31/08/2025
Fifteen years from now, I won’t have any of the same clients I have today.
It’s a thought I try not to dwell on, but it’s always there in the back of my mind. Every dog I’m grooming right now, every face I look forward to seeing walk through my door, every set of eyes that trusts me, they’ll all be gone one day.
Grooming school didn’t prepare me for this part.
My whole life I’ve struggled with premature grieving, anxious thoughts of inevitable heartbreak, and that part of me gets tested over and over.
People think grooming is just about making dogs look pretty, making them feel better, or putting bows in their hair. And that’s true, it is part of it. But most of us who do this know that’s not the full truth. It’s also about falling in love with the dogs.
We learn their quirks, their habits, their funny little ways of being. We know which ones like to dance when they’re excited, which ones give the side-eye when they’re annoyed, which ones press their whole body against you for comfort. We love them like they’re ours. And when they’re gone, we grieve them like they were ours.
The heartbreak is constant. Some months, I lose several back-to-back. It feels like I’m hearing bad news every few days. There are times where my heart shatters again before I’ve even started picking up the pieces from the last one.
And it’s not always just the loss itself. I also find myself carrying around, playing on repeat in my head, the stories of how they died. Sometimes it’s peaceful, but sometimes it’s sudden and traumatic. Those ones stick with me, the ones where something happened out of nowhere, to a dog that wasn’t ready to go yet. I have to process that and grieve it too. And on top of my own heartbreak, I feel grief for the owners. I know they’re experiencing it on a much deeper level. I’ve seen how much they loved their dog. I’ve heard the way they talk about them, the excitement in their voice when they pick them up, the way their faces light up when they see them again. So when I hear that their dog is gone, I can almost picture their grief, and I carry that with me too.
Every new client adds joy, but also adds grief. From the very first day a dog sits on my table, I already know that, sooner than I’d like, they won’t be here anymore. Loving dogs means carrying that reality right alongside the love.
And yet, I couldn’t be happier with the career I chose. Though it comes with so much pain, it’s exactly where I’m supposed to be.
Whether it’s true or not, I’ve decided to cope by believing that all of these dogs, every single one I’ve loved, are just adding to the pack that will be waiting for me. I believe that when I die, I’ll be met by a stampede, a huge pack of dogs, mine and my clients, every single one I’ve ever loved. And I’ll get to interact with them again. I’ll get to see their funny quirks that made each one unique. I’ll be greeted by each of them, one by one, and in that moment, I’ll know that they knew how much I loved them.
Fifteen years from now, I won’t have any of the same clients I have today. But fifteen years from now, I’ll have had the privilege of loving them all. And that’s what makes it both the heaviest burden and the greatest gift. 🐾💕
