Pet Boarding Expo 2026 Puts Safety and Staffing on Agenda

Image credit: Via Barkleigh Productions / Pet Boarding and Daycare Expo. Hershey Lodge is the Pennsylvania venue for the 2026 pet boarding expo.

The Pet Boarding and Daycare Expo returns to Hershey, Pennsylvania, November 3–6, with a program that puts behavior safety, staff development and the daily economics of pet care alongside its trade show.

Education begins Tuesday, November 3. The exhibition runs Thursday and Friday, November 5–6, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. The distinction matters for operators arranging travel: arriving only for the trade show would mean missing the opening workshops and Wednesday's longer education sessions. Official attendance information

For grooming businesses that also offer boarding or daycare, the schedule creates a chance to examine how those services work together. The most useful agenda will depend on where an operation is struggling, whether that is handling, staff supervision, customer communication or the use of space.

Safety starts before the exhibition floor opens

Tuesday's program includes a four-hour behavior-focused pet resort workshop led by Amber Burckhalter and Alyson Fisher. Later in the week, the schedule lists sessions on group-play management, gate control and new-dog evaluations. These are planned education sessions; their appearance on the agenda does not establish results for businesses that attend. 2026 schedule

The useful connection for a mixed-service facility is the movement of dogs through the working day. A dog may arrive for daycare, pass through a grooming area and leave with a different member of staff handling the handoff. Each change creates a point at which information and responsibility need to remain clear.

Owners can make safety education more practical by bringing a specific process to examine. That might be the arrival procedure, the transfer from a playgroup to grooming, or the way staff communicate that an animal needs a different arrangement. A defined problem makes it easier to identify useful training rather than collect disconnected ideas.

Grooming education has a place in the program

Wednesday includes Dr. Cliff Faver's two-part bathing seminar, scheduled from 9 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 3 p.m. The organizer describes coverage of product selection, application and skin and coat function. The program is intended for facility owners and grooming professionals as well as managers. Wednesday program

That makes it relevant to a boarding business whose grooming offer begins with a bath before collection. Such a service still requires staff to understand the products, the process and the time needed to complete the work properly.

An owner planning to add bathing should therefore assess training and equipment alongside demand. The commercial appeal of an additional service does not remove the need for a clear procedure or a suitable person to deliver it. Education is most useful when it leads to a process the team can repeat and a way to check that it is followed.

Staffing and pricing sessions address the operating day

Official artwork for the forthcoming November 2026 expo. Credit: Barkleigh Productions.

The Thursday program includes Sean Felty on matching labor to pet volume and Susan Briggs on pricing decisions. It also includes sessions on staff coaching and operating a business with less dependence on the owner's constant intervention. Thursday program

For an attendee, the connection between those subjects is practical. A staffing change affects what a facility can deliver. A new service or price changes the work customers expect. A system that looks efficient on a spreadsheet may still fail if employees do not understand how to carry it out.

Bringing a sample working week can make those discussions more useful. An owner can examine the times when the business is short of capacity, the periods when staff are waiting and the tasks that repeatedly require a manager's intervention. The purpose is to ask better questions, rather than expect a seminar to prescribe a universal staffing formula.

Choose demonstrations against a real requirement

Hershey Lodge interior pictured on the expo organizer’s venue page. Credit: via Barkleigh Productions.

The organizer advertises more than 100 exhibitors, alongside more than 35 seminars. That provides a broad selection, but it can also make an unfocused visit expensive in time and attention. Expo overview

A useful approach is to decide what a product must solve before seeing a demonstration. A booking system might need to coordinate a grooming appointment with an overnight stay. Equipment might need to fit a particular room or support an identified handling task. Training might need to reach employees who cannot attend the event.

Ask vendors to demonstrate the ordinary exceptions as well as the smooth transaction. For software, that could mean a changed booking or a customer with several pets. For equipment, it could mean cleaning, maintenance and the space required around it. The aim is to judge fit against the working environment at home.

Returning with a plan the team can use

The schedule includes more education than one person can attend. Owners sending several staff members can divide sessions around their responsibilities and reserve time afterward to compare what they learned. The same approach can work for a solo attendee who chooses a few priorities rather than attempting to cover every subject.

What This Means for Your Business

Choose the sessions that address a current operational problem and make the travel dates match that choice. Before leaving Hershey, identify one change, the person responsible for implementing it and a date to review its effect. That gives the trip a practical outcome beyond the materials collected on the exhibition floor.