Margaret Christina
05-08-2005, 12:15 AM
"A new look at having your dog professionally groomed.
Here’s a common sinerio to think about:
While sitting and petting your dog, you realize she has gotten some “love mats” on all those places she likes you to pet, and her coat could really use a good wash. You get on the phone and call your local large pet retailer and make an appointment to have you’re your dog fully groomed. You get to the grooming office where she has been groomed once or twice before. Before you get out of the car, she starts acting “excited” which makes you think she’s “happy.” Unfortunately for her, it was a signal to you that she was feeling scared of going back into that grooming shop. You get to the front counter to check her in, and hand her off to the bather who offered to take her back for you. The leash gets handed off, and your jobs done. You leave, with only one thought, what time do I pick her up?
Your dog is put into a small kennel where she can hear other dogs, and the noise of all the water and blow-dryers hissing hot air on her cell-mates. She waits there for 10 minutes, not knowing what to anticipate from this trip. Alas, her groomer appears in front of her. Without hesitation, the door is flung open, and in no time there are hands, and fingers taking the extra space of the little cell, to pick her up to be brought to an open table. She’s plopped down, and has her head put into a noose, to control her body movements. The groomer wastes no time in getting the mats ands snarles out of her hair before the bath, and starts immedietly on brushing her out. Without even looking at your dog, she starts brushing while talking to another groomer standing near-by. Still feeling nervous, your dog tries to hold herself together, and find guidence from this new person, but it wasn’t 15 seconds into the brushing that the groomer snagged a large mat, sending a shooting pain through your dog. The first time she tried to warn her groomer by raising a lip, but she was still paying attention to her co-worker. Your dog went unheard. She then tried to twist her body around in protest to the pain, in which the groomer reacted by pushing your dog back, thinking she was just trying to be “alpha.” By the third time, your dog had enough and attempted to bite her groomer. This time the groomer becomes outraged that your dog could even try and question her authority, and results to using a muzzle.
Now its time for the bath. The groomer is already convinced that your dog is just a spoiled brat trying to get her own way, and this is the attitute the groomer will continue having the rest of the grooming experience.
Your dog is now scared, and stressed to no avail. She is soaked, suds up and rinsed off with little care taken to ensure no water gets in her eyes, ears or mouth. If she is lucky, she will put her head down to avoid that drowning feeling she got from the last bath.
From the tub she is plopped back onto the grooming table to be dried with an air forcer. The sound and the velocity of the dryer scares her and she starts to panic, only to find herself held down by another groomer, while the hot air is forced onto her. She continues to panic and claw at both groomers until she manages to scratch hard enough to get one of the groomers attention. **THWAP** “NO, BAD DOG!!” is the only reaction she gets from the groomer. It is decided now that your dog is being too aggressive, and she must be caged dried.
She spends the next 30 minutes sitting in a small cage, with a hot air dryer blowing directly on her. She does have access to water, however it is not enough to cool her body inside. All of the stress has paid its toll on her body, causing it to dump excess water into her bladder, and she now has to urinate. She tries to hold it, but her body is already worn from the visit, and she releases herself. Having just washed her, the groomer is upset that your dog has spoiled herself, causing her to stay later, and rewash. She calls you to let you know that she will need a little more time, but not to worry, she will call when your precious baby is done.
The second bath and blow dry seems easier to the groomer now that your dog is so besides herself that she is afraid to even move.
She is now ready to go home
Lucky for her, its not time to get a full clip, otherwise this trip could have taken twice as long.
When you arrive to pick her up, the second she sees you she perks up at the feeling of having her trustworthy, loving owner back. You only see her as her perky, happy self, not the cowering puppy dog she was just seconds earlier.
This sinerio and many others are far too common in grooming shops everywhere. I do not agree that these types of grooming experiences are caused solely by careless groomers, however carelessness and lack of propper handling education are key roles. A groomer with good intentions can be just as likely to traumatize a dog unknowingly, than a careless groomer. The problem stems in owner education, and proper dog behavior education for groomers and bathers.
I would like to make one thing clear that is widely overlooked in the dog grooming realm. To groom a dog, means to enter into an animals personal space, which means every dog must decide if this person is posing a threat to their personal safety or if they may be trusted. Dogs use many factors to determine this, and a groomer must be aware of these factors in order to prevent any threatning behavior on their part to ease a dog into a trusting relationship. Every dog starts their “evaluation” of the groomer the same second they first interact. If a dog feels threatened, their basic “fight or flight” instincts kick in, at which point a groomer should have enough training to know what they may do to reduce whatever stress is causing the fight or flight behavior.
To me, this type of training comes above and beyond the knowledge of hair styling and show clips, but to many grooming shops, this type of training is non existent.
The type of training a groomer receives varies widely from person to person, and also depends on what the particular shop believes is sufficient. I know from first hand experience that pet owners must particularly be weary of the corporate grooming shops located inside pet store chains. The training I received through this particular corporation only had one rule of thumb when it came to handling the dogs, “Do not stop grooming a dog unless they deficate and/or vomit.” It is also a fact that if a dog does this from stress, their bodies are going into shock, which is bthe first stage of death. This is a horrific way to educate groomers that may be working with YOUR pet.
There are some things you as an owner can do to ensure your dog be provided with a low stress environment and a groomer that will be sensitive and communicable with your dog.
-Find out the groomers limits; just how far they are willing to push a scared dog.
-Find out what kind of handling background your groomer has.
-Find out if your groomer provides potty breaks
-Watch the groomer work with a dog that is not yours
-Be weary of groomers that insist your dog be there for more than 4 hours.
-Always go with your gut instinct!
You must also watch your dog for any signs that they do not like going to the groomers for return visits. I hear all too often “I always wondered why my dog would shake walking into the groomers” or “I have to drag him through the doors, he just hates his bathes!”
If you and your dog have already experienced a bad, or even traumatic experience, it is possible to find a trainer with grooming experience to help your pooch learn to trust the grooming process once again, or maybe even for the first time! There is a type of husbandry training you can even do with your dog at home to teach them an alternative reaction to grooming.
The aftermath:
There is one more thing worth noting. Many people do not understand how different stresses effect dogs, therefore do not think of how grooming “incidents” can effect a dog long after a visit. When a dog is exposed to unusual stress for a prolonged period of time (anywhere from 30 minutes, to days) that stress tends to harbour itself in the dog for up to a few weeks. All dogs have different ways of blowing stress, some dogs blow stress externally, and some release that stress internally.
Some examples of externally ridding stress are:
- destroying furniture
- chewing on other off limit items
- fear biting
- leash pulling
- “submissive” urination
- “lashing out” or “temper tantrums”
Some examples of internally ridding stress are:
-hot spots
-excessive chewing or licking on the body
-withdrawn/ depressed behavior
-over-excitability
-lack of concentration or focus
(all symptoms are due to stressful situations, these are not exclusive to grooming)
Next time fido chews up your new pair of shoes, or has an “accident” in the house after being house broken for 5 years, remember that it could be related to some stressful situation from days ago."
What is everyones opinion on this article? I thought it was pretty accurate. Makes you think about how invasive grooming realy can be!
Here’s a common sinerio to think about:
While sitting and petting your dog, you realize she has gotten some “love mats” on all those places she likes you to pet, and her coat could really use a good wash. You get on the phone and call your local large pet retailer and make an appointment to have you’re your dog fully groomed. You get to the grooming office where she has been groomed once or twice before. Before you get out of the car, she starts acting “excited” which makes you think she’s “happy.” Unfortunately for her, it was a signal to you that she was feeling scared of going back into that grooming shop. You get to the front counter to check her in, and hand her off to the bather who offered to take her back for you. The leash gets handed off, and your jobs done. You leave, with only one thought, what time do I pick her up?
Your dog is put into a small kennel where she can hear other dogs, and the noise of all the water and blow-dryers hissing hot air on her cell-mates. She waits there for 10 minutes, not knowing what to anticipate from this trip. Alas, her groomer appears in front of her. Without hesitation, the door is flung open, and in no time there are hands, and fingers taking the extra space of the little cell, to pick her up to be brought to an open table. She’s plopped down, and has her head put into a noose, to control her body movements. The groomer wastes no time in getting the mats ands snarles out of her hair before the bath, and starts immedietly on brushing her out. Without even looking at your dog, she starts brushing while talking to another groomer standing near-by. Still feeling nervous, your dog tries to hold herself together, and find guidence from this new person, but it wasn’t 15 seconds into the brushing that the groomer snagged a large mat, sending a shooting pain through your dog. The first time she tried to warn her groomer by raising a lip, but she was still paying attention to her co-worker. Your dog went unheard. She then tried to twist her body around in protest to the pain, in which the groomer reacted by pushing your dog back, thinking she was just trying to be “alpha.” By the third time, your dog had enough and attempted to bite her groomer. This time the groomer becomes outraged that your dog could even try and question her authority, and results to using a muzzle.
Now its time for the bath. The groomer is already convinced that your dog is just a spoiled brat trying to get her own way, and this is the attitute the groomer will continue having the rest of the grooming experience.
Your dog is now scared, and stressed to no avail. She is soaked, suds up and rinsed off with little care taken to ensure no water gets in her eyes, ears or mouth. If she is lucky, she will put her head down to avoid that drowning feeling she got from the last bath.
From the tub she is plopped back onto the grooming table to be dried with an air forcer. The sound and the velocity of the dryer scares her and she starts to panic, only to find herself held down by another groomer, while the hot air is forced onto her. She continues to panic and claw at both groomers until she manages to scratch hard enough to get one of the groomers attention. **THWAP** “NO, BAD DOG!!” is the only reaction she gets from the groomer. It is decided now that your dog is being too aggressive, and she must be caged dried.
She spends the next 30 minutes sitting in a small cage, with a hot air dryer blowing directly on her. She does have access to water, however it is not enough to cool her body inside. All of the stress has paid its toll on her body, causing it to dump excess water into her bladder, and she now has to urinate. She tries to hold it, but her body is already worn from the visit, and she releases herself. Having just washed her, the groomer is upset that your dog has spoiled herself, causing her to stay later, and rewash. She calls you to let you know that she will need a little more time, but not to worry, she will call when your precious baby is done.
The second bath and blow dry seems easier to the groomer now that your dog is so besides herself that she is afraid to even move.
She is now ready to go home
Lucky for her, its not time to get a full clip, otherwise this trip could have taken twice as long.
When you arrive to pick her up, the second she sees you she perks up at the feeling of having her trustworthy, loving owner back. You only see her as her perky, happy self, not the cowering puppy dog she was just seconds earlier.
This sinerio and many others are far too common in grooming shops everywhere. I do not agree that these types of grooming experiences are caused solely by careless groomers, however carelessness and lack of propper handling education are key roles. A groomer with good intentions can be just as likely to traumatize a dog unknowingly, than a careless groomer. The problem stems in owner education, and proper dog behavior education for groomers and bathers.
I would like to make one thing clear that is widely overlooked in the dog grooming realm. To groom a dog, means to enter into an animals personal space, which means every dog must decide if this person is posing a threat to their personal safety or if they may be trusted. Dogs use many factors to determine this, and a groomer must be aware of these factors in order to prevent any threatning behavior on their part to ease a dog into a trusting relationship. Every dog starts their “evaluation” of the groomer the same second they first interact. If a dog feels threatened, their basic “fight or flight” instincts kick in, at which point a groomer should have enough training to know what they may do to reduce whatever stress is causing the fight or flight behavior.
To me, this type of training comes above and beyond the knowledge of hair styling and show clips, but to many grooming shops, this type of training is non existent.
The type of training a groomer receives varies widely from person to person, and also depends on what the particular shop believes is sufficient. I know from first hand experience that pet owners must particularly be weary of the corporate grooming shops located inside pet store chains. The training I received through this particular corporation only had one rule of thumb when it came to handling the dogs, “Do not stop grooming a dog unless they deficate and/or vomit.” It is also a fact that if a dog does this from stress, their bodies are going into shock, which is bthe first stage of death. This is a horrific way to educate groomers that may be working with YOUR pet.
There are some things you as an owner can do to ensure your dog be provided with a low stress environment and a groomer that will be sensitive and communicable with your dog.
-Find out the groomers limits; just how far they are willing to push a scared dog.
-Find out what kind of handling background your groomer has.
-Find out if your groomer provides potty breaks
-Watch the groomer work with a dog that is not yours
-Be weary of groomers that insist your dog be there for more than 4 hours.
-Always go with your gut instinct!
You must also watch your dog for any signs that they do not like going to the groomers for return visits. I hear all too often “I always wondered why my dog would shake walking into the groomers” or “I have to drag him through the doors, he just hates his bathes!”
If you and your dog have already experienced a bad, or even traumatic experience, it is possible to find a trainer with grooming experience to help your pooch learn to trust the grooming process once again, or maybe even for the first time! There is a type of husbandry training you can even do with your dog at home to teach them an alternative reaction to grooming.
The aftermath:
There is one more thing worth noting. Many people do not understand how different stresses effect dogs, therefore do not think of how grooming “incidents” can effect a dog long after a visit. When a dog is exposed to unusual stress for a prolonged period of time (anywhere from 30 minutes, to days) that stress tends to harbour itself in the dog for up to a few weeks. All dogs have different ways of blowing stress, some dogs blow stress externally, and some release that stress internally.
Some examples of externally ridding stress are:
- destroying furniture
- chewing on other off limit items
- fear biting
- leash pulling
- “submissive” urination
- “lashing out” or “temper tantrums”
Some examples of internally ridding stress are:
-hot spots
-excessive chewing or licking on the body
-withdrawn/ depressed behavior
-over-excitability
-lack of concentration or focus
(all symptoms are due to stressful situations, these are not exclusive to grooming)
Next time fido chews up your new pair of shoes, or has an “accident” in the house after being house broken for 5 years, remember that it could be related to some stressful situation from days ago."
What is everyones opinion on this article? I thought it was pretty accurate. Makes you think about how invasive grooming realy can be!