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Pet daycare offers a variety of services to Turlock community at new space
K-9's on the Move
Susan, Madison and James Sinford opened K-9’s on the Move to care for Turlock’s four-legged residents (CHRISTOPHER CORREA/The Journal).

Name of business: K-9’s on the Move

 

Type of business: Pet services

 

Location: 1001 S Berkeley Ave., Turlock

 

Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays to Fridays; 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays; Closed on Sundays

 

Contact information: k9sonthemove@gmail.com, (209) 250-1151

 

Specialty: Dog walking, pet sitting, pet transportation, pet grooming

 

 

 

History of business:

For nearly seven years, Turlock’s Susan Sinford has become known as an animal lover who provides exceptional care for the pets of close friends and family members. Over the course of that time, what started as a hobby for Sinford has turned into a successful business: K-9’s on the Move. On March 14, K-9’s on the Move opened a brand-new pet daycare facility on 1001 S Berkeley Ave. in Turlock and are looking forward to hosting the many animals of the Turlock community.

Sinford has had a love for pets for as long as she can remember and is excited to share that passion with the community at her new Berkeley Avenue location.

“My love of animals began from a very early age,” Sinford said. “I have always grown up with dogs and cats, so I just always had an animal around.”

Sinford got her start as an animal caretaker in college when she began walking dogs part-time while pursuing her higher education Modesto Junior College and Liberty University.

“I started dog walking and pet sitting when I was in college just to get a way for me to work with other people’s animals, because working with your own animals is very different than working with somebody else’s,” she explained.

With her degrees and extra experience, Sinford worked as a veterinary technician for nearly five years, but soon realized that she wanted to do something bigger and better with her skills.

“In the vet field, it was a lot of work and it had a lot of demand for not a lot of pay,” Sinford said.

An opportunity for Sinford arose during the COVID-19 pandemic when several community members needed help getting pets out of the house during virtual meetings.

“It really blew up during the pandemic as people just needed to get pets out of the house so they could concentrate,” Sinford explained.

That same year, Sinford decided to finally leave the veterinary field and focus on pet care full-time. She began promoting her business online, through radio advertisements, and even began networking with business professionals to help guide her through the expansion of her business.

“Through that time, I really started getting to know my client base,” she said. “They’re the busy professional who needs help with their animals when they're at work, and then also our senior citizens who maybe have mobility issues. They also need a little extra help with their animals maybe taking them to the vet or taking them to the groomers and they don't have the ability for transportation.”

To further accommodate the influx of new business since that time, Susan and her husband, James, decided to make the big move to the Berkeley Avenue property, which used to be the home of a Pacific Pride gas station. The two signed a lease in December of 2021 and have been

renovating the property since.

“We had to work with an architect to build out the space. We also have to work with a contractor to get it to where it needs to be, so that's all going to be a continuing process,” Sinford said.

James, who raised a number of pets during his childhood, assists in property maintenance. Meanwhile, daughter Madison, who also shares a love for animals, helps with dog walking and taxi services. As more services become available and as business expects to pick up, the Sinford family looks to expand the team.

K-9’s on the Move currently serves dogs and cats, while they can also care for exotic animals as long as they are given proper instructions by owners. Services currently offered at the new location include pet-sitting, dog walking, daycare and shuttling, but will soon offer pet grooming and training in the near future.