2021 Pet Products and Services Awards

www.lux-review.com Page 13 LUX 2021 Pet Products and Services Awards Based in Broadstone, Dorset, Doggie-Styles Dog Grooming provides all dog grooming services, including ultra-sonic teeth cleaning and prides itself for using all-natural products when pampering pooches. Doggie-Styles Dog Grooming Best Dog Grooming Salon - Dorset Apr21129 Alison Clark is a lone groomer at Doggie- Styles Dog Grooming who welcomes all breeds of dog to her salon in her back garden, from small chihuahuas up to large Newfoundland dogs. She not only attracts local customers, but also customers from further afield as she specialises in hand stripping, which isn’t a service that many groomers in her area offer. Hand stripping involves using fingers to remove dead hair from the coat of a non-shedding dog, making room for a new coat to grow and keeping it tidy and healthy. A firm believer in using all-natural products when grooming canines to keep their skin healthy, Alison has suffered with psoriasis all her life and knows how chemical products can dry out and irritate skin, so why would this be any different for dogs? She uses the Melanie Newman range of products, which is not only great for her own skin, but also cleans the dog’s skin and leaves their coat in fantastic condition. Alison believes that if you want to be the best, you need to train with the best in order to keep your standards at the highest they can be. She is proud to have been trained by award-winning Kelly Davis of KD Grooming Studio and winner of this year’s Perfect Pooch on BBC1, and has also attended training by top groomers such as Colin Taylor and Amy Manser. She has even been passing her knowledge onto the younger generation, giving them an insight into the occupation of dog grooming by providing work experience to local schoolchildren who are interested in a career with animals and on the Duke of Edinburgh scheme. Her standard of grooming is high, as well as that of the service she provides to customers. Alison provides a one-to-one service to customers, having only one dog in her salon at a time so that she can dedicate her attention to the dog for the entire session. She will always make time to talk to the customer about their dog’s ongoing health and make them aware if she identifies any potential problems, which the customer can discuss with their vet. Understanding animal behaviour is paramount; Alison watches out for calming signals so she can understand what the dog does and doesn’t like in order to adapt to the groom and keep their stress levels down to make it a more enjoyable experience for them. Also, to keep dogs safe, she wears full PPE and uses safety equipment to stop them falling off the table accidentally. Business might have dropped during the pandemic, meaning Doggie-Styles Dog Grooming has only been allowed to open for welfare grooms, but Alison knows that a lot of people have bought puppies and is expecting lots of new customers coming to utilise her puppy introduction package as their first step into their life of grooming. Doggie-Styles Dog Grooming is looking forward to growing business during the rest of 2021 and Alison plans to attend further training to increase her knowledge. She is excited to learn some Asian Fusion later in the year with the intention of branching out and including the style as an option for customers. Asian Fusion grooming began in Korea, Japan, Thailand, China, Taiwan, and Malaysia before gaining popularity in the Western world, with the cute and creative anime-style making pups resemble teddy bears and lambs. Company: Doggie-Styles Dog Grooming Contact: Alison Clark Website: www.doggie-styles.co.uk