By Art Petrosemolo
LITTLE SILVER – Dana Ujobagy is obsessed with the well being of Two River mutts and pedigrees.
The owner of Dog Spaw employs seven groomers to wash, cut, trim, style and pamper the coats of her customers’ canines seven days a week. They work in the salon or from two mobile vans.
Dog Spaw sees many dozens of dogs weekly for grooming. Ujobagy cares deeply about their health and provides free nutritional advice to owners that has helped them understand the cause of many pet health issues including allergies, digestive problems and skin rashes. “You’d be surprised how many canine health issues are tied directly to their food and the way they are fed,” Ujobagy explains.” She tells customers: “Feed your dogs to thrive, not just survive.”
Ujobagy knows firsthand the hurt of losing a loved pet. She saw two of her boxers die at an early age because of food-related problems. She speaks from experience when she says, “Dogs like all of us need less processed, more moisture enriched foods in their bowls daily rather than dry food filled with starches and grains consistently. It would be like you eating dry cereal all the time.”
The Dog Spaw location offers grain-free kibble as well as a large selection of canned and frozen raw food and sound advice on how to incorporate it into a pet’s diet. Most of the food sold at Dog Spaw is manufactured in small batches by family-owned companies, Ujobagy explains. She vouches for its quality. “You’d be very surprised how feeding pets properly contributes to good canine health and overall wellness,” she said.
She got into the business more than a decade ago when she started selling collars and clothes for dogs online. It was early in the growth of her online business and a story on her operation was published in USA Today. “I had always been a dog lover and the business was a labor of love, and it got me out of working in the corporate world,” Ujobagy said.
It wasn’t long before Ujobagy opened her first retail venture – Paw Palace – on Monmouth Street in Red Bank where she did business for seven years concentrating on fancy dog clothes and collars. As pet owners found her, she began to add services including grooming and offering a healthy line of food for sale. A move to a standalone location with off street parking made sense and she relocated in 2012 to Little Silver near the train station on Silverside Avenue.
The Dog Spaw also provides high-end grooming services for its clients. Groomers also are trained in pet first aid. Dogs are not stressed while they wait for grooming. They relax in open-top suites with comfortable bedding and water.
The salon works on all dog breeds and cats too. On the road, the mobile units are self-contained with water and electrical services. A Dog Spaw van pulls into a customers’ driveway and all the owner needs to do is walk the pet to the van.
Ujobagy sells a variety of only holistic dog foods, treats, and handmade gourmet bakery items now but the key in making her business unique is her dedication to dogs’ health. She wants to help owners learn what would bring out the true beauty in their pets.
