I am Melissa Waters and the owner of Scissor and Suds Pet Services. I grew up at Bayford Boarding Kennels and Cattery near Broxbourne. My parents opened the kennels in 1975 and still run it today and are hoping to retire soon. I have been very lucky and been surrounded with dogs and cats and a whole host of other animals my entire life. It made perfect sense to make a career with my love of animals.
After too many years of working in Finance in central London I decided it was time for a change from the daily grind and long commute. I wanted to do something more fulfilling and see the rewards of honest labour. My mum, Pat, was a professional groomer until she retired a number of years ago and my adopted nan was also a groomer so you could say I’m a third generation groomer!
I trained to be a groomer in 2010 with Angela Caley who is a winner of British Dog Groomer of the Year, EuroGroom Championship and many other titles all over the world. Angela has over 40 year’s experience of showing and grooming and in her hey day was without doubt one of the best groomers in the country. Angela now runs the International Certified Master Groomers Qualification for the UK and is at the forefront of assessing dog groomers in the UK and bringing qualifications to all groomers.
After my initial training, I started my own salon near Bayford and within a short amount of time the books were full. Ongoing training and attendance to seminars and workshops with the best groomers from the UK and Internationally has improved both my grooming and dog handling skills over the years. I now compete at grooming competitions alongside the best groomers in the country. I have competed with poodles and lhasa apso’s and intend to extend these breeds at a competition level in the next few years.