Illustrations by Neil Robert Simpson
Photos by Charlotte Steeples

‘This is just like any other salon’ I think to myself as I trot through the door… scissors snipping, clippers clipping, background chit chat and the underlying hum of hairdryers… but then I notice a member of staff is wearing ear defenders, and one of the little clients is what I can only describe as ‘butt-scooting’ across the floor with glee. I’ve booked into Tails of St Leonards, a local destination for pampered pets, and which this little Shih Tzu evidently thinks is the hottest place in town for a doggy fur do.

Julie Harris, co-owner and head groomer, opened Tails seven years ago along with her business partner, Stuart. Since then they’ve been joined by Julie, Claire, Maria and Sophie who make up the core team, along with some work experience students. Each one of them plays to their strengths, whether that’s teeth cleaning, bathing, cuddling or clipping. Together they all offer a wealth of services and host a variety of clientele “though we don’t do small furries”, says Julie, which I discover is groomer code for guinea pigs.

The doorbell goes and Fergie and Milo are booked in. It’s a very busy salon and each dog gets allocated around two hours, though obviously, a pug is quicker than a poodle.

“She’s in for a face, feet and bum” Julie says, pointing to Clementine, who is looking very happy with herself, along with Bert, poking his tongue out as his moustache is trimmed. “He’s trouble, but we absolutely love him, we do like the cheeky ones!”. I learn that Bert is somewhat a stereo-typical male, in that in order for him to be a good boy he has to be repeatedly told how fabulous he is “I totally talk to his ego the whole time, then he’ll let me do his face” says Julie, “He comes in happy as anything because he has four women telling him how much we all love him”.

That’s what this job is all about, making a connection and gaining the animal’s trust. Watching Julie and the groomers work, it’s clear that they’re constantly having to read the dog and react appropriately, attuning to each individual character. “I’m good for the active, aggressive dogs, because I don’t jump or react much, I stay calm and that helps them” says Julie, “whereas Maria’s great with naughty dogs, she’s up on the back table, less distractions”. For the extra curious hounds I hear there’s a table in the back, so they can’t see out the window…although some crafty critters have learned to cock their heads and look into a series of mirrors so that they can still catch a reflected glimpse of what’s going on outside and dutifully guard the salon. This connection works both ways, and often dogs end up having a favourite groomer

Apparently little Lola can’t walk past anymore without sticking her snout through the letterbox to bark hello to Julie.

Julie started grooming whilst doing her work experience at school, and then found “pure joy” when she began working at a kennels on the weekends. “My father was horrified. I come from a banking family and he had higher aspirations…but I was happy”. She went on to teach in colleges, open a salon in Harrods, judge in Vegas, write several books, appear on daytime TV show ‘This Morning’ and even went to America to train as a master feline groomer as (at that time) she didn’t think the training in this country was up to standard.

Providing animals with the best they can is clearly what’s central to the business, and something Julie takes very seriously. Cats, I’m told, have different shaped skin cells, suffer with different diseases and exhibit stress in a different way, so Julie wanted to make sure she could care for them confidently. All the varying breeds behave differently so you have to know what you’re dealing with. “Plus, they’re slippery suckers”, she says, “if you’ve got a torty on the table you’ll know they’re a bit spicy, and chinchillas are like the ninjas of the cat world, one once attached themselves to the bottom of my table, like something out of Mission Impossible”.

It’s certainly a characterful place to work and no two days are the same. Along with puppy pampers and teeth cleaning part of Julie’s job is often doing an emergency clean up after an owner has attempted to trim a pet’s hair themselves at home. When she was telling me this I had a horror flashback to the time my mum shaved my brothers head with a pair of clippers she’d bought on offer from the local petrol station, resulting in a look which I’d coin ‘Spaghetti Junction Chic’. But jokes aside, there are real dangers to clipping your own pet, and serious injuries can be inflicted on animals if it’s not been done properly.

On top of this, there’s further frustrations as dog and cat grooming is a totally unregulated industry. Anyone can pick up a pair of scissors and have a go, so Julie began fighting to raise awareness of how important it is to go to a qualified groomer. She’s part of a parliamentary group for animal welfare up at Westminster and she’s passionate about championing groomers who have professional training.

“A lot of people see this as something they’ll have a go at, but it’s a really hard job. You’re having to continually learn, knowing what medication an animal’s on and modifying the groom to support that, managing stress levels, looking after the skin and coat, doing no harm and above all, you’re in charge of someone’s loved one, it’s a very privileged position to be in”. It’s something which becomes evident, as several people who drop off their dog resemble parents leaving children at nursery, cooing, waving, and promising to be back soon. It momentarily gives me the ‘ick’, but then I remind myself that most of my own expendable income goes on my dog, whether that’s buying balls, cheese, or her treasured (stuffed toy) ‘Chewy Vuitton’ handbag. Shameful to admit…but they are the original masters of mind manipulation, like little canine Derren Browns, or at least that’s my excuse.

On my way out the door, I ask the team what the funniest part of the job is. They all respond in a unified chorus “the phone calls”. “I had a lady ring in and ask if I could give her Westie a hand job” says Julie, in stitches. Apparently what the woman actually required was ‘hand stripping’, and they regularly receive phone calls from innocent dog owners, enquiring if the groomers can do anal (for those of you scratching your heads, dogs often need their anal glands expressing…I’ll let you look that one up yourselves). And on that note, me and a couple of bitches are off out the salon and back trotting along Kings Road, feeling brighter, breezier and certainly a lot more bushy-tailed.

* * *

Tails of St Leonards
55 Kings Road, St Leonards
tailsofstleonards.com
@tailsofstleonards