How It Began

 Dog & Throne began with a simple goal: helping dogs live happier, healthier lives.

Lisa's journey started in 2018. Having already spent time working with dogs through dog walking, she wanted to develop her skills further and provide even greater support to the dogs and owners she cared for. With a love of dogs and a passion for learning, she trained as a dog groomer and opened a small grooming salon from the family garden room, allowing her to build a business around family life while offering a calm, personal grooming experience.

While Lisa was growing Dashing Dogs, Matt was serving in the British Army. In 2024, during his resettlement period, he completed the iPET L3 grooming qualification and launched Gundog Groombox, working Sundays alongside his Army career. What started as two separate ventures quickly became a shared vision.

As the businesses grew, so did the ambition. Dashing Dogs no longer reflected the experience, standards and future direction they wanted to create. Together, Matt and Lisa set out to build something different. A place that combined exceptional grooming with a focus on wellbeing, education and genuine care for every pet.

Opening a professional salon was both exciting and daunting. Finding the right premises, navigating the legal requirements and taking the leap from home based businesses to a dedicated luxury pet spa came with plenty of uncertainty. Like many small business owners, there were moments when they wondered if it would all work out.

In September 2025, Dog & Throne Luxury Pet Spa opened its doors in Bishop Auckland.

Today, Dog & Throne is built around the same values that inspired it from the beginning. Every appointment is designed to be calm, unhurried and tailored to the individual pet. We believe grooming should be about more than appearance alone. It should support health, comfort, confidence and wellbeing while creating lasting relationships with both pets and their owners.

For us, it has never been about grooming as many dogs as possible. It is about providing the highest standard of care, creating a luxury experience and treating every pet as if they were our own.