How It All Began
Since I was a really young child I had an insatiable love of animals. I lived in a place where we couldn’t have pets during my first 9 years of life and I drove my parents crazy about getting a dog. When we finally moved into a house where we could have pets, one of the first things they did was buy me a German Shepherd puppy. I named him Cocoa and he was the first of many dogs that would be part of my family.
When I reached my teens I didn’t know exactly what career path I wanted to go down but I knew it had to involve animals. I took on a part time job at a local pet shop and really didn’t even care if I got paid. I was just thrilled to be able to spend time working with animals. Somehow I was talked into going to school for computers on the promise that it was the future. I graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Computer Information Systems but I knew that was not what I wanted to do.
Upon returning home I immediately purchased another German Shepherd and I named him Apollo. I took him to obedience school and it became clear to me what I wanted to do. I put him in multiple obedience trials and won many awards and obedience titles along the way.
He died in a tragic accident when he was just 2 years old and so I spent the next several months searching for another puppy. I ended up finding a German Shepherd puppy that would become one of the building blocks of my business. Her name was Sheena and she and I became an inseparable team. She won titles and awards in obedience trials too but she would have a much greater impact on my future.
A chance meeting with a carpenter working at our house named Walt Pettit was the catalyst that helped start Ted’s Pet Country Club. He saw me training Sheena outside and he began asking about it. After telling him how I one day hoped to open a business doing pet training and grooming, he told me he had a building in front of his house on Route 47 that he uses as a workshop but he would be happy to rent it out to me. He told me to stop by that Saturday.
At that time, I was 23 years old and I owned Magic Touch Cleaning Service. I went to one of my jobs that night and they had a stack of phone books from all over New Jersey. I looked through them to find a pet grooming school. At that time, I was getting fairly proficient at dog training but I didn’t have any idea how to groom a dog. I came across a grooming school in Absecon called A VIP Grooming Academy owned by Iris Paulus. It turned out that she was a pioneer in the grooming industry and one of the founders of the National Dog Groomers Association of America called her the next day and made an appointment to go there and talk about the grooming course she offered.
That Saturday morning I arrived at Walt’s house and he took me up front to look at his workshop. It was small and unfinished on the inside but he made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. He offered me free rent until we finished the building and free rent for the first 6 months I was in business. Plus he would help me any we he could by supplying me with materials for the building and his building expertise. My mom would help me fund the rest.
As I contemplated the offer he asked me to pick up one end of a table while he got the other. We were carrying it up the driveway to his garage when I asked him what we were doing. He said we were clearing the building out to get it ready for my new business! Just like that I was suddenly going to have the business of my dreams. I will always be grateful to Walt for that opportunity!
I met with Iris the following Monday and enrolled in her course. It was an 8 week course but I ended up spending 13 weeks (at no extra charge) so she could teach me show grooming as well as pet grooming. She was an amazing groomer and teacher and most of the course she was virtually training me one on one because there was only one other person in the course at the time and she took very little interest.
While I was in grooming school, my friend Steve Shannon and I, along with Walt, began adding on and fixing up the building. This would take 2 years to do. In the mean time I attended every seminar and trade show I could find on grooming and training and and I joined the South Jersey Schutzhund Club, where I had the opportunity to work with some excellent trainers who helped further my education on dog training.
I also began envisioning a name and logo for my future business and I had a friend, Fermen LeBlanc, come to my house and draw what I was envisioning. He did a great first draft and then I took that picture to Designs By James, where Jimmy Crescenzo and his brother Phil cleaned it up and made my sign.
Finally the day arrived, and on October 2, 1992 we had our official Grand Opening. What an exciting, overwhelming and worrisome experience. It was exciting because I was finally able to start out on the career path that I knew I wanted more than anything. I couldn’t believe I was actually going to start making money doing what I loved. It was overwhelming and worrisome because I had to finally put everything I had learned to work for other people and their pets with almost no real life experience. Most of all, I was worried that if this business were to fail, there was nothing else I wanted to do; so it HAD to succeed. So I was determined to do the best job I could for all of my customers to ensure it’s success.
Now here we are more than 23 years later and I am as motivated as ever to provide the highest quality service to our customers so that my staff and I can continue to do what we love as a career.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who were instrumental to our success:
Florence DeNofio, my mom, for her countless contributions. Her Website Dedication can be found here.
Lexi, Teddy, and Danny, my children, for always working whenever they can and for their understanding when I’m not home. Also for their technical help with computer related issues and for helping me train dogs when necessary.
Levy Martelette, my Aunt, for all her work in the shop, including receptionist, secretary, and baker. She is the one who made all those delicious treats and cakes for dogs!
Tricia Lee, our Master Pet Trimmer and friend, for dedicating more than 20 years of her life to this business. She is a big part of our success and one of the main reasons I have been able to have a life outside of here; I know I can rely on her to run this business any time I’m not there without any drop off.
Steve Shannon, my best friend, for being there from the very beginning. He spent over 2 years helping me build and remodel our facility without asking for a single cent, and then he worked for me during my first 3 years, helping me get this business off the ground.
James and Phil Crescenzo for making and giving me my sign as a Grand Opening gift.
Kim DeNofio, my wife, for accepting this business as part of our marriage, and for her constant support, love and encouragement. She always helps whenever and however she can.
Patty and Alan Zorzi, my sister and her husband for always being there for me, especially at the beginning, and for offering ideas and support.
Ted DeNofio Sr., my dad, for always telling me to stay positive and encouraging me to go for it when he knew I wanted to work with dogs.
Monica Blake, our other Master Pet Trimmer and friend, who has also dedicated herself to this business for over 18 years. She is perfectly capable of handling things in my absence as well, and often does, and has been a major part of our success.
Walt Pettit, my original landlord, for the reasons stated at the beginning of this page.
Fermen LeBlanc, my friend, for drawing my very first logo.
Howard Esposito, my friend, for helping me so much in the beginning with my sign and a mass mailing, that he spent over a week on, and for all his invaluable advice.