08/19/2026
🚨 🔔
UPDATE!
When it rains it pours. 🌧️
A couple weekends back when I was off playing in the Ozarks I got bite by a tick, I didn’t really think anything of it. Welp, that’s the little rascal that has been making me sick the last week. I am on antibiotics and Advil to help combat this infection and horrible migraine. Blood test takes a week or more to come back so we are treating me now no matter what. Fingers crossed within the next few days I start to feel normal again. So when I tell you 2026 has kicked my ass, I’m so done. Ready for normality to kick back in and my normally healthy body to return. Please bear with me while I once again shuffle, reschedule and overbook myself to come back to work. Yall will truly never know how much this SPAW means to me. I never want to let any of you down. Thank you for your constant trust and kindness, it does not go unnoticed.
The two things I didn’t want to ever learn I learned this year;
What a tick bite can do to a human and what kennel cough can do to a dog. Two things I don’t want to know but will forever be thankful for the knowledge.
Be back soon!! ♥️🐶
2026 has quite literally kicked my ass!
Hey yall, Crystal here! 👋
🏡 Most of you know I bought a home in Bossier City, LA at the start of the year. I’ve been commuting for a while now and the drive honestly isn’t terrible. Most days I make it in by 730a instead of 650a. (THANK YOU COURTNEY FOR CHECKING MY BABIES IN!!) I enjoy my new environment and I’m slowly finding my pace. It was MUCH needed.
🩹 Jump forward to about 7-8 weeks ago and I injured my spine. I was out several weeks. Fingers crossed, I’m ok. I’m just learning to adjust, say no, slow down and most importantly wear my back brace and train my core. I pray I don’t have to have surgery so I am exhausting every other option now. So when you notice me a little slower, a little less myself or maybe a little more apt to say no, please give me grace. I would like to be around another 18 years grooming dogs and not be addicted to pain pills. I don’t want to be a stigma.
🤒 Now today. I was supposed to return to work Tuesday. I was in Florida on vacation with my partner and my family. (We had too much fun!) Thursday night, last week, I started to experience a pretty intense migraine. Fast forward to Sunday I couldn’t get it to break. Monday I was in bed all day with my migraine, gradually getting worse, until a fever spiked. Yesterday I was at my doctors and ‘nothing is wrong’. Fever of 102 for 48hrs, migraine off and on (mostly on) for 5 days, something ain’t right and I’m no doctor. I woke today, after my shots from yesterday and a whole bottle of Advil later (taken all week) and my migraine is breaking. Say some prayers for me because this girl needs to come back to work. After 2 weeks off and being off so long with my back and buying a house, my reserves look like most the lakes in America. There but dwindling.
But enough about me.
🚨 Many weeks ago we got a call about Kennel Cough, our first diagnosed case in the 12 years we’ve been opened. We have contacted every client who was in the building during a three week time frame and were able to (hopefully) control the spread. My Beignet and Roux (both fully vaccinated) ended up catching the kennel cough as well. They will be staying home the next few weeks as well. Courtney’s Marley, she was almost 18 with lymphatic cancer, ended up dying of the kennel cough. I say this not to scare you but to remind you, no matter the vaccinations, no matter the protocols, things happen. This is an open environment that we pride ourselves on and NEVER expected this to happen. Of all the dogs that contracted kennel cough from our SPAW, ALL had underlying health issues. We’ve asked that all dogs who contracted kennel cough wait a minimum of 21 days POST last cough before returning to us. (Also any new to the SPAW pets must be in your home a minimum of 21days post vaccine before allowed to come to our SPAW moving forward.) We have had a few vet notes clear them after just a few days, that is not enough time. We have to protect your dogs the same way we protect ours. From the bottom of my heart, I am so very sorry to the ones who got sick. I will forever remember this. And to the ones who still came in AFTER us calling and saying we had been exposed but did all the proper cleaning protocols and YOU STILL CAME IN, THANK YOU. Your trust in us shines so bright.
📌So needless to say after all of this, 2026 had quite literally kicked my ass.
I’ve learned things I’ve never wanted to learn and I’ve grown in ways I didn’t know I could. Friends, family and clients of this SPAW, you will forever be etched into my heart and mind. I adore each and everyone of you in different and spectacular ways. Here’s to the next many years. Thank you for hanging in there with me. ❤️🚨🌈
