FAQs
- What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
In my mid 30's I used to be a medical assistant and I worked in general practice and nephrology. After four works you have to retake your medical certificate and I decided that that career choice was not the right one for me. I wanted to find something that was really going to make me happy and feel that I was useful in my community as I have always worked within customer service. One day as I was trying my hand as a Vet tech, I walked by a grooming shop and stopped to watch. What I saw was meanness from the staff within towards the barking dogs awaiting for their bath or groom. I decided right there that I was going to become a dog groomer and being mean to the dogs was never going to happen in my book. I went home and opened up the yellow pages to Grooming and I wrote down all the shops that were north, south, east and west from where I lived in West Palm Beach. The next day I got up early with my professional speaking voice and started calling these shops asking if they would hire me to groom dogs. Little did I know that there was a whole lot more to grooming that just shaving down my toy poodle with a number 10 blade. You really needed good experience to get a real grooming job. I was starting to get discourage when I dialed my sixth number to Tail Waggers in Lake Worth. The woman who answered was Dixie, the owner of the shop. She asked me why I wanted to become a groomer and I told her I loved dogs and that I was creative. This wonderful tough-love woman took me under her wing for a full year and I sat on her right side and started teaching me. She even paid me 8 dollars a hour so I ate a lot of beans and rice that year. By the end of my year, Dixie sold her shop. She patted me out the front door and wished me luck. I was very very lucky to have met her and for her to pass down such a wonderful gift to me. Since then I have been grooming 12 years and I'm very happy in my life here in Lady Lake.
- What types of customers have you worked with?
I have groomed Shih Tzus, Malteses, Yorkeshires, Lhasa Apsos, Golden Retrievers, German Shepards, Bichon Frises, Affenpinschers, Griffons, King Charles, Coton de Tulears, Dachshunds, Havaneses, Papillons, Pekingese, Pomeranians, Fox Terriers, and Poodles and Doodles of all sizes.
- Describe a recent project you are fond of. How long did it take?
I really enjoy grooming Standard Poodles. A couple of years ago a woman and her pink Poodle moved into The Villages. She brought her Poodle in for the first time and I was shocked to see this beautiful Poodle that was dyed pink. She also brought along a couple of jars of pink coloring and asked if I had any experience. I actually did from a long time ago while living in WPB. I worked for a great gal and groomer at Hollywoof Grooming. She had the cutest Maltese and she wanted to experiment on her little Jelly Bean as she called her. We went into the bathing area, read the directions and proceeded to smear this same hot pink coloring from Sally's onto Jelly Bean. She turned out adorable! I ended up grooming the pink Poodle and gave it back it's deep pink color because the dye tends to fade after awhile. The owner told me that since she was 12 weeks of age she has been pink. I believe the dog was five years old at the time. The dog knows nothing different other than she is pink and she was okay with that. She was one happy and smart dog. Unfortunately I never got to groom her again as it was The Talk Of The Villages talking about a lady walking around the downtown squares with a pink Poodle. The people's responses seemed to be very negative and they seemed to feel it was dog abuse. So never got to see her again, not because I wouldn't do it again, it was who I was subcontracting from that thought it wasn't a good idea to continue to do the dog in the future because we don't want any kind of bad publicity.