There is perhaps nothing that more consistently occupies the minds and civic spaces of the Outer Cape than questions concerning our dogs. Between leash laws in Truro, dangerous dogs in Eastham, and things dogs do on the oyster flats in Provincetown, the goings-on of our furry friends are sources of as much consternation as joy. But when it comes to keeping them preened and pretty, the options are few.
For the two professional dog groomers we found here, this means that business is booming. “My phone just rings off the hook all day long,” said Lindsay May, owner of the Eastham grooming business All Paws on Deck. May has been grooming dogs for 15 years and has owned her own business for the last five.
In Wellfleet, Nancy Flanagan runs her business, Fur’s A Flyin, out of a shed in her back yard. Flanagan has been grooming dogs for 37 years and said she never thought that at age 64 she’d be as busy as she is. “I should be slowing down,” Flanagan said. “Not that I’m retiring anytime soon.”
With up to seven clients a day, both women said that they just don’t have time to take on new dogs. “We really need more groomers out here,” said Flanagan.
It’s not just the Outer Cape that is experiencing high demand for groomers. The whole world wants them. According to Global News Wire’s Future Market Insights, the global pet grooming market was valued at $1.3 billion in 2022 and is expected to double by the end of the decade. “There never used to be these fancy stores with fancy treats and walls of toys,” May said. “Your dog maybe had a ball and a bag of doggy food. The industry has just exploded.”
May took a nine-month course in grooming when she was beginning, but credentials are not required. “Any Joe Shmoe can be a dog groomer,” May said. Flanagan started out at the now-shuttered Nauset Kennels. “They needed a groomer,” she said, and she wanted to learn. “I learned how to groom every single breed just by reading a book.”
Flanagan was at Nauset for 14 years before she opened her home-based business. At first, she worked in her basement. “I hated every second of it,” she said. She built the shed five years ago, and it’s been sunshine and roses ever since. “I finally got out of there,” she said.
While Flanagan does it all herself, May recently brought on the help of Heather Christine, a lifelong Eastham resident. “There’s nothing else I want to do,” Christine told the Independent. “I like that it’s kind of an art.” May said that, even with Christine, she could use more help. “It’s just crazy in here.”
Grooming is hard work, May and Flanagan both said. “I have such bad carpal tunnel that I wake up and my arms are on fire,” May said. “They tingle, they’re completely numb, they just go lame.”
“You name it, I feel it,” said Flanagan.
A good wash, a blow dry, and a brush out are necessary to keep some breeds looking good. Goldendoodles, for example, have fussy fur that requires lots of attention. Both Flanagan and May get a lot of goldendoodles. “We have a goldendoodle explosion,” Flanagan said. “Too many.”
“Love them to death, but the guy who invented them says he regrets it to this day,” said May.
Other dogs are lower maintenance, May said. All they need is a simple ear cleaning and a nail trim. “People say to me, ‘This is the best $20 I’ve spent all summer,’ ” May said.
Neither do what’s called creative grooming. “I don’t make them look like a lion,” Flanagan said. “Though I have done it.” Earlier in her career, Flanagan went to grooming seminars and even cruises to learn about the newest techniques and trends. According to Global News Wire, current trends in the grooming world include highlights, stenciled designs, and dreadlocks.
Both businesses have loyal followings. Some people wouldn’t know what to do without them, said educator and songwriter Norma Gentner, who stopped by All Paws on Deck on Aug. 7 to pick up her Havanese, Lucy. “Named after ‘I Love Lucy,’ ” Gentner said. “I call her the ambassador of love.” Gentner lives in Eastham during the summers and has come to rely on May’s services. “Your groomer is kind of like your barber or doctor,” Gentner said.
It’s true, May confirmed. It’s not uncommon that groomers will discover a growth while handling the nooks and crannies of their clients. “I have found cancer many times on dogs,” she said. “I like to grow up with the dog.” She has groomed some dogs from puppyhood to the end of their lives, she said. “I always send a card.”
Just as dogs become part of a family when they’re adopted, groomers become part of the extended family after the first cut. The work means getting to know a lot of dogs.
“I walk down the street, and I go, ‘I know that dog, I know that dog,’ ” May said. “And I’ve gotten to know a lot of people through it, too.”
