Bark Busters Franchise Costs, Fees & FDD

Year Business Began: 1989

Franchising Since: 1994

U.S. Headquarters: Danville, California

Country of Origin: Australia

Estimated Number of Units: 135 (US only)

Franchise Description: Bark Busters North America, LLC is the franchisor. The franchisor’s affiliate, Bark Busters International, LLC, is the master franchisor of the system in other countries. Franchisees provide dog behavioral therapy, obedience training, dog bonding programs and other associated services as well as support services in the comfort of their customers’ homes, or remotely using video conferencing, to offer group obedience courses and puppy training at veterinary and pet store outlets and other approved areas, to sell certain pet care products, and to educate their customers regarding dog psychology, dog agility, scent discrimination, tracking and trick training, etc.
Training Overview: Franchisees will commence training by working with a minimum of two weeks of remote training prior to coming to the training facility for at least one week of in person training, which will be held at the franchisor’s training facility in Denver, CO, Phoenix, AZ, or other locations selected by the franchisor. Franchisees may then complete the training by spending one week in training at their home office under the guidance of the franchisor’s training team via internet, emails and webinars, discussing pre-opening operations in their territory. After completion of the training session, training and marketing assistance may be conducted via email, Barknet International, webinar, forum advice, the help desk and telephone, video conferencing assistance and on-site assistance if required, at the franchisor’s discretion. Assistance with respect to pre-opening and opening activities will be conducted as appropriate and as determined in the franchisor’s reasonable business judgment. Any supplemental training may be requested by franchisees, or the franchisor may require franchisees to go through supplemental training to ensure compliance in the Bark Busters system.

Territory Granted: Franchisees will receive a protected territory in which to offer dog training, obedience, and therapy services and associated services, and to sell Bark Busters products directly to their dog training clients and veterinarians. The boundaries of a standard territory will be delineated by zip codes and based on a population of approximately 100,000 to 125,000 targeted dogs. Exceptions exist for existing franchisees that wish to renew their franchise or where a buyer of an existing franchise wishes to renew. The franchisor will not operate locations or grant franchises for a Bark Busters business within the franchisee’ territory unless the franchisee does not satisfy the minimum sales quota based on the number of qualifying lessons conducted on an annual basis during 12 month period of operation.

Obligations and Restrictions: Bark Busters businesses are required to designate at least one individual who devotes at least five days per week on average throughout the year, minus vacation time, to the operation of the Bark Busters business. Vacation time may be taken at franchisees’ reasonable discretion as long as business operations and customer service standards are maintained as outlined in the operating manual. If franchisees are a business entity, the direct, on-site supervision must be done by a person who owns at least a 50% beneficial interest in the business entity. Franchisees must offer and sell only the Bark Busters products and the Bark Busters services that the franchisor has approved. Franchisees must refer all requests or referrals for service from outside their territory to Bark Busters North America, LLC or the franchisee responsible for the area from which the request came.

Term of Agreement and Renewal: The length of the initial franchise term is five years. If they wish to do so, and they satisfy the pre-conditions to obtaining a successor franchise, the franchisor will offer them the right to obtain an additional term of five years.

Financial Assistance: At the franchisor’s sole and absolute discretion it may loan franchisees up to $30,000 to be used as a down payment on the initial franchise fee. The franchisor does not receive any consideration from third party lenders for any placement of financing by its franchisees.

Estimated Initial Investment

Name of Fee	Low	High
Initial Franchise Fee	$49,500	$49,500
Training and Territory Fee	$19,500	$19,500
Additional Training Fee	$0	$7,500
Travel and Living Expenses for Training	$2,000	$5,000
Tools and Equipment	$500	$3,500
Start-up Advertising, Internet Promotions Package and Vehicle Advertising	$1,500	$3,500
Insurance	$900	$2,000
Inventory and Supplies	$1,000	$3,900
Vehicle	$0	$18,000
Additional Funds (3 months)	$3,000	$4,600
ESTIMATED TOTAL	$77,900	$117,000

Other Fees

Name of Fee	Amount
Royalty	10% of gross revenues.
Local Advertising Expense	3% of gross revenues.
Big Dog Website	$400 per year.
Toll-Free Number Fee	$120 per year.
Technology Fee	$380 to $500 per year.
Ongoing Inventory	Varies based on the franchisee's sales.
National Conference Fee	Up to $1,250 per attendee. Franchisees must also pay the travel and accommodation expenses that they and their employees incur in attending the national conference. These costs may range from $500 to $3,500 per person.
Local or Regional Seminars, Meetings or Programs	Franchisees must pay their own expenses as well as the expenses their employees incur in attending these meetings. Costs may range from $500 to $2,500 plus an estimated $50 for materials.
Additional Training Fee	$7,500 per trainee.
Successor Franchise Fee	$1,000
Transfer Fee/Sale Franchise Fee	15% of the gross sale price or value of transfer of franchise not to exceed $20,000. A training fee of $7,500 per person is payable by the purchaser, when an established franchise is sold.
Addition of Partner/Shareholder/Member to Franchisee	15% of 50% of current value of business.
Legal Reimbursement Fee	$1,000
Additional Assistance	$0
Audit	Cost of audit plus 10% interest on understatement (or the maximum allowed by state law).
Indemnification	Will vary under circumstances.
Cost of Enforcement or Defense	Will vary under circumstances.
Liquidated Damages	$50,000 for each idea, concept, product, process, application, or customer that the franchisor loses as a result of any violation of the Franchise Agreement.
Non-Compliance Damages	$50,000 for breach of Franchise Agreement by the franchisee resulting in termination.

The above information has been compiled from the FDD of Bark Busters. Year of FDD: 2025.
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