ABOUT US
Dana Ujobagy, Founder & Co-Owner
In 2004, Dana Ujobagy, a corporate Executive Administrative Assistant was finally ready to take a leap of faith after 10 years of being in the corporate grind. With a passion along with a vision, she decided to pursue a long lived goal; owning a business in the pet industry. So in August of 2004, she left her corporate job and began coding her own website from her home office to build an online pet boutique. After landing some media spots in national and local newspapers (USA Today, NY Times, NY Daily News, NY Post) that helped build her online presence, Ms. Ujobagy advanced her business by opening up her first flagship boutique in August 2005 on W. Front Street in Red Bank, NJ called "Paw Palace". This is where she began personally helping local pet owners pamper their beloved pets with the most fashionable designer dog clothes, trendy collars, carriers & such while still taking orders online and shipping globally. After a few years and wanting to advance the business even further, Ms. Ujobagy sought out a partnership with a Joe & Lisa Intoci. So in 2007, Paw Palace moved it's boutique to a bigger retail location on Monmouth Street in Red Bank. To compliment the growing business, a luxury pet grooming salon was added that incorporated many amenities in the pet grooming industry not seen in the local area at the time. This included luxury, private "open top" waiting suites, blueberry facials and not utilizing cage dryers on dogs. Soon thereafter, doting pet parents near and far, began to appreciate what Ms. Ujobagy had to offer.
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In 2012, Paw Palace decided to dissolve a portion of their business; the online pet boutique presences and move the retail portion of the business to the quaint neighboring town of Little Silver but with a different business model in mind. It's at that time when Ms. Ujobagy decided to fully concentrate on a passion that started years prior after her two boxers, Chelsea & Atlas passed away in their early ages from cancer. "Paw Palace was known as a fancy online and retail pet boutique with a small, local grooming salon. After many years, it was just time to move onto a different platform in the pet industry and be in a more rewarding "arena" that was more in-depth and personal for me than just fancy dog accessories. Helping pet owners choose better quality and healthy dog foods seemed much more important than helping them pick out a fancy dress for their dog who visually looked like it was suffering in some way. Seeing and hearing of so many dogs throughout the years with many common health issues such as chronic ear infections, skin and coat issues, digestive disorders, pancreatitis, obesity, etc, I just knew I needed to focus on helping dogs feel and look their best", Ms. Ujobagy said. "It then became my passion to educate pet owners the importance of real pet nutrition because it's just unfortunate that most traditional veterinarians are not trained in pet nutrition whatsoever. I listened to mine at the time and his recommendation was something I could get at the grocery store. Like mine, most vets always recommend big box brands which ironically, are the same brands that have prescription foods linked to the same manufacturer that made the dog unhealthy to begin with. It's just an insane, vicious cycle that most pet owners will get looped into at one point or another. I know...because I've been through it and so have all my customers at one time or another."
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Chelsea & Atlas (1998)
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most vets always recommend big box brands which ironically, are the same brands that have prescription foods linked to the same manufacturer that made the dog unhealthy to begin with. It's just an insane, vicious cycle that most pet owners will get looped into at one point or another.
Therefore, in August 2012, the business transitioned to solely providing the most luxury pet grooming salon services and becoming the first, locally established holistic health food store for dogs in Monmouth County, thus now known as The Dog Spaw of Little Silver . "If I had known what I know now, I know for certain that my boxers wouldn't have suffered so much with common issues prior to being diagnosed with cancer." Ms. Ujobagy explains. "Perhaps the onset of the cancer could have possibly been delayed as well." Therefore, Ms. Ujobagy has made it a mission to educate customers and offer free nutritional services to help pet owners know that most common issues can be reduced or eliminated by simply knowing what and how to feed their pet properly to optimize longevity and vitality within them. Proudly, she has helped hundreds of pet owners and dogs to date.
In 2014, The Dog Spaw expanded its services by opening a mobile dog grooming division to compliment the business and to create a convenient service for dog owners throughout Monmouth County. In 2016, another salon called The Dog Spaw of Freehold was opened which is currently located in the Poets Square Shopping Center and in 2023, The Dog Spaw started the expansion of another fun, novelty business called The DOG BARKery which features the largest selection of unique, cute bakery cookies, happy birthday cakes and paw'stries exclusively for dogs that are all made with human-grade ingredients.
The Dog Spaw currently employs near 30 staff members and continues to grow annually.
In 2014, The Dog Spaw expanded its services by opening a mobile dog grooming division to compliment the business and to create a convenient service for dog owners throughout Monmouth County. In 2016, another salon called The Dog Spaw of Freehold was opened which is currently located in the Poets Square Shopping Center and in 2023, The Dog Spaw started the expansion of another fun, novelty business called The DOG BARKery which features the largest selection of unique, cute bakery cookies, happy birthday cakes and paw'stries exclusively for dogs that are all made with human-grade ingredients.
The Dog Spaw currently employs near 30 staff members and continues to grow annually.
