Husband and Wife team Lisa and Jezz Patten will be combining their past experience as dog groomers and also experience in the disability sector, to launch the business.
“We love working with animals and we love working in the community with our clients,” Lisa said.
“We are so excited to be able to combine these two skill sets and make the world a bigger and better place for the whole community. Because of our staff we are focussed on providing a quality service for our doggy clients while also giving our staff some lovely one on one time with the dogs in our care. Our service is about quality work and time spent over quantity.”
Lisa and Jezz used to own Blue Wheelers Wodonga and worked as dog groomers for almost eight years and always loved being around the dogs each day.
They say the dogs seemed to understand how they were feeling and always lifted their spirits with a wag of the tail or a cheeky smile.
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After they sold the business in 2019, Lisa and Jezz started working in the disability sector and created their business called Ascent Health & Wellness.
They both love the industry and have met some beautiful people and formed some close relationships along the way.
It became apparent to them both that good meaningful work and being able to have a close connection to others was often lacking in the lives of those living with a disability, and then the idea was formed.
Using their former skills they have decided to set up Sud-Woofas - a dog wash with a difference. Once their doggy client base is big enough they are going to employ people with a disability to come and learn how to work with animals safely and effectively and become the dog washers.
The connection that is created while working with animals can be life changing and so can a job that offers increasing skills, positivity, and a sense of purpose.
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“We would love to see a range of people with various disabilities working independently and enjoying their job,” Lisa said.
“We will be supporting our staff to complete a cert 1 in animal care and will assist with any further training they may be interested in in the field.
“This business will give our staff very real workplace skills, not just in the area of washing and grooming dogs but also with meeting and greeting clients, entering information into our software and cash and payment skills and learning how to maintain a clean and healthy workplace for themselves and our dogs.”
They are open to working with any size dog, however they specialise in big dog washes and grooms.
Sud Woofas is located at Shop 2, 62A Thomas Mitchell Drive, Wodonga. It is currently open Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9am until 4pm. Phone 0476 376 605, email info@sudwoofas.com or visit sudwoofas.com.