A✂A Dog Grooming is a small shop in Washington, Utah, looking after dogs from across the St George area. Same people every visit, which is most of the reason your dog settles.
Any groomer can send a dog home looking sharp. The hard part, and the part almost nobody asks about, is what state the dog is in when it gets there.
Plenty of dogs come to us after a bad experience somewhere else. They arrive flinching when you go near their paws, or planting their feet at the door. So the first job is usually not the coat at all. It is convincing a dog that this room is fine.
That means going at the dog's pace, stopping when the dog says stop, and accepting that some appointments take longer than the schedule would like. It is slower. It is also the entire reason people keep coming back and bringing their second dog.
We are equally happy with a Great Dane, a fifteen year old terrier who cannot stand for long, or a puppy having its very first bath. Big paws, tiny toes, furry seniors and patient puppies, as we have always put it.
Shop photoSet AA_MEDIA_ABOUT.shopPhoto
In memory of Haddy, our mascot. Miniature schnauzer.
How it started
It started with one white schnauzer.
My husband wanted a Miniature Schnauzer. I said no. Then, after a lot of convincing, I finally agreed, with one condition. She had to be white.
Her name was Haddy. What started as a reluctant yes became the greatest inspiration of my life. I wanted to take good care of her, so I learned about grooming tools, coat care, breed characteristics, behavior, body language, everything I could find that would help me care for her properly. Then I learned to groom her myself.
Grooming, it turned out, was never simply about making a dog look beautiful. It was about earning trust. The more I learned about Haddy, the more I understood dogs. And the more I understood dogs, the more I understood myself.
Without even knowing it, Haddy changed me. She inspired me to become a dog groomer. More than that, she inspired me to become the kind of groomer who sees the dog, not just the haircut.
Ada, owner
Haddy is no longer with us. She is still the shop's mascot, and every dog on our table gets the care she taught us to give.
The people
Your dog gets a person, not whoever is free.
Read our reviews and the same names come up again and again. That is not an accident. Dogs relax faster with hands they recognise, so we keep you with the same groomer wherever we can.
A
Ada
Groomer
Ada started A x A with a passion for service. Named in more of our reviews than anyone. Regulars have been bringing the same dog to Ada for years, which is the only credential that really counts.
C
Caleb
Groomer
The one people send their big dogs to. Great Danes, standard poodles, giant schnauzers, all of it calmly and without a fuss.
E
Easton
Apprentice
Training under Ada and Caleb, and already one the nervous dogs trust. Every groomer here started exactly where Easton is now.
How we work
Four things we will not bend on.
01
Fear free handling
No shouting, no forcing, no holding a frightened dog down to finish on time. If your dog needs a break, your dog gets a break.
02
The price you were told
Quoted at drop off, including anything the coat is going to add. Nothing new appears at the counter when you come back.
03
Clean, properly
Hospital grade sanitation between dogs, tools included. Boring, invisible, and exactly what you would want if you could see it.
04
Real appointment windows
We book time rather than stacking dogs in crates waiting their turn. Your appointment starts when it says it does.
Team photoSet AA_MEDIA_ABOUT.teamCutout
Two on the table
Some dogs need four hands. We have four hands.
A nervous eighty pound dog is not a one person job, and pretending otherwise is how dogs get hurt and groomers get bitten. When a dog needs two of us, two of us work it.
It is also why owners of big breeds travel to us from across the St George area after being turned away elsewhere.
Our float took the Mayor's Award at the Washington City Parade, and has since been invited to roll in the Santa Clara Swiss Days Parade. If you spot a truck wearing a dog face, wave. We are the ones in blue.
Come and see
Bring your dog in and judge for yourself.
If your dog has had a rough time at a groomer before, say so when you book. We would much rather know, and we will plan the appointment around it.