Linda Carr of Ontario discovered many years ago she had a talent for dog grooming. She would bath and groom her own dogs and was pleased with the results. “I just had a knack for it from the beginning,” says Linda.
“My ‘real’ job has been teaching,” explains Linda. “That’s all I ever planned to do as far as a career.” For 24 years now, Linda has taught second and third graders. For the past 14 years, she’s been teaching in Mansfield and this past spring finished her last class with third graders at Sherman Elementary school.
“The only grooming I did was on my own pets.” At home she has her Golden Retriever, Tucker, and Ralphie (Border Collie mix) who has lots of thick, dark fur, and Luigi, their long-haired cat.
“One night I was watching Cesar Milan’s show, ‘The Dog Whisperer,’ and they did a segment on mobile grooming,” says Linda. She sat up straight and said, “That’s what I want to do!” The show featured Wag’N Tails out of Granger, Indiana, which specializes in getting mobile grooming businesses up and running.
“I called them to see about attending one of their upcoming seminars and they had only two openings left. My husband and I headed for Granger.” The Carrs spent two days learning about the business side of owning a mobile grooming van.
“I knew it was what I wanted to do, but when I couldn’t get the loan for the van I wasn’t sure what was going to happen. The bank just didn’t think this idea would fly in our area. I asked the Lord to only open the doors if this is what He wanted me to do, and eventually I did get a loan,” she said.
Over the summer of 2011, Linda Carr went to grooming school to become certified and compliment the skills she already had. “The exam was two-and-a-half hours, and I got my certification and was ready for the next step.”
Linda’s Mobile Grooming Palace officially started business on September 1, 2011. Linda hired a groomer to work during the week while she was teaching, and she would groom evenings and Saturdays.
“It took off much faster than I ever anticipated,” stated Linda Carr, shaking her head. “I had no idea business would grow so fast.”
As far as why business picked up so quickly, Linda feels there are many reasons. “The biggest advantage of a mobile grooming van over a salon is convenience,” explains Linda. “They don’t have to put their stinky dog into their car, drive them some place, drop them off, have to come back later to pick them up, and so on.”
As she kneeled to love on her own two dogs, she adds, “The dogs get one-on-one attention. There are no other dogs barking. They aren’t put into a cage. It’s very low stress for the dog and even nervous dogs settle down quickly.”
One particular client, Charley the Labradoodle, recently adopted at five months old, has a very nervous personality. “He had a tough beginning and then he got his new mom and suffered from separation anxiety,” Carr explained.
Charley’s owner, Tabitha Hancock of Mansfield, was relieved to find Linda. “When I first got Charley, he was in desperate need of a grooming. I called around and talked to groomers but they only asked questions about how big he was and what kind of fur he had and how matted he was. But when I called Linda, she actually listened to me and spent time coming up with a way to meet Charley and make him more comfortable.”
Linda sat on their porch and let Charley smell her and get to know her first. Since then, he gets right into the van with no problems. “And Linda has even given me pointers on how to comb and brush him in between appointments,” said Hancock.
The van is driven right to the customer’s home where the dog spends about an hour to an hour-and-a-half in the van. Linda sings to them as they listen to music and she always talks to them. “It’s about making the dog comfortable and it becomes a happy experience for both of us.”
After each grooming, the van equipment is disinfected, so there’s no chance of transmitting sickness between dogs, which can often happen in salons. And there’s no sticking a dog into a cage with a giant blow dryer blasting them. “I don’t do cage drying. Everything is completely hands-on,” Carr added.
Linda’s had several groomers help her along the way while she still taught third graders during the day and groomed on nights and weekends, but the spring of 2013 was her last session of teaching as she gives herself full-time to the dogs.
When asked if there’s ever been a dog too big for her van, she quickly said, “Not too big for the van, but too big for me. I have Hoss, a one-hundred-eighty-five-pound Newfoundland that I groom, but I need help getting him into the van and the tub. He takes up the entire tub. There’s no wiggle room.” During the spring and summer months she usually bathes Hoss outside the van and then takes him in the van to dry. “So I guess no dog is too big.”
In looking to the future of Linda’s Mobile Grooming Palace, Linda wants to add another truck and cover the areas between Butler and Mount Vernon. “There’s definitely a need,” explains Linda. “I’m already mostly booked up for the current month and have a lot scheduled into the next month, and that’s just with my regular clients.”
What does she love most about the job? “I love the dogs. That’s why I do it. I love getting to know their personalities and I enjoy the one-on-one time we get together. That’s what I love.”
“It took off much faster than I ever anticipated,” stated Linda Carr, shaking her head. “I had no idea business would grow so fast.”
