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by MoeGo on Jul 18, 2025 12:00:00 PM
What began as a mid-day dog walking and pet sitting business in 2009 has grown into one of Maryland’s leading grooming operations. Michelle Cohn founded The Sudsy Puppy in 2015 with one goal: to provide quality, transparent pet care. Fast forward to today, the business has three thriving salon locations, a mobile grooming van, and plans for even more expansion.
In an industry where a missed booking or miscommunication can cost a client, The Sudsy Puppy has built a reputation for reliability, education, and care. Behind the scenes, MoeGo’s tools help them deliver consistent experiences—across every location, every van, and every team member.
The Sudsy Puppy's Model for Success
Centralized Scheduling, Collective Success
Managing multiple locations and dozens of staff members isn’t easy—especially when each groomer, client, and pet comes with unique needs. The Sudsy Puppy built a specialized scheduling team with a dedicated manager to handle the complexity, from adjusting for staff availability to conducting detailed pre-groom evaluations.
Dedicated Customer Care Team
The Sudsy Puppy built a specialized scheduling team with a dedicated manager to handle the complexity, from adjusting for staff availability to conducting detailed pre-groom evaluations. Maddie, Sarah, Amaya, and Victoria are the scheduling team at The Sudsy Puppy. With MoeGo:
- Location-specific booking is seamless, allowing clients to book with the right staff at the right place.
- Real-time adjustments for things like staff leave or sudden availability are easy to manage across the board.
- A 10-minute abandoned booking protocol, powered by MoeGo’s auto follow-up messages.
Streamlined Abandoned Booking Recovery
“We utilize the Online Booking feature to its maximum potential.” To Michelle and Maddie, they really follow up with all of the abandoned bookings, because “the rationale is that if a client initiated a booking, there's an interest.” Here’s how they do it:
- 10 minutes after an abandoned booking, an auto message will be sent based on the recovery message template
- The scheduling team works through the list and work on outreach and scheduling
- They will then work on cleaning up the Abandoned Booking List based on whether the missed booking got booked or not. They reach out one additional time before clearing out any list, as well as keep track of who they spoke to or were able to get in contact with.
Team Communication That Scales
With 55 team members spread across three salons and a mobile van, The Sudsy Puppy has built a strong internal communication system to keep everyone informed, consistent, and on the same page. Two key tools they rely on: pet codes and a weekly internal newsletter.
Flag it Fast: Using Pet Codes for Consistent Care
“Consistency is everything when you’re operating at this scale. The pet codes are really nice and easy to use, and we have set up a whole bunch of those."
Pet codes in MoeGo act as instant flags, helping staff quickly identify important information like behavioral notes, health conditions, or special grooming instructions. Combined with personalized notes, this system empowers groomers to deliver consistent, thoughtful care—even if it's their first time meeting the pet.
The Sudsy Puppy developed 87 pet codes, which fall into several key categories:
- Behavioral indicators (e.g., Dog Reactive, Muzzle Needed, Barky, Owner Protective)
- Medical or physical conditions (e.g., Blind, Diabetic, Heart Murmur, Tripod, Senior Pet)
- Grooming-specific requirements (e.g., No Sanitary Area, No Mat Disclaimer, 90-Minute Groom)
- Handling preferences or restrictions (e.g., No Female Groomer, Book with Manager Only, Quiet Room)
- Kennel or drying instructions (e.g., Do Not Put in Kennel, Long Dry Time, No Split Kennel)
- Breed or size-based notes (e.g., Cat – Small/Medium/Large, 0–15lbs, 45–60lbs)
These visual tags not only streamline internal communication but also reduce the risk of missteps—especially across large teams and multiple locations.
Staying Aligned: Weekly Newsletters that Reach Everyone
To keep their large, fast-moving team in sync, The Sudsy Puppy sends out a weekly internal newsletter. It includes everything from the latest feature update from MoeGo to policy reminders. Managers like Maddie makes sure that each staff member would receive it, creating a consistent flow of communication across all three salons and the mobile unit.
It’s one of their secret weapons for building a strong team culture and minimizing miscommunication.
Follow-Ups that Build Loyalty and Drive Rebooking
The Sudsy Puppy’s real loyalty secret lies in how they handle less-than-perfect feedback. If a client ever leaves a rating of 3 stars or below—whether for a mobile or salon appointment—a location manager personally reaches out to understand the concern and offer a resolution.
The Sudsy Puppy has received 2,589 reviews on MoeGo with an average score of 4.93, and 520 reviews on Google with an average rating of 4.6.
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What 87 Pet Codes Teach You About Scaling Communication Across a 55-Person Grooming Team
