Local dog groomer a shear success
Debbie Zelez always knew her life would revolve around animals.
“I always grew up wanting to work with animals and I wanted to be a veterinarian,” said the Airdrie resident and owner of High Tails Pet Grooming. “I was really good in sciences, but I didn’t want to be a veterinarian because I didn’t think I could handle the sadness part of it.”
Undeterred, Zelez used her skills and natural instructing abilities to work for the better part of a decade as a science teacher in Calgary high schools before branching out into the dog world full time in 2006.
She took a leave of absence and was eventually offered a contract position from the Calgary Humane Society where she fell in love with dogs all over again. She learned about stress reduction and her knowledge of canines grew exponentially.
Following her stint with the Humane Society, she enrolled in some select business courses, converted the 1,000 square-foot basement of her Big Springs home into a dog grooming salon in 2009 and hasn’t looked back.
“I marketed very aggressively and kept track of my marketing,” she said. “I grew really fast.”
As she nears her two-year anniversary in business, Zelez looks after 612 of the estimated 5,000 dogs in Airdrie.
“To reach 300 clients in a year was my initial goal and I spotted that goal and managed 450 in my first year,” said Zelez, who owns two dogs. “I was really excited to reach that point in a year.”
Now, Zelez has expanded to a location in Calgary at Rascals Pet Supplies & Grooming and has five employees helping care for the animals.
In six months’ time in Calgary, Zelez has found 180 clients and Rascals co-owner Jerry Iuliani is very pleased with his partnership.
“She wanted to expand and I wanted to open a grooming salon and it’s worked pretty good,” Iuliani said. “My customers seem to like her and a lot of people won’t groom larger dogs, but that’s her specialty. She has a way with the animals.”
Zelez’ clientele feels the same way.
“She’s fantastic with our dog,” said Cynthia Rowan, owner of Maddie, a westie. “Our dog is very skittish and terrified of everything. My dog has no problems at all, she’s not trying to pull away from the door and we have no problems anymore.”
Zelez said no dog is too big and she is willing to groom any breed.
“I’ve never turned away a dog yet and I never intend to,” said Zelez.
“Between my staff and myself, and the extra knowledge and training I have, we can offer something a little bit different.”
Future plans for High Tails include expansion onto an acreage near Airdrie.
“I want to build a health and wellness centre for pets that stays with our philosophy of stress reduction and have doggie condos for boarding,” she said.
“Because I know so much about disease control and stress reduction, it’s crucial to having a good location and attract clients.”
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