The Dandini's Team
Who We Are
Caroline Cogan
Business owner / Head Grooming Tutor
Caroline has been grooming dogs for 16 years now since 2007. She joined Dandini's after training in London having been taught by two master groomers, Heidi Anderton and Colin Taylor who are both very influential figures in the dog grooming industry. Colin has most recently been seen on TV as the judge on Pooch perfect! She was extremely lucky to be able to then get a job with Jan, the then owner of Dandini's and a highly experienced groomer of 40 years. From here she had invaluable knowledge passed down to her and due to this was able to develop her skills quickly, so much so that Jan was happy to pass over the business to her in 2011. She holds the Advanced Stylist Level 3 City & Guilds qualification and the Level 4 LCGI Recognition of Achievement Award. Since her focus is now more towards the training side of the business she went on to also complete a Level 3 Award in Education and Training and is currently working towards a Level 4 in Internal Quality assurance. ​Caroline absolutely loves running the business and since 2016 has been training external students in a separate facility at the back of the salon. ​In both roles Caroline constantly strives hard to maintain Dandini's high standards of work and its long standing reputation as one of the best dog groomers in Hampshire. ​
Robyn Maloney
Salon Manager / Senior Stylist
Robyn has been at Dandini's since September 2011. Starting as an apprentice and trained under the watchful eye of Caroline she has completed both her level 2 and 3 qualifications in dog grooming gaining top marks. She is also currently training for her International Certificate of Master Groomers in which she has successfully passed all modules so far with distinctions. Robyn enjoys attending dog grooming competitions across the UK. At her first competition, at the very prestigious Mastergroom, she won first place in one of the largest classes to date. She has since gone on to get placed in other competitions across the country and also has been successful in showing her standard poodle, Jaxson, who regularly gets placed at professional dog shows. In 2018, she was promoted to salon manager allowing Caroline to concentrate on teaching new groomers in The Training Room.
Jessica Peppall
Senior Stylist
Jess came to Dandini's for work experience back in April 2011 and simply fell in love with being a dog groomer. Whilst studying for her Level 3 diploma in animal management, she continued to volunteer during the holiday periods. After achieving a distinction on her course, she started part-time with Dandini's alongside a job as a dog walker. She soon became trained to become a full-time dog groomer under the guidance of Caroline. In 2014 she started work at Dandini's full-time and has never looked back. She quickly progressed to gain her Level 3 Introduction to Dog Grooming at Brinsbury College. Since then Jess has continued to work hard to further progress culminating in gaining her full Level 3 Advanced Stylist qualification in dog grooming. Jess works closely along side Robyn helping her manage the salon and specialises in hand-stripping.
Claire Cooper
Senior Stylist
Claire came to Dandini's in 2015 after having gained her initial grooming skills from a course at Merristwood college in 2014. Bringing in skills from her previous life working with horses and in dog agility and with the support and encouragement from the team Claire has developed in to a competent and compassionate Dandini's groomer. Suffice to say Claire is now an established member of the team and supports Robyn and Jess running the salon.
Columbya Dunn
Senior Stylist and Grooming Tutor
Columbya has been working at Dandini's for nearly 8 years, starting when she was just 18.. After working at a local doggy daycare she decided she would like to work at a groomers and joined us initially as a grooming assistant. She worked her way up to being a stylist trained by Caroline, Robyn and Jess and picked up the skill quickly having a natural talent. Since then she has not only achieved her Level 3 grooming qualifications but also a Level 3 Award in Education so that she can be fully qualified to teach students in The Training Room. In 2023 she also started competing, having to go straight into the experienced class. Within two competitions she was placed twice getting two awards, second in open poodle and a special award for best overall finish across the whole competition.
Alice Smith
Head Grooming Assistant
We jumped at the chance to have Alice join our team when she applied for a job with us to be one of our grooming assistants. We already knew Alice as she had come to us previously for training with Caroline and so with her previous grooming experience she was perfect for the role. She has been with us now for 3 years and has achieved her Level 2 in dog grooming with us. She manages the bathing and drying side of the salon and works with the students at the beginning of their course training them to bath, dry and prepare dogs for styling.
Sarah Vince
Senior Stylist
Sarah joined the Dandini's team in 2019. She has had and owned dogs all her life and wanted a change of career so when she saw that Dandini's offered Groom your own dog training days she jumped at the chance to get a feel for whether it would be for her or not. After completing that training she absolutely knew it was what she wanted to do and booked on to the next available Professional Training course that Caroline had. And has since never left or looked back and has built up her own very appreciative client base. She absolutely loves working in a team environment and prides herself on looking after every single one of her clients dogs as if it was her own.