Owners of Sonora pet store retire after 25 years – Union Democrat

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Clear skies. Low 63F. Winds light and variable..
Clear skies. Low 63F. Winds light and variable.
Updated: August 8, 2022 @ 10:33 pm
Long Barn resident Jen Pastorini (left), the new owner of Dusty‘s Den Self Grooming and Pet Supplies, poses with the former owners, Deborah Hart (center) and George Hart, and the Harts’ golden retriever, Blake, on Friday at Dusty‘s Den. The Harts opened the business 25 years ago and now they are retiring.

Long Barn resident Jen Pastorini (left), the new owner of Dusty‘s Den Self Grooming and Pet Supplies, poses with the former owners, Deborah Hart (center) and George Hart, and the Harts’ golden retriever, Blake, on Friday at Dusty‘s Den. The Harts opened the business 25 years ago and now they are retiring.
Deborah and George Hart have always wanted to retire to the Central Sierra.
The Harts came to Sonora 25 years ago to begin making that transition by opening Dusty’s Den Self Grooming and Pet Supplies, which they say was the first business of its kind in Tuolumne County when they opened a quarter-century ago.
Now, the couple says they’re ready to get down to real retirement and have sold the store to Jen Pastorini, a Mother Lode local whose grandparents used to own Pastorini’s Longhorn on Highway 49 and Long Barn Lodge up Highway 108.
Last week, the Harts reflected on how they came to open Dusty’s Den back in October 1997.
“We ran a school for severely emotionally disturbed adolescents in the Bay Area,” Deborah Hart said Friday at Dusty’s Den at 14755 Mono Way in East Sonora. “We decided to close the school. We knew we were going to retire up here.”
George Hart’s family had a place in Sugarpine since the 1960s. They used to backpack and camp in the Stanislaus National Forest every spring and summer. The Harts already knew they loved the Central Sierra and Tuolumne County.
“We were too young to retire then, so we decided to do something we love, working with dogs and cats,” Deborah Hart said.
“At that time there were no self-grooming businesses in Tuolumne County,” George Hart said. “We’ve actually had a lamb in here before. We appreciate our customers and the community’s support for 25 years.”
The Harts said they are grateful to local veterinarians, the pet rescue nonprofit Friends of the Animal Community, the Humane Society, and Tuolumne County Animal Control. They are also proud of relationships they’ve built with the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit and the Angels Camp Police Department K-9 Unit over the past decade. Today, Dusty’s Den has more than 450 followers on Facebook.
Print copies of The Union Democrat from Oct. 17, 1997, have a story about the Harts and Dusty’s Den headlined “Groom your pet yourself.” There’s a photo of the Harts posing with their golden retriever, Dusty, in one of the step-up tubs in back of their business.
On Friday, the Harts recreated the image with their golden retriever, Blake, and included Pastorini in the photo.
“What we were looking for when we decided to sell is a continuation of what we’ve been doing here for 25 years,” Deborah Hart said. “Jen came in and said she doesn’t want to change anything.”
In the front section of Dusty’s Den, Pastorini will continue selling Buddy Wash and other grooming and pet cleaning supplies, pet collars, leashes, pet toys, pet gifts, healthy treats, and premium pet foods. Pastorini’s dogs, Granite, her malamute, and Hazel, her golden retriever, have already made themselves at home at Dusty’s Den. Granite already has a new favorite spot on one of the lower shelves that hold unopened yet fragrant bags of Fromm Dog Food.
Deborah Hart has a half-dozen multi-color portraits of dogs she has painted in a special place behind a customer service counter, above a 2021 Union Democrat Readers Choice Award for “Best Pet Supply.”
Pastorini, who lives in Long Barn, said Friday her grandparents on her dad’s side of her family used to own Pastorini’s Longhorn on Highway 49 between Sonora and Columbia, and her grandparents on her mom’s side of the family used to own Long Barn Lodge. Dan Pastorini, the former Houston Oilers quarterback and promoter of his namesake rubs and seasonings, is her uncle.
Contact Guy McCarthy at [email protected] or (209) 770-0405. Follow him on Twitter at @GuyMcCarthy.

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