Nineteen- year- old Kynlee Dixon just celebrated the first anniversary of opening Hound Town Grooming Spaw, a natural fit for an animal lover like herself but not her first choice.
“If you’d have asked if this is where I’d end up, I’d have told you that you were crazy,” she said.
Dixon grew up in Weatherford and started working with animals at a young age, thanks to the FFA and 4-H ambassador programs.
“It was showing pigs where I shined and found something I excelled at,” Dixon said. “I had shown sheep and turkeys but never took to anything like I did pigs.”
“Pigs have crazy personalities,” she explained. “I had seven and all were different. They’re more like giant dogs.”
Kynlee also helped organize a fundraising program for the FFA, doing baths and nail trims for pets. She really enjoyed this experience and it offered a viable career path when her first one fell through.
“I was going to be a counselor,” Dixon said.
To help prepare for the career path, Dixon started interning with a Child Protective Case company in Weatherford. She immediately formed a friendship with a woman mentoring her there who realized the job might be tough for Kynlee.
“My brain doesn’t stop,” she said. “I couldn’t deal with the stress you take home and all the worry if you did enough for them.”
She considered the career carefully and pivoted.
Dixon learned adaptability at a young age and it has served her well.
She recalled her dad got her into motocross racing and she took part from 6th – 10th grade, even making it past the first round of Loretta Lynn’s Amateur Championships. Dixon credited her dad as a hard working role model and her “biggest fan and supporter.” She enjoyed sharing the activity with her dad and loved the sport but suffered several concussions and was told the risk of brain damage would be high if she continued and got hurt.
Dixon said she identified as a racer and it hurt to lose that. “It’s made a lot of decisions easier [afterwards],” she said.
After deciding against a career in counseling, Dixon was working as a veterinarian tech and had a lot of time to think about the future in her dorm room and realized she missed working with animals.
“I’m naturally drawn to animals,” she said. “Animals don’t talk back. I just think they’re cool and they all have unique personalities.”
She also adopted a blue heeler named Cinch and thought it would be ideal to get a job where she could take him instead of leaving him alone all day.
Kynlee was able to train under a groomer in Stephenville. When that business closed, Dixon thought it would be nice to strike out on her own and found the location in Dublin.
She especially likes being able to keep her own hours based on the appointments booked. Dixon gets into the shop around 8 a.m. each morning, makes sure all towels are dried and folded and all tools are properly sterilized, then she double checks her schedule. She is ably assisted by Leni, a woman with 10 years of experience as a vet tech and has taken well to the trade.
Dixon’s favorite part of the job is making the pet and owner happy. She will direct many first time customers to a length chart to determine the coat they want on their pet and try to get their specific wants. Her drive for customer satisfaction leads to many repeat customers and she enjoys getting to know them.
Dixon also admits loving de-sheds and de-mats because she can really see the improvement by the end of the grooming session.
She has also taken to the trend of bows and bandanas, saying she is always checking hobby stores for good patterns. “I have an entire drawer just full of fabric,” she said.
Dixon admits the job isn’t always easy as some dogs have problems with grooming.
“I don’t force things on dogs,” she said. “I believe it should be pleasant for the groomer and the dog.”
This attitude leads to satisfying breakthroughs though.
“I have a dog who was apparently abused by another groomer,” she said. “I’ve worked with that dog for about a year.”
She’s been able to see the animal relax around her and the trust build.
“It’s worth it, knowing that we are breaking through those barriers,” she said.
During breaks in her schedule, Dixon works on her online class work as she is taking 18 hours at Tarleton this semester towards an Ag communications and Ag business major. She is also taking real estate classes online.
She also spends time with her husband, Hayden, who she married last year.
Dixon loves the career she’s chosen and would love to offer boarding sometime in the future, but she is playing it by ear and enjoying the opportunities.
(Written by Paul Gaudette- Managing Editor)