Mobile pet grooming service launched

Unwashed and shaggy dogs beware, there's a new groomer on the move and she's coming to a driveway near you. Sisters resident Michele Cormalis has started Waggin' Tails - Mobile Pet Grooming, providing door-to-door salon services for your canine companions throughout the Sisters-Tumalo-Bend areas.

Cormalis has been involved in the dog world for over 20 years as an owner, handler, breeder and trainer of English Setters. Originally from California, she competed in AKC All-Breed shows as well as hunt field-trial events where dogs are tested for their bird retrieving abilities in fields and ponds.

She was also employed as a veterinary assistant for three years before venturing into the realm of professional grooming. Many of you may even recognize Michele as a bus driver for the Sisters School District.

Her husband, Andre, a local machinist/engineer, fabricated and constructed the custom interior for a stock 14-foot Cargo Mate trailer. Included in the design is a stainless-steel wash tub, central vacuum system, heated forced-air dryers, and a hydraulic grooming table which raises up from the floor and gives easy access into the bathtub.

It's completely self-contained, plumbed, fully air-conditioned and heated, with a 3,700-watt generator and a CD player mounted to the wall. She plans on decorating the inside with paw prints and photos from her days in the ring, as well as dog art from local photographers.

Cormalis began her career as a bather at the age of 13, and after 10 years as an assistant groomer became professionally trained and opened her own salon in Monterey, California. As a junior handler in AKC dog shows, she and her dogs were often in the ribbons.

"My mom was very encouraging and urged me to keep showing dogs and supported my grooming interests," Cormalis said.

One year at the Golden Gate Kennel Club Show at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, she was up against one of the top junior handlers in the country, a snobby girl she had constantly lost to in prior shows.

"She reminded me of Nellie on Little House on the Prairie. Spoiled and rude. She just stood there with her perfectly braided hair and pristine white poodle and thought she had a lock on the win. But my dog, Jim, Indian Bend's Bow and Arrow, showed great that day and we won. That was my five minutes of fame," Cormalis said. "Then the San Francisco Police Department came in with a canine demonstration unit with their horns and sirens and scared poor Jim so badly he never showed inside again."

She decided to do a mobile grooming business because it offers one-on-one, personal care in a safe, relaxing environment for dogs, eliminating the stress of traveling, with no crate drying or any separation anxiety.

Cormalis presents an extensive and expanding selection of services, from cooling summer cuts to full show grooms, bathing, hand-scissoring, nail trims and teeth brushing. Waggin' Tails uses a healthy selection of all-natural shampoos and conditioners under exacting hygienic standards. Rates depend upon breed and extent of services. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call Cormalis at 728-8373.