“DOGS CAN BE DANGEROUS!”
I know, looking at that photo you would not think so, would you? Sorry to start this one with such an intense opener. Fundamentally it is just clickbait, but I also wanted to grab your attention. Realistically, grooming parlours are potentially dangerous places. The mix of a nervous dog and an accompaniment of sharp, pointy objects and slippery surfaces can provide the recipe for an accident to the groomer or the dog in their care. Therefore, it is important that the parlour is organised and tidy at all times, and why there may be more to dog bathing than you may have realised?
Thankfully, the GOOCHI POOCHI parlour is designed to minimise those risks and provide the safety, warmth and care your dog deserves when they are with us. With that in mind, please do not be offended if we refuse a request for an owner to join us in the parlour while we groom your dog. There are a couple of reasons, the first is because we can not be held liable for any accident caused to an owner within our premises. We are obviously insured to work with your dog, but liability will be exacerbated if an owner was hurt in the parlour. It would probably never happen but as we quoted in our last Blog:
“Prevention is better than cure.”
GOOCHI POOCHI
The most interesting reason being, the dog will behave better when the owner is absent, fact! Especially in the early stages when an owner starts bringing their pooch to us. All dogs are initially very timid when they meet someone new. Therefore, our groomers need that time to build trust and make the dog understand that we are friendly, someone that will give praise, and of course treats for positive behaviour.
However, we also need to establish the ALPHA persona and someone that has full control. This will decrease the risk of unpredictable situations arising. If the owner is in the parlour, that trust can be undermined by the original ALPHA being present. This is because the dog may consider itself 2nd in line when the owner is present. Therefore, the groomer is on the backfoot and a dangerous situation can arise. Again, the probability of this happening is very slim because most dogs that get groomed are well trained, well kept, and normally so delicious I never want to give them back 🥰.
“57k complaints of animal cruelty in the UK”
RSPCA UK
The reason I mention this statistic is that the RSPCA have a well respected presence in the UK, upholding animal welfare laws. Their site also has some great links to tips and tricks for training our dogs and articles to help us understand dog behaviour, for anyone interested?
“You said your next blog was about bathing?”
It is I promise. I felt it necessary to start with a boring Health & Safety blub, to set the scene for dog bathing in general. For me it is probably the most unpredictable part of the grooming process, as dogs can be heavy, they are normally stronger and surfaces can get slippery quickly.
Normally, if a dog is a little nervous or you touch a part of their body they are protective over, they can give a little warning snap. Not a big deal, but if they continue the behaviour, we sometimes have no choice but to muzzle them while we work on that particular area. I then take the muzzle straight off again once I have finished…promise!
The problem when bathing a dog is I do not like to muzzle a dog. In my opinion, their airway could be restricted further by the addition of water. I get around this issue by doing a full body wash first, completely avoiding the face and ears. We then have two options. Completely cover the ear area with a fabric snood or put cotton wool in the dog’s ears, both options work well, but the latter obviously means we can clean the ears properly.
“OK, so let’s discuss dog bath time”
Now, I do not want this blog to go down the ‘how to’ rabbit hole. No disrespect intended, but bathing is not rocket science, and I hope you agree? Fundamentally, it consists of water, shampoo, conditioner and a lot more water. Cool, blog done then? No, no, no, please do not leave. Remember what I said in our last blog about Search Engine Optimisation requirements 😉?
My main reason for discussing bathing is that it can potentially throw a spanner in to a well oiled machine. As a groomer, we have to allocate our time efficiently and if a dog doesn’t like bath time, it can add on more time and pressure. Dog’s pick up on our emotions very easily, so how do we keep the dog calm as well as getting them clean?
Believe it or not, most negative interactions a dog has with water are caused by humans. A majority of dogs enjoy water and negative emotions normally arise from situations such as:
“ROVER, you are absolutely filthy from that walk! Honey, I have to leave for work in 20 minutes! Can you hose Rover down quickly please, as I have just changed the bed sheets.”
What happens? Hubby, who thinks he’s doing his wife a quick, loving favour, man handles Rover in to the back garden. He then proceeds to blast Rover with a cold hose until the dirt from the walk is gone. Some dogs may of course be fine with this, but I would definitely be one of them that would not! There are many scenarios I could mention, that would increase my word count 😜, but I think we get it now that dogs will not forget easily, as soon as that negative association has been made.
“OK, so how do we get a dog to start liking bath time?”
Easy really, patience. One thing we have at GOOCHI POOCHI by the bucket load…of water, pardon the pun 🙄, is patience. As long as we know about a dog’s hang ups before the session starts, we will encourage them to love every aspect of bath time. We must all approach bath time with a calm, assertive and gentle approach, which leaves a positive, lasting impression. Oh, and a pocket full of treats of course.
Most dogs will convert quickly, as long as there is no negative association between your grooming visits. However, even the most unenthusiastic dogs will be, at least compliant. I will normally start a nervous dogs session in the bath tub and brush them in there, that way I can slowly introduce water in increments. I will ensure that I am dressed correctly for the bath too. No I am not getting in there with the dog 😂. What I mean is that you don’t want to be prepping the area and putting aprons on etc as the dog is watching. They are astute creatures and will get more nervous if the environment changes.
I then slowly, assertively and happily begin the bathing process. I will not bore you with an A to Z list of what happens next. Also, I can not give away every trade secret can I? The main point of this blog is to convey that our dogs react better to praise…and treats. We need to remain patient with our pets and shower them with love, because that’s what they all deserve. Going back to my first blog, not everybody has time to fully handle a dog’s grooming requirements. Which is why I do what I do. We are here to provide a quality service and live up to the GOOCHI POOCHI tagline of ‘The Caring Groomer’. I truly hope we do?
I hope you enjoyed the article? Our next one may be more of an interest piece about the origins of dog grooming? I will have a think.
Hopefully see you again soon?
Louisa
On behalf of GOOCHI POOCHI