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FARGO — Every 12 weeks or so, Tami Sirek drives the 50 miles from Wahpeton to Fargo for one thing.
She brings JoJo, her 7-year-old black Pomeranian, for her regular bath, blowdry, nail-clip and trim with Jenne Lura at Ears to Rears Grooming, 1336 25th Ave. S.
Why take a 100-mile roundtrip to groom one tiny dog?
Because, Sirek says, she only trusts Lura to work on JoJo. In the past, another groomer not only cut off her beloved pet’s long top coat of guard hairs, but her short undercoat as well. It never grew back.
JoJo also grew so agitated at her past grooming visits that she started snapping at anyone who tried to groom her.
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Then Sirek heard about Lura’s approach at Ears to Rears Grooming, a “low-stress” grooming business which opened its doors in October of ’22.
Lura uses a “one-on-one” approach in her small shop, which means only one dog is there from start to finish.
That means there aren’t other people bustling to and fro, other dogs barking from kennels or a cacophony of blowdryers, clippers and jangling phones which can stress out some nervous or sensitive pooches, Lura said.
“I love the calmness of this. There’s no other dogs. She’s not intimidated when she comes here,” said Sirek, who brings Lura a Rice Krispie treat on this day to show her appreciation.
In a recent one-on-one session with the groomer, the only sounds are the country music Lura listens to, the hum or clip of her grooming tools and Lura’s occasional impromptu chats with her four-legged clients. (“Do you know what fragrance you’d like today?” she coos to one dog. “You’re a vision.”)
Now JoJo luxuriates in Lura’s mud baths, which condition her skin and coat — both affected by that fateful grooming appointment as well as thyroid-related alopecia. Both groomer and owner think it has helped moisturize her dry skin and even encouraged some hair growth.
Sirek also appreciates the photos that Lura texts to her. “She sends me the cutest little pictures and I really appreciate that,” she says. “So we communicate during appointments through text messages, which is amazing.”
Lura happens to be one of the select few people that JoJo likes. Now Sirek has grown so devoted to the groomer that when Ears to Rears’ growing client list made it necessary to add a second groomer last fall, the Pom owner reached out to Lura to make sure she would still groom her dog exclusively.
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“Nobody else can see JoJo,” Sirek says. “It’s been a huge game-changer.”
Lura said she routinely gets that feedback from clients. “They’ll say it’s like night and day,” she said. “It’s so much less stressful for even me. Because you’re kind of in a fishbowl (at a typical grooming salon). They’re so much better behaved because there aren’t barking dogs. They’re one on one.”
Lura grew up in Glyndon on a property that abutted a nature conservancy and a farm field. “You would wake up in the morning and there would be 75 deer in the yard,” she recalls.
Like her dad, she loved animals of all kinds and had a way with them. “I have always been absolutely crazy for animals. I always say grooming was the last thing I needed to learn because I wanted to open up some kind of sanctuary. I would name it Bed, Bath and Biscuit,” she said.
She’s owned numerous pets, varying from “Archie,” a Jenday Conure parakeet so self-assured that he routinely ate at the food bowl alongside four cats, and an ultra-bright Rottweiler named Sampson who responded to English, Spanish and hand commands. “Rotties are my heart,” she said. “He taught me so much about so much.”
Lura lived in Florida for 20 years, although she returned to the area in 2015 to study massage therapy. While here, she trained to be a groomer through Petco and started working there. She also became certified in canine massage.
A few years later, she returned to Florida to help a friend who needed heart surgery, but was able to transfer to another Petco to continue grooming.
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She discovered the appeal of one-on-one grooming accidentally. Amid COVID shutdowns, she had to find a way to pay her rent, so began booking grooming appointments in her apartment.
Not only did the dogs seem calmer in this quieter environment, she noticed that she could groom much faster without the distractions of a busy salon around her.
When rents and living expenses grew too high down South, she returned to the Fargo area in 2021. With permission from her landlord, she again groomed from her apartment.
Through word of mouth, the business grew to the point where she could rent a storefront within a year.
Now Lura grooms on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays while her employee, Stephanie Dockter, covers Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Dockter also has a friend who wants to learn grooming, so will join their team once her training is done.
Grooming typically starts at $60 for a small dog. Lura said she includes services that some salons offer only as upgrades as part of Ears to Rears’ basic package, such as oatmeal shampoo, nail filing vs. nail-clipping and a blueberry facial to get rid of the unsightly “tear stains” on Fido’s face.
And she always shampoos her clients at least twice — or as many times as it takes to get them squeaky clean.
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“A dirty dog is a happy dog, but a clean dog is a happy owner,” she said, laughing.
Lura helps ensure a quieter grooming atmosphere by keeping a sign by the door that asks people not to knock or walk in amid grooming appointments. “If it doesn’t startle the dog, it will startle me. And if either one of us jump, they could get jumped or nicked and that’s not good,” she said.
She’s also found approaches like understanding a dog’s body language and exuding a calm confidence can help soothe an anxious animal. Lura is a big fan of celebrity dog trainer Cesar Millan, who recommends conveying a firm, calm leadership style while working with pack animals like canines.
Although she let her certification in dog massage lapse, Lura said she still uses the same brand of calming energy for dogs that are anxious or can’t settle down.
Even despite her experience and training, Lura said she has met dogs that simply wouldn’t tolerate grooming.
Most of the time though, she finds her own emotional state makes all the difference. “If they are freaking out, I actually have to look at myself and think, ‘Am I causing this?’ Sometimes, I’ll sit here and just breathe and take a minute and then go back to it, and they’re usually better. It’s not their fault for your bad day.”
The grooming life, she said, is never an easy profession. A typical day might involve lifting a 100-pound dog into a sink. It isn’t simply a haircut, but a true “ears to rears” once-over, which includes difficult work like handling paws (which most dogs don’t like) and expressing anal glands.
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“I’ve got tennis elbow in both arms. My back is a mess,” she said.
Yet she can’t imagine doing anything else right now. “Even a difficult dog — I would work on a difficult dog because this is just happier for me. Even on a crappy day, it’s a happier day than if I would be working in an office.”
Besides, it’s a job with immediate rewards.
“I get so tickled when people come in and their dog is just a straggly mess and they come back and say, ‘Ohhhh!’” she said. “It just fills my heart.”
Contact Ears to Rears on Facebook or by calling 701-715-6835.
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