12/06/2024
Being a Tellington TTouch Practitioner, Fear Free Certified, Taking the Grrr Out of Dog Grooming approved Groomer ,ACE Cadet and studying for my Diploma in Dog Grooming has really helped the dogs that come to me for grooming.
I take pride in what I have achieved and I observe and listen to what the dog communicates with me.
If a dog shows concern on any part of the groom then we take a step back and I may use a wrap, gentle lifts, slides and circles.
When a dog comes in it is not just popped in the bath straight away, I observe the behaviour of the dog, I look at the posture, how the dog organises its body, is he standing squarely, I look at the coat pattern of the dog as this may indicate that there maybe an underlying condition. I may do a little freework with dog, let them have a sniff about. Or maybe the counting game to see if the dog accepts my invitation.
Yesterday I had a lovely sensitive cockapoo that came, in she is sweet and I understand her and I listen. However she is so sensitive when it comes to her legs, to help her out I I did python lift on her legs, being very mindful of my position so that I did not crowd her. I gave her time so that her nervous system could process what I had done. Rather than clip her legs and holding her leg against her will, I scissored her legs which she accepted.
I have another cockapoo who comes in and she is partially blind and has vestibular disease.
When she comes in I do fascia integration with body wraps. I carry out ear slides, racoon TTouch around the base of her ears. This make a huge difference as it helps her so that I can tidy her face without her feeling anxious.
I also had an elderly spaniel in, she was partially blind and deaf, was spayed and her coat was extremely thick. She also had fatty lumps due to her age. Ears were matted. She struggled to stand and she wanted to lie /sit and eventually lay down. I did Tellington TTouch on her, I used the abalone along with llama TTouch. I did ear slides which she really enjoyed, it was lovely to see an older dog enjoying these techniques which helped relax her body.
I clipped in between her sitting and lying, it was her decision in finding what was better for her, not mine.
I cared for her with compassion, respect and mindfulness and I felt good that I had made an elderly dog happy. I make a point on my website that any dog that comes in that their emotional, physical, mental balance is more important than the groom. A groom is aesthetics.
The caregiver was not happy with groom, shouting that I had been unprofessional, and that the coat was not smooth, I did explain all the factors, the age, clipped lying /sitting/ fatty lumps/extremely thick coat all these have an impact on the overall groom. Then I was told that what I said was absolute rubbish. And yes I was given a terrible review.
All I can say given everything that I been taught and what I have learned and still learning from dogs themselves from body language, posture how the dog organises its own body I would do exactly the same thing for that elderly dog. It gave me great satisfaction that I cared and made her feel well and truly relaxed and not just strung up and forced to stand and you know that is all that mattered.
