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Bow & Meow, Bucktown Mainstay, Heads To Bigger Digs And Adds Day Care

By Alisa Hauser | July 3, 2017 5:59am | Updated on July 7, 2017 10:40am
 Bow & Meow Pet Spa is relocating, to 1647 W. Cortland St.
Bucktown Bow & Meow Pet Spa
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BUCKTOWN — Within 30 minutes on a recent afternoon at Bucktown's Bow & Meow Pet Spa, two clients came by to pick up their just-groomed dogs, another pup was dropped off and the phone rang several times.

Through it all, owner Ursula Sanchez also found the time to chase a client out the door and on to the sidewalk, clutching a bottle of canine mouth cleanser that she thought of seconds after the woman, who'd been concerned over her King Charles Spaniel's bad breath, left.

"Just take it, let me know if he likes it!" Sanchez said before running back inside her homey domain, pleasantly cluttered with dog portraits and signs with sayings like "shed happens" and  "dogs welcome, people tolerated."

Located at 2150 W. Armitage Ave. since 2008, Bow & Meow Spa will move to 1647 W. Cortland St. in mid-July. The new location is in the former Paladino's Pizza House, which closed in the fall.

"It was time to expand," Sanchez said. The Cortland storefront will offer new services including a retail area with food, pet supplies and holistic health remedies for skin and dental care, as well as a day care that can accommodate up to 15 dogs.

The tagline for the revamped spa will be "a place for pets' well being."

A new logo showcases dog and cat paw prints arranged in a Chinese Ying Yang pattern and the Chicago flag.

Before opening Bow & Meow, Sanchez owned the Leopard Lounge in Bucktown from 1996 to 2006, which is where Cortland's Garage is now. The Bucktown bar and restaurant will coincidentally be her new neighbor when the expanded Bow & Meow Spa opens.

"It's 20 years in Bucktown going full circle. And a bit of karma," Sanchez said, referring to the fact her longtime boyfriend, Bobby Paladino, also owns the building where she's moving her business.

Sanchez said she became a dog groomer after having an epiphany while getting her nails done and realizing she "could not deal with drinking people anymore" as a bar owner.

"I was not knowing what to do. I told my nail lady and she said, 'Ursula, animals have been very kind to you all these years, maybe it's time for you to take care of them?'"

That revelation prompted Sanchez to study grooming and canine massage at the Academy of Dog Arts in Arlington Heights, where she became a licensed animal hygienist and myotherapist (canine massage).

Sanchez dedicated her business to Trucker, a Rottweiler who acted more like a security dog, guarding her during the days she was carrying wads of cash back home from the Leopard Lounge.

Trucker underwent chemotherapy and had front his leg amputated before dying of cancer in 2002 at age 8.

Today, 9-year-old Rocco, a Boxer who has been with Sanchez at the spa since it opened on Sept. 8, 2008, joins her at work and helps nervous dogs to feel more welcome, she said.

"My boy [Rocco] will be 10 on July 22, we'll be celebrating at the new store with special promotions in his honor," Sanchez said.

Sanchez's staff has expanded from just her in 2008 to five other workers, including Tod Miner, a full-time canine massage therapist.

Sanchez said she is looking for more employees as her business continues to grow.

"Pets have become family members. I am very lucky Bucktown has been so supportive," she said.

 

Bark less, listen more. the word cut off at end of this video is "you."  #bucktown

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Come mid-July, the new home for Bucktown Bow & Meow will be 1647 W. Cortland St.

Ursula Sanchez with her dog Rocco, who hangs out in the spa [DNAinfo/Alisa Hauser]

Two clients brace for treats post groom [DNAinfo/Alisa Hauser]