Chase Payment Solutions
Mandatoryrequire that the use of a point of sale (POS) system designated by us to be purchased or leased from our designated supplier. At this time, we use and we require that you use the Chase merchant mobile
From the filings
+5.276% units YoYHQ-led decisions
Dog Training Elite
Personal servicesSoftware purchasing decisions at Dog Training Elite flow through a lean HQ team in Arizona, led by Co-Founder/CEO John Mestas and CFO Megan Kelley. The franchise already mandates Chase merchant mobile Point of Sale and Intuit QuickBooks across all 419 franchised locations. With 5.3% year-over-year unit growth and no multi-unit operators on file, the addressable market consists entirely of single-unit franchisees who follow HQ’s technology directives.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
419
419 franchised
Unit growth YoY
+5.276%
vs prior filing
AUV
$374K
Item 19, 2024
Royalty
8%
of gross sales
Ad fund
1%
national + local
Initial fee
$110K
per unit
Investment range
$188K–$297K
all-in, Item 7
Procurement
Approved supplier
from the filing
Non-compete
3 years
from the filing
Item 19
Claims
from the filing
Ongoing fee load
What the operator pays every month
The recurring percentage of gross sales named in this filing, before rent, labour or any technology fee.
9%of gross sales (FY2026)
15% reference
Mandated & recommended tech
The systems vendors compete with
3 of these are mandated in the franchise agreement. Each is named in Item 11 of the filing, the incumbents a challenger must displace or integrate with.
Google Ads
Mandatorya third-party supplier or us and may be updated periodically in our manuals. Google Currently, one- Payable monthly You must set a budget for monthly AdWords3,4 time $1,500 setup Google AdWords with o
QuickBooks
Mandatorytime of signing the franchise agreement. This fee is for us to provide grand opening support to you, assist you in the setup of your various Dog Training Elite accounts, including QuickBooks, the CRM,
Facebook
(additional accounts can be purchased), learning management platform and system, domain name and website hosting and maintenance for the brand website, and social media setup for Facebook & Instagram
Instagram
l accounts can be purchased), learning management platform and system, domain name and website hosting and maintenance for the brand website, and social media setup for Facebook & Instagram and access
Yelp
, items on third party resell or auction-style websites such as eBay, Craigslist or Amazon without our prior written permission. You may not claim any web listing on sites such as Yelp. We have the ri
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
31 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 2 explicit no's; 1 question the text does not settle, which is not a no.
Accounting
Must the franchisee use an accounting or bookkeeping system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 11
Accounting We require you to use a current version (not more than 1-year old) of the QuickBooks accounting system.
Does the franchisor have direct or independent electronic access to the franchisee's financial, sales or customer records?
YesItem 11
We reserve the right to have independent access to your account.
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
You shall submit to Us the following reports by the following due dates.
How the franchisor buys
Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?
YesItem 8
Our principal officers Neal Mestas and John Mestas have an ownership interest in us, and we are an approved supplier for certain products, services, and software.
Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?
YesItem 20
The following independent franchisee organizations have asked to be included in this disclosure document: National Dog Training Association A Chapter of the American Association of Franchisees & Dealers
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesItem 8
We may issue new specifications and standards for any aspect of our brand system, or modify existing specifications and standards, at any time by revising our manuals and/or issuing new written directives (which may be communicated to you by any method we choose).
How much revenue did the franchisor and its affiliates earn from franchisee purchases in the last fiscal year?
26931Item 8
In the year ending December 31, 2024, we derived $26,931 in revenue from the sale or lease of products and services to franchisees or earned from suppliers with franchisee purchases which was 0.8% of our total revenue of $3,494,397.
Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
We or our affiliates may derive income from required purchases or leases of goods or services made by our franchisees from approved sources.
Item 8 gives this proportion in one of two shapes: separate percentages for establishing the business and for operating it, or one figure covering "establishing and operating" together. Where they are separate, answer with the operating percentage; where the passage gives only the combined figure, answer with that. What percentage of the franchisee's purchases must come from designated or approved suppliers?
75Item 8
We estimate that the proportion of required purchases or leases will represent approximately 75% to 85% of your overall purchases in opening your franchise business and 75% to 85% of your overall purchases in operating your franchise business.
Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?
YesItem 8
Before beginning our evaluation, you must pay a supplier evaluation fee of $250.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
If you desire to purchase any of the items listed in this Item 8 from an unapproved supplier or to purchase an alternative good, you must submit to us a written request for this approval or request the supplier itself to do so.
Communications
Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?
YesFranchise agreement
All such property and listings, excluding Your operating assets and inventory that are associated with and considered part of Our brand, Intellectual Property, and System revert back to Us upon Termination of this Agreement.
Data and IT
Must the franchisee comply with PCI, data-security or cybersecurity standards set by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
At Your cost and expense, You must investigate and ensure that You comply with all payment card industry (“PCI”) and data security standard (“DSS”) standards, regulations, and requirements; however, We reserve the right to approve of the supplier You use for compliance.
Franchise management
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesFranchise agreement
We may conduct periodic evaluations, inspections, and audits of any or all aspects of Your Franchise Business at reasonable intervals by Our duly authorized representative for compliance with the System, reporting, customer service and the standards and procedures set forth in the Manuals.
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesFranchise agreement
We have the right to revise the Manuals at Our sole discretion.
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesFranchise agreement
You are required to select an office site approved by Us for Your Franchise Business within 30 days of signing the Franchise Agreement.
Marketing
Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?
YesItem 11
You may not create a website for your franchise business.
Is the franchisee required to spend a minimum amount on local advertising or marketing, as a percentage of sales or a fixed amount?
YesItem 6
In addition, you must spend a minimum of 2% of your gross sales or $1,667/per month, whichever is greater, to advertise your franchise business locally.
Must the franchisee participate in a customer loyalty or rewards program?
YesItem 11
You are required to participate in the loyalty, gift card, discount, memberships, subscription, and coupon programs we develop.
Operations
Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?
YesItem 8
You must purchase or lease the following products from us, other sources designated or approved by us, or according to our specifications as set forth in the manuals:
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesFranchise agreement
You must purchase all designated products, equipment, logoed, branded, and other items and supplies as designated by Us from sources designated or approved by Us.
Payments
Must the franchisee use a payment processor or merchant-services provider designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 11
At this time, we use and we require that you use the Chase merchant mobile Point of Sale System or POS software and hardware, but this may change at any time and the cost to change the system is incurred by you alone [franchise agreement paragraph 6.1.12].
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesFranchise agreement
You must provide a new ACH agreement to Us so that there is no time in which We do not have the ability to automatically withdraw or debit all payments and Fees due and owing to Us.
Must the franchisee participate in a gift card program?
YesItem 11
You are required to participate in the loyalty, gift card, discount, memberships, subscription, and coupon programs we develop.
People
Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?
YesItem 15
You must also have two full-time employees: one full-time trainer and one fulltime operations manager, one of which may be the operating principal.
Must employees wear uniforms specified by the franchisor?
YesItem 7
You must also purchase the proper uniforms with shirts, pants, shoes, hats, etc., as directed by us.
Point of sale
Must the franchisee use a specific point-of-sale system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 11
We require that the use of a point of sale (POS) system designated by us to be purchased or leased from our designated supplier.
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesItem 11
We will have independent access to the information and data collected or generated by the computer and the POS system.
Sales and CRM
Must the franchisee use a CRM system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 11
You are required to use and pay for our designated customer relation management software or CRM in the operation of your franchise as well as software for document management and storage.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesItem 11
We can require your operating principal and/or other key personnel to attend additional trainings if you are in default, if you have not met the minimum sales requirement, or if we reasonably believe such training would be in the best interest of your franchise
Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?
YesItem 11
If held, attendance is mandatory for your operating principal, or alternatively, you may send another owner to the conference that is involved in the business at the executive level, if approved by us.
The filing answers no to 2 questions
- Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?Franchise agreement
- Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?Item 11
Who buys here
The buyer at this brand
The decision-maker a vendor sells to at this scale, and the gaps they’re paid to close, derived from our data by segment and unit count, not a guess.
HQ leadership: CEO/President + VP Ops/Franchise + a first dedicated IT/systems owner.
VP SalesHead of SalesCROSales Director
- With 298 active personal services brands, I can't see which ones are growing or have the tech gaps my product fills, so I waste weeks chasing the wrong targets.A rep burning 10 hours/week on manual research at $50/hr loses $26,000/year. FranCloud's fit_scoring and corpus_search surface high-fit brands in seconds, reclaiming that time for selling.
- 63.5% of personal services brands mandate no POS system, but I can't identify the 108 that do without digging through hundreds of FDDs.Manually reviewing one FDD takes 3+ hours. At 108 targets, that's 324 hours. FranCloud's tech_landscape reveals POS mandates instantly, turning a $16,200 research slog into a single query.
- 91.6% of brands don't mandate a CRM, but the 25 that do are hidden in static reports, delaying my outreach to high-intent prospects.Landing one CRM-displacing deal in this segment can yield $30k+ ARR. FranCloud's find_lookalikes pinpoints those 25 brands and their peers, accelerating pipeline by months.
The vendor opportunity at Dog Training Elite
Dog Training Elite operates 419 franchised locations, all single-unit operators, with no company-owned units disclosed in the 2026 FDD. The system grew 5.276% year-over-year, adding new units that will each need to comply with HQ’s technology mandates. Average unit volume sits at $374,000, and franchisees pay an 8% royalty on gross revenue. The initial franchise term is 10 years, with a successor term of equal length available to operators in good standing.
The operator footprint is geographically dispersed but thin: 12 mapped operators across roughly 12 located units, with a presence in Michigan, Hawaii, Iowa, Minnesota, and Virginia. No multi-unit operators appear in the FDD — every franchisee runs a single location. This structure means software vendors are selling into a network of individual owner-operators who take technology direction from headquarters, not from a sophisticated multi-unit buyer with its own tech stack preferences.
Who controls software purchasing
The 2026 FDD names five executives in Item 1: Neal Mestas (Manager), John Mestas (Co-Founder, CEO), Dan Hutchings (Chief Operating Officer), Megan Kelley (Chief Financial Officer), and Whitley Cheatham (Chief Training Officer). For a software vendor, the most relevant contacts are John Mestas and Megan Kelley. As CEO, Mestas likely holds final authority on system-wide technology decisions. Kelley, as CFO, probably evaluates the financial impact of software contracts and manages vendor relationships that touch accounting, payments, or royalty reporting.
Because the franchise mandates specific technology systems — and because no franchisee advisory council or purchasing cooperative is disclosed — the buying center appears centralized at HQ. Vendors should expect a top-down sales motion: convince the Arizona headquarters, and the 419-unit network follows.
Mandated and current tech stack
Dog Training Elite’s Item 11 discloses two mandated technology systems: Chase merchant mobile Point of Sale System and Intuit QuickBooks (listed once as “Intuit QuickBooks” and again as “QuickBooks by Intuit Inc.”). The Chase POS mandate covers payment processing and likely in-field transaction capture, given the mobile nature of a dog training business. QuickBooks serves as the required accounting backbone for franchisees.
No other operational, CRM, scheduling, marketing, or training platforms are disclosed as mandated or recommended. This gap represents a potential opening for vendors in areas like customer relationship management, appointment booking, client communication, or franchisee onboarding. However, any new tool would need to integrate with or sit alongside the existing Chase-QuickBooks stack.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
The 2026 FDD contains no Item 8 procurement signal — meaning no designated supplier list, no approved vendor program, and no purchasing cooperative is disclosed. Vendors should treat this as an open procurement environment, subject to whatever internal approval process HQ maintains. Without a formal supplier program, the path to adoption likely runs directly through executive relationships and demonstrated ROI.
Renewal timing offers a predictable window for software evaluation. Franchise agreements run 10 years, and franchisees must notify HQ of their intent to renew between 6 and 12 months before expiration. At renewal, franchisees must modernize their business to then-current standards — a clause that could compel technology upgrades. Additionally, the successor agreement may contain materially different terms, potentially including new tech mandates. With 419 units on 10-year cycles, a steady stream of renewals creates recurring opportunities for vendors to displace or supplement existing systems.
How to read the Dog Training Elite FDD
The full 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document is embedded below. Key sections for software vendors include Item 1 (executive team and ownership structure), Item 11 (mandated technology systems), Item 17 (renewal conditions and modernization requirements), and Item 19 (financial performance representations, if any). The absence of an Item 8 procurement disclosure is itself a signal: no pre-vetted vendor list exists, so the field is open to any solution that HQ deems valuable. For a ranked target list of franchise systems that match your software category, FranCloud can help you prioritize your outreach.
Questions vendors ask
Dog Training Elite, answered from the filing
The 2026 FDD lists John Mestas (Co-Founder, CEO) and Megan Kelley (Chief Financial Officer) as key executives. Given the mandated tech stack, purchasing authority appears centralized at HQ rather than with individual franchisees.
The FDD mandates Chase merchant mobile Point of Sale System and Intuit QuickBooks (listed twice as QuickBooks by Intuit Inc.). No other operational or marketing systems are disclosed as mandated or recommended.
The 2026 FDD reports 419 total units, all franchised. No company-owned units are disclosed. The system grew 5.276% year-over-year, with operators mapped in MI, HI, IA, MN, and VA.
The 2026 FDD does not include an Item 8 procurement signal, meaning no designated or approved supplier program is disclosed. Vendors should assume an open procurement model unless told otherwise by HQ.
Initial franchise terms run 10 years, with renewal windows opening 6–12 months before expiration. Given recent unit growth, new location openings may create additional software evaluation opportunities year-round.
The 2026 FDD is filed with state franchise regulators. You can view the embedded PDF viewer below to review the full document, including Item 11 tech mandates and Item 17 renewal conditions.
Source
Read the filing itself
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FDD alert
Tell me when this brand refiles.
We’ll email you the moment Dog Training Elite files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
Who runs the locations
120 operators run 120 mapped locations. 0 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.
Operators by units owned
Single-unit120
Top states by locations
| TX | 16 |
|---|---|
| FL | 14 |
| UT | 9 |
| NC | 5 |
| MO | 5 |
Ownership
The portfolio behind Dog Training Elite
unknown of dte demo dog.
Related Personal services brands
Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.