The D-O-G Grooming Studio is an established London Multi Award Winning, City & Guilds qualified dog salon, which will soon open in Wimbledon Park on Arthur Road!
Tell us about D-O-G Grooming Studio and why it’s so special.
After training and grooming in other salons we decided to follow our passion and open the first place of our own, the original D-O-G Grooming Studio on Wandsworth Common back in 2015. It has been the most incredible journey and we are so lucky to be doing something every day that we are so passionate about, meeting so many amazing people and their wonderful pups, it’s extremely fulfilling. Over the years we continuously work very hard on polishing our skills making us one of the most qualified salons in London.
Anita is a Master Groomer and one of only 19 in the whole country! She has been grooming for 17 years, and we’ve been competing in dog grooming competitions for a long time, winning many awards including Reserved Best in Show. We are also qualified assessors for the City & Guilds qualifications in dog grooming.
Most importantly we know how to transfer our knowledge and experience into everyday grooming and our main priority is always the welfare and happiness of every pup that comes to see us and they truly become our friends.
Anita & Alex, Founders of D-O-G Grooming Studio.
What do you enjoy most about running D-O-G Grooming Studio?
Absolutely it’s all about meeting our wonderful clients and their fabulous pups, every day is so different as we get to welcome in our studios so many different characters. We watch puppies grow into amazing dogs, we work with nervous and anxious dogs to become more confident, we help disabled dogs to feel more comfortable, we also get to meet a lot of elderly dogs that require gentle handling and reassurance which is so beautiful. We spend our days surrounded by dogs, it’s a happy place for us!
Tell us your funniest experience dog grooming
It’s not so much about the grooming itself, but in the first year when we opened, just before the Christmas rush one client forgot to pick up her dog, when we called and said that Roger was ready, the lady asked “Who’s Roger?”, we said “he’s your dog…” . We both could not stop laughing! Also after the first Covid lockdown we saw many very creative and amusing “home” grooms, this was a very interesting time for us.
Why are you coming to Wimbledon?
We’ve been walking our own dogs in Wimbledon Park and Wimbledon Common for many years, meeting and speaking to many dog owners, many of them coming to see us in our Wandsworth salon. We continued to hear how much of a need there is for a dog grooming salon in Wimbledon Park and so what better place to make a new home for our latest salon. It took us a long time to find the right location, but we couldn’t be happier to be opening on Arthur Road in Wimbledon Park in April, it’s a dream destination.
What’s your busiest day of the week?
Fortunately we are equally as busy every day of the week which we are very grateful for. Our customers tend to book few appointments ahead (some even up until the end of the year!) and it really helps us manage our day to day running of our salons, delivering the best possible service to our clients.
Do you have a favourite breed of dog to groom?
This is the question we get asked all the time! Every dog is very unique in its own way, and getting to know them and their personalities is just such a pleasure. When they come to see us on a regular basis we very often develop a bond and a friendship and this helps the dogs feel relaxed and enjoy being groomed, this is so much more important to us than what breed they are.
Saying this, we get to meet and groom all different breeds and many cute mixes starting from puppies to very elderly or disabled dogs and they just melt our hearts. We love when dogs just pop in when walking by for a treat and a cuddle, it really is a dream job.
How to you pacify nervous dogs?
All dogs that come to our salon get lots of love and attention, their happiness, safety and wellbeing is always our main priority. Our team is very caring and compassionate, we spoil them with treats and cuddles. Some dogs may need extra time to settle in and so we always allow extra time for grooming, we never just take them straight to be groomed, we let them explore the grooming environment, sniff around and say Hi to everyone. For the more nervous and anxious dogs we may also suggest more quiet grooming times.
We groom behind big glass walls so owners can see inside of the studio and be re-assured their dogs are well cared for. Quite often when owners leave the salon, dogs really do relax and you wouldn’t even be able to tell they were nervous in the first place.
We advise owners to just pop in with their dogs for a treat when they are in the area so they have a positive and happy association with our studios, it’s not only about being groomed. From the very first day we’ve introduced a 3 step introduction for puppies for grooming to get them used being in the grooming environment, that way it becomes a normal part of their life and it really works! We have dogs that have been coming to see us from 12 weeks old and they are just so relaxed with us now.
What qualifications in dog grooming do you hold and what do you do to stay at the top within the industry?
We are strong believers that qualifications and continued learning are extremely important in the dog grooming industry, because of this we are always on top of the best ways to ensure the health and safety for all the pets we care for, as well as be able to deliver a wide range of bespoke and standard grooms as required by our clients.
We all hold City & Guilds qualification in dog grooming and we invest a chunk of our spare time outside working hours on continuing to develop ourselves and our team and we also compete in dog grooming competitions across the country. Because of all of this Anita is a Master Groomer, one of only 19 in the whole country, it takes years of experience and a lot of studies to be awarded such qualifications. We are very proud of her.
We invite dog grooming specialists and breeders from all over the country to work with our whole team to learn the latest trends within the industry and to stay the best at what we do so that we can offer best possible service for the pets we meet and their owners, every time. This year alone we’ve already got planned 4 seminars and workshops with industry specialists for the whole team to continue to learn and deliver the highest standards.
When are you launching and how do we book in?
We literally can’t wait to open our Wimbledon Park studio, we will be open from Thursday 20th April. The refurb is taking place as we speak and then we just need to put in the finishing touches.
You can book an appointment by emailing wimbledon@doggroomingstudio.net or calling our Wandsworth salon on 02087675616 or simply by sending us a DM on Instagram.
We can’t wait to meet our new furry friends!
D-O-G Grooming Wimbledon
130 Arthur Road
Wimbledon Park
SW19 8AA
