Pandemic puppies — a term often used for dogs acquired over the last year and a half — are all too common in dog parks and home offices. But for the businesses that serve them, like doggy day care, boarding and grooming, there have been a lot of ups and downs. 

“It’s been awful,” said Cathy Sutton, owner of Happy Tails Doggy Daycare in Franklin. “We suffered for lack of business for a long time, and then when things opened back up, everybody during that period decided to get a dog, and so then we were just bombarded with people that wanted to come to day care.”

Sutton, who has been operating for almost 20 years, said at first, with people working at home, they didn’t need the day care’s services, even though she said dogs benefit greatly from interacting with other dogs. But now the business has been having