By Jessica Steinhoff | Photography by Shanna Wolf
Dogs bring us so much joy and, according to Lindsey Decker, we owe it to our pups to return the joyful favor to them.
Decker does this herself through DogMa, her business that offers home-based boarding and off-leash hiking adventures called SNIFFari Adventures for Dane County pups.
As a kid, Decker brought home lost dogs that were roaming the neighborhood. “I wasn’t sure anyone was looking out for them,” she says.
This led to volunteering at organizations like Underdog Pet Rescue and Veterinary Services in Madison, and Ma, Paws, & Me Pet Rescue in Watertown.
“I started out fostering and doing marketing. That drove my passion for working with dogs full time,” she says.
Decker worked in the corporate world for years, leading marketing efforts for the specialty cheese industry, Covance and more. When a friend began traveling abroad for business, Decker cared for her canine companion. She saw how Decker lit up around her dog, then lost that spark when she went to her day job.
“My friend was like, ‘You could be getting paid to do this,’” Decker says, “so I decided to give it a try.”
Decker began offering services through Rover, an Uber-like app for pet sitting and dog walking. People who knew her from rescues spread the word and soon dozens of requests were coming daily. Eventually, she felt that Rover was no longer a fit — and she decided to strike off on her own.
“I knew I could build a better model to serve the companion animals in our community. That’s how DogMa was born. Neighbors, friends and families that adopted dogs I’d fostered, they all became my clients,” she explains.
Pretty soon, Decker had more requests than she could handle. She named her venture DogMa and asked friends from the rescue community to help. From there, she built a network of contractors who could offer a range of services, including staying in pet owners’ homes and welcoming pets into their own homes. Today 40 to 60 people serve in this role at any given time and DogMa has a client list of more than 10,000 Madison-area pets.
“This team lets us match each furry family member with someone who can give them an experience that’s closest to what they get at home,” Decker says.
DogMa became Decker’s day job in 2016, four years after starting it as a side hustle. She might not have taken the leap if her former employer hadn’t pushed her out the door.
“Everyone needs to get fired at least once,” she says with a laugh. “Before that, I didn’t trust myself enough to do DogMa full time.”
Decker was a single mom back then, so financial stability was a top priority. This motivated her to find new sources of revenue, such as helping dogs pose for wedding photos. In 2023, her business hit a milestone: $1 million earned. Now, it’s closing in on $2 million.
Helping homeless dogs is still Decker’s raison d’etre. She’s vice president of Albert’s Dog Lounge, a rescue for elderly pups, and has fostered more than 2,000 dogs in the past 15 years.
“To be a foster, you just need to commit to providing time, love and space for a dog,” she says. “Even if you only do it for a summer, it can save a dog’s life.”
