Barks, Bites & Behaviour
A super friendly, easy listening, but educational podcast talking all things dog related including loads of special guests.
We are all about creating education, the dog training world is rapidly changing.
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Barks, Bites & Behaviour
Grooming - Why it is for EVERY dog!
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In this episode, we are joined by the amazing Domini Thorpe.
We talk all things grooming, the power of positivity, and why grooming is important for all dogs!
Here are some of the links for Domini, her business, and her podcast link she listens to that have helped her develop to the be the groomer she is today.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61558248766719
https://www.youfilthyanimal.uk/
https://www.creatinggreatgroomingdogs.com/
ww.puppyanddogtraining.co.uk
https://www.skool.com/puppy-dog-training-uk-7950/about?ref=e3c1e03cdf7b4dbbb165977e2b61d551
Good morning everyone. Welcome to our latest edition of Barks, Bites and Behaviour. This morning I'm really excited. I'm joined by the amazing Domini Thorpe. Domini, thank you so much for taking the time to come on and see me.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely no problem. It's an honour to be invited, so thank you very much.
SPEAKER_00You're very welcome. Very welcome. We didn't plan this very well. We've started we're early on the Sunday morning as we're live recording this, aren't we?
SPEAKER_01So on the day that the clocks went forward as well. So yes. There is that. But you know, we can do this. We're troopers, we can get through it. It's all good.
SPEAKER_00We'll smash through it like the pros that we are. And um, you know, but yeah, diary management. I think that needs to be my next next podcast with someone that understands diary management, maybe. Um, but yeah, thank you. Thank you so much for coming on. Um, guys, who are listening at the moment? Um, this is all about grooming today. Domini is an amazing dog groomer, so we're just going to find out a bit more about her, about her business. So, Domini, tell me about you. How did you get into dog grooming? Tell us about your business so the listeners can find out a bit more about you.
SPEAKER_01Well, I'm a bit non-traditional because I came to grooming very late. And actually, I've only been doing it for two years. Um, but I did, I have always worked with animals and children. So I've I've failed failed that at age completely. Um, I was a horse riding instructor for a long time. So that's where I picked up you know a lot of my clipping skills and grooming skills and general animal management. Always had dogs, always had cats. Um and yeah, it was post-COVID. I think a lot of people had to have uh rethinks on careers. And I used to run a, well, I still do run, uh, but that's my other hat, um, a school workshop business, uh, going into schools doing historical workshop days for primary schools. Um, and that business obviously took a huge hit during COVID because everything shut down. Um, and I needed a way to continue to eat and pay my mortgage. Um and at the time I had a husky in a Labrador, and the Husky used to go to the groomers in the next village, and we got quite friendly with them. Um, and I'm the sort of person, even when I wasn't working with dogs, who will watch those husky blowout videos, you know, the big hairy dogs with all with all the snow going everywhere. And I'm like, that looks so much fun. Um and Jules said to me, you know, why don't you go and ask Lucy if if you can help her out at the salon and you know, learn learn that way. And I was like, Yeah, I suppose I suppose that could work. And anyway, long story short, she trained me up. Um, but as I'm the kind of person who always needs a piece of paper to be validated, I then also went to college. Um and yeah, I am now I've now been grooming for two years. Uh Lucy and I moved out of her garage conversion where we were having to do alternate days because there wasn't enough space. We then got a salon um in July of last year, and we are now booking six weeks in advance. So it's gone really, really well. Um, yeah, it's fantastic. And I and I love doing it. I love working with the dogs, um, I love working with the owners. I'm never gonna be winning um prizes, you know, crafts level poodle stuff because that's not where my heart lies. My heart lies in the behavior cases, the welfare cases, the dogs who hate it, the owners who aren't quite sure what they're doing. Um, you know, so we really focus on education and um just helping people understand their dogs better and having a better outcome for the dog at the end of the day. So that's where we lie, really.
SPEAKER_00I think that's a really, really important valid point that you've just brought up there, Domini, that you look at the behaviour cases because sometimes we take these things for granted, don't we? You know, as humans, it's like, oh, I need a haircut. So we'll just whiz down to High Street, we'll jump into the barbers or the salon and we'll get our hair cut and everything's absolutely fine. But with dogs, it's very, very different. You know, we have to sometimes they've got to be up on the table, we've got to lift them into baths, it's all silver and you know, very different shades of grey, what they're seeing through their vision. And they might not like it, they might not be comfortable with it, and they might have had a bad experience elsewhere, and you know, they they're coming in, and just because it's not the salon where they had the bad experience doesn't mean they're gonna lose this fear of coming in to see you guys at the new salon, just like that.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. I mean, you know, you've got well, you know what it's like if you go to the dentist, it doesn't matter which dentist you go to, it still smells of dentists, there's still that kind of you know, perfumey sort of disinfectant-y smell in the air. And so, yeah, I mean, dogs are gonna be exactly the same. And we do have cases where they haven't been treated particularly well by a more old-style groomer. Um, I have turned people away before because they will not accept that what they're doing is wrong. No, I'm not gonna whack a muzzle on your dog and throw it in the bath just because you want it clean. You know, if you are not willing to spend the time socializing your dog and getting used to this area and what happens here, then I'm you know, I will do my very best to explain exactly why we need to do the desensitization sessions. Um, but if you then are like, oh no, I don't care, I'm I'm just gonna throw a muzzle on my dog and and and and you know, carry on, then I'm like, you know what? There are other groomers for you because I cannot work with you if you're not gonna understand why it's so important.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. And things like that, you know, just that whole getting a muzzle on dogs, dogs have got this tolerance frustration level, which goes from, I'm okay, I'm okay, no, don't do it anymore. You know, and it's so rapid when we see that tolerance frustration level change in dogs, that it's such a minor little clue what your dogs will give you. And it could just be the little whale eye, which is where the dog, for those of you that haven't heard of the term whale eye, where the dog turns their eye, you start to see the white of their eye coming through, um, little head tilts, yawning, lip licking. There's so many clues what our dogs will give us to say that they're not happy.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. And I've had so many dogs that well look so many, but one of my questions when I take in a new client is what would if you tried to do something to your dog that they didn't like, what would their first reaction be? And some people be like, oh, they'll growl. And I know that that's very unlikely to be their first reaction. You've probably been through 30 different reactions before you got to the growl. But I always go, that's fine. Growling is good because growling is a warning. And if your dog went straight to bite, then we've got a lot of work to do. But if you're telling me that they're growling, you're probably telling me that there's a lot more before that that I'm going to be able to read. Maybe they're not be able to read it, but I'd be able to read it. Um, you know, and we're not we're never gonna get to that point. I mean, I always people are like, Oh, do you you know, you can always put a muzzle on him, and I always say, you can't if I'm getting bitten by a dog, unless that dog is seriously traumatized and their first reaction is literally bite, then it's probably my fault because I didn't stop. I'm the one who pushed it, I'm the one who didn't read the signals. If I get bitten, that's on me. So no, I'm not gonna whack your dog on a muzzle in a muzzle. And I'll also say, Is your dog muzzle trained? And what? What do you mean? Yeah, exactly. So no, we're not putting the muzzle on your dog.
SPEAKER_00And I think it's um, you know, I think what we want to get across here as well, just in this conversation, is you know, we constantly hear the word muzzle, and that stigma just goes to oh, muzzle equals bad dog. Absolutely not, guys. Absolutely not. For me, I love a muzzle. I actually I refer to them now because I I get people to start conditioning them in puppy classes because there is an essential need for it. Um, for me, I call muzzles the pretty little face basket because I don't want I don't want this stigma of you know, I've just started a puppy class and I've got this beautiful little 12-week-old cava-poo, small, fluffy, tiny. If you pop a muzzle on it, people are gonna go, why has that dog got a muzzle? It's small, it's fluffy, it's nice, it's okay. We get so many cases where dogs will eat anything from the floor, stones, sticks, poo bags, rolls of poo bags. You know, if you've got a dog that is literally just a massive chomper, as I would call it, and they chomp their way through anything to eat it, guys. Don't be afraid to muzzle train it. It's not that you've got a bad dog, you've got a dog that loves putting stuff in their mouth. Keep it healthy, keep it fit and safe, saving its life.
SPEAKER_01I mean, you also, if you if you ever take your dog to the continent, you know, in some countries it's law that you have to have all dogs muzzled on public transport and things like that. If the dog ever needs to go to the vet and they need to do something, because that's what I say. I say the only time in the salon environment that I would ever muzzle a dog is if A, there was a medical emergency, like, oh my god, he's just bitten the scissors and his or you know, it's something's gone horribly wrong, he's bleeding out and he won't let me do anything about it, then that would be one time that I would muzzle if I really had to. And the other thing is if he's covered in shampoo and I need to rinse it off. But to be fair, I always test him with the rinse first. So if you can't rinse it off, don't put it on, you know. But that those are really the only times when we would consider using a muzzle on a on a dog for uh because we have to do something because it's an urgent situation, yeah, you know, otherwise we don't want the dog getting that stressed because the you know, the more stressed that dog's getting, they they're coming in every every you know, four to eight weeks, depending on the dog. Um do you really want to traumatize your dog to the point where they think they have to bite every four to eight weeks of their life? No, we don't we don't do that. Why would you terrify your dog for a haircut at the end of the day? Yes, grooming is incredibly important and an essential part of their welfare, but there's ways to work on it. There's ways that we can um improve their ability to cope with it. And yeah, they may not ever love it. Like, I don't love going to the dentist, but I can sit there with my eyes closed thinking, this is fine, I can cope, it's okay, I don't like it. You know, okay, we can get to that point with a dog who's not really overly enjoying it, but they can cope. What we don't want to do is push them past their ability to cope, and then we're pushing them into either aggression or shutdown. We don't want that because as that dog gets older, those reactions will get worse. And then you end up with a dog having a seizure on the table at 10 years old and having a heart attack and dying because they're being groomed. It's like that's not where we are, that's not what we do.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely, absolutely. I think you know that's such a key thing that it isn't just a haircut for dogs that you guys provide as a groomer. Um, good groomers will look at every single part of the package of what comes behind grooming. Same as trainers and behaviourists, you know, we look at all of the the diet, the exercise need, the sleep, absolutely everything that comes into behaviour. Same with you guys as groomers, and I think it's you know, I just want to get that message across that grooming is not just someone simply cutting your dog's hair. There is a lot of skill behind it.
SPEAKER_01You know, I I find myself asking so many behaviour-based questions when a dog comes in, you know, and it's not just uh oh, you know, are you alright brushing them at home or do they like their toenails being done? It's things like, you know, what are they eating? What are they um what's their day look like? You know, how how do they react in certain situations? Um, because you know, I'll I'll have especially when you get uh new clients and puppies coming in. And you know, I mean, you know how puppies vary drastically. You know, you've got the very occasionally the nice you get one at 14 weeks, and it's like, yes, thank you. You haven't left it till eight months when they're right in the middle of a fear stage and now it's going to be a nightmare, you know. Get them in early, as early as you can, after that last set of jabs, two weeks after that, when those are settled, then yeah, get your dog into the groomers because they need to learn from the beginning that this is okay. And a good, I mean, a good breeder, you know, a poodle breeder will start clipping or getting used to clipping at four weeks because those dogs are gonna have to have their faces and their feet actually clipped right almost down to the skin, so short. You've you've seen the poodle cuts. Um you can't do that on a dog that can't handle it. You can't do a four to five hour groom on a dog that can't sit still. And if you don't start introducing that really, really early, you're never gonna be able to get that dog to sit through it. So yeah, it's it's so so important. And we we end up uh asking a lot of of behavior-based uh questions and working so much on the behavior just to be able to do the things that we need to do.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, definitely. Such a key key message to get out there is is you know, we're not asking those questions for the sake of asking them. There is valid reasons why we're asking every single question that we do. I think just moving on from obviously that little bit what we've started with there, because obviously we've talked about some of the breeds, we've mentioned poodles, and again, I mentioned cavapoo, so you're more common breeds that will go to the groomers a lot more. Why is it important for us to think of our short-haired dogs that will still need some level of grooming, some level of husbandry care? Because I think we we often get like we'll go with that short-haired dog, or even even you know, some people will get labradors, and we know they're double-coated, and we can just brush them at home. But there's more behind that, isn't there? There's it's not just a case of let's just get a Labrador and a brush from pets at home, or other pet shops are available as well, guys. Um, yeah, please. It's not just a case of let's just brush your dog and everything's good. Talk to us about why grooming and husbandry care is so essential for all dogs.
SPEAKER_01So, I mean, yes, obviously, you should be grooming your dog at home, like you say, whether it's a Labrador or a Frenchie or a Husky or a Tibetan terrier or an Afghan, you know, whatever you've got is gonna need grooming at home. Um grooming does so many things for the dog. From from your personal point of view, it it, you know, for your own dog, it it builds a bond with your dog. It's you know, they groom each other, so why don't you groom them? And then, you know, that's it's a really nice sort of time to share if you are doing it properly and the dog is happy doing it. Um being able to touch your dog all over and have them being comfortable with it is so important. Um you know, because at some point they're gonna have to go to the bets, at some point they're gonna somebody's gonna want to pick their foot up and have a look at the underside of their foot or you know, click their toenails because that's really important. You don't want a foot getting a toenails getting too long. I mean, I've had dogs where they've they've I don't obviously you won't your listeners won't be able to see this, but um, I'm crossing my fingers over. Um, and it's almost like the the claw is so long that the toes have crossed over, and they are now walking around with crossed fingers, if you like, because their toenails have got so long and they've caught on it. Um, it also changes the structure of the foot. So you're pushing the foot back and they're walking on the wrong part of their foot when you're when the toenails are too long. Um things like ear cleaning, um breeds like uh brachisphalic dogs, so your flat-faced, you know, your pugs, your Frenchies, your bulldogs, um they have got a corkscrew tail. Um, it's just a very small, stubby tail, uh, and it curls around. And underneath there, you've got what's called a tail pouch, which is just above their bum. Uh, and they are they collect all kinds of literally crap in there, you know, and and hair and all kinds of stuff that needs to be cleaned out. Their face wrinkles need to be properly cleaned out, otherwise they get sore, they get infections. Um, but being able to check your dog all over is so important. I mean, I I had um last year I had a a lovely older border collie come in with the densest coat I have ever seen. And I think the owners were absolutely lovely, but this coat got away from them and he was incredibly thick and incredibly matted and well impacted more than matted because the hair tends to kind of it just sticks together in this solid clump. Um and when I was grooming him, I was going down his tail and he had a tumour on his tail that the owner had never seen because it was underneath all this hair. It was about the size of a plum on his tail. So I shaved out all around it, pointed it out to the owner. Bless him, he had to have his tail removed. Thankfully, it wasn't malignant, but he did end up losing his tail. And we did end up shaving him down in the end, which is something that I hate to do on a double-coated breed because it's not good for the coat, and it but he was an old dog who couldn't cope with the amount of grooming that it would take to keep that density of coat in good condition. And he is so much healthier now. And I call him my womble because he's got a little, if you're old enough to remember the wombles, that's what his little bum looks like now. You know, he's got his little sort of pointy shaped bum. Um and uh yeah, so uh we saved his life essentially because that could have got so much worse. Yeah, um, and and you know, we've had we've had cases like that, you know, we find ticks, um, we find fleas. Even dogs who are on flea and tick treatment still get them. Yeah, it's just that when they bite, they fall off and they don't you know live. But I mean, I I I took a tick off of a dog uh well this week um who was on flea and tick treatment. And also not all flea and tick treatments are equal. And a lot of dogs are now immune, or a lot of fleas are now immune to things like frontline and the over-the-counter stuff, and you have to go to your bed and get the decent stuff, you know. So um, so yeah, you know, you're checking for parasites, you're checking for overall general health, um, picking up things that the owner might not necessarily recognise, having the dog just being comfortable with being groomed, being picked up, being washed, you know. I mean, you can shove your labrador in the garden and you can hose him down with a hose. But when we bath your Labrador, it's an hour and a half to do about a two-hour process.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01It's gonna take at least 15 to 20 minutes in the bath just getting through all of that coat because as you say, Labrador's double coat, it works like a wetsuit. So you've got the top protective layer and then you've got the undercoat. And because they're water dogs, the undercoat fills with water and then it stays there. It's built to hold the water, and then that heats up from the body heat, and that keeps them warm in the water. So it's like they've they've added an extra layer of of insulation, really. And so obviously, that's built to hold water. So drying a Labrador that's an hour's job, but you wouldn't think it. But it takes us an hour with a high velocity dryer to dry a Labrador. And the amount of coat that comes out is unbelievable. And of course, you need to keep that coat moving so it's not getting full of dead hair and then it's not doing its job properly. So you need to keep all of that moving and and get it out, and also it will help your house to stay less hairy, which is always good. Yeah, so yeah, there's there's loads of reasons to to come to a an actual rumour.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. And that's that's all dogs, guys. So um I think you know, recent experience for me is that my boy, my Labrador 12 and a half, is doing a lot of hydrotherapy at the moment, and yeah, the amount of time it takes to dry him just from a hydro session, you know, we're not even a full groom. This is just get yourself in a pool and walk on a on a treadmill, dude, and away you go. But yeah, honestly, the amount of time we spend trying to dry him off and and yeah, just keep the house nice so he doesn't come in and shake himself.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely. But yeah, yeah, and also if you don't dry them off properly, then you'll uh you'll you know that that can cause conditions in itself, you know. If the dog's got wet patches that you've not dried off properly, then you can get hot spots, it can irritate the skin and that kind of stuff. So yeah, always make sure that if you wet your dog, then you dry your dog properly.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely, absolutely. So just moving on a little bit, obviously, we've talked about a lot of dogs, we've talked about grooming, we've talked about health. We touched upon it, or you touched upon it slightly earlier, Domini, with regards to the poodle at such a young age where good groom, sorry, good um good breeders will start getting their dog into that grooming process. Talk to me about the benefits of groomers that do puppy packages or puppy socialization introduction to grooming. Tell us about what you do with puppies. What's your advice there?
SPEAKER_01We do a three to four week program. It depends on the breed. If it's gonna need if the dog's gonna need to be clipped at some point in their life, then I will do a four-week. Um, and then if it's if it's not gonna need a clip, it's just gonna be a bath and dry, then um it will be a three-week. Um basically what we do is we do half-hour sessions because as you know, a dog's attention span is seven to about 17 minutes, uh puppy's attention span is probably about 17 seconds. So, you know, you don't it's like uh it's like putting a toddler in a chair and expecting them to stay there. You you can't do it. It's not it's not okay, it's not gonna work. You know, they these have got, bless them, uh underdeveloped brains at this point. They're not gonna be able to have any self-control, they're not gonna be able to cope with uh strange and scary sights, smells, sounds and touches. So we take it really slow. First session is a session with the pet parent. They stay, we go through a health check, we go through the background of the dog, where do they get them from? You know, we're trying to glean what kind of issues we might come up with. So if if it's somebody who's, you know, unfortunately got them from um a trailer park in in the back of beyond and didn't see the parents, and there was three. Puppies there, and they're all you know five weeks old and covered in fleas, and and we know there's going to be issues, you know, so we know what we're looking out for. Um, but to be fair, we bought our dog from a supposedly reputable breeder, and then we found out that they've done absolutely no socialization with him. So he's got issues as well. So, you know, it's not it's easy even for people who think they're doing the right thing to get stung. So it doesn't, it doesn't, you know, I'm I'm not being judgmental about where you get your dog from, and also if I saw a dog in that condition, I would probably buy it too, just to get it out of there. And I think a lot of people get stung like that, unfortunately. Um, so sorry, lost my train of thought there. Um so yes, that's it. So that's the the the first session. We also go through the kind of coat that the dog's got. Or tell the pet parent, because sometimes you get people coming in with these lovely AI pictures of a of a cockkapoo that's been cut in a certain teddy bear style, and then their cockpoo has actually got a long wavy coat, not a tight curly coat, and we have to kind of break that gently to them that their dog is never going to look like this, so they may need to reconsider what they want their dog to look like. Uh, we will go through brushing techniques with them, so we'll show them how to line brush the brushes and combs that they should be using at home and all that kind of stuff. And that's that's on session one at all that time. The dog is free in the salon, they'll be they'll be the only dog in. Uh, lots of treats, lot, you know, sniffy mats, and we've got the back door open. Luckily, we've got a little garden area where they can go out and have a wee. I just want that dog to be with no pressure at all. Hey, come in. This is fun. Look, have a sniff about. Oh, there's treats, let's do, you know, look at this. This is this is great. And have them enjoy being there. Just getting used to the smells, getting used to the sounds while I'm talking to their parent. And then if the dog's comfortable, then we'll pick them up, pop them on the table, or put the table down, um, do a quick health check and a once over and show the parent what to do with the with the brushing. Um, next session, we'll do another half an hour. The parent won't stay this time, so then we can gauge for separation anxiety and for any other reactions that they're oh my god, where's my mum going? So, has this dog ever been left on their own?
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, and then we'll just carry on doing a little bit more. We'll introduce the the sound of the clippers, the sound of the dryer over the next sort of two or three sessions until we're happy that the dog is fairly settled. Um, we'll also introduce things like, hey, I'm gonna touch in between your back legs, I'm gonna touch your feet, I'm gonna touch a tail, I'm gonna do a chin hold, that kind of stuff. Um, and we'll also show the pet parent how to practice that at home. Um, unfortunately, that is usually one of the stumbling blocks, is yeah, homework. Unfortunately, I can't solve all of your problems in half an hour in the salon, and I can't solve all of your problems, even in an hour and a half, two hours in the salon every eight weeks. You know, you do have to work on this at home.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, and that's something that I really try and get through, but it doesn't always stick, unfortunately. Um, especially with legs. Most dogs are quite happy with you touching their bum, touching their private parts, touching, you know, every other part of them. But you go for their legs or their feet, and they're like, no, that's mine. That's my personal leg. You may not touch it. Um and of course, that's always a difficult part to get combed out and to make it look pretty. So um, yeah, all of these things need a lot of training and a lot of practice. Um and that's what we aim for. And then after the four weeks, then we'll tend to do a short dry cut session where the dog is just having to cope with the clippers, and then after that we'll we'll do a full groom. So it's probably it's a six-session process in all.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01You actually get them to the point where they're doing a full groom. And even then, I say, look, your dog may come home looking like they're wearing moon boots. Because if I get halfway through the clip and they suddenly decide that they can't cope, I'm not going to push it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I'm not going to do it. Um, unfortunately, when I went to college, I saw some very, very bad handling from our tutors. Um, and actually did make a complaint about it because it was an old school groomer, oh, just put them through it, it'll be fine. It'll be fine. Look, just hold the leg, just grab it, hold it tight, and then brush it out. And his dog's like screaming, trying to get away. And I said, No, we're not going to be doing that. Luckily, I'm a bit older. I'm not an 18-year-old going straight in from school. So I'm quite happy to turn around and go, I'm sorry, but what you're doing is abusive to the dog, and I'm not going to stand for it. Um, whereas somebody a lot younger and less confident in themselves than me might be going, Oh, okay, is that how we're supposed to do it then? And this is this is the problem. A bit like dog training, grooming also has not quite stepped into modern times, and you will still it's getting a lot better, and there's an awful lot of really good groomers out there. But even now, you'll you know, you'll see it on TikTok and threads and Facebook and all the rest of it. You'll see these, you know, funny videos of how, oh, look at this dog, it's doing an alligator roll, blah, blah, blah. It's really funny. We took four people to muzzle this dog and cut his foot toenails. I'm like, what are you doing? And all the comments are like, oh, lol, oh, that's funny. Oh, aren't they funny? It's like, no, that dog is struggling for survival, and you are laughing at it. Please, please go back to school and learn some behaviour. Don't make me come over there. We're not we're not gonna do that here.
SPEAKER_00No, and I I think that's a key thing. It's you know, social media is a nightmare. It's one of those worlds that sadly I think a lot of trainers, behaviourists, groomers, we we have to have it for our business because it's so prevalent in every household right now, and you constantly say the Facebook man, who can you recommend a dog behaviour? Can you recommend train a puppy package? You know, so you have to be there, it's part of your marketing, but at the same time, I wish we could just remove dog training and care and grooming from social media because you'll get these very quick look at me, here I am as a massive fluffy dog, and 30 seconds later the groom has done this amazing cut, but there's none of that consideration where you will take that time to say to your client, This is how your dog is feeling, this is what we're picking up on, this is why we're doing it. A lot of people just see it like what we talked about earlier. Pop yourself into a hair salon, quick, you know, cut and blow dry. Out you go, everything's fine.
SPEAKER_01Um I mean, I I always liken it.
SPEAKER_00Um sorry, there is there is some good on social media, but I think you're right. These with the algorithms of how they all work, with people putting oh, that's really funny to see that dog rolling around really upset. Yeah, they're the videos that get played over and over and over again because people comment on them and like them and put funny faces to them. Yeah, so it's a massive education part for us still to really push out there.
SPEAKER_01And I think social media is also so important. I mean, in the complaint letter that I wrote to my college about their handling, I said, Oh, I've learned more from TikTok than I have from you. Yeah. Um, because it was a phenomenally bad course. I'm not going to name and shame the college, and that tutor has actually been sacked, which is brilliant. But um the I have learnt more of TikTok, but again, this is because I am capable of understanding what's good and what's bad out there. Whereas somebody who's not coming from an animal background who doesn't happen to live with a dog trainer and behaviorist, you know, that's um they might not understand why what they're watching is bad and and and how to actually work out which are the good videos, which are the bad videos. Um, there are a lot of people out there doing great work with um trying to change people's attitudes towards dogs, and that's really refreshing to see. Um, I listened to uh a great podcast by an American um trainer and groomer. So she's a behaviorist trainer and groomer, so she and it's called Creating Great Grooming Dogs, and I can't remember what her name is off the top of my head, but maybe we can pop it in the show notes.
SPEAKER_00We can try and find it and pop it in, yeah.
SPEAKER_01It's a really good podcast, and I've learned so much on there about the behavior side of grooming. Um you know, and it and it's it just makes so much sense, and you know, that that's what I used to listen to in the car going backwards and forwards to college, thinking, God, why aren't we learning this something? You know, so I think there is such a there is a really important place for social media and the right kind of social media. What upsets me is that there's no um there's no way to determine who gets that exposure.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So you know, Cesar Milan gets as much as Victoria Stillwell, and that's not okay in my book because you know, one person is a horribly abusive person to dogs, and the other person is really working to to improve everything. So, but they hold the same weight, you know. There's people on TV currently, um, who we all probably know um are not the best dog trainers, and that's in in the UK. And and and I get people coming in and saying, Oh, well, I watched so and so, um, and and they said to do this, and I'm like, Yeah, okay, um let's let's sit down and talk about it, shall we?
SPEAKER_00It's a grooming session which goes from an hour and a half to three hours, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_01Literally, and I'm so bad at it, and sometimes I'm like, my brain's going, you should sharp now, you can sharp now, and I like yes, but another thing, and you get into this sort of rant about why why some people on the TV should not be allowed to be on the TV. Um, you know, but yeah, I I do try and and and not not get into extended rants, basically because yeah, we we have an appointment at home and I do need to finish it up. But it is it's so difficult. Um and you know, I've had dogs come in who've been badly uh advised by their vet, but we've got a vet in the area who still uses aversive training methods and recommends air horns and air sprays and sh and and will then send them to an aversive trainer and then that person will recommend an aversive groomer and then they come to me and it takes me two years to get them back on track. Yeah, you know, and unfortunately, people are if they're badly advised by professionals, it's so so hard. You know, it's one thing to say, oh well, you know, social media, but if if people are badly advised by the professionals, the dog professionals in their life, yeah, how are they supposed to know if they're a first-time dog owner? Well, that's what the vet said, that's what the trainer said, that's what the groomer said. You know, it's like and it's not okay. Um, and I think one of my one of my big things is to try and call out if I if I see people, whether it's online or in real life, treating their dog badly, I will call them out. Yeah, but I can't I can't help it. My my overblown sense of injustice goes into hyperdrive and I'm like, excuse me, can we not? I've I've actually had a lady who's absolutely lovely and loves her dogs, but she stayed for a groom because one of her dogs was quite anxious. It was messing about on the table and I'm like, Okay, don't worry, oh behave, oh stop here. Whack around the back of the dog's head. I said, Okay, we're not gonna do that. Yeah, we don't do that here because your dog is reacting because they're scared, so we're not gonna do that here. And she was like, Oh, she's what do you mean she's scared? And she genuinely didn't know, yeah, and that's not her fault, no, you know, but she genuinely didn't know that this messing about on the table is from anxiety, it's from fear, it's not from being difficult because that's not how dogs think. Dogs don't want to piss you off in you know when you wake up in the morning. Dogs are reacting, all ego, knowing, just reacting to whatever's going on around them. The dog is scared. Yeah, I said if I threw what are you scared of? Spiders? Tell you what, I'm gonna throw a bunch of spiders in your face, and then when you go, Oh my god, I'm gonna go, don't do that. Yeah, you see, yeah, oh, oh, okay, yeah, okay. And that's great, then we can move forward. But people don't understand that so much of dog behaviour is feeling-based, it really is.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely, it just needs that explanation to be out there a lot more, and I think I I will ask a lot of questions as you will ask a lot of questions, because we know the questions what we need to be asking our clients and potential new clients and things like that. But what I am desperate for people to do is ask us questions and don't be afraid to ask us questions. And I know you know, I I recently moved back to the area, you know, 16 months ago, and obviously, two dogs myself, I needed to get a vet, and I travelled around a couple of local vets and I asked questions. Brilliant, and I wasn't afraid to ask those questions because ultimately, okay, touch words, my dogs are only going to need to go to the vets for you know routine vaccinations and very quick health checks every six months and things like that. But if I do need to get them to the vet because they're unwell, I need to know what that vet and that practice have got in place for me because ultimately it's like private health care. It is, it is so ultimately it's private health and it ain't cheap. No, exactly, and you know, the same goes for grooming as well. Ultimately, you are paying to take your dog okay to have, in a lot of people's opinion, just a haircut. We know it's a lot more, we know it's a lot deeper than that. Don't be afraid to ask those questions. You know, my boy started hydro not that long ago, he's probably done three or four sessions. But the length of questions I sent to that hydro set hydro hydro center, it was like war and peace. What do you do in this session?
SPEAKER_01So if I if I had clients that would do that, I would be like, this is great, this is brilliant. This is because I then know that that person is really invested in their dog. Yeah. And they also understand why it's so important that we do what we do and how we do what we do. Um, and that then if there are any issues that I pick up, then I know that that person is gonna then be receptive to me saying, I think your dog might have pain here because they're really funny about being touched or moved in a certain way, or you know, you can you need to go and get a health check, you need to go and get a pain assessment, um, or you know, the the behavior, I think there's an issue here, so we need to work on that. And and they're gonna be the kind of people who are like, Oh yeah, no, I understand that's fine. Yeah, you know, or we can discuss it if they've got a different view, then that's fine, we can discuss it, but we could discuss it from the from the point of view of people who are both wanting the best outcome for the dog.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So absolutely, and I think that's the thing when we do recommend as trainer behaviorists and groomers and you know, other people in the industry, when we do recommend a pain check, it isn't about getting to spend you more money, it isn't a coalition with a vet. This is purely because we see what is causing that dog to be reactive, to be fearful, to show anxiety. We see that in your dog. You know, we spend a lot of money as professionals learning about what dogs show us, and we will, you know, we will empower that information into you to say, let's get this checked, let's rule it out. Because we know pain causes so many behavioural issues.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely, and you can't treat your way out of pain, you know. If your leg hurts, and like you're lollipop, it's not going to stop your leg hurting, is it? You know, so you've got to treat the leg before you can agree.
SPEAKER_00Before you look at the behaviour, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. I think that leads in as well to the importance of you know what we do, you know, myself, force free in all my approach to my training and behavioural cases, what I work on. For you, Domini, tell us a little bit more. We've covered quite a bit, but tell us a little bit more about why force-free grooming, consent in grooming is so important.
SPEAKER_01So I have I I've got to put my hands up first of all and say I'm not a I'm not qualified as a consent or force-free groomer. It is on the list, but financially it's it's you know unfortunately. I really would love to do the holistic grooming course um that is available um in this country. We have got another holistic groomer in the area, and I think personally, I think all courses in all colleges, city and guilds, iPET, everything should all include this kind of education. Um, and the fact that it doesn't is very upsetting sometimes. Um, but if okay, sorry, brain's gone again. Honestly, it's Sunday morning. Um, I should I should not sidetrack myself in responses, but you know how it is. So sorry, can you just give me a pointer again?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so we're looking, we're looking, yeah, so force regrooming consent from the dog.
SPEAKER_01That's that's where it's why is it so important? Very good. All right, so basically you've got your dog who is a member of your family, just like you've got your toddler who is a member of your family, and there is a certain amount of reasoning that you can do with the toddler. Hey, if we do this right now, then you get that right now, you know, or you get that down the line, and you can do that to an extent with a dog, but it's not something that the dog's necessarily as quite as cognitively able to do as a groomer. So I can't say, you know, if I said to a toddler, okay, you know, sit there for your haircut and then we'll go and get ice cream, great. That that that child can then think, okay, in an hour's time, I'll go and I'll get an ice cream so I can sit still. With a dog, you you can't do that. The dog is if I'm not receiving something within a very short space of time, then I'm not I can't I they can't process it, you know what I mean? And if a dog gets scared, then they need to be calmed quickly. Because if you let that arousal grow and you get up the scale, then all of a sudden you've gone from oh I'm not very comfortable to oh, I really don't like this, to oh my god, what are you doing to get away from me and then you know, and in a very short time that can escalate so so quickly. And if you if you push that, then you get bit, or your equipment gets bit, or your dog hurts themselves, um, and it only gets worse. That's the problem, is that it only gets worse. If if that dog is not more comfortable every time they leave my salon, then I have not done my job. Yeah, you know, if that dog comes in and it's getting worse and worse and worse each time they come in, oh I had to drag him down the car park, or we really didn't want to come in, you know, that kind of thing, then how are you gonna do that with a a 50 kilo German shepherd who's got a heart condition and dodgy hips and and blah blah blah? You know, you're asking for your dog to get injured, you're asking for your dog to get um upset, and you're asking for a sedation groom at the end of the day where your dog has to go to the vet, you have to pay a large amount of money and have it anaesthetized to be able to be groomed. And again, that that's not an option for older dogs all the time either, because you know, you can't you can't be doing that every eight weeks, you can't give them a general, you know, you'll you'll kill them. So quite apart from the it's not nice to be horrible to your dog and to scare them, quite apart from that, it's physical and mental health issues that you are going to exacerbate throughout the course of their life and cause yourself more problems down the line. So what's wrong with going at the dog's pace? Yeah, it's our impatience that causes the dogs to suffer, and that's not okay.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01I mean, I've got I've got a few behaviour cases at the moment, and there is nothing like seeing a dog who on their first visit would not want to come in the shop, would not like, oh no, looking away, you know, I I don't want to be here, this is awful, or sitting really tightly close to their pet parent and you know, just like staring at you and and giving you the what are you gonna do to me face, you know. Going from that to a dog who trots in happily, comes and says hi and jumps up on the table. There is no feeling like that, yeah. You know, just that part, even before we get to being able to groom the dog, even that part is like, oh, and and their parents are always so oh he loves coming here. Oh, this is so good, oh, it's such a difference. But you know what? It might have taken us six months, it might have taken us two years. Yeah, but if you continue to do it the right way, you will get there. And I quite I find there's often quite a bit of a light bulb moment, you know, the first like four or five sessions, not a lot might be happening. And people are sitting there going, why am I paying you all this money for my dog to be? And I'm like, just just you know, let trust it, stay with it, and then all of a sudden that dog's like, oh, oh, it's safe here. Oh, okay. And they literally have that light bulb moment, and then then you can start working on the grooming. But until you until you can get to that point where the dog is comfortable, then you can't work on the grooming. And and this is the same with puppies, you know. I've got a couple of puppies who for whatever reason are so hyperactive and cannot cope with the world around them, and then they'll come into the salon and of course they're you know humping me, jumping all over me because they're in the fall around uh stage of stress response. Um, and they're also, you know, and I'm like, how and they're oh, can you just trim the bit in front of his eyes? Um would you like to put a pair of scissors in front of the eyes of the poppy who is jumping around all. over the place and who can it's I'm I'm not gonna do that. Um you know and there are some some a lot of dogs we can get to calm but there are some of them that there's that underlying issue where I will then refer on to a trainer or behaviorist. Yeah um you know usually jewels obviously but if it's a specialist thing then we might do that but or a pain or spot a pain um assessor or something like that we will refer on to someone who can help them with that underlying issue because that's not grooming anxiety that is general anxiety and we need to get a hold of that first you know I've had dogs who oh they no they don't really go out so the only time they leave the house is for their grooming appointment.
SPEAKER_00Yeah no wonder they're mentally erect okay well we're gonna have to deal with that first and then we can talk about the grooming yeah absolutely and I think everything you've you've said there and parts of what you were saying um my mind what it kept going back to my first ever dog training course which I did which yeah many years ago now guys I know I don't look old enough for those of you that are visualizing this but it was many years ago believe me um and one of the first things and it was um Jules has probably mentioned him as well but Alan Freeman from the IMDT um Alan is an incredible guy I love Alan's a bit and he was taking my two day course and one of the first things he said to everyone in the group the quickest way to train your dog is slowly and I think for a lot of us that was our first ever course we'd not done dog training before this was this was something new to us. I think there was quite a few of us that just kind of looked at each other going what's he on about what's what does that mean it's and then he went through the reasons why and he went through the science and he went through the development of the puppy brain and he went through absolutely everything about what we need to look at when we're taking care of our dogs and that phrase what he used has stuck with me throughout my entire career and we get puppies that again like you puppies will come in and people just want them to you know be okay with the scissors be okay with the with the clipper be okay to be rinsed and shampooed and from training and behavioural point they want that solid recall they want that loose lead walking and we've necessarily work that is it's gonna yeah it's it's kind of you know we get this expectation of we build it up in our heads don't we of right I'm gonna get a puppy and this puppy is going to walk beautifully on lead and then when it's safe to do so and we're in good environments to do so I'm gonna let it off lead and recall's going to be perfect. I'm gonna go to the coffee shop I'm gonna go to the pub and you know we've got this amazing dog sometimes guys that doesn't happen and that's not on you specifically it could it's nature and nurture it's looking at genetics it's looking at epigenetics um I think it's about taking away some of that stress and pressure that you put yourself under um quick shameless plug as well guys for those of you that are listening I have just launched another two of my books which I've been working on in the background um and one of them is all about this the dog in front of you not the dog we expected but the dog we've got so guys flip on to Amazon go go go now pause the podcast get onto Amazon buy the book um this is what keeps me being able to do these podcasts guys but yeah there is what's it called just just the title of that book again for me there you go Domini Self Awareness Survival the dog in front of you excellent so we have also as well I mean let's let's shamelessly plug them all because we've also done self-awareness survival becoming a puppy parent puppy is hard oh god yeah it is hard so yeah quick quick shameless plug guys on the books um yeah so head head to amazon if you want to find find those books but back to the topic of conversation which you're really here for um when we get our dog some people are now going down the route of I'm gonna get a certain type of breed because they're hyperallergenic and the hair won't bother me and things like that and I can see your face for people that are listening on like Spotify or Apple it's just kind of a ugly is that moment. Let's talk about product because very much like diet in dogs it expensive doesn't mean it's the best let's talk a little bit about shampoos about allergies about why it's important to go to certain things and I'm gonna be honest one thing I'm gonna do with this is I'm gonna get my wife to listen to this bit from your point of view as an expert Dominic because genuinely I don't think I can move in my bathroom for all of the 972 various shampoos and conditioners what she's got because one makes her hair go really dry and breaks then the other makes her hair go greasy and oily and honestly the amount of shampoos that she has tried is unreal. Talk to me from grooming point of view.
SPEAKER_01So we've just come back from Crafts uh we went to Crafts for the shopping basically and the amount of dog shampoo companies is insane um so the stuff that we use is not cheap it's not um you I mean quite often you can get uh home style you know of of the same stuff but I mean one of our bottles so a five litre bottle of our shampoo which does dilute down 50 to one um is about 55 quid for a for a five litre of shampoo so it's not a cheap product um the and that's the same for ear washes and eye washes and um sorry face washes um conditioners you know all of those kinds of things and yeah there are uh different products for different things so we've got uh just in our salon we've got an everyday which is you know if the dog comes in regularly doesn't need a huge degreaser or anything like that then we'll just use the everyday we've got a a D shed which helps to really loosen up the hair so that would be for your huskies for your labradors that kind of thing so really get rid of the excess we've got um a detangler which is what we tend to use on the poodle and cockoo types um you know with the poodle mixes that so the wavy curly coats um we've got a medicated so if we think that there's sort of um a lot of scurfiness or uh you know the skin's not overly healthy or they look a bit itchy that kind of thing. If it's not a diagnosed thing that oh yeah the vet knows about that and and we think it's so and so then we'll use a medicator just to be on the safe side. And then we'll also say you might want to get that checked out by the vet. Sometimes people do bring in their own shampoos as well so the bet if the vet has prescribed something specific for that dog um then we'll we'll use the the owner's own shampoo. There's uh an allergy we've got a sort of a a sensitive skin one um uh what else have we got we've got a degreaser like a deep clean um because my god sometimes and it tends to be spaniels probably because of the beans are dragging in everything and they're in and out of the water and then they're out of the undergrowth you know and they have got some of them especially the uh the show type spaniels which are the ones with the the the cock spaniels who've got the very thick dense hair um the sort of almost curly hair um so yeah you need a you need a good degrees on there and and we can't put swore feagure on a dog so we use that you know um and then what else have we got uh oh yeah we got things like uh a whitening shampoo which has got um if any of your uh listeners have ever have ever bleached their hair um then you'll know that afterwards you tend to use a purple tinted shampoo to take out any yellowness and so if you've got a white dog or a or a a black dog um and they've got sort of you know staining then we can use that and it's it's it's just a basically just takes out the yellowness um in the coat. So yeah but there are so many others that you could have but there's only so much room in our salon. You know uh we've also got a separate conditioner that we use and and as I say the the ear wash and the face washes and and things like that as well. So but yeah you you can buy a oh fox poo shampoo also very important we have fox poo shampoo um although to be fair if it's really bad then tomato ketchup is your best bet to get that out something about the acidity of the tomato ketchup actually gets rid of the smell of fox poo. So there's a top tip for anybody whose dog likes to roll in in that um so yeah it is about using the right shampoo for the right dog and the right coat um allergies is a bit more difficult because they can be allergic to the allergy shampoo believe it or not a lot of them have uh oatmeal in them which is nice and calming for most dogs but some dogs can be allergic to oatmeal so you do have to be a little bit careful that you are you know not not exacerbating anything.
SPEAKER_00And also a lot of allergies are internal you know a lot of dogs people don't realize they've got an allergy to grain in their food um and an allergy to chicken which you wouldn't think is a thing for a carnivorous creature but yeah chicken they can be allergic to chicken my Lucy my co-groomer uh my colleague at work she her dog is allergic to beef so and dairy and you know so so all of these things so you you do have to be a little bit careful that if you're giving treats in your salon which we do a lot that you're not giving out the wrong thing and accidentally setting off somebody's chicken allergy because you're giving them dry chicken so yeah it's it's all kind of heying home because my chalky lab that we've got he's got I mean based on the tests what we've done and we know from from sort of more development that sometimes those allergy tests aren't always quite as accurate as what they should be but you know I I do know from that product trial my boy's allergic to chicken and rice. Yeah so when he was going through you know we had constant upset stomachs we had constant vomiting and that's what the vet tells you to feed us like chicken rice chicken and rice chicken and rice and I took my dog back and I'm like but he's worse yeah he's literally worse on chicken and rice and then we did all the allergy testing and yeah you know we knew that chicken and rice um and basically it caused him not only to have an upset stomach and to vomit a lot the itching and it got to a point where he looked like he was cutting his own belly with his nails not because his nails were sharp but because of the force he was having to use to relieve that that stress and pain inside him of that constant itch. Yeah um so now he's he's a fish and potato boy and that's literally been right pretty much 50 to 60 percent of his life has been fish and potato um but you work on the products what work for him yeah and find the right stuff.
SPEAKER_01As you say work with the dog in front of you don't work with the dog that you think you've got you know and so if that particular dog is sensitive to a certain thing then don't use that you know work with the dog you got yeah exactly exactly it's it's nice to have these you know we have these dreams and expectations as we've said about what the dog is going to be um and you know guys it does it doesn't matter if they're not that dream we just change our expectation because I think you know for the dog that is with us you know not getting too deep and too emotional for a Sunday morning but you know the dog is a short part of our life effectively but your dog you know we are their whole life so work with what we've got embrace what we've got don't don't sort of go oh it's not what I wanted I can't take it to the pub I'm disappointed don't do that guys and um you know coming from the background of someone who does have a dog with anxiety you know we we didn't expect it but we have worked with it and now he can go to the pub he can go places he can meet other dogs he's not great at it all the time and we do have to make sure that there's a lot of management in place and that we've done a lot of work to get him more confident in those situations but if you have a dog with problems see someone a professional who can help you mitigate those problems and yeah there are a very small percentage of cases where maybe it's neurological or it's pain or it's you know something a deep deep trauma from a rescue that you don't know about you know and and you're you might never but that's such a small percentage of dogs probably 95 98% of dogs if you do what's right for them they will get better. And that's so so important and I think you know people expect a dog to fit in the mole but we we have taken dogs from being independent thinking scavenger hunters and family group living to isolating them in a house in a situation that is completely unnatural to them and expecting them to act in a certain way and when they don't or they can't we say that they're naughty it's like hang on a minute yeah let's think about it let's think about what's going on here and and even those those first moments of just that simplistic but massive change for your dog because I I get so many calls from you know I've had my dog a week and it's done this and it's done that and they're naughty and they bite me and this and that and actually when you think about it it's a hard hard method to try and get the right words of explanation to your client but you take your eight week old puppy who for eight weeks has had the birth mother and all the literates known everything what has come from that environment and you pick them up for eight weeks and you take them home and the birth mother's gone and the siblings have gone and then everything smells new and then it's a crate which hasn't and let them cry it out no no no no no no don't let your dog cry it out guys um you in the nicest possible way the first thing you do regardless of how much you've spent at pet shops with fluffy beds and toys and everything the first thing you do guys is you do rip that dog's world upside down and that's not meant as a negative because you know down the line I want more puppies of course I do I love puppies they're amazing because you can mould and develop them you know we've got a rescue dog as well so whatever works best for you guys adopt as well it's great but think about what you are doing with that puppy they're not being stupid they're not being a pain in the backside they're not upsetting you on purpose it is just such a massive change it'd be like taking again taking a you know a year old two year old child away from everything that they've ever known and and going okay you live here now no you're never going to see your mum again I mean obviously they don't think like that but yeah you know they're still missing that environment so and and you do get it with rescues as well I literally this week I had to turn away somebody they'd um called up said oh we've um uh yeah we we've we've got a dog can can we can we bring him in like yeah come in for a sort of a you know actually I've had a cancellation today that's absolutely fine can bring your golden retriever in turned out um they'd literally got her the day before and she'd come from she was an ex-breeding bitch they'd got her from rescue um and yeah they'd literally got her the day before she'd never been in a home environment and she had already massively bonded to these people she was clearly like oh my god don't you know you're the best thing that's ever happened to me even though she's never been there for 24 hours and this is bearing in mind this is a golden retriever we all know that 99% of golden retrievers are stupid loving fluffy lumps of of thoroughness and and and friendliness um when those new that new couple stepped out of the shop to leave the dog with us I I at this point and and this was on me they said she was a rescue and they hadn't had her long but I hadn't specified I was like I didn't think to ask how long exactly it's usually one of my questions yeah I was obviously distracted at that point um she left when they left the shop um I went to go hi poppy and she growled at me and she backed away and I'm like oh okay okay so A I know this is not normal golden retriever behaviour um this is clearly some one who's very nervous and a lot of groomers old school groomers I should say at that point and a lot of animal professionals at that point would have shoved a slip lead on dragged her across the room shoved her in the bath told her put a muzzle on her and told her to sharp so what I did was called the parents back yeah sorry how long did you say you had her oh we only picked her up yesterday right so and then we went through the whole you know three uh days to realise the routine three weeks to understand you know settle start and three months to actually sort of settle in she wasn't filthy it wasn't like she'd come from you know a poppy mill kind of situation where she was rank and disgusting and covered in urine and all the rest of it. So it wasn't like an urgent medical need to get her clean. Yeah and so we had the chat and they were like oh right okay yeah no that makes sense so now she's booked in for sort of you know a couple of months time when she's had time to settle and they will stay with her for their first room as well so that we're not exacerbating any separation issues and we will go from there. You know but that's the difference about putting the welfare of the dog first we're not going to add to that dog's trauma of having her life turned upside down not knowing what's going on and then putting her through a stressful and scary experience because the high velocity dryers can be scary if they're not used to it. You know a lot of dogs you turn the hoover on and they'll go mental now imagine you're putting the hairdryer on them and it's at high speed you know they're they're not going to enjoy that if they've never had anything like that done before um so yeah it it's it's about working at the dog's speed and at the dog's pace. You know so whether they're puppies or adults you you've got to take that into into consideration that if everything's just turned upside down don't be adding more stress to that situation.
SPEAKER_00I think I think that's such a valid point really is such a valid point. I think we've we've covered so much today about the importance of grooming about you know so many little subtopics of what comes up it's it's not just a one size fits all program for all dogs. I'm gonna throw a quick question at you and it's a question that I throw to a lot of my podcast guests I don't always give them advanced warning you haven't done your homework so this is this is going to test you um I'm just gonna ask you Dominique what would your top three hints and tips be to give to our listeners to do with their dogs at home to help them through grooming and husbandry whether that's brushing training top three hints and tips listen to your dog um is the top one it's you know if you and by listen to your dog I mean you need to understand dog body language and you need to be able to read that and it is I get how very difficult it is to get reliable information on what dog body language actually means.
SPEAKER_01And there has been so much new research and new thinking out in the last 20 30 years. You know we've got changed from that alpha mindset to um to actually understanding dogs a bit more so understanding and listening to your dog is the most important thing because that's going to see you through training grooming socialization you know just being able to understand when your dog is stressed and then being able to help your dog through that that's that's the most important thing. From a groomer's point of view get your dog used to being touched all over um because if you can't touch his feet and do his toenails, we do not have a magic wand and we cannot do that for you. We can work on it but we can't do it for you. So yeah get them used to being touched all over and also touched all over with stuff and things. So you know a pen, a spoon um the TV remote an empty bottle of water you know just if they can have stuff and things run across their back, run down their legs and have a nice neutral reaction to it that's really really helpful um if you want us to be able to do a good job on on grooming your dog. And the third one is I guess listen to your dog um get touching stuff uh oh yeah brush your dog We cannot do anything if you don't lift off a brush in between you know every eight weeks and you bring your dog in uh eight weeks, it will be matted. You know, if your dog gets wet and then dry and you don't brush it, your dog will be matted. Um we know that they haven't just got matted because you left the window open on the way here. Yeah, it doesn't it doesn't it doesn't happen like that. We know whether you've been brushing your dog or not. Please just brush your dog. It's less painful for your dog, it's less stressful for your dog to have it done regularly and to keep the coat into good condition than if you you know if you leave it to us every eight weeks, you're just gonna get your dog shaved off because we're not gonna brush out nothing because it's not it's unkind and cruel and painful to put your dog through that. So, yeah, brush brush your dog, people, please, please.
SPEAKER_00Brilliant. Um, I think there's some great tips there. Um, not just not just for grooming, but just in everyday general um, you know, general life with your dogs, training, behaviour, vet visits, all those things what Domini's touched upon there are massively helpful to your dog for every single element of their life moving forward. So, guys, yeah, make sure, yeah, brush your dog, touch them with touch them with all different types of items. Again, you know, just that you need your dog's heart and lungs listened to. It's gonna be a stethoscope, it's gonna look weird to your dog, but if they can start understanding that random things will touch them, and actually it's okay, it's not bad, then you are helping you, your dog, and your vet, and you're gonna get the very best answers when your dog is the most comfortable they can be. Um, and yeah, finally, guys, do listen to your dog. Listen to what your dog is telling you. Um, another one of you know, there's lots of doggy quotes that float around all the time, but another real personal favourite dogs do speak, but only to those who listen. So when we're saying listen to your dog, make sure we understand what we're looking for, body language wise. And guys, if you don't, don't be afraid to say that you don't and ask an expert for advice. That's what we're here for. You know, there's there's all this kind of not getting too deep into social media, but there's so many Facebook groups and various things. Oh, my dog's done this, what should I do? And people are flooding the internet with so much advice. Now, if I've got a problem with my car, and you know, let's say my next door neighbour, oh, I saw him change a tire one day, maybe he could fix my car for me, but ultimately he's an accountant. I'm not gonna trust him to do something really deep within my car. I'm gonna take it to a mechanic, I'm gonna take it to someone that studies and knows what they're doing. So, guys, don't be afraid to reach out. Even if you're not booking a session with us, that doesn't worry us. Reach out, ask us a question, make sure you're getting that understanding from what your dog is telling you. Any final thoughts from you, Domine, on what we've talked about?
SPEAKER_01No, I'm just really grateful that podcasts like yours exist. Um, that the positive reinforcement world is becoming so much more um prevalent, you know, and I think the old school ways are dying out, not quite quick enough, unfortunately, for a lot of dogs, but I think the more people are learning and the more the uh pet professionals like us can get information across to our clients, you know, every day, then hopefully fingers crossed, give it another few years, and everybody will be understanding why those aversive methods are not okay. Um, don't get people people to listen to these kind of things is brilliant. And um don't don't shy away from learning about the other methods, if nothing else, just so that you can explain to people while they're why they're wrong. It's it's it's very hard to to see some of the uh the stuff online, um, but never be afraid to call it out and never be afraid to educate yourself. And if you read something, you think, oh, actually that could make sense. Go look it up, go, you know, read a reputable book or speak to a reputable person about it and go, So I've seen this, and is is that right or is that not? And any decent trainer or behavior is worth their salt is is gonna say, actually, you know, so and so. This this is this is what you know it's easy for stuff to get twisted out there. So try and try and find the clarity of of what you actually need. So but thank you, thank you for for being part of that. Well improving life at dogs, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Uh amazing. Um, Domini, thank you so much for your time. Um, guys, if you are listening on Apple, Spotify, any of the general platforms, uh give us a like, subscribe, follow us, um, tell your friends all about us. If you are watching the video on YouTube, on our YouTube channel, guys, please hit the like and subscribe button again. Share that. And if anyone's listening and you want us to focus on a particular topic or a particular subject, drop us a message, give us a shout. We will see what we can do to get some more guests on. Um, we don't just want to be a one-size-fits-all podcast about dog training, we want to talk about the industry, how it affects your dogs, and what we can do to help you guys. That's what this is all about. It's about improving things for you. So, final messages from myself, guys, for this episode of Barks, Bites and Behaviors. Amazon, get my books. Make sure you're getting my books. That's number one. That's really important for me. Um, like, subscribe to all my social uh platforms where this podcast is going out. And uh, Domini, um, if you can send me through your business links and everything like that, we'll make sure they go in the session notes and the podcast notes so people can check out where you are. And obviously, guys, when you're listening, if you've got questions for Domini, just give her a quick shout.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's lovely.
SPEAKER_00Amazing, guys. Thank you so much for tuning into this episode. We will catch up with you very soon. Take care.
SPEAKER_01Thank you.