George Parker talks to cats and dogs.
The owner of By George Pet Grooming believes his soothing voice and serene persona make animals understand he is going to do what he has to do: groom.
And when that doesn’t calm them down, he turns up gospel music to drown out distractions while he snips short, shaggy, and layered cuts on Iowa City pets.
“I think you could call him Dr. Dolittle,” said Belinda Miller, a volunteer at By George Pet Grooming, 3030 Northgate Drive.
Parker’s patience is what leads to his individual pet styles, Miller said. The 54-year-old, originally from New Orleans, is known for transforming rustled mutts into four-legged royalty.
After moving to Iowa City from Chicago six years ago, Parker opened his store in late 2007, and has since built a clientele in the area.
“Moved to Iowa six years ago to find the American dream to have my own business, part of the American pie, you might say,” he said.
Sitting on a wicker chair and donning a beanie on his head, the lean man of Indian, French, and African decent said he credits his original styles to his grooming experience in the San Francisco Bay area, as well as Melrose Park outside of Chicago. While he didn’t formally go to school for pet grooming, on-the-job experience perfected his skills, he said.
“I started to cut down and give baths, and that was the beginning of a beautiful relationship,” Parker said.
Parker’s chocolate brown and white springer spaniel, Charlie, accompanies him to work every day. Charlie tails Parker throughout the petite store like a CEO’s personal assistant.
But the silky coated spaniel isn’t the only pet infatuated with Parker.
Susan Manning has taken her sugary white Maltese, Sprightly, to Parker every six weeks for four years.
Manning is particularly impressed with Parker’s ability to morph her reckless pooch into a beauty ready for a dog show in two hours.
“She goes in looking some kind of dingy gray,” Manning said. “And when she comes back she looks like a gorgeous little princess puff-ball.”
Sprightly’s white fur gets stained easily by her tear ducts and, when her under-eyes start to look dirty, Manning knows it’s time.
Parker usually starts with the bath.
His shop contains two ceramic tubs for the shampoo. One bath is used when owners want to help bathe their animal themselves, Parker said.
The tall silver table is the focal point of the room where Parker grooms one animal at a time. One wall is devoted to metal cages, with both dogs and cats awaiting their pampering session.
“A little tough love,” Parker likes to call it.
Manning said her dog knows when they’re about to pay Parker a visit.
“[Sprightly] starts whining with excitement before we go in,” Manning said. “She can’t get enough of him.”
But this isn’t the case with every dog.
Parker said he has experienced plenty of uncooperative animals; one dog even faked seizures, Parker said and laughed through his Fu Manchu.
After working with the dog, Parker quickly realized the dog’s dramatic shaking was not due to seizures, but rather a fear of having his hair cut.
Parker sees every haircut as a new opportunity. Time is not an issue when it comes to his dedication to matted and stained fur or broken nails. He looks at each dog’s needs differently, Miller said.
“All dogs don’t leave here looking the same,” she said.