WORKING -- LAURIE CHECHOVSKY and KELI MUSSELMAN

THEY ARE

The ones who beautify your pets

SPECIAL ATTENTION

No matter what type of breed, sisters Laurie Chechovsky and Keli

Musselman will make sure every dog and cat that comes into their Beach

Boulevard salon will leave with a clean coat, trimmed nails and a look

that will even make their owners proud.

Besides these usual grooming techniques, Chechovsky and Musselman

treat these pets as if they were their own.

That is what makes Dogs Day Out unique. The Huntington Beach groomers

bond with different breeds.

Chechovsky, 37, and Musselman, 32, find a lot of joy in their work --

they even know their clients by name. For instance, Mercedes, a white

poodle, wags her tail and gets a treat from the sisters every time she

gets groomed.

“Dogs are always happy to come in here,� Chechovsky said.

ALL SORTS OF STYLES

Chechovsky and Musselman have been groomers at Dogs Day Out on Beach

Boulevard in Huntington Beach for nearly three years.

Chechovsky started out as a bather and later earned her degree in dog

styling. The sisters have seen all types of breeds, but the ones that are

most common are poodles, Labradors, shiatsus and pit bulls.

One time, they groomed a dog to look like a pinata to be taken on a

trip to Mexico. In past years, they have passed out bows for cats, and

for Valentine’s Day and Christmas, they hand out holiday scarves for the

dogs to wear.

“We want every dog to look like a movie star,� Musselman said.

ALL IN A DAY’S WORK

Chechovsky and Musselman said it takes three hours to groom a dog,

which includes washing, blow-drying, nail-cutting and hair-clipping.

And the most important part of the salon visit is blow-drying, because

it helps locate areas where the dogs might have fleas.

The sisters also pick up and groom pets for the elderly and sick and

also groom seeing-eye canines and dogs for the deaf.

But despite the differences in breeds, Chechovsky said the one thing

all dogs have in common is that they want to make their owner happy. The

sisters also make sure the dogs feels safe while they are there.

“We want to supply a stable environment for the dogs,� Chechovsky

said.

-- Story by Jack Schneider, photo by XXXXX