Darien and Janine Fischer were inspired to open their own dog daycare for the purest of reasons: they love dogs and can think of no better way to spend their day than interacting with them.

Their motivations are expressed best by this short story:

Our dog, Charlie, is a little guy but, what he lacks in size, he makes up for twofold in heart, attitude, and determination. He's always wanted to play with large dogs and his first friend was a Great Dane puppy named Aspen! Even at the dog park, Charlie is only interested in playing with big dogs. He can't run as fast as they can and, when playing, he is always overpowered but, he never gives up and always has a good time.

One day, all the large herding dogs ran out to the far field, and there went Charlie... straight out to them where he proceeded to herd them all up and force them back to their owners!

When we started the process of opening up our own business, we definitely felt like small players in a big game but, as Charlie has shown us, you don't have to be large to run with the big dogs and as long as we have heart, the right attitude, and determination, we will be successful!

They ended up looking at several different dog daycare franchises, but after attending meeting the Dogtopia staff during a "Discovery Day" at the headquarters in Washington, D.C., they knew the concept would be perfect for the Highlands Ranch Market.

Darien and Janine currently reside in Parker, CO with Charlie. They enjoy traveling and spending as much time as they can outdoors. They especially look forward to bringing Charlie to work with them.