Retro Flashback: A Day in The Life

This article first appeared on November , 2012. But I thought sense I was doing the Leap of Faith Series that this lady certainly qualifies to be included. I hope long time followers of the blog enjoy rereading her story and current followers learn what great woman April really is.

Recently I spent a day interviewing a person that is often time taken for granted with the work that they do. I was with a dog groomer and spending a day with April at The Groom Room opened my eyes to just how demanding this type of work is. First let me begin with I have known April for a while. Her oldest son, Austin and my oldest daughter, Maddie were in the same kindergarten class together also her husband’s grandparents have been neighbors of my parents for year. So let’s jut say we go way back. April worked in a grooming parlor for almost 10 years before she decided to branch out on her own. She made the decision to use a side room in her house as “doggie spa” because she wanted to spend more time with family. How refreshing it is to find people who realize how important the family really is. Believe me I look at my daughters now and wonder how did they get so grown so fast.

As you know Allie, our Shih Tzu, is the baby in our family. Being the baby you can imagine how spoiled she is. At the beginning of the summer I took her to get groomed at another groomer. She came home stressed and acting depressed. Once I saw that April had opened her own business I decided to give her a try. She had been working at a groomer that it was hard to get an appointment with and I believe me when I say that I tried. So I decided to give her a call. I told her that I wanted to watch her groom Allie to see exactly what it is she does. Let me tell you I could not believe all that she does. She said sure and blocked out a Friday for the whole appointment. She says that what she loves about having her own business she can set her own hours and she is able to work on other things as well since she works out of her home.

As soon as we arrived, Allie was very excited. April greeted her as if they were long-lost friends. Allie is a dog that she has not met a stranger yet but she was loving all the attention that April gave her.

Here Allie is getting prepped for grooming. Notice how intense April looked. I loved how the whole time that she was grooming Allie, she spoke to her. It was like Allie was her dog. Now who would not want to take their dog to a groomer that will treat your “fur baby” like she is a part of her family. I loved how when Allie would start to squirm around and April would make these noises to calm Allie down. When I asked her about the noises she said it was just something that she started doing and it works to calm down the dogs so she has kept doing it. In my mind, she is our town own “dog whisperer”. At least with Allie she is. Allie was not happy about getting prepped but stood like a trooper through it all. Since we like to keep her hair long, it does tend to get a little matted underneath so that is why the prep work took so long. Once she was all brushed out, we then moved on with the clipping before the bath.

Notice the eye to eye contact that April is making with Allie as she is cutting around her eyes. I will have to say that April did a great job keeping Allie calm. She normally does not like anyone touching her face. Why do you ask because when she was little Mikaela liked to play with Allie’s beard and to this day she does not like her face to be missed with. When I bought Allie home, Raul commented on what a great job April did on her face. She did look very cute. But you will have to wait until the end to see the finished product. After the prep work was done it was on to bath time. I would be remiss if I did not mention that Allie still had her stitches in from being spayed about a month before this appointment. April took extra care with her and made sure that she did not irritate the stitches.

 

I often compare Allie to the movie “Gremlins”. When she is not wet she looks like Gizmo, the good one but once she is wet she looks like one of the bad gremlins. Just look at the picture to the left. See what I mean. We were lucky enough to find the movie at Five and Below, so I could show my girls what I was talking about and now they agree. Allie was bathed with hypoallergenic shampoo and conditioner. Also during that time her anal glands were expressed. If you do not know what that is let’s just say it is gross. I took a picture but I won’t share with you unless you ask. But here is a bit of advice if your dog starts rubbing their hinny on your carpet take them to a groomer to get those glands expressed because what is left on your carpet is gross. LOL

 

 

So after she was done with the bath she went into the dryer. I will have to say that this was Allie’s least favorite part of the whole experience. First she does not like to be shut up anywhere and second because we left the room as well. While Allie was drying, I was able to find out more about April. She is a painter and gospel singer. Her house is absolutely beautiful. It is an older home that they have slowly refurbished so that it keeps it charm as well as being a little updated. Of course during the whole time Allie barked through our conversation. LOL That is how much she hates being left alone and in the cage. After Allie was done with the dryer she was almost finished. April once again cut some more hair and then gave her a hair bow, a scrunchie for her collar, and a doggie treat. Here is a picture of the finished product.

She looks so cute right. Please go visit April on Facebook and tell her what a wonderful job she did on Allie. Here are two last pictures I want to share with you before I finished. Here is the treat.

And Allie eating her treat.

Thanks April for taking great care with our baby. You did an awesome job and we won’t tell daddy what you said about his grooming skills.

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