Quick-expanding Costa Mesa business offers canine care to hundreds of clients
The words are visible as clients enter the lobby of Bark Collective in Costa Mesa.
“What Doggy Dreams Are Made Of,” it says in big letters etched on the wall.
But it’s actually one human, Jillian Parks, whose years of hard work have led to the growth of her dream — this fast-expanding doggy daycare, boarding and training business.
Working with dogs is what Parks, 34, has done nearly her whole adult life, after a few years working with children with autism and related disorders.
It started as a dog-walking and training business out of her home, until Parks and her husband Dan opened the storefront on West 16th Street.
“The dogs slept at my house for years and years and years,” said Parks, who lives in Costa Mesa, with a laugh. “We just ran out of room and needed a place. We started looking and found this spot, which really worked out for us. It was already a doggy daycare. It had shut down during COVID. We were able to get in and get a lease.”
With the new building came a new name for the business. Gone was the relatively generic OC Pet Care.
Bark Collective was born, and the facility opened in November 2021.
“We wanted to use the word collective just because she built our company based on community and collective with the owners,” said Dan Parks, 39. “We wanted to encompass that and bring everybody together.
“I think it’s a lot more enjoyable than OC Pet Care,” he added with a laugh.
The Parks still offer doggy daycare services and training, as well as boarding. They also do plenty of dog walking, including pack walk adventures — where dogs go out for four or eight hours a day.
Chanel Pyle has two dogs in Georgia, an 8-year-old shepherd mix and Ziggy, a 2-year-old mutt. She said Bark Collective staff walks her dogs at least three days a week.
“They’re the only people that I let have a key to our house, so they are very well-trusted,” said Pyle, who also lives in Costa Mesa. “Jillian is just so crazy knowledgeable about dogs’ behaviors and why they act certain ways. Georgia can have kind of a spicy side to her, and she really helped the transition when we brought our baby home from the hospital. I’m actually having another baby, hopefully next week, so she’s really helped the transition of bringing kids into the home with our dogs. She’s just incredible. I can’t say enough about her and Dan and the team.”
The facility may have a cute lobby, but it’s also bigger than it looks. It features 34 custom training rooms with bed frames and five-inch memory foam mattresses. There’s a training pit, two grass areas on each side of the property and a yard area out back.
Jillian Parks said her staff has grown from a few people prior to opening to 22 staff members now. The Bark Collective operations manager is Kyre Kock, who previously worked at CdM Animal Hospital for a decade.
“Customer service is so important to us,” Parks said. “I started my business just by saying ‘Yes’ to everything and working crazy hours. We do dog walks and training, but also we’ll take your dog and drop it off to get bathed every Friday, we’ll make sure you’re updated with your vaccines, we’ll take your dog to the vet. It’s very personal for the clients, and me and the dogs. Coming into this space, I wanted to make sure that we could keep that same customer service going.”
Lizzy Velez works as a physician assistant in Newport Beach. She said she works long hours, so she appreciates Bark Collective and brings her 3-year-old border collie mix Blueberry there twice a week for doggy daycare.
Included in the service is at least one picture of the dog sent each day to the owner from staff, so customers don’t need to worry how their furry friends are doing.
“When the van pulls up outside my place, my dog can hear it,” said Newport Beach resident Darci Riecken of her 4-year-old mixed breed Truly. “She starts crying with excitement and runs to the front door. It’s pretty funny.”
Jillian Parks has a few tips for dog owners. She advises owners that are doing crate training to not only use the crates at night, and offers advice to remember when you’re petting your dog.
“When we’re petting our dog, we’re reinforcing whatever state of mind they’re in,” she said. “If your dog is excited, and you come home and you’re petting your dog, all your dog understands is, ‘Oh, you really like this behavior? I’m going to keep doing it more.’”
Business is booming after the pandemic; Dan Parks said Bark Collective has about 700 clients, including up to 300 that come in regularly for services.
Now they are trying to scout out their second Orange County location, as well as a possible separate training facility.
There’s definitely more love to spread.
“I don’t have a huge family,” Jillian Parks said. “To me, this feels like family.”
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.
