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2003 Essay Contest Entry Archive |
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Why I Became a Groomer What could be better than owning your own business where you get to play with dogs all days and get paid for it? Many things, considering that along with playing comes the biting, cleaning messes, being peed on, hair in your mouth, nonstop barking and hard to please owners. Well, one day when I was questioning my career decision, a customer came in with her Pom to have it bathed. She asked if she could bring in her female Pom for new bows and cologne when she picked up the male. I told her no problem and didn't think anymore about it until she came back that afternoon. When I took the female back, I noticed she still had one ratty bow and bandana from the last time I had done her, which had been several months. The owner started telling me how the little dog had changed after I did her the first time. It seems, the dog had been the owner's daughter's dog, and one day the daughter woke up not feeling good, and by that evening, she had passed away from some rare blood disease. Leaving the little dog with the mother. For 2 months, the dog did nothing but sit in the window whining. She wouldn't play, she didn't want to be petted, she hardly ate and she said it actually looked like at times the dog would cry.. She was grieving for her owner. The mother told me that when she took the little dog home that day I had groomed her and put bows in her hair and a bandana on her, she actually perked up. She would leave the window for short periods and didn't whine as much. Then one morning, she heard the little dog whining and when she found her, the little dog was sitting with the bandana in her mouth. It had come off somehow, so the mother slipped it back on and the little dog almost smiled. It seems, that what I considered "the little things", the bow and bandana, made such a drastic difference in that little dog's life. When I finished "dressing up" the little dog again, she pranced out of my shop, head held high and tail wagging. It was GREAT!!! I don't know why, but for some reason, all the down and out people find my shop. I've had some of the dirtiest, smelliest, most matted dogs and owners with limited incomes. So what do you do....? I've heard other groomers say, "No way I'd do that dog for that price" or "why didn't you charge them an arm and a leg?" Well, I do what I can for the dog. It's so neat to see a dog walk out beautiful and without limited movement, that came in and was so matted in the back end that it had trouble walking. It's neat to hear owners say that as they pulled up, the dog got so excited when it saw where it was going. So many times I've heard "I don't know what you guys do here, but so and so just loves to come here". Even though I have days when I question myself and if grooming is the right thing for me, this is a job I look forward to going to each and every morning. And the benefits (wet sloppy kisses) are plentiful. I think I'll be grooming as long as my body lets me. Laura
Schwarting Copyright 2003 |
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