Habersham Happenings
SHIRLEY GOTT
Barking Beautiful Pet Spa
story by JENNIFER BROWN-CARPENTER
Barking Beautiful Pet Spa is a 5-star rated puppy spa located just outside Beaufort in beautiful Habersham. If you are looking for a personable, wonderful experience for your pets, you need not look any further. Barking Beautiful is right on Market Street and is a relaxing spa that utilizes aromatherapy and calming music to create the perfect atmosphere to relax your pet.
Shirley Gott has been grooming for over 30 years. Her grandparents raised her in Castro Valley, California. When Shirley was nine years old, her grandfather was diagnosed with lung cancer. Her grandmother started working inside their home with a telephone answering business, and one of her clients was Town & Country Canine Coiffeur, a dog grooming establishment two doors down from their home. Shirley would help out at the groomer, doing little chores that were suitable for someone her age. She made 75 cents an hour for the work she did. As her grandfather’s health worsened, Shirley moved away from Castro Valley, living with her mother’s family in Ohio. She moved back when she was 20 years old and began working with Dorothy Webb, the owner of Town & Country Canine Coiffeur. Dorothy taught her the basics of grooming, and she attended grooming seminars, advancing her learning under Cindy Shaw at Crow Canyon Pet and Grooming for the following four years.
Shirley worked for a few different grooming shops over the next several years, finally settling with a newly opened Shampooches as the only groomer in 1994 in California. It was a great job, and she loved it.
Shirley’s partner, Christopher, was living in Beaufort before she was. He brought her to Habersham and showed her the area, and she was immediately hooked. She knew it was where she wanted to live and set up her shop. There wasn’t another place he could have showed her that would change her mind. Two years later, they moved to Habersham and opened Barking Beautiful Pet Spa.
Shirley loves grooming. She loves making the animals look good. When a pet is finished with their spa day, you can often see how they carry themselves; they are happy with the way they look and smell! It then encourages positive relationships with their owners. When the pets are cleaned and soft, the owners are more likely to pet them and show them love.
The pet owners are welcome to bring pictures of what they would like done to their pet as far as cuts or trims, and Shirley will make it happen, within reason. The owners are encouraged to pick out what shampoo they would like to use on their pets, and there are many services they can choose from.
Barking Beautiful utilizes Nagayu CO2 Hydrotherapy, which is a powerful spa treatment. It stimulates the dog’s circulatory system through carbonic acid, activates cellular metabolism, and accelerates cell regeneration.
Each spa day includes pad trimming, nail trim, and file, brush out and massaging bath, a blueberry facial, ear cleaning, fur whitening, and de-fleaing if necessary, anals per requests, blowdry, and specified pet trimming. It is all for one price, no a la carte. Shirley prides herself on calming nervous dogs with positive reinforcement and treats.
Shirley leaves a container of treats outside of the shop so that pets will lead their owners right to the spa, and they can look in and watch the process through the dalmatian-inspired curtains.
If you are interested in someone who will treat your animal with exceptional love and care, Barking Beautiful Pet Spa is the perfect spot. Shirley makes sure that she doesn’t over-book herself so that she can devote the right amount of time and attention to each animal that comes to see her. She also has an assistant that loves grooming as much as she does.
Barking Beautiful’s Services are:
• Bathing
• De-shedding
• Pet trims
• Custom trims
• Ear flushing & cleaning
• Massage
• Hypo-allergenic, oatmeal, tearless shampoos
• Flea treatments
• Nail trimming
• Brush outs
• Cats – nails, brush-outs, and some trimming
Shirley hopes to hire another groomer soon, as well as a bather, to help give the dogs of Beaufort County the attention they deserve. She is devoted to continuing to provide excellent service to anyone who walks into her shop. Shirley provides any first-time full groom customers with a $25 gift card to the Habersham restaurant of their choice as an incentive! It’s a way to give back to the community and show those new customers what Habersham has to offer.
If you need someone to show some love to your furry friend, call Barking Beautiful Pet Spa at (843) 644-1044. You will not regret it, and your pet will thank you later.
HABERSHAM DIRECTORY
Food and Drink
3 Sisters Pizzeria
Berto’s Tex Mex Grill
Bistro Ten
Corks on the Vine
Hop and Rye
Miramare Ristorante Italiano
Sunset Slush
Health and Wellness
EarthFIT
Retail
Madaline Cathleen Designs
Mystic Osprey Gallery
River and Marsh Boutique
Services
Architecture 101
Barking Beautiful Groomers
Betty Laurent Photography
Carolina Eastern Crop
Excellence
Dentistry at Habersham
Edward Jones
Engage Management
Gooding Contractors
Habersham Land Company
J. S. Doig Restoration
Living Color Salon and Spa
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Watermark Coastal Homes
