Meet the Staff

My name is Sandy and I am the owner, as well as one of the experienced groomers here at Alpha Dog Groom Shop and Dawgy Styles.

I have had a Dog in my life since my mother brought my first puppy to my sick bed when I was 8 years old.  She had found the abandoned puppy in our yard and knew it would cheer me up and help me get over my cold.  Having grown up with the help of a loyal four legged friend has helped teach me many life lessons, as well as bringing much joy to my life.  Many years later, when I had the opportunity to train as a dog groomer under Bart Rowland at Laguna Beach Groomers I knew I had found a career that was self satisfying to me. I was able to meet and make friends with hundreds of dogs and know that the service we provided enhanced the life of both the pet and the pet owner.  Later, I had the opportunity to be part of the founding of the Aussie Mobile Pet Grooming Training Center.  We trained new groomers from all over the world, as well as servicing our neighbor’s pets in the greater Laguna Niguel area.  After 4 years, when the training center closed in December of 2008, I chose to reopen it as Alpha Dog Groom Shop in order to continue to serve the loyal customers (and Friends) we had established over the years.  I hope to continue to grow the business through meeting and grooming many new friends.  As I have often mentioned to the pet owners,  “You are my customer, Your pet is my friend”.

We also help our community through the support of the Laguna Beach Animal shelter by offering free grooming to the shelter dogs when needed, as well as through monetary donations to that wonderful organization.  Also, my current best friend and business partner is Frenchy, a rescue I met at the Laguna Beach shelter.  She is the resident Alpha at the shop and loves to greet the customers with great enthusiasm, sometimes a bit noisier then I would like.  Come on in and meet her.

In addition to myself, Alpha Dog Groom Shop Laguna Niguel and Dana Point have four other fine groomers to serve you:

At Alpha Dog Groom Shop Laguna Niguel;

Melissa, began grooming at Alpha Dog in the fall of 2010.  She already had 5+ years experience after her initial training at Petco in Huntington Beach.  Melissa is very talented at grooming dogs to their breed cuts or just making them look soooo cute.  She also has extensive experience in cat grooming.  She is very calm in what sometimes can be a noisy, stressful environment and this calmness translates to the pets she is grooming, which helps to keep their anxiety in control.  The experience for both the pet and their parents is typically a happy one as evidenced by the large number of follow on visits that Melissa gets.