About

Sharon A. Malachi is a dog groomer, petsitter, and dog education consultant, who creates positive health, happy dogs, and happy clients.  Sharon is a thirty something Washington, DC native with a “can do”  attitude,  a daring spirit, and passion for butterflies, music, the arts, the environment, world travel, triathlons, six-word memoirs,  and French martinis.  She is a converted Mac user with a sweet tooth for ice cream, brownies, cupcakes, and apple pie.  Indian, Thai, and Mexican cuisine are some of her favorites.  She loves to shop at Trader Joe’s , Loehman’s, and Target.

Sharon grew up in a family that always owned non-shedding  dogs that needed grooming.   Her fondest memories are of the dogs disappearing for several hours and returning home transformed.  She marveled at how good they looked and smelled.  She thought the process was amazing, magical, and transforming.

After graduation from the University of Delaware with a B.S. in Animal Science in 2000, Sharon traveled to South Africa to work with the Ligwalawala Lion Project where she tracked and studied lions relocated from a national park.  That experience led her to a position as an animal nutrition intern at Disney World’s Animal Kingdom where she developed diets for over 1,000 animals.  Her internship transitioned into a new position as an animal education facilitator on marine life and conservation for the Living Seas Aquarium at Disney”s Epcot Center.

Having spent two years with Disney, she returned to her hometown Washington, DC, a city that has the perfect mix of everything: art, music, food, family, friends, and career opportunities.  The first place she worked was  Student Conservation Association as a DC Urban Tree House Education Coordinator.  Her new gig allowed her to teach environmental education to K-12 students at DC public and charter schools.  While working here, Sharon took inventory of her previous employment experiences and realized she was happiest when working hands on with animals.  That was her “aha” moment when she decided to take a leap of faith and pursue her passion for dog care.

The first stop on her dog care journey was Veterinary Holistic Care in Bethesda, Maryland,  where she served as Jill of many trades:  receptionist, veterinary technician, and dog bather.  That’s where she discovered opportunity  to work part-time and learn dog grooming at Cleverdog in Silver Spring, Maryland.  She parlayed her relationship with Cleverdog’s master groomer Donna Cleverdon into a full-time apprenticeship.  Her apprenticeship gave birth to her current career as a dog groomer, petsitter, and dog education consultant.  She currently offers her services to clients and works as a dog groomer at Happy Paws www.happypawsdc.net located in between Tenleytown and Friendshship Heights in Northwest Washington.