State-Journal.com - Frankfort Faces: Kathy Lyons

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Photo By State Journal/Hilly SchifferKathy Lyons

Photo By State Journal/Hilly SchifferKathy Lyons, 59, owner of Plush Puppies, ties a bandana after completing the dog’s groom. Katy says it takes about an hour to fully groom a dog.

Photo By State Journal/Hilly SchifferA poodle-mix kisses Kathy Lyons, owner of Plush Puppies, while she trims the dog’s toenails. Kathy says she specializes in small- to medium-sized dogs, but over the years she’s seen and heard everything.

Kathy Lyons entered the pet grooming business on a dare.

There was a poodle in her family in need of trimming and her mother-in-law doubted Kathy could do the job.

"She said, "You'll never be able to do it,'" Kathy recalls from her Plush Puppies shop on Devils Hollow Road.

Forty years later, Kathy, 59, is having the last laugh - she's operated grooming shops across central Kentucky - in Nicholasville and Frankfort as well as in South Carolina.

She started operating out of her home in Winchester, grooming mainly - you guessed it - poodles.

"All I had was a little work area," she said. "I had to write everything by hand."

In fact, she's never had formal pet grooming training.

"I read a lot of books, it was all trial and error," Kathy said. "People were patient. If I didn't know how to do something I'd tell them I'd figure out how to do it."

Growing up in Lexington, Kathy always had a heart for animals.

"When I was young, I lived with my aunt and I would bring home strays and hide them."

She said when she did the dishes after dinner she would sneak scraps up to her stowaways who would eventually reveal themselves.

"I always got to keep them," she said.

The art of the groom
March is the beginning of pet grooming season, because the weather is warming up, Kathy said.

Her workday begins at 8 a.m. and she leaves after the last dog goes home " around 5.

Most "grooms" take an hour - the longest was four hours.

The grooming process varies. First she trims the nails and cleans the pads of the paws. She does a preliminary cut, followed by a high-pressured bath that clears the glands and massages the dog's skin.

She dries and brushes the animal.

"I like a soft brush that won't seep into skin," she said. "The groom will last longer if we hand dry."

She reshapes the coat and, if the owner wants, adds a bow, bandana or new collar.

Plush Puppies has three groomers, and Kathy wants to hire more. The staff works together to care for the animals.

"We work as a team. If I can't lift it we do it together," Kathy said. "There's a lot more to it than you would think."

Hazards of the job include falling on a slippery floor, bites, scratches, hair stuck in pores and smelling like a wet dog, she said.

"I still notice the smell. Especially in the summer."

She's seen it all
While she now specializes in small- to medium-sized dogs, she's seen and heard everything.

In South Carolina, a co-worker had a cougar that hung around the shop.

"He was very playful," she said. "I dealt with it a lot. That was an experience."

She's prettied up some celebrity pets such as country singer/Kentucky native Billy Ray Cyrus' yellow Labrador. She's shaved names into the sides of dogs' coats. She's done pink and blue dye jobs. And she's shaved rabbits.

The most difficult grooming has been when pets are brought for grooming before being put to sleep for burial with their deceased owners.

"Those things are hard to handle because the dog should have a choice to go on," she said.

Other bizarre stories are not hard to find.

"We get a lot of bad things," Kathy said. "We get down in there and see things the customer doesn't see."

Like injuries from gunshots the owners are unaware of because the animal's coat is so thick.

"I've had dogs come in with bullet wounds."

Out of the shop
Kathy has also worked in factories, fast food, retail and driven a school bus. She also owned the now-defunct Pets Only pet store in Frankfort but sold it before moving to South Carolina.

When she's not at Plush Puppies - which takes up 40-60 hours each week - she enjoys boating, fishing and spending time with her 10 grandkids.

She has two adopted sons as well as a daughter and is foster mother to 14-month-old girl.

Kathy has three dogs of her own - Binkie, a French bulldog, a Yorkie named Adison and Romie, a poodle. She estimates she's had dozens of pets.

Kathy also knows about different dog breeds from her time as a breeder.

"You pick them (dogs) up," she said. "Over time you touch and feel and groom."
She took her time as a breeder seriously, keeping track of dates and immunizations.

"It's a big responsibility," she said. "You breed for quality not quantity. I never bred for money. I did it for the pleasure of it. I enjoyed the puppies."

But her passion is grooming. That's why she came out of retirement to open Plush Puppies.

"I just missed it."

She's back
She was welcomed back with open arms.

"When they found out I was back, they came," Kathy said of her dedicated customers. "I didn't even have to advertise."

"People know how I feel about their dogs," she said. "I've done it so long it's second nature."

Longevity in pet grooming is rare.

"People usually don't last as long as I do. I think what's made me successful is honesty."

She also treats the dogs the way she wants her own to be treated and the customer the way she as a pet owner wants to be treated.

"If I walk in a place and they rough-housed my dog I would go off."

A friendly hangout
Kathy said she has lots of customers who are friends who come into the shop just to chat like they would at a barber or beauty shop. Sometimes they don't even bring their dogs.

"That's pleasant because you feel like you've earned a friend," she said.
She also says she's built trusting relationships. She works with veterinarian Clint Bevins.

"He still sends me clients today," she said. "We were always real close."
Clint speaks highly of Kathy.

"She's a groomer and you try to send your clients to people who have done a good job before and who have a good reputation," he said. "She raises animals.
I think she cares. I think she really cares about other people's animals."

He said she provides customers with peace-of-mind when it comes to their pets.

"There's little simple things, ears, feet, trims around the face. There are dogs that move around a lot you have to have patience with them. It takes a special person to be a groomer."

It takes a special person who took a dare and found her life's calling.

"Everybody in this town knows me just about," Kathy said. "I'm known as the "dog lady.'"

"Frankfort Faces" is a series that highlights people from within the Frankfort and Franklin County community. Each feature follows one of the city's most unique personalities and includes a story, photos and video, which can be found by clicking the TV icon attached to the story online at state-journal.com.