We all work very hard as a team to give your dog the best possible care.  That sounds simple, right?  But what does it really mean? I think I can answer that for you but I should start from the beginning.  My first real job was working for Dr. Vincent E Mckenna, DVM in Washington Township.  It was a life altering experience.  He was as much as a teacher as he was a veterinarian.  There I was, at 15 years old, assisting in surgery while he talked through every procedure, learning more from him than any educator I ever had. I loved my job but it was not without traumatic experiences.  The memory of a beautiful Standard Poodle coming in with a dislocated hip from a grooming injury is something I have never forgotten. As a teenager I decided I would never have a dog that had to be groomed.  How could I trust anyone with my dog after seeing how this dog was injured? 

 

   While I was in college studying Biology and for roughly a year after I graduated, I worked at an animal hospital. There was a grooming salon that rented space next door which has been gone for many years.  I would hear the groomers yelling and hitting the dogs. I even remember the day they came running over with an injured cat.  She was pulling the the matts out if her skin with a comb and tore her skin open 6 inches long.  Once again… this groomer made me decide I would never have a pet that needed to be groomed.  I was very happy with my job as a veterinary technician until the animal hospital hired another doctor.  He was not good to the animals and I actually had some verbal disagreements with him.  I thought about leaving and working at another animal hospital but I realized the sad truth was that unless I became a veterinarian I would never be in charge of how the animals are treated. I was fairy distraught and talked about it with my parents.

 

   It was on my 23rd birthday that my father said, “There’s a grooming shop for sale. I’ll help you buy it.”  My father gave me a way to continue working with pets AND be in charge of how they are treated.  So, here I am… over 25 years later, still so happy to be at my grooming table with your buddies every day and asking you to trust me with your loved ones while I had sworn I could not trust any groomer with my dog.  I am so thankful for your faith in me to be kind and cautious and that you trust me to fill the salon with staff that is equally compassionate.