Donna Walker with one of her many furry friends at South Bark Dog Wash (Courtesy photo)

Silver Anniversary: Donna Walker of ‘South Bark Dog Wash’ Reflects on the Joys and Challenges of Her Unique South Park Business

By Frank Sabatini Jr.

What was once an abandoned laundromat in an old, rundown building is today home to one of South Park’s most cherished, anchor businesses—the ever-lively South Bark Dog Wash.

Co-owner Donna Walker spoke to us about the trials and many rewards of running the dog wash over the past 25 years with business partner, Lisa Vella. We quickly learned that this is no ordinary pet-grooming operation when taking into account such offerings as blueberry facials and a range of other spa treatments tailored for restoring pooches to their fresh, pretty selves. Think of dogs needing prompt attention after encountering skunks or coming home caked in salt and sand after a rousing day at the beach. 

Or worse, as in the case of an unusual situation Walker mentioned during our conversation.

South Bark is both a self-serve and full-service dog wash. It is equipped with a system of H-pattern porcelain tubs and has an attractive patio where dogs can dry off after their baths while pet owners hang out. Not surprising, the business recently earned national honors within the category of ‘America’s Coolest Pet Stores’ by Pets+ Magazine. 

Of course no conversation about dogs is complete without the handler revealing a few idiosyncrasies about certain breeds as well as sharing a “strangest-ever” customer scenario.

Downtown Condo Guys: Clever business name you chose. How did you come up with it?

Walker: We were sitting around one day wondering what to call the business, and a good friend threw out ‘South Bark Dog Wash’—and it immediately stuck.

Downtown Condo Guys: What led you into starting South Bark?

Walker: I was retiring from the Navy after 20 years and my friend, Lisa, and I started talking about opening an innovative animal-related business. We both love animals and we were both volunteering for a lot of different community groups. One of them was Dog Owners of Grape Street, which with the help of ‘Judy the Beauty’ from the Big Kitchen, we created a legal off-leash dog park that is now the Grape Street Dog Park. 

Also, we were inspired by another self-serve dog wash in Hillcrest at the time, the former My Beautiful Dog-O-Mat. It turned out that the owner’s architect husband helped us renovate this building.

Downtown Condo Guys: What condition was the building before you opened? Did it require a total redo?

Walker: Yes, it was a complete renovation. It had been a laundromat for over 50 years. The place was in disarray. We thought at first that it was going to be easy to renovate because there was water. But we had to redo everything. The water heater was a giant monstrosity inside of the building, which was only 1,200 square feet. After redesigning the space and adding a beautiful brick patio, about five years later we ended up winning a ‘Bulb in the Hood’ award by the San Diego Architectural Foundation. (The award is now known as an ‘Orchid.’) By that time, we had built up the business and it became a place where the neighborhood could gather.

Downtown Condo Guys: As a dog-wash business that is open seven days a week, what are your primary services these days?

Walker: South Bark provides three choices for our clients. You can choose to bathe your dog yourself as self-serve; or you can choose full-service, which means that one of my team members will bathe your dog; and the third choice is grooming service, which means we bathe the dog and give the dog a hair cut, blow dry, nail trim and clean the ears.

Downtown Condo Guys: How often should dogs be washed in your opinion?

Walker: On average a dog should be washed once a month, although it depends on the lifestyle. Dogs that go to the beach, for example, should be washed once a week.

Downtown Condo Guys: We see stated on your website and ads that South Bark “is home to the original blueberry facial.” We are very curious. Please explain.

Walker: Our blueberry facial is a product, a process, and a concept. It is always free with the wash package customers choose.

The product is a blueberry-scented shampoo that we developed. It can be used on the face and the body, and it’s good for dogs and cats. (We’re an equal opportunity business, we like them both.) It has a nice scent.

The process involves the dog’s head first being misted with cool water. We then heat a wash cloth with the blueberry shampoo on it, and massage it into the dog’s face, ears and neck. It then marinates on the face for at least five minutes before it is rinsed off. It cleanses and relaxes the dogs, and they smell good afterwards.

The concept behind our blueberry facials is to get people to wash their dogs’ faces in a nice, fun, and whimsical way. It has also helped bring people in. And we sell the product wholesale to other groomers.

Downtown Condo Guys: What are some of the other special services you provide?

Walker: We have wash packages such as the “I Got Skunked” treatment for dogs that come in contact with their black-and-white-striped friends. Because the stench is oil-based, it takes special types of shampoos to remove it.

We also have a “Back from the Beach” package that helps remove sand while conditioning the skin from the drying that happens because of the salt water.

Although our most popular package is “Blueberry Love,” which consists of our famous blueberry shampoo and facial plus our blueberry-clove conditioner. The dogs then get a spritz of blueberry-clove cologne at the end.

Downtown Condo Guys: How many skunked dogs on average do you treat per month?

Walker: Skunk season is in springtime, when they are most active. But generally because this area is surrounded by canyons, we see at least 10 skunked dogs a month year-round.

Downtown Condo Guys: Are the dogs traumatized after getting skunked?

Walker: It’s more traumatizing for the owners [laugh]. The dogs actually end up going after the skunk again because they don’t learn that lesson.

Downtown Condo Guys: What is the most difficult service to conduct on dogs?

Walker: Nail cutting. It’s a very simple process but it is made difficult because most dogs don’t want it to happen.

Downtown Condo Guys: What breeds are the most laid back? And which are the most fidgety?

Walker: I hate to generalize because every dog has their own personality. But Labradors and Golden Retrievers are very laid back. The most difficult can be the Shiba Inu because they are persnickety and they like to scream. Also Chows because they are large and sometimes have an attitude.

Downtown Condo Guys: Which dogs shed the most and least?

Walker: German Shepherds and Rottweilers are two breeds you wouldn’t think would shed a lot. But they do, even though they are both short-haired. And of course, Huskies and Malamutes shed because of their thick, dense coats that require a lot of brushing out. When a Husky comes in, it’s like a hair blizzard during blow drying.

The dogs that shed the least are poodles.

Downtown Condo Guys: Do you ever fall crazy in love with the dogs your customers bring in?

Walker: Daily. One of the challenges of the business is that we see dogs go from puppies to the time they grow old and die. We have to endure the loss of those dogs that we’ve seen regularly over the years.

Downtown Condo Guys: What is the oddest dog encounter you’ve witnessed at South Bark?

Walker: Lisa had a very strange thing happen within our first 10 years of opening. I apologize if this seems gross but we kind of laughed about it later. We had a client come in who said, ‘My dog stinks so bad and I don’t know why.’ We normally have certain ways to pinpoint that issue by checking different areas of the dog. So Lisa opened the dog’s mouth and saw that the dog had a cleft palate. Tucked inside that cleft was a used tampon. Lisa removed it, and she believed it was stuck in the top of the mouth for at least a week. It was a lesson to us that you never know what you’re going to see when a dog comes in with an issue.

Downtown Condo Guys: You have pets at home, we assume?

Walker: Yes. My wife, Lorna, and I have three rescue dogs. One is a little Chihuahua/Schnauzer mix, another is a mini Schnauzer, and the third one is a miniature Dachshund. Over the years we’ve had many dogs and cats.

Downtown Condo Guys: What will you be doing to celebrate South Bark’s 25th anniversary?

Walker: Even though we officially turn 25 years old on Oct. 3, we are having a free party open to the public between 2:00 and 5:00p on Oct. 5 at the shop. We’ve hired a local DJ and we will be giving out lots of swag as well as special coins that we had made for our silver anniversary. The first 150 people will receive the coins for free. The coins will give them access to specials we will offer throughout the year.

Downtown Condo Guys: If you were helping to colonize another planet, what three animal species would you bring?

Walker: Definitely dogs. Definitely cats. And probably monkeys because they could maybe help me with some of the tasks.