Dog HausFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Dog Haus franchise requires a total initial investment of $100K – $1.4M, including a $40K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $1.7M[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 0.0% charge-off rate across 26 loans[1]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $100K – $1.4M
- 3rd pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $1.7M
- 18th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 26th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 59
- 38th pct Service Resta…
- SBA default
- 0.0%
- system-wide median varies by category
Quick verdict · Full-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Full-Service Restaurants avg · No shading = within ±15% · Red = >15% below avg · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Only 0.0% of 26 SBA loans charged off, well below the 16% franchise average.
Bottom line
- Total investment $100K – $1.4M including a $40K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.7M/year.
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 18/100. SBA loan charge-off rate of 0.0% across 26 loans (well below the franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2024).
- 5 units terminated last reporting year (8.5% of the system). Ask existing franchisees why.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- Dog Haus Worldwide, LLC
- Predecessor
- Dog Haus International
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer
- Michael Montagano
- Founder active
- Yes
- Original founder still leading the business
- Incorporated in
- CA
- HQ
- 22 Central Court, Pasadena, California 91105
- Auditor
- Baker Tilly US, LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $6.9M
- vs $7.1M prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Affiliated brands
- Dog Haus
- Pyramid Powder
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
Dog Haus franchisees operate fast-casual restaurants specializing in premium hot dogs, sausages, and related comfort foods. Day-to-day operations involve food prep, customer service at counter or drive-thru, inventory management, and staff scheduling in a QSR environment similar to Wienerschnitzel or Portillo's competitors.
- CEO
- Michael Montagano
- Headquarters
- CA
- Founded
- 2010
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 12
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $40K | $40K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $15K | $45K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $45K | $1.3M |
| Total initial investment | $100K | $1.4M |
Source: Dog Haus 2025 FDD, Items 5 and 7[2]. “Equipment, build-out, other” is computed as total minus disclosed line items above.
Single-unit · estimated
Returns at a glance
Indicative numbers using FDD Item 7 / Item 19 inputs and category-benchmarked cost ratios. Full single-unit, 25-unit portfolio, and LBO models (with every input editable to stress-test your own scenario) live on the financials page.
Store EBITDA · annual
$168K
10.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
21%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
4.7 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $100K – $1.4M
- Better than avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $15K – $45K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $40K – $40K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 8.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.0% of gross sales |
| Transfer fee | $18K |
| Renewal fee | $5K |
| Inventory (initial) | $10K – $15K |
| Total fee load | 8.0% of rev |
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $1.7M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- N/A
- Item 19 type
- gross_sales
- Sample size
- 43 units
- vs category median 13 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $592K→$3.1M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $519K→$2.4M
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Transparency tier
- full
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Transparency
- 3 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · below
Compared against 1264 Full-Service Restaurants brands
vs Full-Service Restaurants averages
How Dog Haus Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 59
- Opened
- 7
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 5
- Terminated
- 5
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 8.5%
- Company-owned
- 0
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 100%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- +3.5%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +20.4%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 14
- Closed (3yr)
- 4
- Transfers (3yr)
- 10
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 3
- Franchisor bought back
- Projected new
- 12
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Transfer rate
- 16.9%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
- Termination rate
- 8.5%
- Franchisor-initiated terminations
- Ceased ops
- 8.5%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 27 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator. Not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee contact records (FDD Item 20). Shows states with at least one current operator on file. Full state registration data (Item 12) will appear on a future FDD refresh.
Available to sell in · Item 12
- California
States where the franchisor is registered to sell new franchises (FDD registration filings).
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 26
- Loan volume
- $16.3M
- Median loan
- $602K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 0.0%
- rates vary by category · see methodology
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- 100.0%
- 5-yr charge-off
- 0.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 15
- Defaults
- 0
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into Dog Haus's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 10 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 7 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 8-year lending trend
Instant access. No subscription.
With a 0.0% charge-off rate across 26 loans, banks have historically viewed this brand favorably for lending.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Dog Haus presents moderate-to-cautionary risk: small unit count with weak growth, opaque profitability metrics, and wide investment variance mask true earnings potential despite reasonable franchise fees and protected territories.
Litigation (Item 3)
No litigation required to be disclosed
Largest disclosed settlement: $65,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Baker Tilly US, LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 18 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNo Item 19 (Average Unit Volume) disclosed — inability to validate $1.68M revenue claim or assess true profitability
- 02MEDSlow unit growth of 3.5% YoY with only 59 units suggests limited brand momentum and market traction
- 03MINORWide investment range ($99K-$1.43M) indicates inconsistent unit economics or high variability in build-out costs
- 04MEDNet income not disclosed — franchisees cannot assess actual take-home earnings or ROI timeline
- 05MINOR6% royalty on gross sales is above average for QSR and compounds burden if net margins are thin
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Territory type | Radius |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory radius | 0.5 mi |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 2 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 5 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Los Angeles, California |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | California |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation required to be disclosed
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 40 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 102 hrs
- Training location
- corporate office or other Dog Haus Restaurant or location
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Field support
- 80 hrs/yr
- On-site visits per year
- Time to open
- 12 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- franchisee
- POS system
- Toast POS System
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Toast POS System
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
94 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Dog Haus · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Dog Haus franchise?
The total investment to open a Dog Haus franchise ranges from $100K – $1.4M, with an initial franchise fee of $40K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Dog Haus franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Dog Haus FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $1.7M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Dog Haus's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, Dog Haus has a charge-off rate of 0.0% across 26 loans, meaning 0.0% of franchise loans were charged off. Charge-off rates are one proxy for franchise risk, though they do not capture all closures. This data comes from FOIA-sourced SBA lending records.
How many Dog Haus franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Dog Haus has 59 total units in the United States, including 49 franchised units and 0 company-owned units. 7 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Dog Haus a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Dog Haus as a A-grade franchise with a risk score of 18 out of 100, based on our analysis of investment costs, revenue data, SBA loan performance, and growth trends. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
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Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.