Pets Get Beauty Treatments At Auntie Deb’s Self-Service Wash A Popular Feature For Furry Clientele

Deb Hunt’s salon is overflowing with customers.

Jessie is waiting patiently for her shampoo, while Cody indulges in a pedicure.

And Miss Lillie would really like a fresh coat of siren-red nail polish when someone gets a chance.

For the past five years, Auntie Deb, as she’s known to her packs of fans, has run the South Hill’s premier grooming salon, where she caters to customers on four legs.

“Where else do you go to work and get kissed all day?” she asked, accepting a smooch from a friendly border collie.

Every day, between 25 and 30 dogs, cats - even a few pigs - enter Auntie Deb’s, where they’re shampooed, clipped and groomed. They all receive a seasonal bow or bandanna - NFL styles at Super Bowl time, clover-covered ones for St. Patrick’s Day.

The service is so good, some clients even show up without appointments.

Annie and Gabby, two neighborhood dogs, often pop up to visit uninvited - and unattended. Their owner knows where to call to check up on the wayward pooches.

“I could do a sitcom,” Hunt says with a laugh, shaking her head.

Jesse, a Welsh Corgi, prefers to just be dropped off at the door.

“OK, Jess, see you later,” says Dad. Yeah, whatever. Jesse is already halfway across the floor, heading for his favorite kennel.

On a corner table, groomer Tracey Van Knowe shears Sparky, a long-haired Daschund looking for a more manageable ‘do. Van Knowe began working at Auntie Deb’s after discovering her adeptness at clipping her own cocker spaniel.

“I tried it myself and thought, ‘Oh, my God. I think this is my calling,”’ she said.

“It’s sort of my way of being creative. My sisters could all draw really well or paint and I never could. This just seems natural for me.”

This business came naturally for Hunt, too.

After becoming a victim of corporate downsizing, she decided to try something new.

“I always had a passion for pets and people,” she said. “I thought this would be the best of both.”

Using her marketing background, she headed to South Hill parking lots, polling people about their interest in a grooming parlor.

She encountered particular interest in a self-service wash.

For $5 for the first half-hour and $2.50 for each additional half-hour, patrons can use Deb’s facilities to wash their own pets. The tubs are set high enough to avoid crooks in the neck, and powerful hair dryers are within arm’s reach.

Hunt estimates self-service washings make up 5 to 10 percent of her total business. And business is good, she said.

She usually has four to five groomers working at a time to keep up with demand.

“She does a good job,” said Madge Harrison, who brings her black cocker spaniel, Spooky, all the way up from near downtown. “We come quite a ways. But it’s worth it.”

“I gave myself a five-year window to see if it would work,” Hunt said. “And it’s working.

“I was really surprised about how fast it took off.”

Business is so brisk, in fact, that Hunt is looking to move to a larger locale. She’s considering property just south of her current residence on East 57th.

She said she’d like to build a new facility to include - no kidding - a doggie gym and day care.

“I try to make this a stress-free place for pets,” she said. “I’d like to include these other things.”

The salon is a generally tame place, but a few customers can get a bit unruly at times. Hunt employs acupressure techniques to calm the pets, and on rare occasions uses a muzzle.

But fair warning: according to the price list, “Cranky dogs, add $5.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo