Hanford Insider: The Itchy Pooch Mobile Grooming with Shamra Bettencourt

Welcome To Hanford Insider

SPEAKER_00 0:02

On this week's Hanford Insider, we sit down with Shamra Betancourt and learn more about the popular mobile pet grooming business, the Itchy Pooch. And Rob will update all of the latest happenings with a review of this week's community calendar. This is the Hanford Insider for October 19th.

SPEAKER_01 0:42

Welcome to the Hanford Insider Podcast. I'm Rob Bentley. I'm so glad you're here. Each week, we meet interesting people, hear great local stories, and discover what makes Hanford such a special place to call home. So let's jump in and see what's happening around our community. With all of the community activities happening this month, I just wanted to send a special shout out to all of my subscribers and listeners who have taken time to reach out and tell me how much you're enjoying the show. Those comments fuel me for sure. I really appreciate you. I'd also like to share my appreciation for those who have helped me out recently with a donation to buy Buy Me a Coffee and Venmo accounts. Your support helps keep this hobby of mine going.

City Updates And Community Thanks

SPEAKER_01 1:27

The Hanford City Council will be meeting on Tuesday, October 20th. For a full agenda, visit Hanford.city. We got an update from the Kings County Sheriff's Office last week about the health of Sergeant Andrew Matza. As some of you may remember, back in May, he experienced a rare medical condition that required more than a month of hospitalization at a local medical facility. We're happy to report that he has recently returned to work on a light duty basis and is expected to return to full duty soon. His family is grateful for his continued recovery and for the community's support and prayers during this challenging time.

Community Calendar Highlights

SPEAKER_01 2:09

Now let's take a look at this week's community calendar. The Pink Passion Picnic will be held at the Quinania Christian Fellowship on Tuesday, October 20th at 10.30. This week at the Thursday Night Marketplace, it's Crew Appreciation Night with music by the band August. Comedian George Lopez will be performing at the Hanford Fox Theater on Friday, October 23rd at 8 p.m. For tickets and information, visit foxhanford.com. On Saturday, October 24th, Valley Voices presents a Kings County Candidate Forum at Hanford High School Presentation Center from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. If you have an event coming up large or small, and you'd like some help getting the word out, let's work together. Send your information to HanfordInsider at gmail.com. The Hanford Insider has the most comprehensive community calendar available at HanfordInsider.com. On

Meet Itchy Pooch Founder Shamra

SPEAKER_01 3:16

this week's show, we're talking about something that's close to the hearts of many pet owners, keeping our four-legged family members looking and feeling their best. Joining me today is Shamra Betancourt, owner of the Itchy Pooch Mobile Pet Grooming, a local business bringing pet grooming services right to your doorstep. For busy pet owners, mobile grooming can be a convenient way to give their furry friends the care and attention they deserve. We'll learn more about Shamra, how she got started in the pet grooming business, and what makes mobile pet grooming unique. So let's get started. Shamra, welcome to the Hanford Insider Podcast. Hello. Shamra, the Itchy Pooch is becoming an institution here in Hanford. You see the vans driving all over the place and pets getting their uh grooming on, as we say. Tell us a little bit about yourself and maybe how you got started in the pet grooming business.

SPEAKER_02 4:08

Well, I am a Hanford native. I actually got started when I went to Camarillo. I was attending Cal State Channel Islands for college and took on a job at a corporate pet store and was taught to groom. And I became the grooming salon manager over there for about a couple months. Part of their training was you had to sign a year contract to, you know, fulfill your payment back to them. So as I had been grooming over that year, I had realized a lot of disadvantages to salon grooming, things that could have been changed with a more private setting. And after doing much research, I found a mobile grooming company based out of Indiana that converts all these vans into a mobile grooming salon, which five out of our six units are wagon tails vans. And they um I thought, you know, this might be a great thing to do. So I started my business planning and had my first van lined up to be delivered, my last day of my year contract with that corporate company.

SPEAKER_01 5:16

So the name Itchy Pooch, what a catchy name. How did you come up with that name?

SPEAKER_02 5:21

Um, just made a list of different names, a lot of Google search, and I mean, this was 20, 20 years ago. So this was before Chat GPT and all that good stuff. That would have made it a lot easier. Right. Yeah. So I um, you know, just made a list and it just had a ring to it and it stuck. And so it's been the itchy pooch.

SPEAKER_01 5:41

Well, it certainly is a catchy name. So have you always been an animal lover and what kind of pets did you grow up with?

SPEAKER_02 5:48

I have. Um, I've grown up with dogs, no cats, unfortunately, because my family was allergic, but we would have the neighborhood cats outside, turtles, and we had some lizards, and pretty much that's it. Currently I have three dogs myself.

SPEAKER_01 6:04

So you worked for a corporate grooming uh partner, and then you decided to go branch out on your own. And rather

Why Mobile Grooming Reduces Stress

SPEAKER_01 6:11

than start, let's say, a brick and mortar place, what really inspired you to the mobile pet grooming business?

SPEAKER_02 6:18

Um, when I was researching the mobile pet grooming business, well, for one, there's a lot less overhead. Two, you're providing the dog with a stress-free, or I'll say a less stressful grooming experience than a brick and mortar. Uh, when you go into mobile, it's just you and that one pet. There's no other people, customers coming in and out. You're not having to stop, check somebody else out, check someone else in. There's no other dogs barking, which can be a distraction or even cause anxiety in other pets. The contamination rate, because we do not kennel, is much lower. You're not putting dogs together by each other. So there's a lot of advantages to going mobile that I thought were appealing, and throughout all these years, I have realized apparently a lot of customers believe so too.

SPEAKER_01 7:06

So it's time for the disclaimer how I came across Ichi Pooch. Um, I have, as most of you know, I bragged about him a lot on the show. I have a mixed terrier Basie, and I had attempted to clip his nails. His nails would get long and it would be hard because he would get it stuck in his collar. And I took him to a place in town and it took forever. And uh just I when I saw the itchy pooch van, I said, I gotta try that out.

First Visit Walkthrough And Services

SPEAKER_01 7:33

So, like myself, what can a first-time customer expect uh when the van pulls up?

SPEAKER_02 7:39

Um, well, we're gonna get out and we're gonna come up to your front door, greet your pet, um, talk to you, probably ask you a hundred questions. Uh, does your dog have allergies? What are you wanting done to your pet? Uh, does your dog have any medical issues? We do send out an intake form that most of these questions are answered on, but I always tell my employees, always double check. You need to investigate these dogs because every dog is so different. Make sure you're asking the right questions. Is he fearful? Is he scared? Is he aggressive? Is he gonna be no problem? So we'll, you know, introduce ourselves to the customer and pet, take that pet into the grooming unit and then provide whatever service is requested. Um, usually the service can range anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours, depending on the size of dog. Some of the larger dogs can go longer. And then we bring them right back up, and that's it.

SPEAKER_01 8:32

So, other than nail clipping, which I take advantage of, what are some of the other services that you offer?

SPEAKER_02 8:39

We offer bathing, full grooming, haircuts, ear cleaning, teeth brushing, gland expression if needed, de-skunking, deshedding, and I think that's about it.

SPEAKER_01 8:51

You have a lot of equipment on the van, obviously, for all those different services, but there's one piece of equipment that you've recently made an investment in that is security. Uh, why the need for security in a van like that?

SPEAKER_02 9:03

Well, it's to make our clients feel more secure about the grooming process and for us also to have a sense of knowing what is going on within the unit. Um, I feel like you're always seeing these grooming horror stories on the news. Um, we want to make sure that you guys feel um, you know, rest assured that we have security. I can go and check in on an incident if you think something happened, you know, to make sure that we can correct that and that it doesn't occur again and give you a sense of relief and a sense of trust with us, basically.

SPEAKER_01 9:36

So,

Safety Cameras And Ongoing Training

SPEAKER_01 9:37

how are your technicians trained? I mean, this is not something that you I mean, I can wash my dog. Let's let's face it. But what kinds of training do you offer for your staff?

SPEAKER_02 9:47

So we actually offer additional um training and certification. We pay for our staff to do CPR and first aid certification. Recently, our staff took an elder senior dog course. This was a course certification for them to learn how to properly handle and groom elderly dogs because it is a little different. They have more risks and issues with them that we need to be extra careful about and cautious with. We attend the Pasadena Pet Expo every year. I pay for my employees to go and attend multiple classes there. Sometimes they stay overnight and do two days of courses. Some of the courses they've taken at the Pasadena Pet Expo has been a skin assessment course, nail trim course. We've had cat grooming courses, decheding courses, and you could take pretty much anything there grooming related. So we really believe in continued education with this industry. It's constantly changing. There's always new equipment coming out. There's new knowledge about how to handle a certain type of coat or the dog's skin. So we want to keep our staff informed and making sure that we're providing you guys with a staff member that has the most up-to-date knowledge that is out there.

SPEAKER_01 10:58

I would imagine maintaining a fleet of vans like this is uh another expense that is part of the overall experience. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:06

Yes, that's probably one of our largest expenses besides payroll.

SPEAKER_01 11:10

And fuel. And fuel. And you've had to make some adjustments in your service recently because of that, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:15

We have, yes. And unfortunately, fuel keeps increasing. But um, we try to uh plan our routing better to help us, you know, reduce the cost of you know, the use of fuel and the wear and tear on the vehicles. You know, we have right now we have six units, which are, you know, it's quite a lot of upkeep. Maintenance has been, you know, increasing as well as gas. Everything's increasing. And so we've tried to not adjust our pricing too much when we see gas fluctuations. We usually, you know, address this on a year-by-year basis.

SPEAKER_01 11:49

So

Costs, Routing, And Breed Quirks

SPEAKER_01 11:50

let's go to some fun and challenging aspects of the grooming business. Uh, I know you meet all kinds of people. What are some of the differences between dog breeds?

SPEAKER_02 11:59

Oh, there's a lot of differences between dog breeds. Um, let's see. Pugs do not like their nails trimmed, nor do dachshunds. Huskies are gonna scream and cry the whole time they're being bathed just because it's the husky cry that they do. Um, they're also gonna shed everywhere. Uh the labs will have half of our labs come in the van with a ball or a toy in their mouth. Um, our golden retrievers, you know, they're the most playful. They want to jump around the whole time. Um, our pit bulls, you know, and that's something we get asked a lot. Do you groom pit bulls? We absolutely love pit bulls. They are some of the sweetest, lovable dogs that are out there, and they usually always fit that type of category. We have, you know, our smaller dogs can be a little bit more of the nervous dogs, shaky and a little, you know, yappy too. But those are my main dog differences right there. Those breeds. That's interesting, though.

SPEAKER_01 12:51

Yeah. Yeah. I I I having a small dog for so long now, I didn't really think about the playfulness of the larger dogs. I used to have a golden that would be that way. Yeah. I could totally see him doing

A Story About Compassionate Grooming

SPEAKER_01 13:02

that. Um, without sharing anything that would embarrass a customer, uh, do you have a memorable grooming story that might make you smile?

SPEAKER_02 13:10

You know, a lot of what we do with grooming, you know, we do this because we, you know, love the animals ourselves. Um, I've had a very, you know, low-income family that needed help with a dog they took off the streets. Um, and unfortunately, the lady was going through some very hard medical um expenses at that time. And she she was battling a pretty bad disease. Um, so she had all she really had with her was her little dog. This thing was her everything. And um, she, you know, I finished the groom. The dog was really matted and needed to be cleaned up. And she was so happy, you know, and it it was an older dog, you know, and had um a lot of, you know, a lot of matting. So by the time I got done with it, the poor thing was so short and didn't look that great, you know. But she was just so happy to have him taken care of and have him feeling good because that was her baby. We went to uh, you know, when it was time for payment, she tried, you know, she tried handing me, of course, like a bag of coins and stuff to help finish with the payment. And one of the benefits of owning a company is, you know, we actually just comp the groom. And um, on top of comping the groom, we went and we purchased her some um bedding and some dog food and so forth. And I'm when we showed up with that, she just cried. I mean, it's you know, the these animals to some of these, especially the elderly, that's all they have. Those are their babies, those are their companions, um, it's their whole world. And so for them, they will give up their needs just to have their dogs taken care of. And you see that a lot. And so, you know, for us to be able to give back and help somebody in that situation, especially with her going through her medical expenses, which, you know, she's trying to pay for, and we're not cheap, um, trying to pay for this service for her dog. And it just, you know, it just it just melted my heart kind of seeing her put her own stuff aside to take care of her pet. Um, and I'm sure a lot of pet lovers can admit they would do the same.

SPEAKER_01 15:11

For sure. Definitely. Those

Local Giving And Blanket Drive Details

SPEAKER_01 15:13

kinds of stories are exactly what this show's about. Shamra, giving back to the community is a big part of what you do. And I know that you have you do the clippings at the parks, you'll have pop-ups uh where you'll show up, and uh those are beneficial, but you're also involved in the community as far as sponsoring teams. Uh, you're having this uh pet blanket drive. Tell us about your philosophy with being a part of the community.

SPEAKER_02 15:39

Um, well, we wouldn't be who we were without the support of the community. And so it's very important for us to give back to the community that has made us who we are today. I remember being a kid and needing to, you know, we were doing trying to get money for our volleyball equipment or for our school events and going and asking businesses um for assistance and being turned down constantly. We really um like to put our money towards the kids, towards school events. We support FFA. We donated to the Shelly Baird Prom last year. Um Hanford FFA, we're a huge supporter of sports teams. I think Hamford High Bullpup, we're on their poster, King's Dance Center, KCV volleyball, um, which I'll admit my kids are in those, but um some of them they're not. But you know, we really like to give back when we can. I also like to volunteer my time at some of the career days. It's you know, it's always fun to see the kids' face light up when they see the itchy peach van with the dogs. And then you get to lecture them on the fact that, hey, go for those trade jobs. You know, there's other jobs out there than just college. And I'm a firm believer in that one. And uh, you know, we donate to the animal shelters as well. Yeah, so let's talk about the blanket drive that you So the blanket drive we're holding until Halloween. A lot of people hold a blanket drive. Um, we decided to do one this year. We kind of alternate between the pet pantry fundraiser and this year we decided to do a blanket drive. The shelters go through so many blankets in the wintertime, and it's easier sometimes just to toss those blankets than to put them through loads of laundry. We've had we've done this before. It's been very successful. We actually split this up between all the shelters that want blankets because they do get an overabundance of these blankets. So we'll contact the shelters. I think last time we we split it up between Huron Animal Shelter, of course, Hanford, the Kings County Animal Shelter. At the time it was SPCA. Um, we will contact Valley Animal Haven. And now that we're branching out to Visalia and Kingsburg, we'll be reaching out to the shelters out in that direction as well.

SPEAKER_01 17:47

This is so great, Shamra. Uh, you do so much for the community, and we definitely appreciate that.

Future Plans And Where To Follow

SPEAKER_01 17:53

So, where do you see the itchy pooch in five to ten years? I mean, this business is really growing. What are some goals that you have?

SPEAKER_02 18:00

Some goals that I have. We would like to get a location somewhere in Hanford or Lemoore where we can actually store all of our vehicles, have an office, and then hopefully in the future offer a grooming training location. I'd like to set up a grooming school. I think that's something that I feel there is a huge need for in the Central Valley. Um, we have so many people who love animals and want to know how to get involved in what we do. And I feel like we would be great at providing this service to them. Um, so I'm hoping in about five to 10 years, we're gonna have this fleet of vans, we're gonna have a grooming school, and we're going to have a small salon, of course, attached with the grooming um school to uh, you know, extend our services even further and hopefully pass on our philosophies to other people to carry on into other cities and communities on caring for their pets.

SPEAKER_01 18:52

Yeah, that's great. So, where can people find out more online about the itchy pooch?

SPEAKER_02 18:57

We have a website, www.thechypooch.com. We're very active on Facebook and Instagram. I would recommend following us on either or of those. Just search itchy pooch in the Facebook search bar or Instagram bar, and you will find us.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

Well, thank you so much for joining us today, Shammer. It's been a wonderful opportunity to sit down and talk about everything that the Itchy Pooch does in the community. And I want to wish you the best of luck on your blanket drive, and I'll be bl I'll be dropping one off in a week or so.

SPEAKER_02 19:25

Sounds good. Thank you very much.

Support The Show And Stay Connected

SPEAKER_01 19:28

Well, that wraps things up for this week's show. Eric will be back next week to catch us up on all of the high school sports action. If you're enjoying the podcast and want to support it, you can head over to buymeacoffee.com forward slash Hanford Insider to make a donation. Or you can Venmo me directly. To stay connected, join the Hanford Insider email list at HanfordInsider.com. You'll get weekly updates plus an exclusive newsletter delivered right to your inbox each Wednesday. I'd also really appreciate your help getting the word out about the show by liking or sharing posts on social media, or like most people, just telling a friend. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple, YouTube, Spotify, or any podcast player that you have, and it will automatically download to your inbox when a new episode is uploaded. Don't forget, if you have a story idea, community event, or someone you think deserves to be featured, I'd love to hear from you. Email me anytime at HanfordInsider at gmail.com. You can follow the show on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, and YouTube at Hanford Insider for more content and updates. Thanks for listening. Have a great week.