If not for a St. Bernard dog she rescued several years ago, Pam Bridges would not have started the Mangy Mutt Dog Haven.

About the time Bridges opened her Options Hair S2dio in 2004, she took a now 200-pound St. Bernard named Missy into her home because it had been abused.

“A friend of mine asked me to take her in,” Bridges said. “You couldn’t touch her ears or tail, but when she smiled real big it was all over.”

Bridges struggled for a few years finding a good place for grooming the dog, and after one bad hair cut that cost her $91, Bridges, who is a professional stylist, decided to start her own pet grooming business.

“I knew I couldn’t be the only person out there that felt this way,” Bridges said.

So she opened Mangy Mutt Dog haven, which is run similar to a hair salon with appointment scheduling available.

“Most places bring a lot of animals in at one time and then work all day getting them done,” Bridges said. “Here, we groom them and usually have them done in an hour.”

Bridges said the name of the business came from her father, who used to bring home stray animals when she was growing up and hide them in the garage.

“He would come and tell us there was a mangy mutt in the garage, but we had to play along so my mom wouldn’t know if we wanted to keep it,” Bridges said. “He was always making a home for something and pretending like he didn’t know how it got there.”

That is where her love for animals began, she said.

“It’s been a fun business,” said Bridges, who opened the Mangy Mutt at 1226 Elliot Drive in 2009 on the anniversary of her father’s passing. “I didn’t realize how many people love dogs like I do.”

“They are like family members,” she said. “Unconditionals I call them. They are always there for you.”

Bridges hopes to be able to franchise the business someday. In fact, she already has interest from someone in Richmond, Ind., and has her eye on a piece of commercial property in Maui, Hawaii, where she plans to retire in the future.

“It’s been a challenge,” Bridges said of running two businesses. “But it’s also been an adventure.”