Michelle's Pretty Paws: A Delmarvalous Delight

August 13, 2021

 Bathing your pets seems like something that should be relatively easy to do at home yourself, but after years of dog ownership, I have discovered that it is actually a true chore, they never end up quite clean enough, defurred enough, or trimmed up enough. And let’s not even talk about trying to do the dog’s nails ourselves. Yikes!

So I was delighted when we discovered Michelle’s Pretty Paws grooming services in Salisbury. They advertise themselves as cat and dog groomers, but I’ve never taken our cats there for grooming because I don’t want our feline overlords to murder us in our sleep.

But we’ve had three dogs we’ve taken there in the past few years, and our experience has always been excellent!

All of our dogs have had different grooming needs, and though we’ve never had a dog that needed a fancy cut, we do have a border collie/beagle mix who has an extremely thick coat. And if you’ve never had a border collie before, you won’t realize that you cannot shave them as it’s bad for their undercoats. So you have to find a groomer who’s excellent at defurring them—or resign yourself to taking hours to doing it on your own. A few months back we had the place we board the dogs try to groom him and he came home to us with so much loose hair, we realized just how much Michelle’s Pretty Paws was worth every penny.

Our groomer, Marie, takes so much care to make sure she brushes the dog out thoroughly and then also blows the hair out so we’re always walking out the door with a smooth-coated, loose-fur-free dog.

Still, for as much as we love the physical results of the dogs’ grooming, it’s also the personal emotional care and attention that each animal is given that makes these groomers awesome.

This past spring we adopted a 12yo senior dog, Spooki. Spooki is a miniature pinscher/Chihuahua mix with only six teeth remaining and a struggle with anxiety after he was surrendered to the humane society by his previous family and then had to undergo nearly a full mouth tooth extraction. He struggles with new people, is startled by sudden movements, and hates being apart from me—especially if it involves being in a strange crate. We’ve been trying to expose him to new situations and experiences to help him regain trust and learn that we won’t abandon him.

As soon as Spooki and I walked in the door of Michelle’s Pretty Paws, Marie was greeting him, helping him get comfortable with her, and assuring him (and me) that he would be okay. She listened to me explain his situation, immediately came up with a few suggestions of things she could do to help him feel safe, and off he went with her.

A few hours later, I arrived to pick up a lovely smelling (this dog loves to roll in things he shouldn’t), clean feeling, very handsome boy who showed no signs of being anxious, scared or upset with the exception of needing a potty break stat, lol! He had clearly been loved on and well taken care of, and I know he’ll be just fine going back again when he needs it.

Michelle’s Pretty Paws does book out a week or two in advance, so you’re unlikely to get them in at the last minute, but they are worth the wait. I also understand they are sometimes closed to new clients, but when you call, ask about future openings!

This business is a Shop Local Delmarvalous Delight and I highly recommend it! 

Business Details:

Michelle's Pretty Paws

1496 Still Meadow Blvd. Suite A

Salisbury, MD 21804



(410) 742-0299

https://www.facebook.com/Michelles-Pretty-Paws-156764101028565

Angela James is a resident of Salisbury, MD and active in the Delmarva community through volunteer work for organizations such as National Folk Festival, Humane Society of Wicomico, Salisbury Pride Parade and more. A fiction editor, author career consultant and public speaker, she’s a small business owner who understands the power of word of mouth and customer reviews.

Delmarvalous Delights highlights the best of Delmarva, along with hidden gems, and shines a spotlight on those businesses that stand out consistently as Delmarvalous Delights.

If you’d like to invite Angela to visit your business, or try your products, please email angie@delmarvalousdelights.com