible, time-efficient pet care has never been higher – and pet startups are doubling down on those pain points.

The Mobile Pet Services Landscape

What started with a few grooming vans has exploded into a broad mobile pet services ecosystem. Mobile groomers were early pioneers: Companies like Aussie Pet Mobile (founded 1996) proved the model at scale, growing to 70+ franchise units across the U.S. (so successful that it was acquired by Home Franchise Concepts in 2021).

Today, mobile grooming is mainstream – the overall U.S. pet grooming market (including salons and mobile) hit $2.06 billion in 2024 and is on track for $2.99B by 2030.

@jessronagrooming

Attention all dog-loving shmoopy groomers! If you’re looking for a stress-free environment where you’ll groom only 4-5 dogs a day with th... See more

(☝️Jess Rona claims they only groom 4-5 dogs per day with a single Barkbus)

Notably, according to a 2021 survey from APPA, about 9% of dog owners now use mobile grooming services (versus 30% who go to salons), a share that is surely rising each year as vans multiply in every metro.

Mobile veterinary care is following suit.

House-call vet startups have raised big investments to meet urban pet owners at home.

For example, The Vets – a tech-enabled platform for at-home vet visits – raised $40M in funding in 2022 and rapidly expanded to 25 cities including Miami, Dallas, New York and Seattle and had served more than 7,000 pets at that time.

Traditional vet clinics often book out weeks in advance, so these on-demand vet vans and home-visit networks have tapped into enormous latent demand.

Likewise, mobile dog trainers and pet behaviorists are offering in-home sessions to time-strapped clients.

Franchises like Bark Busters have long offered at-home dog training, and many independent trainers now market “we come to you” packages. (Pet training services still account for a smaller slice – about 5% of U.S. pet care revenue – but accessibility and convenience are boosting this segment too.)

In major cities such as LA, NYC, Dallas, & Miami, the common thread is clear:

Pet parents will pay a premium for services that save them time and hassle while treating their animals to top-notch care.

Some real-world examples illustrate this mobile boom. In Washington D.C., Woofie’s (a mobile pet spa and dog walking franchise) and Zoomin Groomin vans cruise through traffic to pamper pups. In Dallas and Atlanta, ReadiVet & Pets Premier provide on-demand veterinary exams and vaccines at home.

Even niche services like mobile pet physical therapy and mobile doggy dental clinics are emerging.

Consumer expectations have shifted – much like food and rideshare, pet services are now expected to “come to me” if I’m willing to pay for the convenience. People don’t want to sit in traffic or do logistical gymnastics to service their pups.

Mobile Dog Gyms: The Newcomer

One of the fastest-growing new players in this mobile ecosystem is the mobile dog gym. A few years ago, the idea of a climate-controlled gym on wheels for dogs was unheard of – now these vans are going viral on social media and popping up in cities across the U.S.

The concept was pioneered by enterprising dog trainers who saw a gap in the market.

For instance, Arizona-based Run Buddy Mobile (launched in the mid-2010s by trainer David Lopez) is often credited as the “world’s first mobile dog gym,” featuring vans outfitted with specialized dog treadmills.

Lopez started as a dog trainer, rehabilitating high-energy rescue dogs and began using treadmills to burn off their excess energy; he eventually took the treadmills on the road to clients’ homes.

In Las Vegas, Run Dawg opened shop in 2021, inspired by triple-digit summers that make it too hot for pups to exercise outdoors.

Founder Ray Santopietro’s van uses non-motorized slat mill treadmills so dogs can run at their own pace in an air-conditioned unit – a welcome relief in the 115°F Nevada heat

@rundawggym

Watch his expression when he realizes he can run as fast as he wants #rundawg #mobiledoggym #dogexercise #slatmill

These mobile dog gyms are seeing explosive organic growth powered by TikTok and Instagram.

It turns out videos of happy dogs trotting on mini treadmills are social media gold – the novelty and cuteness practically market themselves.

Run Buddy Mobile’s TikTok account, for example, has racked up over 850,000 followers and 22 million likes with its behind-the-scenes clips of dogs getting their workouts.

This viral attention has translated into real business momentum. According to RunBuddy Mobile, a single gym van can generate around $100K in annual revenue by charging about $50–$70 per 30-minute session (often running 3-4 dogs back-to-back in an hour). So about $100-$140/hr, which if you ran it 20hrs a week all year long that could generate up to $145K.

Many clients book weekly sessions to keep their pets in shape. While the startup costs aren’t trivial – roughly $100,000 in capital is needed to buy and outfit a van (typically a retrofitted grooming van) with multiple treadmills and AC, whether independently or via franchise – the model can be lucrative in areas with lots of cooped-up, high-energy dogs.

Operators report that one van can serve 20-30 dogs per week and still have a waitlist during extreme weather months (scorching summers or frigid winters when regular walks are impractical).

Crucially, the growth of mobile dog gyms is creating franchise opportunities and attracting new entrepreneurs to the pet space.

Run Buddy Mobile has already begun franchising – their first franchise opened in Austin, TX, and more territories are on the way.

Run Dawg is likewise preparing franchise offerings, with plans to expand to Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, and more in the next year.

And it’s not just the original companies – newcomers are jumping in after seeing the trend go viral. Case in point: a pet lover in Naples, Florida, saw a TikTok of a mobile gym and within a week bought a bus to launch her own “My Dog’s Mobile Gym” in that market.

She says local dogs “literally run to the bus” for their treadmill sessions, and even local shelters have started partnering with her to give high-anxiety rescue dogs weekly workout time.

This illustrates the huge white space still available — many metro areas (from Philly to Oakland to Denver) that are saturated with mobile groomers and vets have zero mobile dog gyms... yet.

In fact, the first mobile dog gym in the NYC area only just launched on Long Island in 2023 (although Manhattan might be a nightmare market with having zero spots for parking lol).

For ambitious pet entrepreneurs, there are still geographic gaps where being “first to market” with a dog fitness van could establish a dominant position.

Why This Emerging Niche Matters Now

The rise of mobile dog gyms is more than a cute fad – it highlights a broader shift toward holistic, concierge-style pet care.

Pet owners, especially millennials and Gen Z who treat pets as family, are willing to invest in specialized wellness services that improve their animals’ quality of life (and by extension, make pet parenthood easier on them).

Just as dog daycare and pet spas boomed in the 2000s, today’s growth opportunity is in mobile, on-demand services that provide premium convenience.

Mobile dog gyms sit at the intersection of several powerful trends: the fitness/wellness movement extending to pets, the on-demand economy’s “Uberfication” of services, and the high value placed on experiences (busy owners love seeing their dog gleefully trotting on a treadmill via a video update while they’re stuck in meetings).

Strategically, this niche is poised to scale rapidly in the coming few years.

The companies with an early foothold and strong brand recognition – like Run Buddy Mobile with its social media following, or Barkbus (which has hinted at building an “end-to-end pet wellness ecosystem”beyond just grooming) – have a chance to expand and become the go-to platforms for mobile pet care in their markets.

We may soon see consolidation or partnerships, where a mobile grooming service partners with a mobile gym franchise to cross-refer clients, or venture-backed players rolling up these services under one umbrella.

Investors are already paying attention: recent acquisitions (e.g. the Barkbus/Groombuggy merger in grooming, the Wilbur Labs backing of Barkbus, and The Vets’ merger with competitor BetterVet in vet care) indicate a bet that mobile services will command significant market share in the pet sector going forward.

For founders and franchise operators, mobile dog gyms represent a ground-floor opportunity in an otherwise mature pet services market.

The concept has been validated, demand proven – now it’s about execution and scaling.

Successful mobile pet service operators emphasize operations and customer experience (as Daniels of Groombuggy noted, simply answering the phone and reliably showing up on time can be a competitive advantage in this industry).

There is room for creative marketing (think local event pop-ups, charity runs for shelter dogs, loyalty programs for weekly fitness clients) and community-building to deepen customer engagement.

For marketers, the storytelling writes itself: healthy, happy dogs and convenience for owners – it’s a recipe that resonates strongly on social media and in press coverage.

For the pet industry entrepreneur or investor, it’s a space worth watching – and for many furry clients, it’s the most fun they’ll ever have in the back of a van.

I also didn’t even mention the additional business support opportunities (i.e. SaaS to help these businesses operate more efficiently, by handling logistics and backend management - there are tons of these in the grooming and vet space and none for mobile dog gyms).

WINNER 🏆️ : BITCOIN

 Proudly introducing the DoggyDex™, an index comprised of 10 publicly traded companies whose primary focus is the dog/pet industry.

List of tickers used can be found below.

The yellow line-plot in the chart represents these companies above (DoggyDex™) and their combined performance against both the S&P 500 and Bitcoin on a weekly basis.

Pawformance is measured by % gains & losses.

• $CHWY - Chewy: E-commerce platform for pet supplies

• $IDXX - Idexx Labs: Vet point of care instruments and vet software

• $FRPT - Fresh Pet: Pet food company

• $ELAN - Elanco: Manufactures pet disease prevention products

• $PETS - PetMeds: Online pet pharmacy

• $ZTS - Zoetis: World's largest producer of meds and vaccines for pets and livestock

• $TRUP - Trupanion: Pet insurance company

• $WOOF - Petco Health & Wellness co.: Pet health & wellness company

• $BARK - BarkBox: Subscription service providing dog products, services, and experiences

• $PET - Wag! Group Co.: Tech platform that allows pet owners to connect with industry professionals for services such as walking, training, etc.

This chart compares the 5-year percentage return performance of three pet industry indexes: the publicly traded ProShares Pet Care ETF ($PAWZ), the original DoggyDex, and an Optimized DoggyDex.

The original DoggyDex was constructed as an equal-weighted index of 10 top publicly traded pet companies, including Chewy, Zoetis, Freshpet, and others.

Over the five-year period from April 2020 to April 1, 2025, PAWZ delivered steady growth with a cumulative return of approximately 28%. In contrast, the original DoggyDex significantly underperformed, losing over 20% of its value, largely due to the poor performance of three key laggards: PetMed Express (PETS), BARK Inc. (BARK), and Wag! Group Co. (PET).

To understand the impact of these underperformers, we rebalanced the DoggyDex by removing those three and replacing them with stronger, pet-adjacent companies: Nestlé (owner of Purina), Colgate-Palmolive (owner of Hill's Pet Nutrition), and Neogen (animal diagnostics and safety).

The result was an Optimized DoggyDex that not only corrected for the drag of the worst performers but outpaced both the original index and $PAWZ. Over the same 5-year period, the optimized index achieved a return of approximately 33%, demonstrating how we need a reallocation toward established, diversified pet players can significantly enhance long-term performance in this sector.

(PS - this is not a real investment portfolio and just a fun tool for us to keep a pulse on pet companies vs. other market investments.)

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