Local groomer talks dogs, shampoo and independence

AMENIA — When Rosie Urena left her longtime job at Ledgewood Kennel in Millerton last December, she wasn’t sure what the future held. For years, she had worked six days a week — three days at the kennel and three days grooming dogs out of her home. Sundays were her only day off, though often filled with baseball, soccer and caring for her 11-year-old son and 74-year-old mother.

“I was worried about taking the leap,” Rosie admitted. “People might assume that because I work from a converted garage, the quality isn’t the same. But I am a woman of faith. I trusted my instincts and followed my heart.”

That leap has paid off. Today, Rosie runs her own grooming business, Rosie’s Grooming, out of her renovated garage in Amenia. She installed a heater, painted the walls, redid the floor, purchased equipment and created a space that feels both professional and homey for her canine clientele.

She uses natural shampoos, plays soothing music and works with dogs of all sizes. “It’s a calm environment,” she said. “I know every client and their story.” One loyal client even drives from Long Island just for her services.

The job is physically demanding — Rosie once pulled a muscle lifting a large dog — but it gives her the flexibility she needs as a single mother. “That’s why I wanted to work from home,” she said. “I feel blessed to have my son, my mother and my house.”

Born in the Dominican Republic, Rosie grew up on her family’s 300-acre coffee farm. “Everything we grew, we sold,” she recalled. “We never went hungry.” At 15, she and her mother moved to Brooklyn, to what she remembers as “the worst neighborhood.”

Despite her limited English, Rosie enrolled in college. She started at Hunter College, transferred to Queensborough, and eventually earned an associate’s degree in animal science from Mount Ida College in Massachusetts. She still beams when recalling her graduation, when Muhammad Ali handed her diploma across the stage. “I always tell young people, just because you don’t have what someone else has, or you don’t speak their language, it should never be a barrier to success.”

Rosie discovered her love of grooming in 1992, though her animal science training initially led her toward protection work with police dogs. The experience left her unsettled. “I felt like I was training a dog to kill somebody,” she said. Grooming and nutrition, instead, became her passion.

Resourcefulness has been a constant theme in Rosie’s life. For 16 years, she commuted from Stanfordville to New York City for work, making jewelry on the train to supplement her income. Inspired by a bracelet she received as a gift, she took it apart to study its design, then began crafting her own pieces from wholesale beads. “You have to be creative,” she laughed. “I made money before I even got to my dog grooming job.”

That same creativity extends to her health. Last year, Rosie cut starch from her diet — a challenge given her Dominican roots — and lost 40 pounds. She now runs up to 20 miles on the Rail Trail, brews her own teas and begins each morning walking barefoot in the grass, even in the snow. “It might seem crazy, but try it one day,” she said. “You’ll feel negativity leaving your body.”

Her motivation is simple. With diabetes in her family, Rosie wants to stay healthy to see her son grow up. “It changed my life,” she said of her transformation.

She also makes a point to give back. She pays a caretaker in the Dominican Republic to check in on her home, even though she doesn’t need one, and donates the tips from her grooming shop to those in need.

“When you die, you don’t take anything with you,” she said.

Looking ahead, Rosie dreams of returning to school to study psychiatry. “Everybody has challenges and stress,” she said, noting that her cultural upbringing has afforded her the gift of communication and connection. “You have to be careful how you talk to people and you have to listen. I think I have a gift for putting myself in other people’s shoes.”

For now, though, she is content to focus on her dogs, her clients and her family. “I count myself as a blessed person because there is so much happening in the world,” she reflected. “I love it here in Amenia. With my own business, I can do what I love and still give back. That’s what matters.”