SIDNEY – Since opening a new business with her daughter, Lynda Lukey has enjoyed the extra time she gets to spend with her family – and all her new furry friends.
“I am enjoying it very much,” Lukey said. “I get to spend time with my daughter and grandkids. And dogs.”
Lukey and her daughter, Ashlie Moran, opened In Good Hands, a pet grooming and boarding business at 1100 Clem Road in Sidney. The business, which is located at the former Shelby County Animal Shelter, opened its doors in May and celebrated its grand opening this month.
“It was just a pipe dream at one time,” Moran said, “and the next day it was ours. Like, it just happened, and it was meant to be.”
The former shelter had sat empty for more than a year before Lukey and Moran purchased it from the county in March. They cleaned the entire property, made upgrades such as new flooring and lighting, and painted the walls with vibrant colors.
“We wanted it not to look like a shelter so we painted every wall a different color,” Moran said.
Lukey, a Sidney resident, has more than a decade of grooming experience and previously owned a grooming business in Piqua. After five years of owning that business, she sold it in 2017 when she had breast cancer.
“Now she is well, and we’re ready to rock ‘n’ roll,” her daughter said.
Moran, a veteran of the United States Navy who lives near Anna, was employed as a veterinary technician in Guam beginning in 2007, working with a wide variety of animals including cats, dogs, birds, horses, caribou, brown tree snakes, sea turtles, guitar sharks and tigers.
When she and her husband moved back to the United States, Moran continued working with dogs and cats in Panama City, Florida, until her twin daughters were born in 2012. She was a stay-at-home mom for nine years until she started In Good Hands with her mother.
“It just kind of spoke to us,” Moran said of opening the new business. “I’ve always had a calling for animal care.
“Animals don’t judge you. They love you unconditionally, and they’re easy to love back.”
In Good Hands has 27 kennels for boarding dogs and two kennels for boarding cats, though Moran said they have the ability to take on additional cats.
Boarded pets get time out of their kennels, and the dogs get to go outside to play or just relax.
“Each dog has a different personality, and we try to pick the personalities out to do for them what is needed so they feel loved while their families aren’t with them,” Moran said.
Moran’s kids, who’ve spent a lot of time at In Good Hands, also have helped out and played with the animals.
“They enjoy walking and playing fetch,” Moran said of her children, 9-year-old twin daughters Ayla and Andie and 2-year-old son Liam. “They’ve all swam with the dogs in the kiddie pool.”
In Good Hands’ grooming services include baths, haircuts, deshedding, nail trimming and ear cleaning. So far all the animals they’ve groomed have been cats and dogs, Moran said, but they’re open to working with other species as well.
“I’ll shave a guinea pig,” Moran said.
For more information about In Good Hands, call 937-773-7373 or visit the In Good Hands page on Facebook.
