“That woman, Jen, became my mentor, and from the moment I stepped into her shop, I knew I had found my calling,” Rachel says. “Jen taught me everything I know about grooming. I worked with her for many years in her salon, growing my skills, building trust with both dogs and their humans, and forming real connections every day. It was during this time I realized, one day I want to open a salon of my own.”

When her mentor decided to move across the country, Rachel saw it as her opportunity to take what she had learned and build out her own dream salon, and thus Pampered Pooch Grooming & Boutique was born.

“My experiences at her salon taught me what I wanted to bring into my own shop,” she explains. “I wanted it to be a unique and luxury experience for my clients and their dogs, while having it be a very calm, inviting, and comfortable atmosphere to be in. I also knew I wanted it to be more modern, offering online booking and having more of a presence on social media.”

The initial strategy was the location Rachel chose for Pampered Pooch—a main road in Eastdale Village, a community located in Poughkeepsie, NY, with approximately 400 apartments and townhomes.

“Most residents own dogs, and people that walk around here to shop bring their dogs as well,” she adds.

The problem was, Rachel signed the lease for the salon in March of 2020—right before COVID shut down the world. This played a significant role in slowing down the construction of the shop, making for a more difficult journey.

“I knew it would be worth the wait to build out the salon of my dreams, but I did not want to wait around for it to come to life because I was ready to start Pampered Pooch,” Rachel recounts. “I decided to pivot my plan and opened a temporary location down the road from Eastdale Village in October of 2021.

“From there, I started to build my clientele and formed connections with them and their dogs,” she continues. “This temporary space became the foundation of what Pampered Pooch is today, even if that was not always my plan.”

Finally, in May of 2022, Rachel opened the doors to her dream salon—the one she envisioned back in 2020, where each dog gets a personalized experience.

“We take the time to listen to our clients’ preferences and complete the service to fit both the dog’s needs and the owner’s vision,” she explains. “We help choose the perfect service and look for clients that need help deciding on what is best.”

Pampered Pooch offers a variety of different service packages and add-on services. That way, clients can give their dogs a spa day they themselves might even be a little jealous of.

However, one immediate gap Rachel knew she would have to overcome was the shortage of dog groomers in her area.

“Most of the local, private-owned salons only have the owner grooming alone or alongside very few employees,” she shares. “I always imagined my salon being big and well-known, filled with a talented team. I decided to overcome this by teaching my first employee, who is also a cousin of mine, just how Jen taught me. I knew opening my own salon at a young age was going to be difficult, so having someone I could fully trust was important to me.”

Rachel continued to grow her staff slowly in the beginning, making sure each team member could produce a groom identical to hers. Today, in addition to Rachel, there are eight team members, which include six groomers and two receptionists.

“I make it a priority to understand each team member’s unique strengths and grooming specialties so their skills are used effectively every day,” she says. “On our website, you can find a short bio for each groomer, including their favorite types of dogs to work with. This way, clients can book appointments with the groomer who is the best fit for their pooch.”

Wanting to tap into digital media, Rachel decided her niche would be that every dog would get a photo at the end of their groom to be texted to the client after the service.

“The picture is in front of a seasonal or fun photo backdrop with props, and the pooches all get a matching bandana to the theme,” she explains. “I also hire a videographer and photographer every few months to give us a fresh set of reels and pictures to use on the website and social media pages. In these updates and videos, I share any changes we have made to the store and show a glimpse into the grooming process.”

Pampered Pooch also offers birthday photo packages as an add-on service. Clients can book this online for their dog’s birthday or “gotcha” day.

When Rachel first opened Pampered Pooch, she had a goal in mind to help dogs in need. So, she reached out to HVARS, a non-profit animal rescue, wildlife rehabilitation center and low-cost vet service clinic in the Hudson Valley, and asked if she could groom the dogs waiting to find their forever homes.

“I offered to groom these dogs for free, knowing the care and attention could make a world of difference for dogs waiting to find their forever homes,” says Rachel. “After being open for two months, I wanted to do something special and groom as many dogs as possible for Christmas, so they were clean for their new homes. I also posted their photos to our social media, hoping they would catch the eye of potential adopters. Since then, it has become a cherished tradition of mine.

Each year, the growing Pampered Pooch team volunteers during the holidays to groom every single dog at HVARS. Plus, throughout the year, the rescue will call the salon when they have a dog in need or a dog that really just needs some TLC.

The salon also partners with another local, small business twice a month, Woof & Hoof, a service that offers doggie daycare and many other services. Woof & Hoof’s “bark bus” van brings any dogs that signed up for a spa day to Pampered Pooch where they are pampered for their owners.

“This service is very convenient for people,” Rachel says. “They go to work, their dog gets picked up by Emily and her team in their van, they go to daycare, then to us, and home before their parents arrive, fresh and clean.”

It’s always been Rachel’s ambition to continue to grow, innovate and provide top-notch care to her clients.

“Looking ahead, I want to open at least two more locations in the near future to be able to expand and take in new clients again,” she explains. “It has been so exciting exploring different areas in the Hudson Valley with the intention of replicating the same modern, stylish, and comfortable atmosphere we have created in our salon at Eastdale Village.”

To reach that dream, Rachel plans to start teaching more staff members to fill these future positions.

“A very fulfilling part of my grooming journey is sharing my knowledge and wanting others to thrive in the industry,” she shares emphatically. “Watching the team members that I teach grow into their passion is very rewarding—almost as much as giving a dog the perfect spa day!”