Welcome to the Smoochable Pooches website. My name is Orlagh McCarthy and I am a qualified dog groomer and member of the Irish Professional Dog Groomers Association.

For as long as I can remember I have always had a passionate interest in two areas; children and animals, especially dogs.  My first professional qualification was in Childcare, I then went on to qualify as a Montessori teacher and worked in various areas of the Childcare industry for 17 happy years. Throughout this time while having my own family we always had pets, gerbils, guinea pigs and Blossom the rabbit but we also had the pleasure and honour of sharing our home for many years with a very special friend and companion – Fudge.

After Fudge came Bánín, my first ever small dog - a Bichon Frisé and with her a new hobby - grooming! I would brush her at night as a pastime the way some people knit!! The obsession began and I soon added Milis (another Bichon) to our family. The following year I used my annual leave and travelled to a grooming academy in the UK to do an intensive grooming course.  I set up a small salon in a garden shed and began grooming on a casual basis in the evening and some weekends.  I was hooked and often dreamed of grooming full time – then fate gave me a shove!! I was made redundant and enrolled on a full time grooming course here in Ireland.  I added a permanent salon to the back of the house and Smoochable Pooches was born.

The similarities between my two careers are quite amusing;

• Both sets of charges (preschoolers and dogs) are undeniably honest – if they like you they let you know, if they are having a bad day, they let you know that too!!

• Both thrive on praise and are damaged by harsh correction.

• Both are quite likely to sneak off into the corner and create a puddle despite having had a toilet break ten minutes previously!

• Both will behave impeccably while on their own with you and then turn into monsters as soon as their parents/pawents appear

• Both will occasionally arrive with a ‘No!!! I don’t want to go’ attitude and forget that their parent/pawents exist 30 seconds after the door closes.

• Both have loving caregivers that need reassurance and support the first time they leave their ‘baby’ in your care.

• Both make your day better just by spending time with them!