Free 7-day email course
Turn pet sitting into a real solo business
The Solo Boarder's Playbook is honest math, no hype, and one small action a day that moves you from renting your income out to a marketplace toward owning it yourself.
The Solo Boarder's Playbook is a free 7-day pet sitting course by Dave Waggins, who has run a home dog-boarding business for six years, teaching how to turn dog care into a real pet care business you own.
This course is written by Dave Waggins, the founder of Houndtrust. He and his wife board eight to ten dogs at a time out of their own home, and he built Houndtrust to run the business side of that work: the intake, the calendar, the waivers, and the money. So the math in these lessons is not theory. It is the math he runs on his own bookings, including the parts that sting. The promise is simple: honest math, no hype, and one small action a day. Houndtrust makes the tool that runs the business, but you can do every lesson in this course with a notebook and a phone. The value comes first. The pitch, when it comes, is soft.
What you'll get, one lesson a day
- 1The 20% you're donating
- 2Pick home boarding
- 3Pricing with a spine
- 4Your first 10 independent clients
- 5The paperwork that saves your business
- 6Report cards, the retention engine
- 7Run it like a business
7 lessons, one a day. Results vary by market and season, and nothing here is a promise of income.
A peek inside
Want to see the tool the course is built around?
Poke at a live Houndtrust sandbox. No signup, no card. Houndtrust takes no cut on the clients you bring.
Open the live demoQuestions about the course
Is the pet sitting course really free?
Yes. The Solo Boarder's Playbook is a completely free 7-day email course. You give an email address, you get one lesson a day for seven days, and you can unsubscribe any time. There is no card, no trial, and no paid subscription. Houndtrust makes its money from software, not from this course.
Who is this course for?
Solo and two-person dog-care pros: home boarders, pet sitters, and anyone caring for dogs on Rover, Wag, or for friends who wants to turn it into a real business they own. It is written for the single operator, not large commercial kennels.
Do I need Houndtrust to take the course or use what it teaches?
No. Every lesson works with a notebook and a phone, and it is taught that way on purpose. Houndtrust is the software the founder runs his own boarding business on, and the lessons show where it fits, but you never need the tool to use a single one of them.
What will I learn?
The honest business behind dog care: the real math of marketplace fees, why home boarding is the strongest lane, how to price with a spine and charge holiday premiums, how to get clients who are yours, the liability waiver and emergency vet authorization that protect you, and the daily report card that turns first-timers into regulars.
How is the course delivered?
By email, one lesson a day for seven days. Read them at your own pace and keep them. Results vary a lot by market and season, and nothing in the course is a promise of income.
Who teaches it?
Dave Waggins, the founder of Houndtrust. He and his wife have run a home dog-boarding business out of their own home for six years, most nights with eight to ten dogs, so the math in the lessons is the math he runs on his own bookings.