On a warm and sunny Good Friday, Lindsay Green is busy grooming a small cockapoo aptly named Bunny. Based on Bunny’s demeanor, one would think she was at the park or playing with a new toy instead of at the groomer, a place many dogs dread.

“I’m way more concerned with the dog’s mental and physical health,” Green said of the appointments. “Obviously I want them to look great, but their experience and how they’re reacting is more important.”

If a dog is scared or stressed, they’ll take a break from the haircut and stop to play.

That’s just how it’s done at Bubbles & Barks, the salon at 741 W. Broadway St., Bradley, which has been owned and operated by Green since Nov. 1, 2021.

The Wilmington native turned Braidwood resident made it clear she’s not in the business “to pump dogs out” and make money.

“I was born just to love animals,” she said, recalling a memory of her 8-year-old self sitting on the steps of her farmhouse reading Dog Fancy Magazine. She saw an ad for a grooming course and asked her mom if she could apply. As an adult, Green would study in Georgia under the direction of Molly Marshall, with whom Green still keeps in contact.

Green said there are often times throughout the day where she asks herself, “What would Molly do?”

<strong>ON HER OWN</strong>

Green started her professional grooming career in 2005. Through the years working at different salons, she knew she one day wanted a spot of her own.

“It was a dream I always had. I can have more control over how the dogs are treated,” she said, noting that she wasn’t claiming anywhere else to be “bad” but she simply is “very particular over how their experience goes.”

Since opening her shop, which she located in Bradley because she loves the community, Green noted that she gets “to meet so many amazing people.”

On an average day, she works with between 10-15 dogs and there aren’t many days with less than 10 dogs.

She said many of her customers come in on a revolving schedule and “they do become like family.”

“Some can’t even mention my name at home because the dogs get too excited,” Green said. “[That] means I’m doing something right when they’re happy to see me.”

She said that she’s had a lot of dogs that have had bad experiences at other places, and she starts by learning the dog’s temperament to make it a comfortable experience.

Because she’s the only groomer — sometimes she has a friend come in to help around the shop — she books clients out a year at a time and is currently booked through July. Green said she’s considering hiring someone else in the future, but they’d have to be the perfect fit.

Overall, venturing out on her own has been a net positive.

“[It’s] way better than I could have ever imagined. I’m still mind blown every day.”

She tries to give each furry client a bandana or hand-tied bows or bowties, and sets up a festive photo booth for holidays. She’ll snap a photo of a client post-groom to send to their owner to let them know their fur baby is ready for pickup. Even when dogs aren’t currently in her shop, or even if she hasn’t seen them in a few months, “I randomly think of people’s dogs I’ve groomed and wonder how they’re doing.”

Green said that it’s helpful for groomers when owners teach their dogs basic manners at home and heed any advice to ‘work on this at home.’ Another way to get them acclimated to grooming, Green said, is to rub their head with the base of an electric toothbrush so they get used to the vibration of the grooming tools.

Looking around the salon, which Green describes as “very country and shabby chic” – a design preference inspired by her mother – the groomer said that she is “happy and grateful.”

“[It’s] not a job for everybody and not every groomer is created the same,” she said. “...I definitely feel very lucky.”