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Dogz Best Friend across the street from the Happ’s Place restaurant on Hwy. 107 is now owned by Carrie Forsyth Russell, a professional dog groomer and breeder for more than 30 years.
A dog grooming business in Glenville has a new owner, one who is already overhauling the shop and making a list of changes.
Dogz Best Friend across the street from the Happ’s Place restaurant on Hwy. 107 is now owned by Carrie Forsyth Russell, a professional dog groomer and breeder for more than 30 years. She’s owned other businesses in California and Texas, but said she wanted to be in the country and noted she saw the potential in the Glenville business.
The business is also celebrating its 10th anniversary after being established in 2012 by Susanne Anderson, a retired physical therapist from Ft. Lauderdale.
The changes Russell is making to the business range from adding a retail space inside the main business to getting the staff their certification to groom the dogs that are brought by her shop. While not required by law, she said that certification will be good for the employees.
The name of the business is also changing to Dogz Night Inn Resort Spa and Boutique.
Russell’s love for dogs started at a young age, when she said she was obsessed with learning about canines, their breeds, and everything about them.
“I started studying any book I could get my hands on, and all of my book reports were about dogs,” Russell said. “My teachers thought I was nuts. Dogs, dogs, dogs. My dad was like, ‘We have to have a German Shepherd.’ And I was like, ‘I want a poodle.’ We got the German Shepherd, and she was aggressive and horrible.”
Russell was self-taught to groom by watching other handlers groom their animals. She said while they are helpful, to an extent, she was still competing against them growing up.
Her first grooming shop and retail space was Contemporary Canine in Austin, Texas. She was 16 years old at the time, and she said she needed to get her mother’s permission to use her credentials to work in that industry.
Pet Cave, an institution of Austin for a quarter of a century, then went on the market for sale in another suburb of the city. Russell bought it, but it was outdated, and she said the place needed someone who could come in with fresh ideas.
“It was good, and the community was very loyal to it, but it needed somebody with new ideas, or it was going to go,” Russell said. “So, I took Pet Cave, and the rest is history. I continued to show dogs, I ended up selling those businesses, I moved out to California, ran another store in California and turned it around.”
She said she always wanted to own a kennel where she lived on the property and didn’t want something that was already functioning properly because she said it would be hard to make an exit.
“I saw the potential here to really take it to the next level and bring even more into the community than it already could be,” Russell said. “And I saw the potential for retail where there really isn’t any here. There’s nowhere to buy food for your dog or anything. So, that’s basically what we’re going to do here is to try to be much more involved with the community.”
Beyond the retail section of the business, grooming options will be expanded with the shop’s groomer, Sarah Moore, who will be staying with Dogz Night Inn.
“Give me seven months, and I guarantee you, everybody’s going to be happy,” Russell said. “And I get it, you can’t please everybody.”
A new suggestion box has been placed at the front desk, and tours of the facility can be taken between noon and 2 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. The business is open seven days a week, but only by appointment and for pick-ups and drop-offs on Sundays.
She said people can also drop their pets off in case of an emergency. For example, if a family member must go to the hospital, but there’s no one to take care of the dog, the animal can be taken to Russell.
“We will figure out how to go there,” Russell said. “If you know how we can get in and get the dog, and get it into our facility, we’re not worried about the money or getting paid or anything. If we don’t have room in that kennel and somebody has an emergency, I will take the dog to my personal house.”
For more information about the business, visit dogzbestfriend.com or call 828-743-2095.
- By Michael O'Hearn/Crossroads Chronicle