New Pet Shine Has Its Work Cut Out

DAYTON - Erin Gibson got her start as a pet groomer when she worked as a receptionist at a veterinarian clinic in a suburb of Portland.

She'd always been an animal lover, growing up in a household that bred Labradors, so she couldn't resist sneaking to the back of the clinic where the kennels were.

"I fell into it by chance," said Gibson, 28. "I started by helping out giving them baths, clipping their nails, drying them."

After about a year, she was busy as a full-fledged groomer at the store next to the clinic and she stayed for another year before finding work as an on-hand groomer at a self-serve grooming salon in Portland.

But when she moved to Walla Walla with her mom Linda two and a half years ago, she hoped to find a more independent position as a groomer.

This summer, her chance came when she saw an ad on Craig's List for a grooming business offered for sale on Main Street in

Dayton.

"I knew I wanted to do it," said Gibson, who just reopened CW & Friends as Pet Shine earlier this month. "I didn't look back."

Gibson bought all the equipment and the client list from Cindy Joy, who decided to sell her shop so she could take care of her elderly parents. If an average day for her shop is any indication, Gibson's off to a solid start.

On the phone with a customer Saturday morning, she was taking bookings as far as a week and a half out. Just last week, she groomed eight dogs in one day.

Starting out with a client list of 237, Gibson has already added a dozen new customers without doing any advertising. The bulk of the dog owners are from Dayton while others bring their animals in from Waitsburg, Dixie, Prescott and Walla Walla.

"It's a huge dog community in this valley," she said.

Gibson got to know many of the existing clients' dogs by helping Joy before she took over the grooming business, which she said she wants to turn into a "highend hair salon for dogs."

She has already modernized the look of the store front with a slick black front desk and pale blue paint on the east wall where she hopes to add shelves with retail products. Left-handed at everything, she had to switch the grooming station and other arrangements.

Pet Shine offers bath services starting with ear cleaning, bathing and drying to nail trimming, blow drying and combing. Prices range from $10 to $30. Full "Shine" grooming ranges from $25 to $50, depending on the size of the dog. Gibson expects to add deskunk/ deodorizing, pet-icure (nail coloring) and flea applications. Gibson took over the business with her own savings and a "silent partner."

Linda Gibson helps where she can, but it's otherwise very much her daughter's operation. Her mother said she's not surprised Gibson ended up being a groomer.

"Erin was always able to take a bad dog or a bad horse and calm them down," Linda Gibson said about her daughter, who is also an avid barrel racer and moved here in part because of the area's prolific barrel-racing community.

Gibson herself explains her connection to the animals she has to handle in tricky ways this way: "You can't learn to make dogs comfortable with you. Dogs are sensitive to the way you are feeling. They become anxious when you are. I try to be trusting with the dog and they in turn trust me."

She has been asked to groom other animals, such as cats, guinea pigs and even cows getting ready for showmanship contests, but said she'll decline them, in part because she's already "slammed" with bookings for dogs.

For more information about Pet Shine, call 509- 382-4810.