If you ask Lucy why she opened Doggo Cuts, the answer really starts with the dogs. After five years as a professional groomer, she knew she loved the work. What she didn’t love was seeing grooming become an assembly line. Busy salons meant busy schedules, and not every dog was comfortable keeping up with the pace. Lucy had worked with enough nervous and reactive dogs to know that sometimes they didn’t need to be rushed. They needed patience.

So she and her fiancé, Justin, decided to build the kind of grooming experience they believed dogs deserved. Doggo Cuts opened in 2026 with a simple idea: slow things down, get to know each dog and make grooming something pets and their people can feel good about. Lucy brought years of hands-on grooming experience to the business. Justin brought a very different background. A military veteran with an MBA in Business Administration and Business Development, he had the experience to help turn Lucy’s vision into a growing family business.

And then there’s Niko.

Lucy’s poodle isn’t just a beloved member of the family. His own story helped shape the way she approaches grooming, particularly with dogs who are anxious or reactive. Today, Niko also serves as the very fitting face of Doggo Cuts.

That patience has made for some pretty special moments over the years. Lucy remembers one dog in particular named Benji. He came to her extremely fearful of grooming after a difficult previous experience. Instead of labeling him a “difficult dog,” Lucy looked at things a little differently. He was scared. So she gave him time. Appointment by appointment, she worked on making the experience calmer and more predictable. Trust slowly replaced some of that fear, and the dog who once dreaded grooming eventually became much more comfortable walking into an appointment.

It’s stories like Benji’s that remind Lucy why she does this. There’s also a lot more happening behind a grooming table than most of us realize. “The most common misconception about dog groomers is that their jobs are just playing with cute puppies and putting bows in their hair all day.”

Cute puppies are certainly part of the job. But so are patience, physical work, understanding behavior and figuring out what each dog needs to feel comfortable. That’s one reason Lucy encourages families to introduce their dogs to grooming early and stay consistent with appointments.

For Lucy and Justin, though, Doggo Cuts is only one part of a very full family life. Lucy is mom to two daughters and loves hiking with Niko, escaping to the beach or springs, and baking when she gets a chance. Justin enjoys cooking and cheering on his son in cross-country. Their four-legged family has also included Lucy’s cat, Sparkles, and Justin’s cats, Flame Baby and Ember. And apparently, this is a family that takes trivia seriously enough to list family trivia games as a favorite way to spend a day off.

As their new business grows, they want its connection to the community to grow with it. They are developing programs to make grooming more accessible for pets living with seniors in assisted living, rescue and foster animals, and the pets of community heroes such as K9 officers and firefighters.

At the end of the day, Lucy and Justin know something every pet person understands: handing someone your dog is a big deal. They aren’t just taking home the furry little creature who sleeps on the couch, steals the good spot in bed and somehow has more appointments than anyone else in the family.

And that’s exactly how Lucy and Justin want Doggo Cuts to feel.