Sonny’s Mobile Spaw

30/08/2025

I forgot to show you guys Cedar!!

She’s a husky shepard mix, neither one of those breeds like baths. She doesn’t just dislike them, she tries to rip the bathtub out of the van. She’s going to be a pretty large dog, so I’d much rather have her cooperation.

✅ agency
✅ cheese
✅ a whole 5 square inches of wet!!!!

It may not seem like much, but you didn’t see her reaction to our first attempt of bathing.

🥹 Some dogs freeze, or shut down.

🥹 Some dogs fawn, kissing is a good example.

🥹 Some dogs fight, you know what that looks like.

🥹 Some dogs, like Cedar, attempt to flee. Get TF out of whatever situation they’re in. Which in a grooming environment can be very dangerous if they’ve got a lead on, and are as big as this girl will be.

My options as her groomer are limited. I am certainly not going to force her, she’s still small enough I “could” but I won’t

My only option, Cooperative Care training. Which is ALWAYS the only choice.

That’s how we got a whole chicken leg wet. That will be good enough for now 🥰

29/08/2025

A testimony from one of my two
Leggeds and some pictures of the doggo for tax 😍. Families like this are why I do what I do 🥰🐾❤️

Thank goodness Mary has moved to our area. I have been looking for a Fear Free Certified groomer for literally years, but there has been nobody in my area offering this kind of service. The fact that she's a mobile groomer is even better!

My dog, a 65 lb doodle, has been to see Mary for several cookie visits and for a full groom. I've chatted with her at length about how she works and about my dog. Her strong empathy for animals, her understanding of animal emotions and her ability to read dog body language are things you regularly see in positive reinforcement trainers, but you almost never see in professional groomers. Mary is an R+ trainer AND a professional groomer. Combine that with her knack for reading subtleties in body language and you have her secret sauce. She can listen to everything the dog is saying and she can communicate back -- all in the context of grooming.

Mary ALWAYS does right by the animal, and that is critical for building trust with them. She does that so well that she'll stop a groom if the dog is too stressed or scared. I am 1000% behind this. I would much rather my dog be half groomed than traumatized. Due his previous stressful experiences with professional groomers, he did not want to get into Mary’s van on day 1. But now? He runs and leaps into it to greet her with a wildly wagging tail! That’s all the evidence I need.

THANK YOU, Mary, for being here for my dog. I'm thrilled for the chance to continue bringing him for cookie visits between grooms. That is an investment I am more than willing to make for the comfort and happiness of my dog. Finally I have a partner in grooming who will do things the way my dog needs.

Christine

07/08/2025

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02/08/2025

I met this sweet girl about a month ago. I knew as soon as I showed up she was pretty scared. Thanks to her families commitment to the process, and her love of cheese sticks, tri tip and peanut butter, today she got a whole bath!!

She’s had baths before but her family was never told about her fear. Maybe the groomers didn’t know what fear looks like? Or maybe the groomers were taught to do it anyway. Either way she was fearful.

So we did some cookie visits. Some ins and outs of the van. Some training and CER, and here you have a dog post bath who wants me to stay. Which says a lot considering the first day I met her she wouldn’t come anywhere near me.

She’s not all the way dry, but is happy. I’ll take that any day.

Kona Bear I love you 🐾🥰

21/07/2025

Happy 🥰

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17/07/2025

Small business shoutout, Luis and his crew came to the house and got my truck ready for sale and tackled the van for maintenance detail. Couldn’t be happier 🥰

05/07/2025

Super sweet. Super scared.

Dad said none of the other groomers ever said anything 😥. I wasn’t sure how this conversation would go. If they would be receptive to letting me help her be more accepting. I wasn’t going to force her either way.

Sometimes it’s a gamble stopping the service. Sometimes the families just want a clean dog. I get it. They don’t understand. Sometimes they don’t want to either.

Grateful this god Dad agreed to let me work with her, instead of being another groomer to just “get it done”.

The good news is she loves Tri Tip and peanut butter. She should be pretty excited to see me in a couple days. 🐾🐾

03/06/2025

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30/05/2025

ZIGGY!! Look at this distinguished gentleman 😍 I was fortunate to spend time with the whole family yesterday. Explaining the importance of making sure puppies get an easy transition to grooming life.

❤️

07/04/2025

Finnegan!!

Yesterday was his second groom ever, I had the honor of being his first groomer. By respecting his threshold on day one, groom number two was so much easier for him!

are so funny for grooming. They LOVE to sit down, and most are pretty vocal. This boy is a dream to groom. Although he does like to sit in typical cavalier fashion, he’s not afraid of me. I call that success.

06/04/2025

Huge shoutout to for providing the class space! I held my first CPR and First Aid class here in the ! 16 people learned life saving skills!!