AMANDA RAMSAY IS ANYTHING BUT ROUGH when it comes to grooming dogs.
Operating Ruff Cuts Dog Grooming Services officially from 2008 after returning from studying in Canada, she said she always loved animals and considered pursuing a career as a veterinarian but knew that training would have taken “forever”. So she opted for the next best thing – dog grooming.
She had a small client base before heading north and they waited an entire year for her return to groom their dogs.
“They were so excited about it and it just built from there. Then it was word of mouth, everybody was pleased with the service and passed it on to their friends and family and it just blew up,” Ramsay told BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY.
Her business is mobile, which is convenient because she likes her four-legged clients to be in comfortable surroundings when she bathes and blow dry them, shave and style, clean their ears, trim and clip their nails. She also de-mats their fur as necessary.
Is it an easy job for the woman who is passionate about it?
“It depends on the temperament of the dog. You’ll come around a dog that’s accustomed being social, they are easy going, whereas they’ll be dogs that are tied up a lot. Even though Bajans are getting into dogs now, they tend to give more trouble. In between the good behaved ones and the bad behaved ones you have to learn to approach the dogs, learn their behaviour. There are a lot of things you have to learn, actually,” she said.
Ramsay said she was trained to sense the animals’ behaviour in Canada, how to read their body language, and how they react.
“That training, plus not being afraid of any dogs, not being intimidated but having a love and a passion” makes her job easier.
She and her small team, Sadie Stoute Griffith, who has been working with her from the start, Keisha Johnson and the newest member Romario Cozier, can find themselves in St Lucy, St John, Christ Church and St Philip in the same day.
“I couldn’t have gotten through without Sadie. We offer different services: dog walking, pet sittings, drop offs to vets and we also sell pet supplies, so when it comes to that, especially dog walking, she takes care of that while the other assistant will work with me grooming and the different areas. It is a hands on thing and they learn right there and then,” Ramsay explained.
She continued: “No one week is ever the same. It is always different. We would go from walking dogs to grooming. For instance, we walk one client’s dogs on Mondays and Fridays and then grooming-wise in between that, we go every day. We work Sunday to Sunday and in one day it can range from having one appointment to having ten or more, all over the island.
“We normally start around nine [in the morning] but before that we have to deal with the kennels where we do boarding and we also do the pet sitting at residence if the owner wants to keep the dogs there for security reasons while they’re travelling. . . .We get up early, wash out the kennels, clean the dogs, walk them and give them their food and treats and then it is time for grooming. On evenings it’s the same thing.”
Ramsay said the length of time it takes to fully groom a dog varies from one hour to three and depends primarily on its condition. The owner of 11 dogs – all “rescues” – is working towards having a store.
“I would like to expand. In expanding I would like to have a pet store, although I still want to do grooming. I love being mobile and people find that to be more convenient instead of dropping them off somewhere for hours. We come to you and everything is just there, you don’t have to be there. Some people have housekeepers or relatives there.
“I would also like to have a grooming shop for dogs – cats too – that would be one stop. People would come in, bring their dogs and choose what they want, whether it be clothes, collars or treats. If they want them groomed, they can do that one time. There would also be a part-time vet to give them advice. That is what I would be looking at,” Ramsay said.
She is hoping that the store would be opened in the “next two to three years” . (Green Bananas Media)