Like a great percentage of the pets she works with every day, Alecka Hattis does not like veterinarians.
To put it in kinder terms, while she appreciates the work they do, it is a profession she cannot find the will within herself to do. “It’s just too hard on me,” she said. “I couldn’t handle it with sick animals. I don’t know where it all started, but I really just wanted to groom.”
Hattis discovered that dog grooming can provide health-boosting benefits beyond a shaven coat of fur and clipped nails. Her years providing grooming to dogs at the Gig Harbor Petco taught her the advantages of a one-on-one experience, something she continued to see as she bounced around to other jobs.
“Cashiering at PetSmart, I would just see old clients all the time coming in for grooming there, and they’d run up to me,” she said. “I missed the dogs, and I just decided after working in so many places and not being very happy where I was, I figured that everybody would love to work for themselves.”
She now does just that at her in-home business Shampoodle NW in South Kitsap, where her business relies exclusively on the people and pup connection in one-on-one grooming. The move to go solo took her back to her younger days, when her own household dog was subject to her first tries at grooming. “I remember when I was thirteen just trying to hold down our little dog and just try to shave her down with clippers at home,” Hattis laughed. “She looked horrible, but it was something that I wanted to do.”
Now with much more practice, she said setting up shop at home already builds some layer of comfort for herself and her visiting dogs. She works with dogs off her table and bathtub, with plans to install more professional tools. It is in this isolated yet homey setting where dogs can learn how to interact with their groomer. “I have more control over my environment and the environment the dogs are in,” Hattis said. “They watch you, and they kind of learn. There’s that level of nonverbal communication that’s established.”
It is above all a careful process, understanding every visiting pup may need different interactions. The concentration on efficiency can certainly be a money maker, but that type of mindset Hattis believes can make the groomer seem just like another trip to the vet. “One of the things I don’t like about corporate grooming is it’s all about how many dogs you can do, whereas I would prefer to kind of take my time with the dog and not run through it because I know I have another dog waiting.”
She continued, “It’s just me and the dog I’m working on. So, it’s more relaxed. We can do what we need to do. We don’t have to rush or have a bunch of dogs around us barking and freaking out.”
Maxwell is all finished with his grooming appointment.
