20/04/2025
🐾This is why I work consent based, in a dog centred way, restraint free.
This is why I put humanity over vanity with every dog. A happy, unstressed dog over aesthetics. Are my grooms perfect? Yes they are to the happy dogs and parents 🐾
This is why I continue to educate myself doing canine body language and behaviour courses🐾
I saw the video and it really is appalling and totally unacceptable
This post below was written by Sue Williamson which is pretty much my words here:=
Yesterday, my Facebook was filled with shares of an horrific grooming post. My old response would have been to immediately post a response which was based purely on my emotional response, so I have taken some time to think about this.
The video was of a doodle type being groomed, on a high table, with both a neck noose and belly strap, both on far too tight to be safe and comfortable for the dog being groomed. The dog was in flight mode, trying its hardest to get out out of the situation, so much the dog managed to flip itself upside down and grab onto the H Bar above the table. Despite the obvious stress of the dog, the groomer thought it appropriate to get someone else in the salon to take a video, and worse still found it funny. The video shared attracted many comments joining in with mocking the dog, and comments criticising the doodle type breeds, and their owners. At no point did the groomer accept her part in the dogs "behaviour" (read communication)
I am not going to share the video as it is too distressing.
This is not an isolated incident recently, and you can guarantee for every video shared, there are going to be many more incidents like this that are not being shared.
This lack of empathy/compassion has to stop, dogs are sentient beings with emotions, and a memory forming brain which will affect them for life. The impact of a negative event such as this, it not just any emotional harm that may have been caused, by I suspect physical harm may also have been caused due to the fitting of the collar and belly strap, two of the most sensitive unprotected parts of a dogs body. The downside is that internal manage may not be detected immediately, and this poor dog may continue to suffer longer term.
On a recent poll I did about why groomers are not taking up further CPD on dog behaviour, there was overwhelming blame put on owners not interested in their dogs emotional welfare, just wanting the groom done. Now whilst there may be an element of this, my experience is that its is not true.
So what can we do going forward for things to change?
Firstly, groomer training is very outdated focussing on the aesthetic finish rather than the emotional welfare of dogs. Groomers need to learn about canine communication, trigger stacking, observations, etc., when to stop the groom, positive reinforcement training techniques (flooding is a common practice), and how to communicate with guardians/carers about how they can help their canine companions cope better, and give honest feedback about how their dog has coped with the groom.
Personally i have had many guardians come to me after being banned from other groomers due to their dogs behaviour, absolutely unaware of which parts of the groom their dog struggles with. Guardians cannot help or seek advice if they do not know the impact grooming has on their dogs.
Secondly, many qualified/existing groomers need to update their canine knowledge skills, particularly communication.
Thirdly, groomers need to start taking responsibility for the behaviour of the dog on the table, by automatically blaming the dog, the breed, the guardians/carers, is a massive cop-out. Yes, there will be dogs where accurate information has not been given, maybe because they are embarrassed but could also be they have not been told by the previous groomer.
Fourthly, guardians/carers start asking more questions of your groomer, ask for feedback, videos, etc. Ask more questions before booking in with a groomer, do just go on recommendations, your dog may be very different for grooming than your friends dog.
Lastly (for this post anyway) let all of us remember that the priority in grooming should be welfare not aesthetics. Aesthetics is something we can work towards when the dogs are calm and relaxed being groomed.
Taking the Grrr Out Of Grooming Dogs
Approved Consent Based Groomer
