K9 Resorts Franchise Cost & 2025 FDD Data
40/100
Middle tier
40 this brand53 Pet Services medianlikely 36–44 (high confidence)
Higher is better · an editorial assessment, not investment advice
#2,393 of 3,069 graded brands
Why a C: Helped by unit growth, legal record and transparency. Held back by financial health and unit economics. See all six factors
- Total investment
- $2.3M – $3.6M
- Avg gross sales
- $1.6M
- 17 outlets reporting; not profit
- SBA charge-off
- 15.4%
1 in 6 SBA 7(a) loans to K9 Resorts owners charged off (2 of 13 resolved loans, approved since FY1991); Pet Services median 12.2%.
Data from the FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records. Analysis by FranchiseVerdict · Methodology · Website · Report an error · Franchisor? Claim this listing
K9 Resorts is an upscale dog boarding and daycare franchise offering luxury accommodations, daycare, and grooming. Franchisees run the facilities, managing staff, pet care operations, and customer relationships.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2025 FDD
Per the 2025 FDD, a K9 Resorts franchise requires a total initial investment of $2.3M – $3.6M, including a $50K franchise fee. Once open, the ongoing royalty is 7.0%. Per the 2025 FDD, average gross sales were $1.6M (17 outlets reporting; gross sales, not profit). SBA 7(a) loans show a 15.4% charge-off rate on 13 resolved loans. Verdict grade: C (Middle tier), an editorial assessment, not investment advice.
Sources: 2025 FDD · SBA 7(a) loan records (FOIA) · What one unit could make and lose →
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: · Data extracted: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: medium (issued 12 to 24 months ago; a newer filing is likely on file)
Evidence for the headline figures: strong✓ Investment (Item 7)✓ Item 19 status✓ Units and owners (Item 20)✓ SBA loan coverage✓ Litigation (Item 3)✓ Financial statements (Item 21)✓ Franchisor identityhow this is scored6 of 6 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing.
Overview
Quick verdict · vs Pet Services median
Top edge: green = better than the Pet Services median by more than 10%, red = worse by more than 10%, gray = within 10% or no benchmark. Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a).
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Methodology
Bottom line
- RETURNSAverage gross sales of $1.6M/year (17 outlets reporting; gross sales, not profit).
- GROWTHThe pipeline has stalled: 2,022 agreements signed but not yet open against 40 open outlets.
- GROWTH+17 franchised outlets over the two years to 2024 (17 to 34, +100.0% in total, +41.4% a year compounded), with 40 total units.
AT STAKEOne unit at the Item 7 midpoint: $381K a year in payments on assumed SBA 7(a)-style terms.You put in about $589K of your own cash and personally guarantee a $2.4M loan. Assumptions are labeled in Sales; not investment advice.See what one unit could make and lose
Things to check before you sign (1)
- The franchisor keeps the right to compete inside your territory (Item 12, territory).
Checked and clear: no auditor doubt that the franchisor can keep operating, no net loss of franchised outlets in the latest Item 20 years, no pending lawsuit naming the franchisor, no jury-trial waiver, no rule that the owner must run it personally and the full filing on file, and an Item 19 average from 17 units. Not on file here, so ask: SBA charge-off rate against the category median and supplier rebates.
What to do next
Step 1: Read the FDD itself.
Free: read the 2025 filing on this site, page by page. The franchisor must also give you its current FDD at least 14 days before you sign or pay. Or look it up in a state registry (Wisconsin, Minnesota, California). What to read first.
Step 2: Talk to current and former owners.
Free: Item 20 of the FDD lists every current owner and those who left last year, most with a phone number. Questions to ask.
Step 3: Talk to an SBA lender.
Free: the SBA's Lender Match, or the lenders already lending to this brand in the SBA section. Ask what you would personally guarantee and what the monthly payment would be. If you plan to use retirement savings, ask a CPA about the rules for that first.
Step 4: Have a franchise attorney review the FDD and agreement.
Free: your state bar's lawyer referral service can name franchise lawyers, and many offer a short first consultation. Bring the checks listed above.
Research steps, not investment or legal advice.
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost (the Item 7 midpoint) is 9.5× the Pet Services median ($309K).
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7 (fees and startup costs)
Do you qualify? The filing states no minimum net worth or liquid capital. Ask K-9 Franchising, LLC (Item 1: 400 Connell Park Dr., Floor 5, Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922) and your lender what they require, and keep living costs for the first year outside the deal.
FDD Item 7 (startup costs) · 2025 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $50K | $50K |
| Working capital (first 3 months) | $105K | $129K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $2.1M | $3.4M |
| Total initial investment | $2.3M | $3.6M |
Source: K9 Resorts 2025 FDD, Items 5 and 7[2]. “Equipment, build-out, other” is computed as total minus disclosed line items above.
Item 6 · what you pay once you are open
Ongoing fees
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 7.0% of gross revenues |
| Marketing / ad fundBrand-wide marketing pool. Currently 1% of monthly Gross Revenues; up to 2% | 1.0% of gross revenues |
| Technology fee$206 per month; covers software development fees, website development and maintenance and other technology fees | $206/month |
| Transfer fee | $24,750 |
| Renewal fee | $7,500 |
| Total fee loadnear the Pet Services median of 8.0% | 8.0% of sales |
What do units actually make?
Average gross sales are 2.8× the Pet Services median ($555K).
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 19 (sales and earnings)
Items 6 (other fees), 7 (startup costs) and 19 (sales and earnings) · assumptions labeled
What you could make and lose: one unit
What one K9 Resorts unit would ask of you, from the filing's Item 7 total and labeled assumptions.
Average gross sales are $1.6M (FDD p.74), and the royalty and ad fund take about $126K of that a year (Item 6). This brand's Item 19 prints cost or operating-income lines that are not on this page yet. Read them in Item 19 and enter them here. So this box does not estimate a profit. To cover the loan payment alone, one unit has to clear $381K a year after its food, labor, rent and other costs and the franchisor's fees.
How these figures are worked out
- Loan (assumption): 80% of the $2.9M Item 7 midpoint is a $2.4M loan, paid over 10 years at 10.5%: $381K a year. SBA 7(a)-style terms on a long-term rate; your lender sets yours. K9 Resorts' past SBA 7(a) loans averaged 7.7% at approval; 7(a) rates move with the prime rate, so 10.5% is a current-rate assumption, not this brand's history.
What you put at risk
Your own cash in: about $589K Assumption (the part the loan does not cover of the $2.9M Item 7 midpoint), plus whatever anything Item 7 leaves out (its notes say what). The loan is $2.4M.
Personal guarantee. SBA 7(a) loans require a personal guarantee from anyone who owns 20% or more of the business. If the unit cannot pay, the lender can collect from you personally, which can include your savings and your home. The worst case is losing the cash you put in and still owing the rest of the loan.
Gross sales are not profit, and none of these figures is take-home pay until tax and every operating cost are paid. The assumptions are ours, not the filing's. Not investment advice.
Returns modelOne unit · several units · editable
One unit
One unit: what is left after the loan payment
Gross sales, minus the franchisor's fees and the operating costs, is the unit's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization). Minus an assumed loan payment, that is what is left for you, before tax. Gross sales are not profit.
This brand's Item 19 prints cost or operating-income lines that are not on this page yet. Read them in Item 19 and enter them here. Invested capital is the Item 7 total, which already includes its working-capital (additional funds) line.
Returns model · one unit
What would one K9 Resorts unit leave you each year after the loan payment?
Item 19 reports $1,574,415 per unit.
Gross sales, not profit: the costs below decide what is left.
Item 6, as stored, a year. A fixed fee, so it comes off EBITDA as dollars, not a share of sales.
This brand's Item 19 prints cost or operating-income lines that are not on this page yet. Read them in Item 19 and enter them here.
Illustrative category typicals, not sourced to any filing, survey or sample. Replace them with figures from franchisee validation calls before you rely on the output.
Item 7 midpoint of $2.3M to $3.6M
Item 7's $105K to $129K additional funds are already in the total
Left after the loan payment · per year
The unit's EBITDA minus the assumed loan payment. Before tax, depreciation and any cost your inputs leave out (insurance, accounting and legal, licenses, technology fees): not take-home pay.
Gross sales are not profit. Neither the filing nor a stated assumption on this page supplies direct costs, labor, rent / occupancy and other operating costs. Enter your own (a lease quote, owner calls) and the model runs on it.
Loan of $2.4M at 10.5% over 10 years, an assumption, not a quote. Return and payback are before tax, depreciation and the costs above. The loan usually needs your personal guarantee.
Buying several existing units? The acquisition scenario
Buying several units
What buying a few existing units could return
Prices an existing operator of a few units off the single-unit EBITDA above, after shared services, and finances it with an SBA 7(a) loan, a conventional loan and a seller note. It shows the yearly return on your cash (IRR), whether year-1 earnings cover the loan payments (DSCR) and how the price is paid for. It starts at 5 units; every deal term is an assumption you can change, and none is from the FDD.
Not modelled yet
Gross sales are not profit. Neither the filing nor a stated assumption on this page supplies direct costs, labor, rent / occupancy and other operating costs. Enter your own (a lease quote, owner calls) and the model runs on it.
This scenario starts from a per-unit EBITDA. Fill in the operating costs in the one-unit model above and it runs on that figure, or take it to the full ROI workbench, where the multi-unit and acquisition models accept your own per-unit economics.
These models are for research and scenario planning only. Not investment advice. Actual results depend on your specific location, management, and market conditions. Consult a franchise attorney and accountant before signing any franchise agreement.
Item 19 · Source: 2025 FDD · filed by K-9 Franchising, LLC
Financial performance
- Transparency
- 6 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 (more detail than most)
Percentile ranks within Pet Services
Each rank is among the Pet Services brands that report that figure (the count is under each bar).
Average gross sales are only 0.5x the investment midpoint, so recouping the initial outlay is likely to take years even at strong margins. Gross sales are not profit.
vs Pet Services medians
How K9 Resorts compares
Category median of published Pet Services brands that report the figure; the middle half spans the 25th to 75th percentile and n counts the brands behind it. Medians are used because a few very large systems pull an average far from the typical brand. Revenue is disclosed gross sales, not profit.
Who are you contracting with?
K-9 Franchising, LLC, owned by K-9 Holdings, LLC.
Item 1 (the franchisor) · who you're contracting with
The franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- K-9 Franchising, LLC
- Parent company
- K-9 Holdings, LLC
- FDD Item 1, page 8 of the 2025 FDD
- Predecessor
- K-9 Resorts Franchising, LLC
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- Co-Founder and CEO
- Jason D. Parker
- Incorporated in
- NJ
- HQ
- 400 Connell Park Dr., Floor 5, Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922
- Auditor
- EisnerAmper LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $5.4M
- latest fiscal year in the 2025 FDD; $4.0M the year before
Overview
About
- CEO
- Jason D. Parker
- States and territories listed
- 17
- registered or offered in, as the filing lists them (DC and territories included); not where units may open
Is the system healthy?
+17 franchised outlets over the two years to 2024 (17 to 34, +100.0% in total, +41.4% a year compounded).
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20 (outlets opened, closed and transferred)
Item 20 (outlet counts) · unit dynamics
The growth chart
- Company-owned
- 6
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 85%
- vs corporate-owned
Last fiscal year · Item 20 rates and pipeline
- Signed, not yet open
- 2,022
- 50.55 per open outlet · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 18
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
Item 20 · franchised units at year end
Franchised units rose from 17 in 2022 to 34 in 2024
Axis does not start at zero.
Source and method
Fast growth in a small system. Newer franchisors expanding quickly may not yet have the support infrastructure of larger systems.
Government records
SBA loan data
Lenders charged off 15.4% of 13 resolved SBA 7(a) loans. 7(a) is the SBA's main small-business loan; a resolved loan was paid in full or charged off.
- Loans on file
- 37
- SBA 7(a) loans matched to this brand, incl. those still being repaid
- Loan volume
- $65.2M
- Average loan
- $1.8M
- loan volume divided by loans
- Charge-off rate
- 15.4%
- 2 of 13 resolved loans
- Paid in full
- 84.6%
- of resolved loans
- Recent-loan charge-off
- Not shown
- fewer than 10 recent loans resolved on file
- Lenders
- 12
- Average interest rate
- 7.7%
- Jobs reported
- 759
- Lender concentration
- 30%
- top lender's share
Cumulative: every 7(a) loan matched to this brand in the SBA’s FOIA files, approved FY1991 onward. Historical lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
Borrower mix: of the 33 loans with a recorded business age, 28 (85%) went to startups or businesses under two years old and 5 (15%) to established businesses or ownership changes.
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Full SBA lending reportlenders · charge-off rate · trend
Lender network · SBA 7(a)
SBA Lending Report
Lender, state and yearly detail for K9 Resorts from SBA 7(a) FOIA loan records.
- Average SBA guarantee
- 74%
- Average interest rate
- 7.7%
- Lender concentration
- 30%
- Jobs reported
- 759
Charge-off rate by state (top 10 by loans)
| State | Loans | Charged off | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| NJ New Jersey | 13 | 1 | Too few7 resolved |
| PA Pennsylvania | 6 | 1 | Too few1 resolved |
| KS Kansas | 3 | 0 | Too few0 resolved |
| NY New York | 3 | 0 | Too few0 resolved |
| NC North Carolina | 2 | 0 | Too few2 resolved |
| NM New Mexico | 2 | 0 | Too few1 resolved |
| AR Arkansas | 1 | 0 | Too few0 resolved |
| AZ Arizona | 1 | 0 | Too few1 resolved |
| FL Florida | 1 | 0 | Too few0 resolved |
| IA Iowa | 1 | 0 | Too few1 resolved |
Rate: charged-off loans over resolved loans (paid in full plus charged off), shown from 10 resolved loans. "Too few": under 10 resolved. The Loans column counts every approval in the window, including loans still being repaid.
SBA 7(a) loans approved per year
Borrower profile
The SBA's own business-age labels (3)
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA loan-level data, matched to the brand by FranchiseVerdict.
What are the risks?
Main risk in the grade: financial health, then unit economics. The reasons are below.
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Verdict grade + FDD Items 3 (litigation), 4 (bankruptcy), 8 (required suppliers), 16 (what you may sell), 21 (audited financials)
Risk and legal
Grade C: Middle tier, 40/100 (category median 53); the full grade is at the top of the page.
How the grade is built
The main risks for K9 Resorts are rapid expansion without financial transparency, litigation history, and aggressive capital requirements relative to reported profitability.
Why a C, factor by factor
- Financial health Weighs on it, weakest dimensionAudited financials; no going-concern doubt; franchisor reported a net loss; negative net worth
- Unit economics Weighs on itAvg gross sales $1.6M on a $2.9M investment midpoint, 0.5x (gross sales, not profit)
- Unit growth Helps+17 franchised outlets over the two years to 2024 (17 to 34, +100.0% in total, +41.4% a year compounded); turnover 0.0%
- Scale Neutral34 franchised units, +6 company-owned (40 in all); franchising since 2011
- Legal HelpsNo litigation naming the franchisor in Item 3
- Transparency HelpsItem 19 discloses financial performance; audited financials
- Adjustments after the six dimensions (-6 points)SBA loan record: the SBA charge-off rate (15.4% on 13 resolved loans) is between 10% and 20%, a range the score counts against a brand, so it took 6 points off. The score uses fixed ranges, not the category median, so a rate below its category median can still cost points.
From the six scored dimensions, an editorial assessment, not investment advice. How the score is built
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: the franchisor is a named party (defendant).
Sonflower LLC et al. v. K9 Resorts Malvern LLC (E.D. Pa. 2021): breach of management agreement; settled for $125,250
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · EisnerAmper LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
The revenue figures are in the Franchisor tab, under The franchisor.
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Franchisor (K-9 Franchising, LLC) audited Statements of Operations FY2024 total revenues $5,375,673 (FY2023 $4,046,590), comprising franchise fees $1,310,025, franchise royalties $2,785,611, brand development/technology/other fees $792,943, real estate fees $88,500, and other revenues $398,594. Net loss FY2024 $(3,126,949). Audited by EisnerAmper LLP (Iselin, NJ), April 30, 2025. Balance sheet shows member's deficit of $(1,359,326), i.e. negative net worth.
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
Notes from the filing review · not the score inputs
- 01MINORAggressive unit growth (41.7% YoY) suggests rapid expansion that may outpace quality control and franchisee support infrastructure
- 02HIGHLitigation history with breach of contract and conversion allegations indicates potential franchisor-franchisee relationship issues despite settlement
- 03MEDMargin compression risk: Average net income of $221,590 on $1.57M revenue (14.1% net margin) leaves limited buffer for underperforming locations
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
Litigation case detail1 matter · Item 3
Litigation cases
Parent, affiliates, master franchisor and subfranchisor
Concluded (1)
Sonflower LLC, Edgar S. DeLong, Jr. and Cheri A. Delong v. K9 Resorts Malvern, LLC
settledBrought by a franchisee · K9 Resorts Malvern, LLC (our affiliate) · filed 2021-04-12 · United States District Court, District of Eastern Pennsylvania · 2:221-cv-01701
“… (Case No. 2:221-cv-01701) United States District Court, District of Eastern Pennsylvania).”Page 13 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Outcome: “On June 25, 2021 the parties reached a settlement agreement wherein the litigation matter was dismissed and K9 Resorts Malvern, LLC agreed to pay $125,250 to the former franchisee’s lender in consideration of the lender releasing its UCC lien against Sonflower, LLC and provided a release to Sonflower.”
Item 3 lists the litigation the franchisor must disclose; a matter against a parent, an affiliate or a named officer is not a matter against the franchisor, and pending claims are allegations, not findings.
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 8.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before your own operating costs.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12 (territory), 15 (owner participation) and 17 (renewal, termination and disputes)
Contract and territory detail
| Allowed renewals | 2 |
|---|---|
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territory | No |
| Territory radius | 4 mi |
| Territory population | 160,000 |
| Online sales rights | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Who runs it (Item 15) | A manager may run it |
| Non-compete (years) | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles) | 5 mi |
| Right of first refusal | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination grounds | 22 |
| Curable defaults | 3 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Union County, New Jersey |
| Jury trial waiver | No |
| Governing law | NJ |
Items 5 (initial fees), 7 (startup costs), 12 (territory) and 20 (outlet counts) · development agreement
Area development (several units)
The filing offers a development agreement for several units.
Every term, with its page
- Development fee
- For the development of 4 or more locations, the development fee will increase by $43,166.66 per location..
2025 FDD p.13
“For the development of 4 or more locations, the development fee will increase by $43,166.66 per location.”Open p.13 in the filing - Signed, not yet open
- 2,022 franchises sold but not open at year end (Item 20, Table 5; see Growth). Ask how long they have been waiting and why.
Each unit still needs its own Item 7 investment on top of the development fee. Have a franchise attorney read the schedule and the default terms before you sign.
Items 10 (financing), 11 (training and support)
Training and operations
- Classroom training
- 25 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 50 hrs
- Training location
- K-9 Resort location in NJ and/or the Franchised Business location
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 18 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- Franchisee with franchisor approval
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Gingr
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 (initial fees) & 11 (training and support)
Franchisor support
Franchisee contacts
We hold no owner list for this brand. Item 20 of the FDD lists the current and former owners; the free FDD is the source.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to open a K9 Resorts franchise?
Per the 2025 FDD, the total investment to open a K9 Resorts franchise ranges from $2.3M to $3.6M, with an initial franchise fee of $50K. This is the Item 7 total in the Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD): the startup costs the franchisor lists, such as build-out, equipment, inventory and working capital. It usually leaves out buying land or a building; Item 7's notes say what is excluded.
What do K9 Resorts franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the K9 Resorts FDD, average gross sales were $1.6M (17 outlets reporting; gross sales, not profit). What an owner keeps depends on location, operating costs and management.
Who owns K9 Resorts?
K9 Resorts is franchised by K-9 Franchising, LLC. Its parent company is K-9 Holdings, LLC. Source: FDD Item 1, 2025 filing.
What is Item 19 in the K9 Resorts FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. FranchiseVerdict extracts these figures directly from the K9 Resorts FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is K9 Resorts' franchise failure rate?
There is no published franchise failure rate. What is measurable is K9 Resorts' SBA charge-off rate: 15.4% on 13 resolved loans. Put plainly: 1 in 6 SBA 7(a) loans to K9 Resorts owners charged off (2 of 13 resolved loans, approved since FY1991). The SBA charge-off rate is the share of a brand's resolved SBA 7(a) loans to its franchisees that the SBA wrote off, including purchased guarantees. Resolved means paid in full or charged off; active loans are excluded because their outcome is not yet known. It is a lending outcome, not a count of closed businesses. A franchisee can repay and close, or default and keep trading.
How many K9 Resorts franchise locations are there?
Per the 2025 FDD, K9 Resorts has 34 franchised units and 6 company-owned (40 in all). The pipeline has stalled: 2,022 agreements signed but not yet open against 40 open outlets.
Is K9 Resorts a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict gives K9 Resorts a C Verdict grade (Middle tier) with a verdict score of 40 out of 100 (higher is better), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Helped by unit growth, legal record and transparency. Held back by financial health (audited financials) and unit economics (avg gross sales $1.6M on a $2.9M investment midpoint, 0.5x: gross sales, not profit). The “Why a C” section on this page lists all six dimensions and any adjustment. Speak with current franchisees before making any investment decision.
Other Pet Services franchises
Similar investment first, then by grade
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.