San Diego’s Best Pet Groomer Shares Upcoming Events

David: I’m here with Riley Bandy, from Dirty Dogs.  We’re excited to be here with him and chat a little bit about what’s going on with Dirty Dogs. I’m a fan of Dirty Dogs, but I wanted to ask you a question, Riley: There’s a lot of different options out there for not only Carmel Valley residents and residents in San Diego County as a whole.  What makes Dirty Dogs so special?  Why should somebody go visit you guys?

Riley:   One of the things we talk about with a lot of our customers is how Dirty Dogs has really become a one-stop-shop for pet owners.  When I say that, I mean we offer professional grooming, we offer healthy food, healthy treats, frozen food, bones; all the different necessities you need in terms of consumables, products.  Then we also have what’s extremely popular is do-it-yourself washing.  At Dirty Dogs it’s called a You Do It scrub.  What that means basically is that dog owners can bring their dog in after the beach, after running at the park, after going on a trail run, and actually wash their dog in our tubs on their own with shampoo, with hot water, with everything . It’s really a bonding experience for the person and their dog.  People really like it because it’s inexpensive, it’s quick, it’s easy, you don’t have to deal with the clean-up, it doesn’t break your back.  One of the nice things . . .

David: You know I love it.  I do it probably once or twice a week with Milo (The Carmel Valley Life Mascot).

Riley:   Absolutely.  It’s easy.  We have blow dryers, we have towels.  You don’t have to wreck your bathroom.  It’s fantastic.  We always say to people, “As soon as you try our You Do It scrubs, you’re never going to use your garden hose again.”

David:  That’s true, 100%.  I know you guys are having a lot of events.  What type of events are you having lately, are going to have?  How can people find out more about them?

Riley:   Dirty Dogs has been around about 6 years.  One of the big things that we’ve done ever since we first opened is try to create experiences where dog owners can come out with their dogs and have social hour, these different things.  Originally they were called Yappetizers and Wine; that’s still an event that we have about 6 times a year, with one of the most popular ones being a costume contest around Halloween.  One of the things that we are now getting more involved in is events that are not just at our stores but are at other locations.  We’ve recently launched these events called Bark After Dark.  These are events . . . we just had one recently at a small local brewery in Sorrento Valley, and we’re having our next one around February 25^th, that’s a Tuesday night, from 5:00 to 9:00 at Culture Brewery at Solana Beach.  It’s on Cedro Street. These are . . . they’re dog-friendly destinations, they’re places that people like to go at nighttime, have a beer, have a glass of wine, and then bringing your dog along, it just makes it this experience of sharing these social environments with your dog.  That’s a lot of fun.

We also . . . one of the new things that we’re doing is really trying to appreciate all the different kinds of dogs that come through our store.  We’re really fortunate to live in North County Sand Diego where people have a lot of exotic breeds; they have a lot of poodle mixes; golden doodles, labradoodles.  These are really fun breeds.  What we want to do is give people the opportunities to get all of those breeds together, so we’re having these breed appreciation days at our stores.  They happen at each store once a month.  We basically offer free self-serve baths for a certain breed every month at each store.  Last month we did Golden Retrieve appreciation Day in Cardiff, we did Boxer Appreciation Day Carmel Valley.  Next week we’re actually having Australian Appreciation Day in Cardiff.  We’re trying to put together a way where our customers can vote for which appreciation day we’re having next.  We’ve had a lot of interest just in having a rescue dog appreciation day, which we’re going to be scheduling.  At this point . . .

David: I’ll be there for that one.

Riley:   So will I.

David: Very cool Riley.  I’ll be sure to include a link below this video so whoever’s watching can get onto your website, find out more information about your events.  I know you guys do a lot of Facebook promoting your events, so we’ll be sure to include some kind of link there as well.  Riley, thanks so much.  We’ll definitely have you on here again, talk about some of the specifics on maybe some grooming, and then any events coming up after, obviously, this conversation we’re having.  Thanks again, Riley.

Riley:   Thanks, David.

Questions? Email Dirty Dogs at events@dirtydogsd.com

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Riley Bandy heads up marketing at Dirty Dogs. He oversees events, partnerships and advertising while also making sure Dirty Dogs is helping San Diego communities and providing the best possible support to dogs in need. He coordinates all community involvement and fundraising.

Before Dirty Dogs, Riley worked for the marketing agency, Imagination in Chicago managing client relationships for Gold’s Gym, Allstate Insurance and Western Union. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California.