THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 9, 1996 TAG: 9606050048
SECTION: REAL LIFE PAGE: K1 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: MY JOB
SOURCE: BY KRYS STEFANSKY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 92 lines
THERE'S people hair. Then there's pet hair.
They are not the same.
``I tried to cut my own hair . . . once,'' Holly Rich says, scissoring away at a client's back legs. ``Never again. I had to ask a friend to fix it before I could even go to a salon to really have it fixed.''
Rich starts on the next leg. No problem here. Max, a regular, has a great mane. The cocker spaniel kind that gives Rich no trouble at all.
``He has wonderful hair,'' she says, grabbing a handful on Max's flank.
She ought to know. For five years she's worked as a groomer for well-heeled dogs and cats in Norfolk's Ghent.
Here at Groomingdale's she's combed out her share of knots, clipped nails, bathed cats and styled dogs. And, OK, if the customer likes it, she'll put a bow on Fifi.
She has not, however, beautified an iguana. Not that she hasn't been asked.
``Once somebody asked about having an iguana's nails clipped,'' she says, looking like she's swallowed a worm. ``But we were like, ``Naww, we like furry things.''
So furry things she's got. Today there's Max, his companion Chelsea, assorted other dogs in various states of dishevelment and a tiger cat named T.C. who's hunched under the dryer and looking pretty peeved.
``Kitty was not happy this morning,'' says Rich, peering in at the damp, miserable hairball. ``He came in and said, `Wait a minute. There's dogs here and you're going to make me wet?' ''
Of course it didn't help when Rich brought out the razor to shave T.C.'s stomach.
The menagerie ought to know that Rich understands. From her, they'll not only get a haircut or a bath but a little sympathy and good cheer.
``Most animals are pretty good about coming here, but we have our older ones who've got arthritis or don't like their hair tugged,'' she says. ``We go easy on them. They're just not our beauty contestants.''
Rich, who's 24 and working her way toward an English degree at Norfolk State University, is in her element around animals.
``I've always loved them,'' she says. The romance started when she worked at an SPCA shelter in high school in New Jersey. Shelter work brought too much heartbreak.
``But this makes me happy,'' she says, taking another swipe at Max with a brush. ``I like making animals pretty. And I like working with them more than with people.''
People can be a puzzle.
Like the lady who brings in her poodle for a cut and then asks for the hair.
``I don't know what she does with it. I think she's knitting something from it or making something,'' she says, stopping to think, brush poised in the air above Max. ``It's interesting.''
Or the customer who wants his dog to sport a mohawk.
``They pay for it. They walk it. So if they want it, I'll do it for them. Actually, the mohawk looks real cute on him. I even put a little hairspray on top to make it spike up before he goes,'' she says.
Or the couples who can't agree on their pets' haircuts. Like in the case of Max, who's lost all his spaniel hair today, except on his ears, and is starting to look a lot like a Labrador.
``Well, this was one of those situations where Mom wanted one haircut and Dad wanted something else. Men tend to ask for what's manageable - like a maintenance cut, where women want something that looks pretty,'' she says. So, to make sure the words start to fly at home and not in the shop, ``We always ask who's going to pick them up.''
This time of year, when proud owners and their pets have started to hit the sidewalk and the neighborhood's appraising eye, Rich is pretty busy.
``Everybody wants their summer hairdos,'' she says. ``We have some that are outside dogs. They're once-a-year-dogs here. We get 'em to bathe them and clip short for the summer. But most of them are spoiled rotten.''
And then some aren't spoiled enough.
``Oh yes, we get some home haircuts - kitties with clumps of hair cut out and dogs all lopsided,'' she said. ``We can usually fix it, but it's just sad that they had to walk around like that.''
There've only been one or two customers Rich couldn't help. But that was due to bad manners.
``Once we were chased all around the shop by a three-pound chihuahua,'' says Rich. ``He didn't want anyone touching him. He was fine when he walked in. Then Mom left and he just went nuts.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
CANDACE CUSIC/The Virginian-Pilot
Holly Rich trims a cocker spaniel named Rascal at Groomingdale's in
Norfolk's Ghent section.
Photo
CANDICE C. CUSIC/The Virginian-Pilot
Holly Rich dries off Winston, an English cocker spaniel. The
menagerie at Groomingdale's gets not only a haircut or a bath but a
little sympathy and good cheer. by CNB