Mark Van Wye is not the typical franchise CEO—and Zoom Room is not the typical franchise. As the founder and CEO of the fastest-growing and highest-rated indoor dog training company in America, Van Wye has reimagined what it means to live with and raise a dog in the modern world. His leadership has not only propelled Zoom Room’s national expansion but has fundamentally shifted the conversation in the pet industry: from obedience to socialization, from compliance to confidence, from the antiquated notion of training dogs to the much larger ambition of training the humans who love them.
An author, entrepreneur, and contrarian thinker, Van Wye has built a brand that moves past nostalgia for a bygone era of dog ownership, instead meeting the moment of a society where dogs are family, full participants in daily life, and where the greatest failure is not a disobedient dog, but a fearful, unsocialized one. His bestselling book, Puppy Training in 7 Easy Steps, reflects the same ethos: practical, accessible, and profoundly attuned to the real emotional needs of both species.
What led you to co-found Zoom Room, and what gap were you aiming to fill in the pet space?
I didn’t set out to fix dog training. I set out to fix the experience of living with a dog.
Traditional dog training has always defined success as compliance—whether the dog sits when commanded, stays when told. But the modern dog owner lives differently. Our dogs are not relegated to the backyard or tied to a tree. They accompany us into coffee shops, onto airplanes, into office lobbies and boutique hotels. The real problem isn’t that a dog won’t “sit” on cue; it’s that they don’t know how to behave in a complex human world.
Zoom Room was built to solve that problem. We created an environment where the true currency is socialization: helping dogs—and owners—develop the confidence and fluency to thrive together, in real life, in real situations. It’s not about command-and-control. It’s about connection and competency.
For people who aren’t familiar, what exactly is Zoom Room? What do you do and why do you do it?
Zoom Room is an indoor dog training gym, but that’s a woefully insufficient description.
What we really do is build better citizens—on both ends of the leash. Every class, every session, every product we sell is about strengthening the dog-owner bond and creating dogs who can join their humans fully in public life.
We train people to train their own dogs. We don’t “take the leash.” We empower owners, because the real work of living with a dog happens when no trainer is there. Our mission is deceptively simple: deepen connection, grow confidence, and normalize the idea that a well-socialized dog is not a luxury—it’s a requirement.
How is Zoom Room different from traditional dog training or pet businesses?
Most traditional training businesses traffic in transactions: You pay me, I fix your dog.
That approach is broken—and obsolete. You cannot outsource a relationship. You cannot delegate trust-building.
Zoom Room is a community, not a commodity. It’s an interactive, ongoing experience where owners are active participants in their dog’s learning. And because it’s built around positive reinforcement in a safe, structured, social environment, the skills we teach stick. They don’t vanish when the trainer leaves the room.
Zoom Room is based on positive reinforcement. Why is that your training method of choice, and what sets it apart?
Positive reinforcement isn’t a trend; it’s the only approach that respects the emotional life of a dog. It builds confidence instead of fear. It rewards clarity instead of punishing confusion. It teaches communication instead of demanding submission.
The idea that training should “dominate” a dog is rooted in ignorance, outdated by decades of behavioral science. Positive reinforcement isn’t permissiveness. It’s precision. It’s the difference between shouting in a foreign country and actually learning the language.
Zoom Room is the fastest-growing and highest-rated indoor dog training franchise in the country. What’s driving that growth and success?
Growth isn’t accidental. It’s a byproduct of relevance.
We are not riding the coattails of the pet industry’s boom. We are answering a deeper need: in a world that is increasingly chaotic, disconnected, and high-stress, people are desperate for real relationships, real connection—not just with each other, but with the animals who share their lives.
Zoom Room delivers a tangible antidote: structure, progress, joy, mastery—wrapped inside the most affirming human-animal bond imaginable. That’s why we’re scaling, and that’s why our Net Promoter Scores are among the highest of any franchise brand, in any category.
Millennials and Gen Z are now the largest groups of pet owners. How is Zoom Room meeting the expectations of these digitally savvy, experience-driven customers?
Millennials and Gen Z don’t want products. They want participation. They want brands that make them feel competent, seen, and socially connected.
Zoom Room was built for them before they were even the target demographic. We offer experiences—classes, playgroups, events—that are not passive but active. We tap into identity: I’m the kind of person who raises a dog this way. We make it easy to share achievements digitally, but we root the validation in real-world milestones.
If you’re designing a brand today, you’re not just competing for dollars—you’re competing for meaning. Zoom Room wins because we deliver both.
What’s next on the horizon for Zoom Room in 2025?
Our future is not about adding more locations for the sake of a spreadsheet. It’s about deepening our leadership in creating the national standard for dog socialization.
I envision a world where a “Zoom Room dog” isn’t just a brand affiliation—it’s a badge of trust. A signal to landlords, airlines, hotels: this dog has been through structured social training.
We are laying the groundwork to turn what is currently perceived as a private good—training your own dog—into a public good. A certification of social fluency. It’s bigger than franchising. It’s a redefinition of what it means to be a responsible dog owner in modern society.
As the author of a best-selling puppy training book, what’s one key piece of advice you believe every new dog owner should know?
Forget dominance. Forget “pack leadership.” Forget the circus tricks for Instagram likes.
Your dog does not need to be controlled. Your dog needs to feel safe.
Every behavioral problem, at its root, is a crisis of fear, frustration, or misunderstanding. If you can make your dog feel safe, seen, and supported, you will have already solved 90% of what most people think they need “training” for.
Real training is not about commanding obedience. It’s about earning trust.
