Dog Grooming Business to Offer Exclusive Service

Tosh and Jo-Ann Herrmann opened Smiling Dogs, a grooming shop on River Styx Road, about two and a half years ago, and it's grown faster than they expected.

But the pair knows better than to rest of their laurels and referrals. When mobile dog grooming vans started popping up around the borough, Josh and Jo-Ann began offering pick-up and delivery service. Still, it wasn't enough.

So, the owners purchased a large red boat and decided they'd offer something they knew the competition couldn't: lakeside pickups.

"It's a novel idea," Tosh said. "It's something that people talk about."

The plan: to draw customers living on Lake Hopatcong's shores by fetching their dogs via boat, working on them, then returning them via boat.

Jo-Ann thinks it could really help boost business. Not like Smiling Dogs needs much help, though. Tosh said the company's averaging 51 new customers a month and has already groomed 1,027 dogs.

"It's a lake community," said Jo-Ann, who graduated from Nash Academy, a dog grooming school. "People like to enjoy their boats.

"It's just a different, unique idea. …And that's sometimes what you need to get ahead. Have your own little niche."

On Tuesday, Tosh and Jo-Ann came closer to realizing their goal when the Planning Board granted it permission to clean its dock, which was littered with garbage, empty beer cans and weeds from years of neglect.

Smiling Dogs hopes to offer the service by mid-to-late August.

Tosh, a part-time DJ, also runs his hobby business, Entertainment Select, out of the Smiling Dogs building.