My Journey IN THE INDIAN PET GROOMING INDUSTRY

It all started from home. I grew up surrounded with pets all my life - being the younger daughter of Ms. Yashodhara Hemchandra, an All breeds International Dog Show Judge, and Owner of India' s leading kennels ‘Yashbans Kennels’ for the last 40 years, it is quite self-evident.

- Radhiya Hemchandra

I had access to over 110 show dogs and many injured and abandoned dogs, cats, small animals and birds. It was only natural for me to acquire the love for nature and conservation of the environment. Since I was a little girl, I loved nurturing and taking care of abandoned and injured animals. I intently watched my mom exhibit her dogs in dog shows and groom them. Being interested in this field, I trained and showed dogs at these dog shows as well, and began to grasp the requirements for dog grooming in terms of presentation and breed specifications.

Pet grooming was a concept that was not introduced to India at that time. However, my mother, who used to travel the world for International dog shows, acquired the knowledge of grooming from this global exposure. She would groom our dogs at home and would let me assist and watch her as she groomed them. A lot of her expatriate friends would also bring their dogs over for grooming as she was the only one who could groom according to breed standards. I would get tips from some of her clients and friends for assisting my mother while she groomed the dogs and that inspired me to learn more and work in a more efficient manner. I had a keen interest in this subject and wanted to learn to get better at this art form. This influenced my mother to start a Professional Grooming Parlour in Bangalore, called The Pet Grooming Parlour, in the year 2002.

Since I was quite young, my mother got me educated in basic professional grooming techniques, initially from the USA and then from South East Asia. She told me that if I was interested in furthering my knowledge and expanding this passion for pets into a business venture, then one day I could start a Grooming Parlour of my own.