Nailed it: N.S. dog groomer helps dogs relax

When it comes to cutting dogs’ nails, Mackenzie Hughes likes to take it slow.

“I do get a lot of calls for dogs that are nervous for nail trims,” Hughes said. “We do work on one nail at a time. My main goal is to help dogs be less stressed with nail trims.”

Hughes is the owner of Mackenzie’s Pet Services, which offers dog grooming services across most of Nova Scotia. She travels to customers’ homes to clip dogs’ nails in a comfortable and familiar environment.

“I started a few years ago,” Mackenzie said. “My friends wanted me to clip their dogs nails just to help out and I thought it would be a good idea to have a business doing that and we tried it and now it’s my full-time career.

“The dogs are very low, low stress (at home) and it’s just convenient for the owners to not take their dogs in a car.”

Hughes said the highlight of her job is meeting a wide variety of animals.

“I love seeing animals every day, all day,” she said. “It’s awesome. Ranging from cats to guinea pigs to dogs to goats, as well as meeting awesome people.”

Hughes said she plans to keep the business going while also working towards a new goal in her career.

“Hopefully someday I do become a vet, but right now I absolutely love doing this and helping people out,” she said.

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