Dog Grooming Fiasco Part Four: Prevention

Dogs that enjoy visiting the groomers do not need to be wrangled like rodeo stock. When Lexi returned from the groomer last week with bruises on her belly, her family realized that is what happened to her. To prevent incidents like this from occurring, the blogs this week focused on making grooming a delightful experience.

The following are more ideas that can be incorporated into the grooming experience so that it’s a pleasure for everyone:

Essential oils evoke emotions in pets just as they do in people. For many pets, the essential oil from www.YoungLiving.org called Peace and Calming creates a feeling of peace. Peace & Calming® contains Tangerine (Citrus nobilis), orange (Citrus aurantium), ylang ylang (Cananga odorata), patchouli (Pogostemon cablin) and blue tansy (Tanacetum annuum). Either place the oil on the pet’s collar where it envelops the head or diffuse it into the grooming area. Some pets, and some people, don’t like essential oils. If that is the case, use calming pheromones Felieway and D.A.P. instead.

2. For pets that are food driven, treats are another way to ensure the pet is happy and remains calm. Secure a Cong or similar hard plastic toy that can be washed so that it is in front of the pet’s nose while it’s being groomed. Stuff the toy with whatever treats the family approves and make sure the pet comes hungry to the grooming salon.

3. A body wrap is used to calm thunder-phobic dogs, and might help anxious dogs while they are being clipped. The wrap will interfere with shampooing and drying, but will work to calm some dogs while their faces, legs, tails are being clipped. Wraps can be purchased or can be homemade with Ace bandages. Tellington Touch practitioners are good sources of information for how to apply a wrap.

4. Pharmaceutical medications that calm anxious pets include diazepam and acepromazine. Because acepromazine causes some pets to react with hostility and violence, diazepam is often a better choice. Medicated pets can still bite so it is important to use the precautions one normally does when grooming. Tranquilized pets can also learn that being groomed is not an ordeal, although they will learn this more slowly than pets who are not tranquilized. To help the tranquilized pet learn to relax while being groomed, use all the calming techniques you normally employ: pheromones, essential oils, music, calming touch, etc. Your goal is to create an experience that allows the pet to be groomed without tranquilizing medication.

Although the pheromones, calming music, essential oils, and distracting treats are highly effective, if groomers cut, nip, sting, squish, or rodeo a pet, any peaceful feeling a pet has is overridden by anxiety and restlessness. In addition to using calming techniques, groomers must cultivate a professional touch.

Why should groomers go through all this work? Just to prevent fiascos like the bruising on Jazz’s body? Preventing fiascos is great, but it is even more important that groomers become knowledgeable, caring professionals able to use and understand all the latest behavioral techniques. Groomers with this reputation will be able to charge more for their services and will enjoy their work more.

My advice to Mary and Steve was that they first help Lexi start to heal by immediately giving a homeopathic for bruising that contains arnica and Yunnan Paiyo. Then, they should take photos of Lexi’s abdomen and discuss the situation with the groomer. If they feel the groomer was negligent, they should write a letter of complaint and give a copy to the Better Business Bureau. In the future, Lexi should be groomed by a professional who puts her at ease.