GROWING DRUM MEANS MORE PETS

The Watertown area is going to the dogs this summer. At least, that's the hope of three owners who are expanding their canine-related businesses.

The services they offer are different — one owner offers pet grooming and boarding, the second has a new pet store in Salmon Run Mall and the third provides pet-sitting services — but all three say their businesses are designed to tap into a growing market of pet owners being driven by Fort Drum's expansion.

"With the Fort Drum military, a lot of them bring pets with them from wherever they come from," said Sharon A. Spaziani-Jackson, owner of Best Friends on Eastern Boulevard. "Like with anything with the military, more people coming to the area mean more pets and more business for everybody."

Mrs. Spaziani-Jackson started grooming services 15 years ago. Since then, she has expanded into day care and boarding services and has built a clientele of 4,000 regular customers.

The biggest problem, though, was that many of those clients were elderly or too busy to drop off and pick up their dogs at the groomer.

"A lot of people, it's hard for them to get out," she said. "So I decided to start going out to people's homes."

Earlier this year, Mrs. Spaziani-Jackson purchased a large diesel van that she had retrofitted, to the tune of $85,000, into a mobile grooming unit, complete with air conditioning, a full-size stainless steel tub, a grooming table with an electric lift and various built-in dryers, clipper vacuums and central vacuums.

Mrs. Spaziani-Jackson picked up the van, which she called Best Friends Mobile Pet Spa, on May 30. She expects to start deploying it to locations as far away as Adams, Carthage and Fort Drum by the end of June. Using the van, she can handle five or six dogs a day.

Although the cost of a grooming visit is more than $25 higher than the price of grooming at her Eastern Boulevard location, and will be available only on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Mrs. Spaziani-Jackson said she doesn't expect to have any trouble booking clients.

"In the summertime, everybody wants their dog done now," she said. "We're always taking new clients."

PUPPIES GOING FAST

One of the reasons for the boom in dog grooming is businesses such as The Pet Zone, which opened June 1 at Salmon Run Mall.

Owner Theodore S. Bell said business in his first week was "fantastic."

"We've been selling a lot of puppies," he said Friday. "This is our sixth day and we've sold 10 puppies so far."

Mr. Bell, a former general manager at PetSmart, started his first store, The Pet Zone, two years ago in Queensbury. He opened a second store in Amsterdam a few months later.

After Docktor Pet Center, a longtime mall tenant, closed in April, Mr. Bell said, officials from Pyramid Cos. approached him about filling the vacant space.

"We saw everything that was happening in the Watertown area and decided, yeah, we have to be here, it's a good opportunity," he said.

The Pet Zone will have a grand opening June 19 with reptile expert Charles Peterson and specials on store products. Mr. Bell also plans to have one of his four bull mastiffs on hand. Two of his dogs went to the Westminster Kennel Club dog show this year.

In taking over the 1,900-square-foot space at Salmon Run, Mr. Bell altered the layout to create wider aisles. He also changed the mix of animals to include reptiles. Eventually, his store will feature 18 reptile units, 18 fish tanks, nine cages for small mammals, 20 to 30 puppies and a mix of birds.

On the shelves, Mr. Bell arranged $30,000 worth of inventory with walls of dog chew toys, collars and stuffed animals.

"We pretty much focus on puppies and dog supplies," Mr. Bell said. Sales, he said, are "pretty solid."

WATCHING PETS AT HOME

Like Mrs. Spaziani-Jackson and Mr. Bell, pet sitter Melissa L. Ordway has been looking to capitalize on the growing market of pet owners in Jefferson County.

"Pet sitting is a multimillion-dollar industry and growing," said Mrs. Ordway, owner of Comfy Cozy Critters. "People think of animals as their kids. They want to be assured that the animals are being cared for as if they were there."

Mrs. Ordway, who was a veterinary technician for almost a decade, started her pet-sitting business in 2007 after the birth of her son, Liam D., whom she takes on her rounds.

Through referrals from the North Country Animal Health Center, where she had worked, Mrs. Ordway built a clientele of seven regulars.

Each time she added a client, Mrs. Ordway would visit the person's house to meet the pets and learn their routine and the layout of the residence.

During the days clients needed her, either because they were on vacation or busy at work, Mrs. Ordway would stop by to give the animals food, water, medications and time to play outdoors. She also would do minor jobs around the house, like watering plants and bringing in the mail.

Each visit cost $15 to $20.

Since she lived in Sandy Creek, Mrs. Ordway was able to offer her services in a limited capacity near Watertown.

Earlier this year, she was joined by Stacey L. Scott of Watertown, who also had worked for North Country Animal Health Center.

Mrs. Scott, who recently gave birth to a daughter, Aviendha E. Scott, will begin providing pet-sitting services around the Watertown area at the end of June.

Comfy Cozy Critters expects to pick up more clients such as David M. Champagne of Theresa, who has hired Mrs. Ordway four times since last fall.

Mr. Champagne said his pets, which now include a cat and a puppy, tend to be more comfortable in their home environment.

"She has taken care of our pets a number of times, including when we were on an extended vacation," he wrote via e-mail. "We have been very happy with her services, and it appears that our pets have been as well."