Owning a pet grooming business means we spend a pretty good portion of our lives making other people’s pets look presentable.

Julius, however, prefers to handle things himself.

For those unfamiliar with the process, birds spend a surprising amount of time preening their feathers. Julius will sit there carefully working his way through them one by one, straightening everything out, cleaning himself up, and making sure every feather is exactly where His Majesty believes it belongs.

And he takes his job seriously.

You can be talking to him, trying to get his attention, or doing something five feet away, and Julius simply does not care.

He is busy.

There are feathers to organize. Watching him preen is also slightly ironic considering what Christa and I do for a living. We spend our days brushing, bathing, deshedding, trimming, and cleaning up dogs and cats. Then we come home to a bird who basically says, “Thanks, but I’ll take it from here.”

No appointment needed. No shampoo. No blow dryer. No tip.

Just a beak, a whole lot of feathers, and apparently plenty of time on his hands.

Every once in a while he’ll stop, look up at you like you interrupted something important, and then immediately go back to work.

Honestly, I respect it. Julius may be loud, demanding, dramatic, occasionally grumpy, and convinced that everything we eat belongs to him—but you cannot accuse the man of neglecting his personal hygiene.

Bigfoot Pet Mobile Grooming may groom dogs and cats.

Julius handles quality control at home.