By SHELBA NIVENS/ Community Columnist

She has a window near her grooming table where she can hang a bird feeder for clients needing happy thoughts, said Lisa Marie Seay.

“Happy thoughts make the day easier for some whose needs are greater than others.”

Happy thoughts. Sounds like a good practice for any person.

But Lisa Marie was speaking of four-legged clients at her pet grooming shop, Everyday Pet Styles.

She learned this “trick-of-the-trade,” she said, from her step-mother, who had a grooming shop in Maryland when Lisa Marie was growing up.

She recalled watching her work on an old Shih Tzu with arthritis and a bad biting problem. Movement of its legs would send the animal into aggression, she said, so her step-mother used a pet bird in a cage to distract the dog while she worked on it. Lisa Marie does not own a pet bird, she said, but birds at a feeder serve the same purpose. Seay said one of her shop’s specialties is dogs with special needs. A special-needs dog might be handicapped or blind or have another medical problem. It may have been abused or had another traumatic experience. It might be behaviorally-challenged, or just difficult to groom. Whatever the problem, Lisa Marie treats the dog with love and respect, she said.

She boasts that dogs are hand fluffed. They are not “cage dried.” She does scissor styles with balance through layering the hair.

Everyday Pet Styles opened at 8687 Shelby County 11 in Chelsea a little more than years ago. But Lisa Marie has been grooming for more than 20 years, she said. At about the age of 12, she was sweeping floors in her step-mother’s shop and “basically learning the ‘dog’s life. I was overjoyed seeing her true gift and was grateful to have such a wonderful teacher. I use her tricks of the trade in my own business here in Chelsea.”

Lisa Marie can be reached for appointments at 678-9385. Email her at lisamarieseay@yahoo.com or like Everyday Pet on Facebook.

 

Shelba Nivens can be reached by email at Shelbasn@juno.com.