Mobile dog grooming units have mushroomed in the past 10 years, with dozens of such businesses in Los Angeles, one of the first cities to offer them as an alternative to traditional pet salons, where a smattering of dogs in recent years have been killed by overly hot hair dryers.
Mr. Ogden said he chose the spa theme to differentiate himself from grooming vans, many of them owned by franchises, that offer just cleaning and clipping.
Dogs, as it turns out, are more lucrative than cop shows.
“Ten years ago, this business wouldn’t have worked because people didn’t care about their dogs the way they do now,” said Mr. Ogden, who used to rescue pigeons in his youth, as he prepared his van, which is fully appointed with a bath, mobile grooming table and plastic containers filled with cotton swabs, shampoos and bows. “Dogs have become like children now. People want the best for them.” |
