1.      Since childhood, I was passionate about animals and I  had always dreamed of having a career completely devoted to animals . I have always housed abandoned and homeless dogs and cats .   Later,  I became a Breeder of Pedigreed dogs, and started a Kennel called YASHBANS .   This was amost three decades ago.  It was wonderful to experience the feeling of creating an animal, close to its breed standards as possible, by experimenting with the different bloodlines, and then rearing  them in the correct manner, which included correct maintenance by means of feeding and grooming.   Grooming , I understood,was not only important to maintain the show dogs in top condition in order to exihibit them, but also to accentuate  their merits and disguise their faults.   I  understood that  an experienced Groomer can play a vital role in creating a excellent specimen just by way of cutting, trimming and shaping a dog, besides, keeping  a pet in a healthy condition, free from ticks and fleas and any skin ailments. I realized that people wanted to keep pets for show, breeding or simply as companions, but did not know the right way to maintain them, especially when it came to grooming.  Sometimes, they  simply did not have the time for it, with their busy schedules and lifestyles.  Grooming was an art which required  tremendous patience and the skill to handle animals, whether aggressive or shy.   I felt I had the necessary skills,  love for animals, experience, and the passion required for a Professional Groomer.  Being an artist and my involvement with pets for so many decades played an important  role to enable me to start this profession.   I understood that  not everyone can become a Pet  Groomer.  You have to be an animal lover and the animals should sense this.  You cannot make pets stay still while grooming them or styling or trimming them, like  we do with human beings. They have to understand  just by your touch and gentle cajoling what is required of them inorder  for you  to do your job efficiently. During some of my visits outside the Country, I found that Professional  Pet Grooming Parlours were thriving and hence  I decided to introduce this concept into India also.   Since  grooming pets was always a part and parcel of my life with pets, this was quite easy.

2.        The idea of professionally grooming a pet for others happened accidently.  Since I have been showing dogs for over three decades now, and my dogs were always groomed to perfection, I started having people requesting me to groom their dogs for  Shows too.   Long coated dogs which were not quite correct in conformation, were made to  look  almost perfect with my artistry,my knowledge of the various breeds, and my meticulous grooming  and it was a pleasure for both my clients and myself when these dogs started winning.   There was also another incident where a person who loved his dog tremendously, came to me as a last resort inorder to save his pet.  He was so fed up of treating his dog for months with a severe dermatitical problem which never got cured, and his family started putting pressure on him to give away the dog or to euthanize it as it was suffering too much with itchy scales all over its body.   The  whole  body was a bloodly mess.  I did not promise him anything, but I told him to give me a month”s time to try and cure the dog if I  could , and not to take any harsh decisions immediately.    I groomed and cleaned the dog almost everyday, medicated him both internally and externally  and in a month”s time, he was completely cured.  It was then I realized that there must be so many helpless people like him not knowing what to do.  This was also another reason for me to start the Grooming salon, a Salon not just for bathing and making the pets look beautiful, but also to try and cure pets of any skin ailments they might suffer from.  My  knowledge and experience  with maintaining  pedigreed dogs, my mongrels and my stray cats has enabled me to treat such problems.   And here I must give credit to my two wonderful daughters , Rishya and Radhiya who have been my greatest supporters ,helping me and encouraging me throughout my career. Without their help and support, none of my dreams would have taken shape, or thrived or blossomed.         My daughters, seeing the rising demand for grooming services, asked me to set up a Profeesional  Pet Grooming Parlour  in my Farm itself.  It had no name.  I got one or two dogs per week., mainly because of the fact, we lived in a farm, and 13 kms from M.G. Road, was considered quite a distance those days.  My daughters, Rishya and Radhiya started helping me and since they too love dogs, and have been involved in the rearing, maintenance and grooming of pets almost from  their childhood, they learnt to groom Show Dogs too.   In the beginning, their knowledge was more from experimentation, watching me and practicing on our dogs.  Word of mouth spread that I was not only grooming show dogs, but was also treating dogs with skin problems and and tick and flea infestation.  My business started growing and I started getting more than four to five dogs a week.  But I also started getting dogs with heavy infestation of ticks and fleas, or skin problems and I could not take the risk of subjecting my 100 odd dogs to these problems  which could be contagious and hence decided to move my Grooming Parlour adjacent to the Pet Shop GLENANDS,  when the owner of this shop Prithvi Jayakaran  welcomed this idea and became a Partner in setting up our  Professional Pet Grooming Parlour.  His  shop was located in Indiranagar, which is  a central area and away from my own animals.  This Parlour was soon named FUZZY  WUZZY by my younger daughter Radhiya, in the year 2004 .after the first dog a Labradoodle,  who was really fuzzy wuzzy  had come  in for a Grooming session..  Now we have moved to a bigger premise across Glenands, and soon hope to have a much bigger place than this too.

 3.         There was no question of breaking into a market.   I was a Poineer in this field of Professional Pet Grooming.  It was necessary for me now to educate the public about the necessity of grooming a pet, by a Professional inorder to make sure that the pet is clean and free from skin disorders, besides enhancing their looks by correct trimming or shaping or by keeping long haired comfortable in warm weather by giving them a neat summer cut.  My business started growing when people realized that they could now have any exotic breed of dog, which needed  trimming and shaping and a lot of maintenance, as Bangalore now had a Professional Parlour.  Parents do not think twice about getting their pet to our Salon every month, as  they are confident that their children can have a healthy and clean pet at home, free from tick and fleas and skin ailments.  They did not have to worry anymore about their kids contacting any infection from their pets.  The public also are happy to receive  free consultations on maintaining and rearing their pets from an experienced Professional.

 4.          The public are extremely happy with our Fuzzy wuzzy Pet Styling Studio  .  This is evident with the fact that every client keeps coming back  almost on a monthly basis,and introducing their friends too.  They are extremely happy with the gentle way  their pets are handled and the fact that their pets look forward to coming to the salon.  Dogs that were earlier aggressive or nervous have developed a confidence level in us and have excellent temperaments now. Fuzzy Wuzzy has today developed a reputation of not only  being a top class  Styling Salon but also a place  where pets can come for treatment of skin ailments too. We are different from other parlours  as we are not just a bathing salon for pets. Our Parlour is not just a commercial venture, where we  employ untrained, inexperienced staff or people who have never been exposed to animals  to handle the pets.  My daughters and I personally do the  complete grooming of pets.

  5.           There are  a lot of things that go into grooming a pet.  First of all, as a Professional Groomer or Stylist, you should be able to identify the breed, check the condition of the coat and the skin, before you start with a job.  After finding out what the clients requirements are, you should be able to give your suggestions as to what would be the best for the Pet first.  Dematting, nail trimming, ear cleaning, brushing, oil massages, bathing, anti tick and flea treatment, dandruff treatment, conditioning, coat  drying , trimming and styling the coat, and presenting the Pet in a beautiful condition are some of the basic things that go into grooming a pet.  We offer all these services at our Pet Salon, including oil massages

6.    There has been so many heart warming situations and incidents with pets while grooming them.  Its just unbelievable, but Pets  know when they are well groomed and trimmed, understand that they look good and  suddenly put on an attitude.   While I still had the Parlour in my farm, an American lady had brought in her Poodle for hairstyling and grooming.  I finished one side of the dog, and suddenly had an important client to meet me.  So I left the unfinished dog in the care of my younger daughter, telling her that I would be back with her in about half a hour”s time ,to complete the trimming. My daughter Radhiya had not gained any experience in trimming dogs, though she could take care of all other aspects of grooming.  However, I got delayed with this client and I was wondering all the time, if I would be able to finish the job before the American lady came in.  I suddenly heard the American Lady”s car drive in, and ever before I could go to meet her, she had gone into the Grooming room.    I was shocked at what I saw.  My daughter had trimmed the other side of the dog to perfection, and she went one step ahead and even finished the side I was doing.   She had learnt to trim and shape the Poodle just by watching me do it everytime.  The American Lady exclaimed that that was the finest trimming she had ever seen, and she could not have got such a great job done even in the States.  She was enquiring if my daughter could cut and trim her hair as well, as she found that  nobody knew how to style her hair., This was the best compliment I could get and I then knew that it was not only me, but my daughters too, who had this natural aptitude to groom and style dogs.

There is however one funny incident that I would like to share.  A T.V. Channel  had come to do and interview on Fuzzy Wuzzy Pet Styling Studio and Spa and their main question was >”What are the benefits of giving a massage to a Pet?”  I  replied stating that, first and foremost it was bond that we develop with the pet, as we spend about half a hour with them exclusively. It was actually a touch therapy.   The gentle massage not only relaxes them, it  also makes them feel good and this in turn does wonders to their temperaments too.  Then they asked me “what is the eventual result of a massage?”  I simply replied, “Well, the pets are so relaxed that they go to sleep”.  Now they wanted me to demonstrate this and brought in their own pet, which was a huge , highly strung Rottweiler.  I was slightly apprehensive as this was going to be his very first Grooming experience and he was already over two years old.   I  still do not know whether the dog had been  hearing whatever I said,  or whether he was intuitive ,because the moment I put him on the table and just started with the massage, he promptly  put his head down went to sleep almost immediately, much to my amazement and that of the T.V.Crew.  I still sometimes muse and wonder, “Was it my massage, or was the dog so intuitive, that he wanted me  to look good on the T.V. that he put on this wonderful act”.  God alone knows.

7..    I cannot talk of Bangalore as a whole, but I can  definitely say that Fuzzy Wuzzy is faring extremely well when it comes to grooming pets.  We have clients who come in from Pune, Chennai., Salem, Coimbatore, Cochin etc on a regular basis just to have their pets groomed by us.  These are just normal house pets.  We also have many show dogs coming in for their grooming before the Shows.  These are basically dogs that need to have their coat trimmed and styled as per requirements of that particular breed.  We however work only on appointments, and do four to five Pets  a day.  We open the Salon only at 3 P.M. as in the morning, we have work in our kennels.  We  could do better, if we opened the Salon throughout the day, but since we personally do the Grooming,  and also have to take care of our kennels , we are unable to do this at the moment.

8.           Pet Grooming Salons should do exceeding well in a country like ours where we have millions of pet owners having some form of a pet. This is not only a great profession, does wonders for pets and pet owners,  but is also very thereupatic for us, who groom the pets.  It is like a form of meditation, combined with artistry..

  9.              We have different kinds of pets who visit our Salon, though the majority are Dogs and cats.  We do get Hamsters, Rabbits, and some birds occasionally.  And we have kids who bring in their pets wanting them to look like different animals, either by colouring them, or giving them trims which make them look like lions or lambs or teddy bears.

  10.             The costs to groom a pet is quite negligible when compared to the fact that  your loyal companion deserves this much expense on him atleast to give you years of owning a clean and healthy pet.  You save your precious time, which can be used for other constructive work,  bills on medical expenses,etc  and you can be sure your child is safe when he plays with a clean pet, and  that he would not get ticks or fleas on him or suffer from skin problems like ringworms etc.  The pricing varies according to the size and age of the dog,  and also on his temperament.  However, it is expensive to groom show dogs, as this involves precision in the cutting, styling and the skillful use of our artistic skills, to make the dog look a better specimen than what he is.

  11.              There are innumerable challenges involved in grooming a pet.  First of all, since Professional Grooming Parlours  are  relatively a new concept in India, dogs have not had good experiences while they were groomed earlier and many have turned very nervous or  biters because of this.  The rough handling or painful ear cleaning or trimming their nails close to the quick,  or the neglected heavy matting on their hair  have left unpleasant memories in them.  So it is quite challenging of us to first make the dog understand that he had nothing to fear in our Grooming Parlour and make him enjoy the process, so that eventually , after one or two groomings , he starts looking forward to coming to the Grooming Parlour.  Then, pets cannot understand that they have to stay still, while we trim or style their hair, like human beings can.  We have to have a lot of patience and by deftly and lovingly handling them, make them understand what we require of them. Then Pets can either poop or pee on the table because of their nervousness and we have to be animal lovers first when such situations arise.

 12.                I have never had a situation go out of hand.   Since grooming  time and dates are allocated by  prior appointment only, there is rarely a question of over crowding of pets in our Salon which can lead to a mishap.  Just one time, after a German Shepherd was groomed by us and handed over to the client, he got loose from his collar and just bolted away.  We all panicked and the dog ran as fast as could, and we had his owner running after him.  We soon lost track of him. We could not understand why he did that, as he seemed to have  loved the grooming session with us.  About half a hour passed by, and then we saw this German Shepherd coming towards  our Salon.    He just ran into the Parlour, sat inside, wagging his tail, and literally hiding from his owner.   We then realized that he did not want to go back to his house as he loved being with us.  His owner was embarrassed terribly.

 13.               Both the owners and the Pets enjoy being at FUZZY WUZZY PET STYLING STUDIO AND SPA.  The owners are happy to have a squeaky clean pet, smelling so good.  They are also happy that they can consult us on anything to do with their pets, their temperaments, their maintenance and vaccination schedules, and we  also  counsel them on pet behavioural problems.  And the pets simply love the one hour of undivided attention we give them, pampering them.  They truly understand that there are getting a “ Spa experience”.