Melissa H. Heatherly Melissa H. Heatherly started her career working with dogs in 1989 when she took a position at Polly's Pet Parlor, an established grooming salon in the Birmingham area. She worked as a bather and apprentice groomer there for a year and learned all she could about the art of dog grooming. After a year, she relocated to Southlake Animal Hospital where she worked not only as a groomer, but also as a vet tech and office manager. After gaining some valuable experience there, she decided to open her own grooming shop - All God's Creatures, which she operated for two years in the Trussville area, then two more years working with a couple area vets. The challenges of motherhood eventually made running her own business impractical so she hung up her grooming shears for a while and focused on other pursuits. She was actively involved with the Birmingham Obedience Training Club for a period, teaching obedience classes for other people's dogs while also raising and training her own dogs - Labrador Retrievers - for obedience and field trials. Melissa moved to Florida in the 1998 to complete her B.S. degree in Journalism at the University of Florida in Gainesville, and while in school worked for two years as a groomer at Barks & Bubbles in Panama City. Following graduation, she pursued her career in Journalism as a news photographer at the Cincinnati Enquirer and Iowa City Gazette and as an editor for The Lone Tree Reporter, a small weekly paper. Her love for animals was still strong even during this new chapter in her life so she continued to volunteer with the Humane Society of Iowa even during her journalism career. Melissa he returned to Birmingham in 2005 and wanted to return to the field of grooming but was disappointed in most veterinary or grooming facilities that seemed to value speed and profit over aesthetics. It took some time but eventually, Rub-a-Dub Dog Bath House and Spa discovered that Melissa shared the same philosophy towards grooming as they did and welcomed her back to the field in February of 2008. Melissa's approach to grooming is very subtle. She strives to bring out the natural look of the dog and to create a cut that will be both visually pleasing and practical for day to day. She is able to put her years of grooming experience, as well as her training and veterinary experience, to use in making recommendations on diet and products that may improve common coat issues. Melissa is capable of either show or pet cuts and is currently working towards achieving her Master Groomer certification from the National Association of Dog Grooming. Despite her ability to do more complicated cuts, Melissa also enjoys providing the more basic services offered at Rub-a-Dub Dog, such as giving a dog a 15 minute massage or a good bath. She is particularly smitten with the Furminator de-shedding treatment as an alternative to shaving big dogs in the warmer months. Regardless of the service, Melissa's thorough and compassionate nature pushes her to go the extra mile to make sure that the dog and its owner are pleased with the results that she provides. When she is not grooming at the Rub-a-Dub Dog Bath House & Spa, Melissa enjoys spending time with her daughter, Robin, fiance Ian and her friends. She enjoys music and continues to practice journalism and photography. April Garcia April Garcia comes highly recommended as the newest groomer at the Rub-a-Dub Dog Bath House & Spa. April is originally from the Birmingham area and graduated with honors from Hoover High School before relocating to California. While in the Golden State, she completed over 800 hours of all breed dog and cat grooming, as well as trained in animal handling, nutrition, and show grooming. She ultimately achieved an advanced diploma from the California School of Dog Grooming then worked for three years at the Markim Pet Resort in Carmel Valley as a groomer. This high volume facility exposed April to a large number of dog and cat breeds and provided her with valuable experience working with more difficult dogs. She then moved to Dogs in the City, an upscale pet spa and daycare in San Diego and spent six months there as a groomer before returning to Birmingham in late 2007. Since returning to the area, she resumed her studies at UAB and spent five months grooming at The Dog Patch, where owner Lynn Eastman described her work as being some of the best she has seen in Birmingham. April plans to eventually pursue studies to become a Veterinarian but in the mean time, enjoys grooming, gardening and traveling, as well as spending time with Joe, her husband of three years. April LOVES grooming big dogs and has plenty of opportunities to practice on her furry son "Big D," a 150 pound Harlequin Great Dane who is the apple of her eye. Rub-a-Dub Dog Bath House and Spa is thrilled to have April as a member of our team.