About Us

We are a small dedicated family run firm who are nuts about dogs, based in the old fishing town of Cockenzie on the shores of the Firth of Forth in East Lothian.

When we finally got round to getting a dog of our own, our interest in how she needed to be groomed properly was sparked.  The more we looked into it the more interested we became and so a professional grooming course was booked at Scotland's only City & Guilds accredited Premier training school Scotgroom, run by the highly acclaimed Agnes Murphy in Carluke, Lanarkshire.  We simply didn't rate some of the alternative courses and centres that we looked at and are glad we opted for the best quality training available, as all was in accordance with current C&G 7750 standards using best practices on a huge variety of breeds.  It was good to have the opportunity to learn grooming to breed standard as well as variations on popular pet styles.  That initial interest has almost became an obsession and the rest, as they say, is history.

We were originally going to start as a Studio service in early 2009, but potential problems with planning permission in a listed building which had unapproved modifications caused that to be abandoned.  Going mobile with a grooming van was supposed to be a short term stop-gap but it was another two and a half years before we were finally able to open our first Studio in Cockenzie in the autumn of 2011.  We had very quickly established our mobile service as a quality business and our reputation grew far in excess of our expectations to the point where we had a customer base of almost 600 and pretty much fully booked months ahead.  We were catering for 90 to 100 existing customers dogs per month.  This made it very difficult to fit in new customers, so we lost around 4 new bookings every day, as we were only able to cater for 8 to 10 each month.  Opening the Studio instantly doubled our appointment capacity and in the first week had not only catered for all our regular booked customers but allowed every new enquiry to be catered for.  For interest, the page we created specifically to keep customers updated on the shop renovation progress between May and October 2011, is available here.

A unique feature of our Studio is the DIY Dog Wash 'n Dry booth, where you can come and clean your own dog using the same professional equipment, shampoos and conditioners we use, but at a greatly reduced cost.

Our mobile service ceased in December 2011 when we became fully Studio based, but previously covered all of East Lothian and some of Midlothian and Edinburgh too.  The green dots on the map below show where most were located.  We feel extremely privileged that 99.7% of our mobile customer base transferred to our Studio service, and since opening in October 2011 we have seen an increase in our new customer base by around 25 every month which is 3x our previous mobile capacity.  When all our bathing facilities are fully operational in January 2012, we will be able to cater for DIY customers, plus we will be able to accommodate even more appointments.

Our philosophy on dog grooming

There are so many benefits to you and your dog when you have it regularly groomed.  You are a caring pet owner and you know that keeping your dog in good health requires more than a brush, regular worming and the annual booster at the vets.

We are not a franchised dog wash service, we are a professional grooming firm.  When we groom a dog, we aren't just keeping the dogs coat in good condition by removing surplus or dead hair, we are also exfoliating and toning the skin by brushing, clipping nails, giving an all over massage with a hydro-bath wash, cleaning ears, eyes and feet as well as removing painful mats which constantly pull the skin in high friction areas like between the pads, under the tail and between the legs when the dog moves.  Groomers often spot changes, lumps and bumps on your dog that you might not have noticed on a day to day basis.  During grooming we are going over every inch of your dog with meticulous care, right through all the coat to the skin.  We will always inform you of any abnormalities we find that are not already noted or have perhaps changed noticeably since your last visit.  Grooming is an effective early warning system which has been known to save dogs lives.  However, please note that we are not medically qualified to give a diagnosis on anything we find and it is the responsibility of the owner to have anything we note checked out by a vet.

Professional grooming is not just a "wash 'n brush out", it's more like your dog getting an MOT every few weeks with an intermediate or a full service.

When dogs are groomed regularly, you will quickly notice a difference around your home too as there is less hair to vacuum off the floor and furniture, plus allergens and doggy odours are reduced too.  And what about the mess created by washing your dog in the bath or sink?  Or the associated back-ache from lifting large dogs or leaning over the bath plus kneeling on the floor to brush him out and dry your dog?

So grooming is not just good for your dog - it's good for you and your home too!

Our philosophy on puppy grooming

The sooner the better!  Introducing puppies to a regular grooming process should be done as soon as you get them home and they can be professionally groomed as soon as two weeks after their second vaccination has been given.  Grooming is a vitally important part of socialisation as it gets the puppy used to being handled by a stranger as well as having its eyes, ears, paws, nails and coat maintained in good order.  Introducing a puppy to grooming by a professional and being handled frequently by it's owner, friends and family helps enormously in alleviating the potential for nervous and aggressive behaviour as it is developing and growing compared to dogs which have not been regularly groomed.

From our point of view, it is a pleasure to groom dogs that have obviously been well socialised as they are even tempered and don't mind being handled.

Sadly, many dogs groomers encounter do not like having something touched, paws, ears, legs, head, neck or having nails clipped which is often associated with painful nail clipping episodes from their past when they have been cut too short.  This unfortunately compounds the problem, as it often means the nails are left to grow even longer manifesting in crippling arthritic or bone structure problems in the paws and pasterns in later life.  It is vitally important that puppies get used to having their paws handled and have their nails regularly clipped.  All that is needed is to take the very tips off once every couple of weeks so they get used to the feel of it and you will be cutting well away from the quick so it is safe and not painful.  Don't forget the dew claws which are on the inside rear of the legs above the paws if your puppy has them.

Brushing should done all over right down to the skin and not just on the top and sides of your puppy.  Pay particular attention to high friction areas where mats occur under the armpits, in between the back legs, behind the ears and in between the pads on the paws.  Take special care when brushing near sensitive areas around eyes, inside ears, mouth, tummy, genitals and anus as well as joints.  Use a brush that is appropriate for your dogs coat plus a combination comb with wide and narrow spaced teeth.  Do not tug at mats to get them out as you can cause great pain to your puppy and will be counterproductive to him being compliant to future grooming.  A comb and a slicker brush used regularly in the correct way will minimise mats forming and remove smaller ones without causing your puppy any pain or harm.  If you find mats in between paw pads do not attempt to cut them out with scissors as you can cause serious harm which will require an urgent trip to the vet!  In fact, do not attempt to remove mats with scissors ANYWHERE on your puppy.  Clippers are much safer than scissors but can very quickly ruin a struggling dogs coat and can easily cause lacerations on the loose skin in the armpits, where the back legs join the waist and in between the toes if used incorrectly.  Do not be tempted to use clippers designed for use on humans as they are simply not designed for pet grooming.  If you do have pet clippers, only attempt to remove mats with them if you are trained, skilled and confident in their use and have assistance to ensure the puppy is properly restrained for the process in a home environment, and please make sure that you do not inadvertently manipulate joints in ways they are not designed to move when trying to access areas to be clipped.

Socialising and training your puppy is essential in helping to produce a well balanced, good natured, controllable dog that is a joy to own and be with.  Get as many different people to handle your puppy, not just clap it or pick it up, but look in his mouth, ears, under the tail and paws.  Always praise your puppy for being compliant, and although it is difficult sometimes when he is being particularly "naughty", be patient and try to stay calm in dealing with bad behaviour.  Praise for good behaviour always works better than punishment for bad behaviour.  From around a week after your puppy has had his second vaccination, you should start taking him out from your home and encourage him to meet other dogs.  Book on to a training class (see News & Links above) as this is a great way to give your puppy a way to get socialised and trained at the same time.  It only costs a few pounds a week and will save your house and your nerves getting shredded.  Ask your vet if they arrange puppy parties which can be a good way of introducing your puppy to others and get some basic information to help you get started.  And of course, contact us for grooming your puppy.

Please see our Supplies page for the basic grooming tools you need to keep your puppy's coat and nails in good condition.

Our philosophy on short haired dogs grooming

Many owners of short haired dogs such as Labradors don't feel they need to have them groomed.  However, they still need to have in between their pads and their ears checked, and have their nails clipped.  Quite often, the only bathing these type of breeds get is a play in the sea or a river and an occasional dip in the bath at home or more likely a hosing down in the garden in the summer.  Nothing wrong with that as such, except regular sea dips can cause skin, eye and ear problems due to salt and other pollutants, which will also dull down the coat.  Short haired dogs also tend to shed a lot, and if you don't regularly groom the dog, you end up cleaning up your house more to get rid of the shed coat instead.  Shampooing your dog with a rubber curry brush or your finger tips will remove lots of dead coat and tone the skin and muscles, whilst brush drying with a high velocity dryer is best, a hair dryer and a bristle brush will help remove the rest of the dead coat and skin cells.  It will also stimulate the glands that produce natural oils which will be spread through the coat to condition it.  Whilst short haired breeds do not need as much grooming as longer coated breeds, they should still be regularly groomed to keep them in good condition and checked over.

If you are still in doubt about getting a short haired dog groomed, just have a look at the Labrador photo's below.  This dog is regularly brushed by it's owner and even after a pre-wash brush over to loosen and remove half a dozen brush full's of dead coat, the result in the bath after drying with the high velocity dryer is plain to see.  Once the bath is washed down and the removed coat is caught on our bath strainer (well spotted - it's a kitchen sieve) you get a good idea of the amount that still had to come out.  Incidentally, the same applies to longer coated breeds like Golden Retrievers and German Shepherds, you just get even more removed as you can see on the floor round the table in the photo at the bottom.

Alastair & Marina Ritchie, Proprietors