Walkers Pet HoTail
celebrates 10 years of
pet care in Murrysville.
M
urrysville’s Walkers Pet HoTail Pet Care Center has
proudly been taking care of animals for 10 years—
that’s 70 in dog years! Owners Sam and Michele Rubin
are happily celebrating the 10th anniversary of their “Pet HoTail”
this year.
Sam and Michele have been Murrysville residents for many
years. The two met in college and, ironically, both had a dog
named Trixie.
Following college, Sam worked for large companies launching
new products in diverse categories—all the time searching
for a product or service with a unique point of difference that
customers needed, in an area that wasn’t dominated by large
companies, to see if he could create a business of his own. Pet
Care met those criteria. At the time, most boarding services
were either offered by small, home-based businesses or by
veterinarians who—often reluctantly—boarded pets to keep
their clients happy.
“I was worried about opening a kennel because I have bad
allergies,” says Sam. “I went to about 100 kennels on the east
side of the state—some of which I walked into and was unable
to breathe. Luckily, I learned that if a kennel is kept clean, my
allergies are not bothered.”
Sam went to work at one of the best kennels in the area, which
happened to be run by veterinarians, and wrote a business plan
for them. “Their income doubled, but like many veterinarians,
they were more interested in the medical
side of the business, not the lower margin
pet services side, and they didn’t want
to partner with me to open additional
kennels,” he notes. “I knew I had a solid,
proven business plan and I knew what was
needed to launch a business, so I figured it
would be easy to start my own.”
It took Sam seven years to open Walkers
Pet HoTail. “It was very difficult to find a
good location,” he explains. “Kennels have
many zoning restrictions, since neighbors
are often concerned about noise. I found
that renting a building was also difficult,
with owners concerned about pets
damaging their property and complaints from adjoining tenants.
I also wanted a location that had property to allow outside walks
and was easy for customers to access.”
Sam and Michele found a location in Murrysville for Walkers
Pet HoTail. “The building was vaca