Scout’s Honor started with one very energetic, very cute, very good girl: a goldendoodle named Scout.

 

While attending Indiana University, Allison and Henry brought Scout home as a puppy in 2016 and quickly realized that traditional dog daycare wasn’t meeting her needs. Both working full-time retail management jobs while balancing school they relied on daycare to help keep Scout active and fulfilled during the day. Before long, Scout was attending daycare five days a week and still coming home bursting with energy. Hoping companionship would help, they welcomed a second goldendoodle, June, into the family.

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For two years, Scout and June seemed happy in daycare. Then one day at pickup, Allison and Henry were told the dogs had been removed from their playgroup. The reason? Scout and June had become so bonded to each other that they excluded other dogs and reacted poorly when others tried to join their play.

 

What shocked Allison most was that no one had ever communicated any behavioral concerns before that moment.

 

Around the same time, Allison met Kristen, the daycare manager, during an agility class. When Allison asked what had happened, Kristen gave a simple answer:

 

“They’re bored.”

 

Kristen explained what many traditional daycare environments looked like behind the scenes: large groups of 20–60 dogs in open play with little structured engagement, limited human interaction, and almost no mental enrichment. Allison realized she was providing more stimulation and fulfillment for Scout and June at home than they were receiving in daycare.

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Kristen agreed. She had long wanted to introduce enrichment programs and more intentional care practices, but was repeatedly told they were too expensive and not profitable enough to implement.

 

That conversation changed everything.

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In 2018, after graduating from Indiana University, Allison began pet sitting and offering in-home daycare through Rover while preparing for graduate school. Her approach looked very different from traditional daycare. Dogs in her care received structured socialization, rest breaks, walks through Bryan Park, toys, and individualized attention designed to meet their emotional and behavioral needs and not just burn physical energy.

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The response was overwhelming. Her business grew so quickly that graduate school quietly faded into the background.

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Meanwhile, Allison and Kristen stayed close. Their shared love of dogs, hiking, live music, video games, and animal welfare quickly turned friendship into partnership. Together, alongside several people who are now part of the Scout’s Honor team, they co-founded a nonprofit rescue focused on helping “unadoptable” dogs develop the skills needed to thrive in permanent homes. Together, they helped rescue and rehabilitate more than 70 dogs.

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But throughout those years, one thing became painfully clear: much of the pet care industry was failing both dogs and the people caring for them.

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In 2020, Kristen left the corporate daycare world entirely. Allison was stunned to learn how little daycare managers and staff were paid despite the emotional, physical, and behavioral demands of the work. The industry often treated low wages and burnout as the “price” of getting to work with dogs.

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At the same time, Allison was battling a severe Crohn’s disease flare and could no longer physically manage a 15-dog in-home daycare operation. Both of them understood firsthand that pet care is not easy work. Pet care is physically demanding, emotionally taxing, and incredibly important.

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They decided to build the kind of company they wished already existed.

It was during the pandemic. They had a lot of free time. 

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Scout’s Honor was founded on a simple belief: better care for dogs starts with better care for people.

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From the beginning, Scout’s Honor was designed around enrichment-based care rooted in behavioral science: creating environments that encourage healthy behaviors, reduce stress, prevent overstimulation, and allow dogs to make safe, rewarding choices throughout the day. Instead of simply managing large groups of dogs, the focus became creating meaningful experiences that fulfill dogs mentally, emotionally, socially, and physically.

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At the same time, Allison and Kristen committed to building a workplace where employees could build real careers in pet care through fair pay, generous PTO, health insurance, growth opportunities, and a culture designed to prevent burnout.

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Because happier, supported employees create calmer, safer, happier dogs.

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What started as a small enrichment-based daycare model has since grown far beyond what they originally imagined. Kristen helped scale Allison’s personalized report cards and enrichment philosophy into a full facility model, and together they expanded Scout’s Honor into grooming, training, and a team dedicated to raising the standard for pet care in their community.

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Their work has since earned national and international recognition. Scout’s Honor has won Best of Bloomington every year since opening and received the Pet Care Excellence Award from the International Boarding & Pet Services Association (IBPSA). Scout’s Honor also became the first facility featured as a cover story in Pet Boarding & Daycare Magazine by Barkleigh, highlighting the company’s science-based, enrichment-focused business model.

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Today, Allison and Kristen are frequent guest speakers on industry podcasts and educational platforms, where they share insights on dog behavior, enrichment, leadership, company culture, and the realities of building a resilient start-up in the pet care industry.

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They continue to grow for one reason:

To create more good jobs, help more dogs thrive, and prove that transparent, enrichment-based pet care should be a standard, not a luxury.

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Scout’s Honor was built from passion, frustration, experience, and the belief that dogs deserve better.