Local dog owners can now boast their pets are getting the best care in the country, with Orange’s Diesel and Blue Doggie Daycare winning the 2022 Australian Achiever Award in the ‘Animal & Pet Services & Supplies’ category.

Owner Danielle Haase said she has entered the awards every year since she founded the business in 2019, and has previously won two state awards.

For Danielle, it’s less about prestige than getting an unbiased insight into how she can improve her business and be better for her customers.

“I've entered these awards since we started because they are an excellent benchmark,” Danielle said. “They interview your customers, so it's got nothing to do with you and they benchmark you under 10 or 11 categories.”

The final score is given as a percentage, with anything above 80 per cent regarded as exceptional.

“This year we got 99.1 per cent for customer service which is the best we've done!” Danielle said.

“I’ve always worked hard on customer service, because I think that, in this town, what sets you apart is excellent customer service. I’m constantly mentoring, encouraging, training the staff about customer service — it's my number one thing.”

Customers agree with Diesel and Blue getting glowing reviews online.

“If we get a four or less than a five-star review, I’m the first on the phone to ring the customer and say what can we do better?” explains Danielle, who not only runs a doggie daycare but offers grooming, a dog taxi service to take animals to and from their facility and an annual Santa photo shoot for customers and their pooches.

“I think it's really important to just be open with your customers and that they know we're doing the absolute best we can at all times,” Danielle said.

 “We're not complacent… If something does go wrong then we're the first to admit it and fix it.”