Camp Bow Wow franchise unit economics
Camp Bow Wow franchisees run dog day camp and boarding buildings with cabins that also sell grooming and training.
Camp Bow Wow franchise at a glance
The 207 Camp Bow Wow camps open 24 months or more averaged Total Franchise Owner’s Benefit of 18.5% of gross sales in 2025, and EBITDA of 14.4%. Camp Bow Wow’s FDD defines Total Franchise Owner’s Benefit as EBITDA plus the salary owners pay themselves.
Camp Bow Wow franchisees averaged $1,089,860 of sales in 2025, with a median of $1,052,381, according to Item 19 of Camp Bow Wow’s 2026 FDD, issued 1 May 2026. The 207 in that group are 92%* of Camp Bow Wow’s 224 locations. Fees paid to Camp Bow Wow come to about 8%* of sales.
- A Camp Bow Wow franchise costs $954,606 to $1,229,536 to open, including a $50,000 initial franchise fee, according to the brand's 2026 FDD.
- Camp Bow Wow charges a royalty of 7% of sales, a 1% brand fund contribution and a $250 monthly technology fee.
- 45% of reporting Camp Bow Wow locations reached the average.
- At the average Camp Bow Wow location, wages took 42.6%, rent and space costs took 15.7% and cost of goods took 8.6% of sales.
- Work out Camp Bow Wow's fees at your own sales with the minimum fee calculator.
These figures come from Camp Bow Wow's 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, as the brand reported them, and were read by Averan Advisors.
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Talk to Averan → Move your books and accounting to Averan →- The bottom quarter's owner takes home $1,402 a month. That is $16,827 of owner's benefit on $780,768 of sales, and profit is a $4,755 loss before the owner is paid at all.
- Rent differs by 9% whether a camp bills $780,768 or $1,480,842. That is $172,789 against $188,454 *, 22.1% of sales at the bottom and 12.7% at the top.
- Fifty-eight cents of every extra sales dollar reaches the owner. That is $403,232 of additional benefit on $700,074 of additional sales between the bottom and top quarters *.
- Labor is 47.9% of sales at the bottom and 38.8% at the top. The 9.1-point gap is worth $71,050 at the bottom quarter's own revenue *, more than four times what it takes home.
- The royalty is 3.5% in year one and the greater of 7% or $2,500 a month after it. The opening year saves $38,145 at system-average sales, and the monthly minimum matches 7% only at $428,571 a year *.
How much does a Camp Bow Wow franchise make?
The average Camp Bow Wow unit reported $1,089,860 of revenue in the 2026 FDD, and the median reported $1,052,381. The brand’s disclosure document puts Total Franchise Owner’s Benefit, EBITDA plus owner salary, at 18.5% of revenue. Fees come off the top first, at about 8% of sales across royalty, brand fund and the rest of the stack. Revenue is not income. Rent, wages, cost of goods and the franchise fees all come out before an owner is paid. The figures for the highest-selling and lowest-selling camps are below.
Top performers
What separates the top Camp Bow Wow performers
Camp Bow Wow splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The top group averaged $1,480,842 a year. The lowest averaged $780,768. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees. The middle location sold $1,052,381. The average was $1,089,860. More than half the system is below the number the brand quotes.
Decided before you open
- Site and trade area.A 1.9× gap between bands, and 6.6× between the highest-selling and lowest-selling single location, is too wide for operations alone to explain. Catchment, daytime population and what sits next door set the ceiling before the first customer arrives.
- Capacity.Locations run 6,000 square feet. The build sets how much you can sell.
- Opening cost range.Opening costs $954,606 to $1,229,536, a 1.3× range inside one brand.
- Lease cost.Occupancy cost ran 15.7% of sales in this filing. Rent stays the same when sales fall, so it takes a larger share of sales at lower-selling locations.
- Fees and the minimum.Fees run about 8.0% of sales. A minimum fee also applies, so lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum.
Live operating levers
- Wages.Wages take 42.6% of sales, against Total Franchise Owner’s Benefit of 18.5%. The levers are staff productivity, scheduling against demand hour by hour, and the balance of base pay to commission.
- Occupancy cost.Rent and building costs take 15.7% of sales here. The rent is fixed when the lease is signed, so this share falls only as sales per square foot rise.
- Sales depend on pets served.The owner counts how many pets come through in a day and how many come back within the month.
Context you underwrite around
- Locations included.These figures cover 207 of 224 locations. Locations open less than the full year, brand-owned, or not meeting the reporting criteria are excluded, as are locations under the brand’s current size standard.
The profit line, three ways
Average profit statement, 2025
| Line | All 207 | Share | Top 52 | Share | Bottom 52 | Share | Points gained * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross sales | $1,089,860 | 100.0% | $1,480,842 | 100% | $780,768 | 100.0% | n/a |
| Cost of goods | $93,903 | 8.6% | $123,010 | 8.3% | $68,890 | 8.8% | 0.5 |
| Labor | $464,073 | 42.6% | $574,784 | 38.8% | $374,249 | 47.9% | 9.1 |
| Rent and facilities | $171,270 | 15.7% | $188,454 | 12.7% | $172,789 | 22.1% | 9.4 |
| Other operating | $203,949 | 18.7% | $248,754 | 16.8% | $169,595 | 21.7% | 4.9 |
| profit | $156,665 | 14.4% | $345,841 | 23.4% | −$4,755 | −0.6% | 24.0 |
| Owner's compensation | $44,605 | 4.1% | $74,218 | 5.0% | $21,582 | 2.8% | 2.2 |
| Total owner's benefit | $201,269 | 18.5% | $420,059 | 28.4% | $16,827 | 2.2% | 26.2 |
Every dollar figure and every percentage is as the brand reported it. The final column is marked *, measuring how many points of sales each line gives up between the bottom 52 and the top 52.
Rent and labor give up 18.5 of the 26.2 points. Rent gives up 9.4 and labor 9.1 *. Cost of goods and other operating costs together account for 5.4, and the owner's own salary for the rest.
The median camp keeps almost exactly what the average camp keeps. That is 18.0% against 18.5% of sales, on a median of $1,052,381 against an average of $1,089,860. The distribution is close to symmetric.
Camps range from $371,438 to $2,465,224 of sales. That is 6.6 times. The groups are ranked by profit, so the bottom quarter tops out at $1,293,176 while the top quarter starts at $957,444, so the two groups overlap by $335,732 of revenue.
Mean and median costs, 2025
Mean and median disagree most on the two lines an owner controls. Labor is 42.6% of sales on the mean and 37.3% on the median. Owner's compensation is 4.1% on the mean and 0.5% on the median, because most owners take their pay as a draw.
| Line | Mean | Share | Median | Share | Camps beating the mean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross sales | $1,089,860 | 100.0% | $1,052,381 | 100.0% | 93 of 207 (45%) |
| Cost of goods | $93,903 | 8.6% | $88,128 | 8.4% | 91 of 207 (44%) |
| Labor | $464,073 | 42.6% | $392,422 | 37.3% | 99 of 207 (48%) |
| Rent and facilities | $171,270 | 15.7% | $161,670 | 15.4% | 87 of 207 (42%) |
| Other operating | $203,949 | 18.7% | $158,564 | 15.1% | 72 of 207 (35%) |
| profit | $156,665 | 14.4% | $145,680 | 13.8% | 96 of 207 (46%) |
| Owner's compensation | $44,605 | 4.1% | $5,578 | 0.5% | 70 of 207 (34%) |
| Total owner's benefit | $201,269 | 18.5% | $189,771 | 18.0% | 100 of 207 (48%) |
As the brand reported it.
Owner’s compensation has a median of $5,578 against a mean of $44,605. Most owners take their money as a draw through the balance sheet, which sits outside these figures, so owner’s benefit is the better measure of what an owner takes.
Discounts available
- Camp Bow Wow charges current owners $35,000 for an additional franchise.
- Camp Bow Wow charges U.S. veterans who meet VetFran requirements $25,000 (50% off).
- Camp Bow Wow charges first responders (paramedics, EMTs, police, sheriffs and firefighters) $25,000 (50% off).
From Item 5 of the Camp Bow Wow 2026 FDD. The costs on this page use the full initial franchise fee for one unit, before any discount.
Same box, different revenue
Revenue against the prototype camp
The current prototype is about 6,000 square feet, give or take 15%, housing up to 80 cabins with 50 required to open. Read against that footprint, the difference between the top and bottom quarters is entirely on the sales side. The rent per square foot is within 9% across the whole system. The sales per square foot vary by 90%.
| Measure | All 207 | Top 52 | Bottom 52 | Top against bottom |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales a square foot | $181.64 | $246.81 | $130.13 | 1.90× |
| Rent and facilities a square foot | $28.54 | $31.41 | $28.80 | 1.09× |
| Labor a square foot | $77.35 | $95.80 | $62.37 | 1.54× |
| Owner's benefit a square foot | $33.54 | $70.01 | $2.80 | 25.0× |
| Sales per cabin at 80 cabins | $13,623 | $18,511 | $9,760 | 1.90× |
| Sales per cabin at the 50 required to open | $21,797 | $29,617 | $15,615 | 1.90× |
Every figure here is marked *, dividing each filed average by the prototype footprint and cabin count.
Owner's benefit per square foot runs 25 times higher at the top. It is $70.01 against $2.80 a square foot *, on rent that differs by $2.61 a foot.
The bottom quarter pays $28.80 a square foot and earns $130.13. Rent and facilities are 22.1% of what comes in *, which is the single clearest reading of why that group ends the year at $16,827.
Bottom quarter against top quarter
Between the bottom quarter and the top, sales rise $700,074 and owner's benefit rises $403,232. That is 57.6 cents of every additional dollar, because the costs that scale with revenue are labor and cost of goods and the ones that stay put are rent, facilities and most of the operating block.
| Line | Bottom 52 | Top 52 | Extra dollars | Share of the extra sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross sales | $780,768 | $1,480,842 | $700,074 | 100.0% |
| Cost of goods | $68,890 | $123,010 | $54,120 | 7.7% |
| Labor | $374,249 | $574,784 | $200,535 | 28.6% |
| Rent and facilities | $172,789 | $188,454 | $15,664 | 2.2% |
| Other operating | $169,595 | $248,754 | $79,159 | 11.3% |
| Owner's benefit | $16,827 | $420,059 | $403,232 | 57.6% |
The two quarter averages are as the brand reported it. The extra-dollars and share columns are marked *, subtracting one from the other and dividing by the sales difference.
Rent takes 2.2 cents of each additional sales dollar. $15,664 of extra rent against $700,074 of extra sales *, which is the whole argument for filling the camp you already pay for.
Fees and the royalty step
Royalty and fees
The royalty is 3.5% of sales for the first twelve months. After that it is 7% of sales, or a monthly minimum if that is higher. The minimum rises from $1,500 to $2,500 over the first two years. Add a 1% advertising fund, a 3% local advertising requirement and $250 a month of technology, plus up to $1,000 a month of required third-party software.
| Charge | Rate | At $1,089,860 of sales * |
|---|---|---|
| Royalty, first year | 3.5% of net revenue | $38,145 |
| Royalty, year two onward | the greater of 7% or the monthly minimum | $76,290 |
| Advertising fund | 1%, may rise to 3% | $10,899 |
| Local advertising | 3% of net revenue | $32,696 |
| Technology | $250 a month, plus up to $1,000 of third-party software | $3,000 to $15,000 |
| Paid to the brand, from year two | 8% plus $250 a month of technology | $90,189 |
Rates and charges are as the brand reported it; the dollar column is marked *, applying each to the group's average gross sales. Local advertising and the third-party software are not in the paid-to-the-brand row.
Year one saves $38,145 at system-average sales. That is half the royalty for twelve months *. That is about a fifth of what an average camp's owner takes home in a full year, in the first year of trading.
Local advertising costs more than the advertising fund does. Local advertising is 3% and the fund 1% *, so $32,696 of the $43,595 the two advertising lines take together stays under the owner's control.
What it costs to open
Cost to open
Building work runs $516,735 to $663,917 after the landlord's contribution. The brand took those figures from contractor bids on the current 6,000 square foot design. Cabins and interior fencing add $76,750, equipment and opening inventory $136,799, and a webcam system, the feature the brand is known for, another $23,639 to $29,000.
| Line | Low | High | Share of the low estimate * |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $50,000 | $50,000 | 5.2% |
| Improvements to a leased building | $516,735 | $663,917 | 54.1% |
| Equipment, supplies and opening inventory | $136,799 | $136,799 | 14.3% |
| Dog cabins and interior fencing | $76,750 | $76,750 | 8.0% |
| Webcam system | $23,639 | $29,000 | 2.5% |
| Plans and permits | $31,000 | $65,000 | 3.2% |
| Signage | $4,846 | $8,000 | 0.5% |
| Pre-opening personnel | $5,592 | $34,281 | 0.6% |
| Deposits | $7,335 | $11,460 | 0.8% |
| Professional services | $910 | $11,864 | 0.1% |
| Training travel | $1,000 | $2,965 | 0.1% |
| Launch advertising | $15,000 | $15,000 | 1.6% |
| Financing fees | $0 | $39,500 | 0.0% |
| Project management fee | $5,000 | $5,000 | 0.5% |
| Additional funds, three months | $80,000 | $80,000 | 8.4% |
| Total | $954,606 | $1,229,536 | 100% |
Amounts are as the brand reported it and the share column is marked *; both columns add to their stated totals exactly.
Payback on the low estimate is 4.74 years at the system average. That is $954,606 against $201,269 of owner's benefit *, falling to 2.27 years in the top quarter.
Openings ran 14, then 13, then 3. Camps in the United States went from 199 to 224 over three years. At the end of 2025, 25 owners had signed and had no camp open yet. The brand expects 17 to open in the coming year.
Questions we get asked
Questions owners ask.
How much does a Camp Bow Wow franchise make?
Camp Bow Wow franchisees averaged $1,089,860 of sales in 2025, with a median of $1,052,381, according to Item 19 of Camp Bow Wow’s 2026 FDD, issued 1 May 2026. The 207 in that group are 92%* of Camp Bow Wow’s 224 locations. Fees paid to Camp Bow Wow come to about 8%* of sales.
What does a Camp Bow Wow camp bill and keep?
Gross sales averaged $1,089,860 across 207 camps in 2025 with a median of $1,052,381, a high of $2,465,224 and a low of $371,438. Total owner's benefit averaged $201,269, or 18.5% of sales, with a median of $189,771.
How apart are the highest and lowest camps at Camp Bow Wow?
The top 52 on profitability average $1,480,842 of sales and keep 28.4%, or $420,059. The bottom 52 average $780,768 and keep 2.2%, or $16,827, with profit at a $4,755 loss before the owner's own salary.
Where does the money go at Camp Bow Wow?
Labor at 42.6% of sales, other operating costs at 18.7%, rent and facilities at 15.7% and cost of goods at 8.6%, which includes the royalty. That leaves 14.4% of profit before any owner's salary.
What fees does Camp Bow Wow charge?
Camp Bow Wow charges 3.5% of net revenue in the first year while in good standing, then the greater of 7% or a monthly minimum rising to $2,500. Add a 1% advertising fund that may rise to 3%, a 3% local advertising requirement and $250 a month of technology plus up to $1,000 of required third-party software.
How much does a Camp Bow Wow franchise cost to open?
A Camp Bow Wow franchise costs $954,606 to $1,229,536 to open. Building work is $516,735 to $663,917 after the landlord's contribution. Cabins and fencing are $76,750, equipment and stock $136,799, and three months of spare cash $80,000. The current prototype is about 6,000 square feet with up to 80 cabins and 50 required to open.
Questions worth putting to Camp Bow Wow
The filing answers what it answers. These are the gaps an owner or a buyer should close directly.
- Is the profit figure in Item 19 before or after owner pay, and how many locations sit below it?
- Which factors does Camp Bow Wow see in its highest-selling locations, such as trade area, years open and size?
- How long does a new location take to reach the average you publish, and what does the build-up look like month by month?
- At what level of sales do the minimum charges stop applying and the percentage take over?
- How many Camp Bow Wow locations closed, were sold, or changed hands last year, and why?
Run your own numbers.
The Franchise Numbers Check runs the same checks on your own numbers. It scores where you stand and compares you with Item 19 of your brand’s FDD. It works out what one location earns and spends, and builds a 13-week cash forecast. It checks whether you are ready to open another one. It is free and it runs in your browser.
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We review your unit economics and cash forecast and build your reporting around labor measured against dog attendance hour by hour, rent read as a percentage. Owner's benefit separated cleanly from owner's draw.
Talk to AveranWhere these figures come from.
Every figure here comes from Camp Bow Wow Franchising, Inc.’s 2026 FDD and is unaudited by us. We are unaffiliated with the brand. Calculations of our own are labeled where they appear. The figures describe past performance at other businesses and are not a projection of yours. This page is an educational summary. It is not an offer to sell a franchise, and it is not financial, legal or tax advice. Camp Bow Wow® is a registered trademark of its owner. How Averan reads a Franchise Disclosure Document.
These figures come from the brand's disclosure. They are not a forecast, an offer to sell a franchise or advice. Source: Camp Bow Wow Franchising, Inc., 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, issued 1 May 2026.
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Camp Bow Wow reads against the rest of the dog daycare and boarding group: Central Bark · Dogtopia · Hounds Town USA. The dog daycare and boarding guide compares all of them on the same figures.
Questions owners ask next
The figures above raise these, and each one is answered on its own page.
- At what level of sales does a minimum fee stop costing me more than the percentage?It works out the sales level where a minimum fee stops applying.
- How much cash do I fund before a new location covers its own costs?It builds a 13-week forecast for the months before break-even.
- My payroll percentage keeps climbing. Is that a payroll problem?It shows how to tell whether payroll is rising or revenue is falling.
- What does this location earn on the money I put into it?It works out the payback period and cash-on-cash return for one unit.
- How much of Item 19 can I rely on?It explains what an Item 19 financial performance representation tells you and what it leaves out.