Dog Grooming
The Academy of Pet Careers Raises the Bar for Pet Education with New $6 Million Facility
ST LOUIS, MO – January 7, 2020 – The demand for educated pet professionals is drastically increasing. With this change, The Academy of Pet Careers has outgrown their 5,000 square foot facility and, in the spring of 2020, will open the doors of their new 35,000 square foot educational center. The facility will be located…
Read MoreTips to Improve Your “All Over Trims”
It is important for dog groomers to know how to make all over trims look good, despite not having much fur to work with. Even if a dog is being trimmed short due to matting, we should try to make the trim look cute. Here are some helpful hints. Fluff Drying All Over Trims…
Read MoreSequential Overload in Pets
Stress isn’t all bad. Stress is needed to avoid potential dangers; it’s part of animals’ natural responses to threats: if they don’t respond to threats in nature, they don’t survive! Some level of good stress (eustress) is even needed for learning. Learn more in this blog on The Canine Learning Stress-O-Meter. Certainly, too…
Read MoreHow Much Stress Is Too Much Stress?
In the force free training world (aka positive reinforcement), we try to minimize the amount of stress our pets experience during training. But in order to answer how much stress is too much stress, we must first understand a little bit more about “stress.” Types of Stress There are two types of stress an…
Read MoreWhen Medical Problems Are Found in Grooming
Assessing Medical Problems Most of the dogs that we groom see the groomer more often than they see their vet. It’s important for us as groomers to be an additional set of eyes. During grooming we often find problems that owners weren’t aware of or we take a closer look at something that they’re…
Read More9 Tips to Improve the Longevity of Your Grooming Career
The grooming job is hard work. We can take steps to keep ourselves healthy and strong and to be able to continue grooming as long as we would like. I’ve accumulated the following 9 tips to help you improve the longevity of your grooming career. 1. Ear Protection The noise from dryers, shop vacs,…
Read MoreTalking to Owners About Behavior Problems In Grooming
When we’re grooming a dog who is stressed, scared, aggressive, or even overly silly the risk of an accident or injury goes up. For many years the grooming industry has completed trims and grooms on dogs without doing much about the behavior problem. It’s common for our customers to think that it’s our job to…
Read MoreGiving Our Pets Choices
So much of our pets’ lives are dictated by us. We determine when they have access to outside, food, water, resting areas and games. We decide what food they eat. We restrict our dogs’ movements by attaching a leash to them when we take them out. We determine when, or if, they have play dates…
Read MoreThe Power of Happy Visits
Is your dog afraid to go to the vet’s office or grooming salon? Do they resist going through the door? Does she pant, pace or drool? Does she suddenly start shedding while waiting in the lobby? You and your dog are not alone. And when one dog is fearful, they exude stress hormones which every…
Read MoreThe Myth of Reinforcing Fear
The Myth of Reinforcing Fear There is a school of thought in the training world that says you shouldn’t comfort or give treats to a frightened dog because you are reinforcing fear. For example, if your dog is frightened while getting groomed, you should not stroke them or distract them with treats because this could…
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