Duke the rescue Basenji-ish dog loves to see Sandra Krum arrive.
“Duke gets so excited when Sandy’s at the door,” says Duke’s owner, Rob Jones of Hummelstown. “Sandy’s so sweet. And she comes straight to your house. It doesn’t get much better than that.”
Not all dogs are eager for the prospect of a bath and toenail clipping, of course. But Krum’s grooming business, Fluff Your Pup Mobile Grooming, Training, and Fitness, celebrates all things canine. Traveling around parts of Lebanon and Dauphin counties, Krum spiffs up five or six dogs a day. Each session ends with a photo op featuring the dog in a tie or hair bow–and maybe a Mohawk.
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Krum turned her love of dogs into a full-time business in 2015. She was in her early 50s, wondering how to transition into a second career. Then her previous company offered a generous severance if she were to voluntarily separate.
“Wow,” she thought. “This is kind of like a sign here.” She was looking into dog grooming when a woman with a mobile service invited her on a ride-along. Those eight hours flew like eight minutes. Friends that night marveled at Krum’s big grin.
A friend gifted her with a four-day workshop in Florida with Cesar Milan, where she learned behavioral-based training.
“When you’re new in grooming, you get the dog that nobody else wants,” she says. “The places where the dog snaps or bites won’t groom them anymore. I got a lot of those.”
She found a truck of her own, a dream unit with table, tub, heat and air conditioning, and water heater. But the investment was not cheap, and she had exactly one appointment. She posted her number on Facebook, and friends shared it. Calls started coming in. Within two weeks, she made enough for her first truck payment. In eight months, her book was full, and she stopped taking new clients.
“Ever since, it’s been my dream come true,” she says. “Dogs are my life. Dogs are my passion.”
Customers rarely want their dogs groomed in Westminster Kennel Club-style show cuts. They simply want their four-legged family members to be cool and comfortable. Jones
lets Duke’s nails tell him when it’s time to schedule Krum’s visit. He was happy to see
Krum return from the COVID-19 shutdown, because his DIY attempts to trim Duke’s nails fell short.
“Every time we walked on the roads, he’d do that clickety-clack sound,” he says.
Krum caps off the grooming experience with a photo shoot, complete with seasonal backdrop, such as a summertime beach scene. She wanted to dress the dogs in something different than traditional bandannas, so every dog wears a distinctive tie or bow which she makes. “Over the nine weeks that COVID happened, I was making a lot of ties and bow ties,” she says.
Those photos and a happy comment appear on Fluff Your Pup’s highly entertaining Facebook page. “I caught Duke napping when I was brushing him,” Krum notes. Or Dunkin the goldendoodle wears sunglasses while showing off his hair styled in a Mohawk.
“He just stands there,” Krum admits. Dunkin’s owner commented, “I can’t stand it! You are so awesome to my Dood.”
Krum feels fortunate that she entered the mobile grooming business at a time when there wasn’t much competition, but she’s happy to share expertise and time with others interested in the field.
“Somebody helped me out that way, so I like to help others out,” she says.
Krum lives in Jonestown, Lebanon County. When she’s not too tired from grooming dogs all day–and the work is physically taxing–Krum likes to ride her bicycle. The youngest of her three grown children lives on her street on a family turkey farm.
As for that mid-life career change, there are no regrets.
“I never realized you could have a job that you love. I just thought that work was work. It’s a whole lot different when you have something you’re passionate about. I don’t mind working six days a week because I love what I do.”
Fluff Your Pup
717-756-2561
