Meet Liz Witunsky of Poochies Dog Grooming in Saugus

Today we’d like to introduce you to Liz Witunsky.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I went to Pedigree Career Institute in 1989 and graduated in January of 1990. I apprenticed under several grooming salons until I opened Poochies Dog Grooming in 1995 in Malden, MA. It was tough for a little while as I didn’t know the grooming shop that was there before me didn’t have the best reputation, but I stuck through it and let everyone know the salon was a new owner and name. Eventually it got off the ground due to clients giving me a chance and them referring their friends to me. It became successful. Sometime in 2005, I closed my doors as the salon became too much for one groomer and it was extremely hard to find a groomer that would live up to my expectations of them. I decided to work for a corporation and was there for 5 years. Working for a corporation is not easy when you have owned your own business, so after having my second child, I decided to weigh my pros and cons between working for someone and owning a business again, as much stress comes with owning your own business also. It was then that I decided to open Poochies Dog Grooming in Saugus, MA. The shop almost immediately became successful. Some of my old clients from Malden came back and new clients took a chance on me.

I am extremely proud of my salon. We strive for excellence. We pride ourselves on the safety, cleanliness and quality of the salon. We have high quality shampoos and check every pet out to make sure there aren’t lumps, bumps, parasites, etc. If we do find anything we will tell the owner. All the groomers have their own way of grooming and each has their specialty. I enjoy all dogs but I love to groom poodles and other dogs I can be creative with their haircuts. I love to do Asian Flare cuts.

We are very personal and love all our clients as they become friends and like family and that’s the way we like it. I would love to expand someday to do boarding. Right now we do offer in the owners’ home pet sitting and my husband Andrew makes custom leashes and they are great. Our clients love them. We will also be reaching out to other groomers with grooming loops soon.

We are not in competition with any salons in the area, any person can choose which salon they like to go to. We just like to do things the way we do them and we love what we do. Anything for the animals.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It hasn’t always been a smooth road. I have slow months as almost every salon does and you have to prepare for those months. It is also not easy to find a really good groomer that you can trust. They are far and few but when you find one you keep them. We become a team/family. It is also tough when the building you are renting is sold and your rent has increased quite a bit. But I do what I have to make ends meet, because I love what I do.

Please tell us about Poochies Dog Grooming.
Clients love the fact that my salon is clean. My windows to the street allow people to see inside the shop. There is nothing to hide as my shop is wide open. We run by appointments so that we do not have pets at the salon all day. Having a pet in a shop all day can be very stressful for them. Cats are out within an hour and a half. We try to keep all our clients on a maintenance plan so that pets can be clean, healthy and looking good. We do not like to see pets in bad shape. It is very important for pets to get professionally groomed regularly, so that they can stay in good health. We let clients know if we have found any new lumps, bad teeth, ticks/fleas, etc, because sometimes a client may not notice these things. We have caught lumps that were cancerous before they spread throughout the pets’ body, and the clients were so happy, because they did not know of the lump.

I think the one thing that makes our clients happy is that we are very personable. I am very proud of the cleanliness of my shop, getting to know my clients/fur babies, further educating myself always in my field and just everything we do.

I think what sets us apart from a lot of shops in the area is that we do not keep dogs from morning till night, we do not cage dogs, we are proud of the quality work we do and we blow dry pets straight through and the ones that do not like the dryer, we fan dry or fluff dry.

My groomer Kourtney and I have slightly different ways of grooming. I specialize in Asian flared haircuts, and I love to groom poodles. I just get lost in them. Kourtney loves terriers, and hard to handle dogs. Although we specialize in these breeds, we both just love doing what we do. It doesn’t matter what breed they are or if they are a nervous dog, a happy dog or a freshy, we love them all.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I went through several stages as a child. Very shy until 3rd grade and then they couldn’t shut me up. I loved to draw and be creative. Figure skating was my passion besides loving animals. My family didn’t have much money, so being creative helped a lot. I grew up with a miniature poodle named Baby. Got my first kitty, Sandy, when I was 11 years old. My mother gave me a week to litter train him or I couldn’t keep him. I made him a card board house that led to his litter box and had him trained in 2 days. I’ve always loved animals, all animals. My dream was to work with them some day. When I was a teenager I kept seeing commercials on television for Pedigree Career Institute. I knew I couldn’t be a vet as I hated needles and didn’t have the heart to put animals to sleep. So even though my family wanted me to do something else as my career, I decided pet grooming was it. I had so much fun and even though my teachers were tough and it was hard, I am thankful I had those tough teachers, because if they didn’t push me, I may not be the groomer that I am today. I still say some of the same words they said to me to people that mentor under me.

Contact Info:

• Address: Poochies Dog Grooming, LLC
  371 central st
  Saugus, MA 01906
• Website: www.poochiesspa.com
• Phone: 7815585816
• Email: poochiesdoggrooming@gmail.com
• Facebook: poochies grooming

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