“My motto is, I’m a dog’s voice”
A Hull dog grooming business has been named the best in the region at The Yorkshire Show awards. Raw13 Ruff & Woof professional dog grooming was set up two and a half years ago by Rebecca Webb.
Rebecca previously worked for the Armed Forces as an HGV driver and was also employed in the prison service. After a hip injury, she decided to take the plunge and retrain as a dog groomer, setting up the business from her Kingswood home.
“You either make it or break it in the first six months,” Rebecca said. Fortunately, her caring, dog-centric approach has won her the loyalty of scores of loyal customers.
She said: “My motto is, I’m a dog’s voice. I would rather lose a customer and put the dog first if need be. I want customers that respect their dogs enough to believe in what I’m saying because dogs can’t speak.
“If I have got a dog on my table that is nervous, anxious, worked up, I am not going to continue grooming that dog. I am going to say to that owner, please come and collect your dog and look at how your dog is reacting, you are more than welcome to go elsewhere, but right now we should stop this groom, and you can come back tomorrow and stay, and we continue.”
Rebecca said she has “managed to build up rapport with my customers”, with many of them booking for the entire year. But when she was nominated, it came as a total surprise.
She said: “I had been nominated and didn’t know anything about it. I was really, really busy with the business and when I got the letter I just put it on the side… about a week later I found out I had made it to the final.”
Rebecca and her husband Michael Webb attended the red carpet awards evening at The Queen’s Hotel in Leeds on July 20. When it was announced she had won, she “couldn’t speak”. The regional win means she automatically qualifies for the England Business Awards, which are held in November.
She added: “It is a job where I will continue learning because I am really passionate about it. I do teeth cleaning as well. I have saved people thousands and thousands of pounds on vet bills.
Rebecca said while a standard pet salon might spend an hour and get the job done as quickly as possible, she thinks it is important to make the dog feel secure, even if that means taking longer. “It should be a nice process for the dog, not make them scared,” she said.
“A dog will always come first, overriding a customer. Every time with me, it is quality over quantity and the dog’s needs come first above all else.”
Ruff & Woof has a website, is on Instagram and also has a Facebook page. Rebecca often shares before and after photographs of dogs that have been groomed as well as calculus removal on teeth.