the founder of Lady Luck Pet Grooming and a third-generation groomer, and she likes your dog more than she likes most people. Don’t take it personally…

“My mother and my aunt groomed show dogs and had a grooming salon in Houston. I grew up watching them work, which means I learned this trade the long way, from women who did it right and had no patience for anyone who didn’t. I inherited the skill and the patience level.

I worked at a local animal hospital and grooming salon which gave me a unique learning opportunity that benefits your pets to this day. I spent years in corporate grooming after that, it helped me raise my two children, but I left when it became clear that the clock and the profit margin mattered more than the animal on the table. Dogs were being rushed. Corners were being cut. I wasn’t going to be part of it, so I’m not.

Here’s what worries me now: The lives of pets are constantly being put at risk - or worse - with these big box pet stores and hobbyist groomers. Anybody can buy a pair of clippers and call themselves a groomer, and plenty do. There’s no training behind it, or the modern technology that’s meant to speed up the process is actually more dangerous than its worth, and the pet is the one who pays. Sharp tools, hot dryers, short leads, a distracted groomer and a frightened animal are a bad combination in untrained, pressured hands. I do this work because your pet should be handled by someone who knows what she’s doing. Because grooming is more than just bathing and a haircut.

That’s also why my prices are lower than they should be. I’d rather be affordable than watch people take their pets somewhere unsafe to save twenty dollars. And if you’re a senior on a fixed income, you’re still paying prices from 20 years ago. Your pet needs care whether or not the budget agrees.

I get bit sometimes. It comes with the job, and I don’t hold it against them. A scared dog isn’t a bad dog, it usually means they need more nurturing, more socializing, and more frequent visits with the same groomer.

The hard part of this work is the pets who come in neglected. Matted to the skin, nails curled under, months overdue. It happens more often than it should, and too often with owners who could easily afford to do better. It makes my job harder and more dangerous, and it breaks my heart every time. But for the hour or two that pet is with me, they’re clean, they’re comfortable, and somebody is being gentle with them. I’m grateful I get to be that person.

So that’s me. I’m honest, I’m good at this, and I’ll be kind to you for as long as you’re kind to me and decent to your animal. Most people find that very easy.”