Clodie's Fluffy Toes grooming now located at Link Park

Clodie Duclos didn’t grow up around animals in her native Normandy, apart from the family dog, writes Brian Byrne. And she’s the only one in her family who has made a career working with animals. “But my grandfather was always interested in horses, in hunting and also going to the races,” she recalls. "He raised racing pigeons too. So maybe it came from there." She smiles at the memories.  

Clodie now lives in Narraghmore, and we're talking in the room above the Animals First veterinary facility in the Kilcullen Link Business Park where she has recently located her dog grooming business, Duclos Fluffy Toes. It's somewhat of a change from what she has been doing over the last decade. She first came to Ireland for a year in 2015, working with thoroughbred horses in Sweep Lane Stud in Nurney. The job included exercising horses, foaling mares, assisting vets and farriers and also accompanying horses to sales events. After that she worked in yard management positions in Italy at an equestrian centre and in Portugal, before coming back to Ireland and Sweep Lane in 2020, just before Covid. "I never expected that, who could have predicted it?" she laughs. Indeed.

After more than three years as a stud hand with Sweep Lane, she then went on to study Animal Science at Dunboyne College of Further Education, which included work placement at the Grey Abbey veterinary practice in Kildare. The pivot to dog grooming wasn't especially a plan, but something she thought she would enjoy doing, and she says it has turned out to be so.

You get the sense that Clodie is a person who likes a challenge. And there are challenges in dog grooming, because a very quick bond has to be made with the individual animal. "You're going to be spending an hour and a half, two hours with the dog. So you want to make sure that it goes well both for the dog and for you." First impressions with a new client dog are just as important as they are in people to people relationships, she says. "I always meet them smiling, using a high-pitch voice because dogs respond best to that. And I'll always have treats in my pocket — even if they don't want them they'll smell them and it sort of puts them at ease."

Like people, dogs have individual characteristics. It can be just a particular dog and the environment they've grown up in, or it can be from being bred through generations for particular traits. "For instance, I get a lot of cockapoos, they're the loveliest dogs, full of energy and everything, but they also tend to be a bit more anxious. On the other hand, I had a big Australian shepherd in the other day and he was just like a teddy bear, not one bit of stress no matter what I was doing."

Clodie started up Duclos Fluffy Toes some months ago and had been looking for a place to rent when she approached Animals First and found they were prepared to sub-let the room she has used since last month. "It happens that a lot of groomers work from veterinary practices, so this has worked out really well. And the guys downstairs can often refer their clients who are looking for grooming." With something like a third of Irish households owning a dog, there's a big, and growing market. 

There are also a lot of groomers, but Clodie believes there's plenty of business for all. She has her own edge in the field, because she is happy to take on big dogs, probably because of her background with large animals like horses. "Owners of big dogs can struggle to find a groomer, because they're a lot of work, take longer time and it can be very physical with them."

She finds the work very satisfying, not least because the results are visible in a relatively short couple of hours. "It can be a massive difference, when you clip the dog and you see a nice coat. A wash and dry and brush and it's all nice and fluffy and soft. I love seeing people happy when they get their dog back, their reaction is a big reward."

You can contact Clodie on 089 4472705 or email duclosfluffytoes@gmail.com.

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