Classic City K9 Grooming

06/05/2022

What’s your dog up to this beautiful Sunday morning? Boo is supervising a tennis tournament!🐶

05/30/2022

For those of you struggling with unwanted jumping from your dog, here’s a really good and quick video to help you remedy this.

It really is an easy fix!!! Just set aside a little time everyday to work on this until your dog gets it!

05/18/2022

To my clients

There is no easy way to say the following and I’ve put this off as long as I possibly can.

The last two years have been very difficult for me many levels, both personally and professionally. During this time, I’ve come to the realization that I need to make a pretty significant change to my life, particularly as it pertains to my career as a dog groomer.

Dog grooming is an extremely physical job and like many groomers, I’ve begun dealing with a degree of physical pain in my back, neck and wrists that is slowly becoming unmanageable. I’ve made many efforts over the past couple of years to mitigate and treat this pain, from a size limit on large dogs to regular chiropractic and PT/fitness training with little success. Because of the nature of this job, I continue to injury my body and am unable to heal.

In addition to this, the mental toll of owning a business in these trying times is becoming more than I can deal with. Classic City K9 is a very successful business and I’m very proud of it, but the cost to my own personal life to keep it successful has been significant. In addition to this, reliable and trustworthy employees have become next to impossible to find and with Connie’s impending and well-deserved retirement just around the corner, she will be leaving a void that will be impossible to fill. Burnout is real and my mind and body is telling me it’s time for a change.

With that, I’m sad to announce that on July 23, 2022, Classic City K9 Grooming will be closing its doors for good. It has been an absolute privilege to serve you and I can’t thank you enough for trusting me with your pets over the years. Saying goodbye to them and you will be more difficult than you could ever know. I’m so honored to have known you, to share a little bit of your life, to greet your dogs as puppies and shed tears when I know they’re about to cross the bridge into their next life, to watch your kids and families grow and chat about our life stories and really get to know you.

This salon has been so much more than just a salon, but a beautiful life experience that I’ve cherished.

Thank you so much for everything. ❤️

Jessica Stevens
Owner
Classic City K9 Grooming

04/14/2022

Our newest style: The Ezekiel clip.

Now he can churn butter in style!

04/14/2022

Our hours of operation are as follows:

Tuesday-Friday 8:30-5:30
Every other Saturday 9:00-2:00

We do not offer early drop off or late pickup.

Many clients have realized that myself and/or a staff member arrives early each day and have taken upon themselves to show up early as well and attempt to pressure us into letting them check in before we open.

We do not arrive early to do early check ins.

Period.

Every night, we break down our crates to be cleaned and disinfected. We leave them broke down overnight to sufficiently dry. In the morning, we arrive early to reassemble the crates, prepare bedding for the crates, finish laundry and prepare paperwork for the day, as well as a variety of office duties I try to get done before the day gets too busy. The early arrival by myself and my staff is the time we need to prepare the salon for business. Loosing even 10 minutes to a client durning that time makes us scramble to get things done before we open.

Please respect our hours.

03/23/2022

Sampson getting comfortable for his groom😂❤️

03/17/2022

Well, we tried to take nice a St. Patrick’s day photo but lap wars ensued so never mind. 😂☘️☘️☘️

03/03/2022

Good evening!

I wanted to go ahead and let everyone know that we will be making some changes to our hours of operation over the next month. Going into April, we will only be open every other Saturday. I’ll be going through the calendar and reaching out to anyone who’s appointments fall on a day that we will be closed to change those dates.

I’ll also be making myself available for early drop off and evening appointments a few days durning the week to accommodate clients who have difficulty making weekday appointments work.

If you’re on a Saturday schedule but can make a weekday appointment work, please let me know. I will have to cut back on the existing clients on my Saturday schedule.

Feel free to reach out with any questions.

Jessica Stevens
Owner

02/15/2022

02/09/2022

We greatly appreciate clients taking their dogs for a walk to relieve themselves before bring them in for their groom but please pick up after your dog. It’s not our responsibility to pick up your dogs p**p outside of the salon. If you need a bag, we’re happy to provide as many as you require! Thank you!

01/04/2022

Dear Clients,

Effective January 1st, 2022, we will be implementing some price increases to our services. As you know, our economy is changing drastically and while we are seeing an unprecedented number of dogs needing grooming services, we are also seeing a huge increase in the cost of the products and tools used to take care of your pets. In some cases, the increases are double and triple of their previous costs.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss this prior to booking your next appointment, feel free to message us privately or give us a call. Thank you so much for your patronage and continued support! Happy New Year!

11/02/2021

Good evening! So unfortunately today I had to have an unexpected surgery and will be taking the next couple days off to recover. Once I returned to work, I will be unable to lift anything over ten pounds for the next two weeks. I will also be unable to deal with dogs who need assistance standing or can be a little difficult to groom as I cannot engage in strenuous activities.

I will be in touch with some of you that have larger dogs about changing your appointment. I’ll be able to defer some of larger dogs to Misty and Connie for grooming but for the sake of their own physical health, I cannot give them all the large dogs to groom as it can be a little rough on one’s back and body to deal with a lot of large dogs over an extended period of time.

I apologize for the inconvenience, especially with the approaching holiday but I greatly appreciate your understanding and cooperation!

Jessica Stevens
Owner

10/28/2021

Look at this little nugget who came in today for her first nail trim!😍❤️

09/24/2021

❤️Jackson❤️

08/03/2021

DeShed treatment!

07/10/2021

Walk-in nail trim services are available Tuesday-Friday between 4:00 and 5:00 PM only. This service is not available on Saturdays.

No aggressive or extremely difficult dogs. Dogs must be on a leash and under control at all times.

Services may be limited as I’m currently the only groomer on staff to offer nail trims. 😁

~Jessica

07/02/2021

Good evening and Happy 4th weekend!

Just a heads up that as of today, I am the only groomer working right now as Connie has departed for her leave of absence but Misty, my former bather and assistant of 5 years has rejoined our staff and is a tremendous help to me! I’m so happy to have her back!

I don’t know how things will go over the next few months but I will greatly appreciate any flexibility and understanding you can lend me. I will be grooming a LOT of dogs every day, six days a week into the fall to try to accommodate everyone’s grooming schedule to the best of my ability.

Again, it is likely durning this time that I will need to extend the time between grooms but I promise, this is temporary!

So bear with me while I try to navigate this difficult time! The whole world is short staffed right now, so be kind wherever you go. Everyone is struggling.

06/02/2021

Good morning! Here are a few changes have been made and some upcoming changes with Classic City K9 Grooming.

We are again suspending services to new clients at this time. We greatly appreciate all the interest and referrals to our salon but we have reached our capacity and can no longer accept new clients. Any new clients interested in becoming a client can be added to a contact list and we will reach out to you when we have a opening!

Because we are booked out two months, changes to appointments can be rather difficult and require a bit of juggling on our part. For that reason we ask that you give us as much notice as possible when requesting a change and while we will always try our hardest to accommodate you, it may not be possible. We hope you understand.

No shows have become a large burden lately and represents a huge loss of income for myself and my employees. Commissions makes up a portion of our paycheck and failing to arrive for a appointment or canceling at the last minute makes it very difficult, if not impossible to fill that spot. With that, I’ve enacted a policy that if you no show or cancel last minute twice within one year, I will require full payment in advance to hold any appointments for you. This payment shall only be refunded with 24 hours notice for any cancellations.

Lastly, around the end of July, I will be working solo for about three months while Connie (the other groomer and my lovely mother ❤️)takes some time
off to deal with family stuff. I will have to ask many of you to bear with me because I will be unable to maintain the same appointment schedule for many of you. You will have to wait longer between appointments and I’m truly sorry for that.
Rest assured I’ll be doing the best I can to meet your dogs grooming needs during this time period.

If you have any questions, feel free to call the salon or message me!

Jessica Stevens
Owner

04/11/2021

03/06/2021

Good morning! The Girl Scouts are set up outside Classic City K9 Grooming today selling cookies and could sure use your support! Come on out and support this wonderful organization which is near and dear to my heart! ❤️Girl Scouts were a huge part of my childhood so swing by and pick up a box today!!!!

Here’s a picture of a Golden holding his leash to get your attention!!

02/16/2021

❤️Dip❤️

01/12/2021

Pomeranian puppy and his first bath!🥰🥰

01/07/2021

🍅Tomato 🍅

01/07/2021

To my valued clients:

I know masks are a huge point of contention for a lot of people and while I fully respect the opinions of those on both sides of the argument, it must also be understood that private businesses have the right to require a mask upon entry to their property.

I have in the past taken a non-confrontational approach to the mask debate. I have never ordered a client out of my salon for not wearing a mask and at times, both myself and staff members have forgotten to put ours on when checking clients in and out.

The situation has changed at my salon with a staff member who now lives with family whose household contains a VERY vulnerable person and in a effort to help protect her and her family, I need all patrons to wear a mask when entering my salon.

I don’t care about the arguments about the effectiveness or lack of when it comes to masks. If it reduces the risk of transmission even a little, I’m willing to do it to help out. If for some reason you’re unable to wear a mask, please call us at the salon and we would be happy to provide curbside service.

01/01/2021

I don’t know why Rose is making this face!😂😂😂

12/03/2020

Oh Chi Chi!!!! Has it really been 14 years?!?!❤️❤️

12/03/2020

French Bulldog puppy. You’re welcome!😁😁😁

11/07/2020

Hey everyone! These dogs could use your help!They belonged to one of my clients who has brought her dogs to me for the past 15 years. She recently moved to a care facility and had to give her pets up. I took her dogs in until Athens Canine Rescue stepped up and took them in and are preparing them for adoption.

The day I picked these dogs up from their owner was possibly one of the most difficult days in my twenty-plus years of working with animals. The owner was absolutely devastated and holding her frail hands while she sobbed was absolutely gut-wrenching. I promised her that I would see to it that these dogs only got the best homes and that’s why I reached out to Athens Canine Rescue, because I knew they could deliver on that promise.

I know times are uncertain but if you can spare even just a little money to help with their care, it would be greatly appreciated and know that a very sweet lady who had to give up her little family of pets will be extremely grateful for your generosity. ❤️❤️❤️

11/04/2020

No matter what.

10/30/2020

Let’s talk about fleas...

Did you know that fleas can remain frozen for a year and still survive? Kinda cool, huh?!

You wanna know what isn’t cool? Bubonic plague, murine typhus and tapeworms. Those are zoonotic diseases/infections that are transmissible to humans from fleas. They also cause anemia in dogs with a heavy infestation as well as allergies galore.

A single female flea can produce up to fifty eggs a day and up to 2000 eggs in a lifetime, which can be up to a year if they have a host to live on. Here in the South, fleas are always present. It will never get or stay cold enough to halt the breeding cycle of fleas, which is a common but incorrect assumption I hear frequently.

Fleas are the bane of my existence as a groomer. If a dog comes in and has evidence of fleas, it changes the course of my day. I have to stop EVERYTHING I’m doing to attend to this dog. They immediately go into my tub and are soaked in flea shampoo and every surface they touch is mopped and sprayed with a pesticide. As an extra measure, I have to flea bomb the salon when I leave at night to catch any fleas that may have survived.

Recently, I’ve given a lot of thought to my flea policy and I’ve decided to modify it. In this day and age, with all the incredible medical advancements in flea prevention, there really is no excuse for a dog to have fleas. I feel very strongly that as a salon owner, I have a duty to prevent the spread of fleas in my salon so with that, I will no longer accept dogs with fleas. Every dog will be examined at check-in with a flea comb and if fleas are found to be present on your dog, you will be turned away for service until your dog is flea-free. It’s not fair to expose my any of my clients to a potential infestation.

Just to put it in perspective, if I took my child to the hairdresser with a head full of lice, I’d be turned away and told to treat my child for the lice before I brought her back and honestly, would you want to get your hair done at a place that allows clients to be served with these highly transmissible parasites? Nahhhh. Your dogs deserve the same courtesy.

Talk to your vet about flea prevention. The BEST flea preventatives are the ones you get through the vet, not the over the counter products, which are virtually ineffective.

I know this might put some people off and if it does, I’m truly sorry. This is an effort to better serve all my customers and protect the dogs in my care. A dog should never go home from the groomer with fleas and the best way to prevent that is to never let them in my salon. Please feel free to message me if you have any questions!

10/29/2020

It’s official. As of today, I’m fully booked for the remainder of the year. If you wish to be added to our waitlist for cancelled appointment, please call the salon and let us know.

I’m currently in the process of hiring a assistant or two so I can increase the number of dogs I can take daily so HOPEFULLY, once I’ve done this, it will create some openings.

I know this is going to ruffle a lot of feathers and I do apologize to anyone unable to get an appointment. I’ve been working six days a week to meet the demand and still cannot keep up.

I’ve also had lots of requests for referrals to other salons and while I’m happy to refer out, all the salons I know and trust are in the exact same predicament as me and have asked me to no longer refer people to them.

Everyone take care and stay safe!

09/11/2020

Our current wait for a grooming appointment is 5 weeks. This includes bath packages. I strongly recommend rebooking your next appointment in advance to prevent a long wait for your dogs grooming appointment.

At this time, I am suspending the intake of new customers until the end of 2020. I have recently been inundated with a large number of people looking for a new groomer due to the closure of two grooming salons in Athens and I would like to give my existing clientele the opportunity to secure a regular grooming schedule. The holidays are coming up quickly, so please be aware that November and December will be filling up quickly.

As always, I can’t express how much I appreciate your support and business. Hang in there, folks! 2020 is almost over!😂😂😂

-Jessica

09/03/2020

Lucky singing bass while Jasper sings soprano! 🎶

09/03/2020

Bentley❤️

08/29/2020

German Shepherd DeShed Treatment. Yes...that is hair in the tub. 😮

08/26/2020

I think Sampson is quite possibly very annoyed at the moment. He’s told me before that bathes are highly overrated.

08/26/2020

Celebrate your dog on National Dog Day!