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Darling Dogs

Francoise Aubry is mad about dogs. Just as well for a lady who grooms canines for a living, as well as offering a rather pampered form of boarding in her home just off the dog-walking nirvana of Bowthorpe marshes.

Francoise has been grooming for almost three years, having left a career in personnel to concentrate on dogs which ‘were always my passion’. Having completed a dog grooming qualification, such is her doggy devotion that she converted an upstairs bedroom into a grooming parlour, and a second bathroom into a dogs’ washroom! The facilities are impeccable (in fact Francoise’s house is so clean you’d hardly notice she keeps three of her own dogs at all).

Although fully trained to groom to breed standards, Francoise is keen to point out that she grooms to owner specification. If you have a miniature schnauzer and would prefer its paws clipped short rather than as per breed standard, Francoise will oblige and groom to order! Her only prerogative is that dogs in her charge remain happy and stress-free. If a dog’s hair is so badly matted that combing will be painful, Francoise will prefer to cut out the tangle rather than push your pooch through the pain threshold!

Fran also offers home boarding for a few dogs at a time. Again, pampering is the order of the day (or night). Dogs are kept cage-free, and are incorporated into Fran’s canine family, playing in her garden, going for regular walks, sleeping – if they insist – on her bed, and wandering through the house as if it were their own. Of course, there’s a limit to the number of dogs that Fran is able to board on this de luxe basis, and they have to be small to medium sized. But for anyone who’s dogs loathe kennelling, home boarding chez Francoise is, surely, an ideal set-up.

Fran can be contacted on 01603 731736 or via email at fran@darling-dogs.co.uk. Her website is well worth a visit. It’s at  www.darling-dogs.co.uk