How COVID and a little dog changed Penny McAdams’s life

I started by asking Penny about her links to Burgess Hill. “I’m Burgess Hill born and bred,” said Penny, “I’ve lived here all my life, I moved to Haywards Heath when I got married, but my mum is still in Burgess Hill, so I have very strong links with here. I opened the shop last week.”

“I’m a dog owner myself, and it’s my dog’s fault that I own this shop now” Penny joked. “I was working in an office, and literally a week before covid, I picked up my dog Murray, and I’d booked two weeks off work to kind of settle him in, potty training and all that sort of thing. Then got a call halfway through, saying that everything was shut down, and we’re putting you on furlough, that’s it. So I was furloughed for a year and a half, as alot of people were. That of course that gives you so much time to take stock, and then when I eventually did go back to work, I thought, I don’t want to work in an office anymore.”

"Obviously I had the dog at this point and was taking him to the dog groomers, and I jokingly said to my dog groomer, “I don’t suppose you want an apprentice do you?” And she said “Yes, actually”.

“So that was 2021, I did my apprenticeship, and have been working in other salons in Mid Sussex, I went from Cuckfield to Haywards Heath to complete my training, and then thought I’d quite like to do it myself”. This little unit came up and it was perfect”.

"At the end of furlough it was very difficult. He was so used to having us at home, he was an absolute nightmare when we had to go back to work, but he received some help from a behaviourist, and he’s alot better now. That’s the kind of stuff alot of people did post covid, but he’s in a good point now. He got me through covid, it was a tough time for everyone, but he got me through it.”

I asked Penny how the salon name Wish Hounds came about. Smiling, Penny said “I’m basically a bit of an aging goth, so anything kind of a bit spooky, annything like that, I’m there, If I’m not working then I’m watching a horror film, that’s kind of my thing. So I was in a cafe, and on the wall they had something about folk law and stories about ghost dogs, they’ve got them all around the country, and in Devon it just so happens they’re called Wish Hounds, because it comes from an old Devon word for the moor, and my husband’s from Devon, so I was like, well that’s it then isn’t it!”

“I’m very much leaning into alternative vibes. I’ve tried to pick the harnesses and stuff like that are a small little Brighton based producer that I found, and of course, when I got my dog, being a bit alternative, you go looking for collars stuff and its all a little bit pink, and a little bit floral, which is just not my vibe at all. I’m, trying to find brands that are a little bit different, not too hard, I’m not trying to scare people, just kind of a bit different, and I’m trying to do local if I can.”

Penny said, “I can groom all dogs but I specialise in the small to medium sized breeds. I can do just bath and brushes, full grooms. I can do scrappy little rescues, the knind that just need a little bit of a tidy up, or breed standard schnauzers in the traditional breed trims, hand stripping which is quite a traditional technique that not many people do anymore."

You can make bookings in the salon or at the online portal – wishhoundsgrooming.square.site

Wish Hounds is open Tuesday’s to Saturday’s 9pm till 5pm, and Saturday 10am to 4pm, and its located opposite Disco Furnishings in Church Road, Burgess Hill

It was a joy catting with Penny, and I wish her all the best for the future!