. . . And Now There’s a Health Spa for Your Dog : ‘This Is Not a Gimmick,’ Says Doggery Owner
Laugh, if you will; you won’t be the first.
A Japanese film crew and assorted life-style commentators have come to smirk at the latest in what some see as leisure-class foolishness--or worse: a health spa for dogs.
But the customers aren’t laughing.
There’s Peaches, the big-eyed Lhasa apso who is nimble again following hip replacement surgery, thanks to therapeutic dunkings in the Jacuzzi.
There’s Sunny, the overanxious Doberman. Her owner swears that 15 minutes in the baths “takes the steam out” of the pooch more effectively than an all-out cat chase.
First Animal Spa
And there are the show dogs who find that regular workouts on a treadmill are a more civilized way of staying trim than jogging along behind their owner’s cars in a grimy parking lot after the shoppers have gone.
“I don’t mind people having fun with this idea,” said Beverly Harkey, owner of what is apparently the first animal spa in the nation, the Doggery Animal Center in Rancho Park. “I guess people made fun when the first health spas for humans opened years ago.
“Anybody who loves their animals and truly cares knows that this is not a gimmick. You take an animal out of God’s world and put it into our world and you’ve got to make some adjustments.
“City dogs spend 75-80% of their time sleeping,” added Harkey, a 23-year veteran of the grooming business. “There’s nothing for them to do. I know when I get home from work, I’m too tired to take my dogs out. The spa has been a blessing for me. I can exercise them (her two Dobermans and a 13-year-old standard poodle) on the treadmill without worrying about other dogs or traffic.”
In November, Harkey, 44, added spa facilities to her grooming shop at 2462 Overland Ave., next door to a tailor. Grooming continues to make up the bulk of business.
At the grand opening, about 200 guests got a look at new additions such as the Pace Master adjustable treadmill. The dogs like it, she said, once they get used to the ground moving beneath them.
Next to the treadmill there’s a larger-than-life pinup of a certifiable hunk, a German shepherd wearing green Nikes and a jogging suit. His head is high, chest out, tongue panting, and he’s advising: “Jog or walk for health.”
By March, Harkey hopes to install a lap pool for small-to-middle-sized clients; and around the same time she plans to introduce exercise classes. These will resemble obedience school more than the aerobics classes at your neighborhood Y, Harkey said.
The crowning addition, a Roman-style bath, set in an alcove of fake marble, was blessed by Bishop John J. Ward of St. Timothy’s Church in Rancho Park (he’s known for blessing animals on Olvera Street).
On a recent morning, sun filtered into the Doggery’s waiting room, which is newly redecorated to resemble a veranda. Decorator fans rotated slowly overhead; and there were copies of Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine on a table. A line of health products on display included veggie treats, natural flea repellent and something called K-9 cola--Harkey says the beverage tastes like Kool-Aid and is not selling very well.
Harkey is not what you might expect from one who’s been dubbed a groomer-to-the-stars (she used to have a shop in Beverly Hills where she established a celebrity clientele). Her dealings with humans seem to be looked upon as slight distractions. She appears happiest when it’s just her and the dogs in the shop.
Despite the pains Harkey has taken to make the Doggery pleasing to animals, there is no indication that she cares much for luxuries for herself. Her only personal decoration is a large gold ring on her left hand. It’s a custom-made relief of the face of her poodle, Athena.
Realization of a Dream
Harkey’s dream to make dogs healthy goes back 15 years.
She had another poodle then, Ebony Bow. Bow, as she called him, was only 7, but already he was hobbled by sore joints. Due sometimes to carelessness on the owner’s part, or simply to bad breeding, older dogs can be prey to hip maladies and arthritis, Harkey said.
Frustrated by the inability of medication to ease Bow’s discomfort, Harkey said she went out and purchased one of the first full-size water beds available in the L.A. area. It seemed to give Bow some relief.
When Jacuzzis eventually became commercially available, Harkey watched with interest as veterinarians began using them to treat the aches of expensive racehorses. “I thought, if they can use them for horses, why not for dogs?” she said.
(“Hydrotherapy is something that has been used occasionally with dogs, it’s just not so practical in a clinic atmosphere,” said Dr. John Winters of the Beverly Hills Small Animal Hospital.) Although a few animal hospitals have basin-sized whirlpools, particularly for use in treating dachshunds who have had disc surgery, Harkey claims hers is the only facility that’s equipped to completely submerge a dog.
A Lot of Looking
It took a lot of looking before Harkey found a spa that fit her requirements. It had to be “dog-shaped,” she said, not round or rectangular. She chose a model with the jets positioned hip-high to a terrier. There are no faucets or handles inside the tub for a spooked customer to bonk his nose on.
When Jodi Snyder’s one-year-old Lhasa apso dislocated her hip recently in a rumble with another dog, Snyder remembers she inquired of the vet who performed surgery on her pet, “Is it OK for Peaches to go in the Jacuzzi?”
Snyder, who is a salesperson at a clothing shop three doors down from the Doggery, said her vet looked a little perplexed.
“He thought I meant my own Jacuzzi,” she explained. “I said, ‘Oh no, this lady I know opened a gym for dogs.’ ”
The vet approved of the plan, and after just a few sessions in the bath, Peaches began to put weight on her bad leg. That pleased Snyder, because often after such an operation the dog’s good leg must be put in a sling in order to force it to begin using the injured limb.
Winters later agreed that Jacuzzi treatments may indeed have hurried Peaches’ recovery.
When Peaches is well enough, Snyder intends to enroll her in the Doggery’s exclusive members’ club. For a $75 annual fee, Peaches will be entitled to a jogging jacket sporting the club logo (the jogging-suited shepherd, flexing a foreleg), a tag identifying the dog as a member, and discounts on use of the facilities.
Following every whirl in the spa, Peaches will be treated to a rubdown with thick white towels. Finally, an attendant will blow-dry and style the contented Lhasa’s locks.
