New pet grooming shop aims to keeps animals cute and comfortable

The building where Chattagroomer's Lora Jernigan has set up shop was a longtime barber shop for the area. She's had several customers tell her they had her first haircut there. "I'm happy I found a building that was so special to people," she said.
The building where Chattagroomer's Lora Jernigan has set up shop was a longtime barber shop for the area. She's had several customers tell her they had her first haircut there. "I'm happy I found a building that was so special to people," she said.
photo Chattagroomer owner Lora Jernigan worked on this dog, rescued from a puppy mill in Arkansas, for around an hour to safely remove its matted fur and long nails. The dog was one of almost 50 rescued by the local Humane Society.
photo Although this pup most likely has dental issues because of mistreatment at the puppy mill, Chattagroomer owner Lora Jernigan was able to clip all the matted fur away safely and quickly. She even spent the time to give him a more aesthetic trim and make him more adoptable.
photo Chattagroomer owner Lora Jernigan's real specialty is breed-specific cuts. Here, she's carefully clipped a pug to meet the breed standard.

Regardless of whether she's giving a poodle a unique look or trimming a Shih Tzu so its fur is perfectly uniform, Chattagroomer's Lora Jernigan likes to add a finishing touch: a pretty bow nestled right between the ears of the pooch she just pampered.

"I do really like to make them look cute," said Jernigan, who operated a mobile grooming service - driving around 600 miles a week to care for pets in rural Texas - before moving to the Hixson area with her family in December.

She was going to continue her mobile grooming business here, but her new location at 2203 Hamill Road was too perfect to pass on, she said.

Jernigan apprenticed under Tracy Duncan - of Groom Team USA fame - years ago. Team USA is one of the premier competitive grooming organizations in the world, and Duncan is a Hall of Famer. Jernigan studied with and learned from Duncan for years, and is now bringing that experience in pet grooming to the area.

One of the keys she's learned is how to ensure the dogs and cats she grooms are relaxed while they're at her shop.

Jernigan said she specializes in gentle handling, meaning she places extra emphasis on the animal's comfort while she grooms it, and does everything she can to help make the experience a positive one, especially for anxious pets.

Keeping her four-legged clients stress-free takes a bit longer, Jernigan said, but it means she has an easier job giving them a trim.

She tries to balance giving the animals enough time to get acclimated to the shop and keeping them no longer than around two hours to prevent them from getting stressed about the grooming session. Before grooming them, she'll let pets play and relax in the shop for half an hour and feed them treats. That way, she said, her shop becomes a place to play instead of a place of anxiety.

"The emotional, not just the physical, health of the animals is important to me," she said.

Jernigan said much of her clientele is people looking for professionally designed styles for their pedigreed pooch, and she is well-read and experienced in providing specific cuts for breeds like schnauzers, poodles, cocker spaniels, pugs and more. A special blow dry room ensures the dogs' fur stays tangle free and gets, in her own words, "very fluffy."

But her client list isn't just purebreds.

She recently worked with the local Humane Society to trim and groom several dogs rescued from a puppy mill in Arkansas.

"I did four horribly matted dogs that Friday. They were practically encased in their own hair," said Jernigan. "They weren't the worst I'd ever seen, but you still have to go slowly and carefully. The mats can pull and cause sores, and you don't want to cause them any more suffering."

In addition to those four, Jernigan worked on another four that she said weren't as severely matted. For them, she spent more time on aesthetics to make them look more adoptable.

"The cuter they are, the faster they'll get adopted to good homes," she said.

For more information, visit facebook.com/chattagroomer, or call the shop at 401-8245.

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