Ricardo Hernandez, owner of Your Pets Are So Fine, says the pandemic won’t keep him or his pet-centered business down. In fact, he’s expanded operations beyond dog sitting and walking to include a mobile grooming van.

After leaving a job at Petco as a groomer, he built a pet sitting and dog walking business from scratch. As business grew, he offered his clients in-home grooming so that when owners arrived home, their pooches would be tired from their outings, but also freshly bathed.

Hernandez had wanted to purchase a van for a long time and thought the situation this past year might stop him from doing so. “I was booked through October,” he says thinking back to last March, when one by one his clients called to cancel due to COVID-19.

The pandemic, he says, has given Hernandez time to rest and reflect on his entrepreneurial skills.

As a “military brat,” Hernandez’ family moved often. When he had the chance to live in Tampa, Florida, he went to Sea World and Busch Gardens. After these visits, it became his dream to be a marine mammal trainer. After graduating from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Hernandez worked as a dolphin trainer in Hawaii and San Diego.

Then Hernandez got the call to train penguins for a new interactive program at Ski Dubai, an indoor ski resort in the United Arab Emraties, he jumped at the chance. “We used positive reinforcement” to train the animals. “The same thing for all the animals here.”

Before opening Your Pets Are So Fine, Ricardo Hernandez worked at Ski Dubai as a penguin trainer for the resort’s interaction program. Lollipop the penguin was one of his favorites to train.

Courtesy of Ricardo Hernandez

After returning to Colorado, he found those same positive messages work with dogs, too. For instance, Hernandez says he walks a sweet Rhodesian Ridgeback who has some dog aggression. “I do some positive training with her. She is food motivated, so I make her sit. And she does listen.”

He tries different tactics to help the dogs learn to walk better, such as introducing a gentle leader harness — a training device to help dogs stop pulling on leashed walks.

“I work with the owners and I bring my own skills,” Hernandez says.

He helps clients build their dog husbandry skills, teaching them what he’s learned through years of experience.

“I walk a 12-year-old Labrador retriever each morning who thinks she’s 2 years old. It always fun to see that she is excited for the walk,” he says.

Not all dogs love their time in the washtub. “Maybe one out of a thousand,” enjoy their scrub, but Hernandez has a gentle touch and takes his time. “I try not to get any soap in their eyes, gently washing around them,” he says. He works hard to make the dogs as comfortable as possible diffusing essential oils, playing calming music and just being cognizant of the energy in the room.

Yes, he’s had his share of unruly animals. One Tibetan Spaniel was so fearful of a bath, Hernandez got bitten several times.

He trims nails, too. Sometimes the process is time consuming because he wants to be gentle with the dogs to lower their anxiety.

To get your four-legged friend a bath and grooming, first fill out a contact form at yourpetsaresofine.com/contact/ or call 719-440-2978-. A bath includes wash and blow dry, ear cleaning, and nail trim. Pricing varies by the dog breed. There are loads of add-ons including a haircut, blueberry facial with tearless shampoo ($5), teeth brushing ($10) and hot oil scrub, to name a few.

Ricardo Hernandez, owner of Your Pets Are So Fine, stands with his new mobile grooming van.

Courtesy of Ricardo Hernandez

Hernandez can be booked through his website, yourpetsaresofine.com, or via Rover at rover.com/sit/relaxyourpetsarefine. A 30-minute dog walk costs $21 for the first dog and $7 for an additional dog. He will take them hiking, to their favorite dog park or even to appointments.

Book him through the Rover website for house sitting and single visits, too. The cost to spend the night with the dog in its home is $55 per night.

Before operating his local dog walking, sitting and grooming business, Your Pets Are So Fine, Ricardo Hernandez worked at Ski Dubai as a penguin trainer for the resort’s interaction program. Lollipop the penguin, pictured here, was one of his favorites to train.

Courtesy of Ricardo Hernandez