17/10/2025
I love The Holistic Dog Groomer, Stephanie Zikmann’s work raising awareness about what many dogs silently go through in the grooming world. I read her new write-up on the study about early trauma in dogs and how conventional grooming practices can unintentionally cause fear, stress, and lasting behavioural issues.
It hits close to home for me. Early on, I worked briefly in grooming, and I found myself struggling with a lot of the “norms”, the quick-clip jobs, the tight restraints, the lack of choice for the dog. Over time I realised I couldn’t ignore what I was seeing: dogs who looked peaceful on the outside but who carried fear or tension. If a dog shows stress signals like biting, air snapping, or trying to escape, the default response is often to restrain more, muzzle tighter, and just get the job done. That led me to shift into training, where I feel I can better protect dogs’ emotional wellbeing and help owners understand how to prevent harm before the behaviour starts.
It’s also really important to note that most groomers don’t want to muzzle, restrain or push dogs through fear. Many care deeply about the dogs they work with. But the industry is often set up in a way that forces speed over welfare -appointments are stacked back-to-back, there’s pressure to get dogs in and out quickly, and the focus is too often on the finished groom rather than the emotional state of the dog.
That system doesn’t just fail the dogs, it fails the groomers too. It puts good people in an impossible position, having to choose between keeping their business afloat or doing what’s truly best for the animal.
This is why conversations like these matter. When we talk openly about the problem, we can start changing it.
If you care about dogs’ welfare, I really recommend reading Stephanie’s work. Every grooming appointment can be an opportunity to respect their feelings, to build trust, and to contribute to a dog’s confidence rather than diminish it.
Lyndsey 🐾
Recent groundbreaking research from Dr Julia Epinosa and her team has given the entire dog care community something we desperately needed - hard evidence that what happens to dogs, particularly early in life, matters profoundly, and that the effects ripple outwards for years, if not the entire lifes...
