Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome to the business of pet care. I'm Dara Forleo, here to pull back the curtains on what's really happening in the pet industry.
Welcome to the business of pet care where we are going behind the scenes of the grooming table, the training mat and the heartbeat of every pet professional's business. I'm your host, Derek Orleo and today with me is Chrissy Neumeyer Smith. She is a master groomer behavior specialist and beyond that, Chrissy has a load of other titles that go with her name.
She is the host of an award winning podcast named or called Creating Great Grooming Dogs. And she is actually a master certified grooming expert and a canine behavior consultant. She is very passionate about making sure that dogs are comfortable with grooming, with handling, and really making sure that their health and happiness is the first priority. So today Chrissy is here to talk about how safety is not just a liability, it's, it's the foundation for care, for trust and long term success in grooming. So, Chrissy, welcome to the business Effect Care.
How about started with, with, you know, the gaps that are most seen and the gaps that most groomers don't even realize they have.
[00:01:34] Speaker B: All right, so I would say one of those big gaps is the feeling that the haircut is the most important thing and the finished look is the most important thing. And those things are important, they're just not the most important part. So if we step back and go, well, wait a minute, is this pet having a pleasant experience and are we preparing them for a lifetime of grooming? Because this moment is really important. We can teach them to hate it in just a split second. And we don't want to teach them to hate it.
[00:02:08] Speaker A: That is so true. You do. We do not want to.
Because just thinking about it, I mean, this is.
Grooming is a part of their life. And what does that, what does that look like?
[00:02:23] Speaker B: Yeah. So grooming is part of their life for their entire lifespan. And I think a lot of people don't think about that. In the very beginning, we're really patient with puppies, but then we forget that a dog is going to live to be 15. So right now, in 2025, puppies being born right now will have grooming needs until 2040.
And I think for some people that that helps them go, oh my gosh, if I know this, this could be something that we need to work on all the time, wouldn't we make sure that these pets feel comfortable with it? We have a duty to help them feel comfortable with the Kind of things that we're doing to them, on them and around them for their lifetime because they are captive animals.
[00:03:11] Speaker A: They, they are. And such a big part of our lives.
What, what are some of the common safety mistakes that, that you are currently seeing maybe groomers make, especially when they're in a hurry.
[00:03:26] Speaker B: One of the most common mistakes I see is when we're in a hurry. I say we because I'm a groomer too. When we're in a hurry and forgetting that there is a living creature under our hands that we're trying to work on, it is really easy to say, what if I add another strap? What if I put on a muzzle? We just get it done. It's only going to take a minute. He's only going to be scared for a couple of seconds. It's not a big deal.
But what if that is really traumatizing for a pet? Or what if that adding another strap is harmful? What if we are accidentally injuring pets when we do things like that And a lot of our owners think, well, you can put a muzzle on and then nobody gets bit and everything will be safe. But that doesn't mean that everything is safe.
[00:04:14] Speaker A: No, it does not. And setting that up, that kind of goes right into the next question that I really think is important is why do you think it is so hard for groomers to stay focused on safety in the salon or whether they're busy or short staffed? Do you, do you see a connection there?
[00:04:36] Speaker B: I think they get really busy and they are often really focused on getting the job done, thinking that they're selling a haircut. But what we're selling are haircutting services.
So I think it's really easy to think I have to get this done and if not, I don't know how to charge these people.
I haven't completed my job.
But your job is more than the haircut. And also I think it's really easy to lose track of time and not know how to effectively talk to owners and help them understand that there are safety concerns.
Behavior problems are when dogs get hurt, people get hurt, equipment gets broken.
We lose money on behavior problems if we're not working on teaching the pets to be comfortable with it. And long term trust is super important and doable. I think a lot of groomers don't realize that we can teach the dogs to be good.
So I think there's a little bit going on there where maybe owners and trainers aren't thinking about how we can teach dogs to be comfortable with what is an extended standstay with a whole bunch of equipment.
[00:05:46] Speaker A: Yeah. So that is.
That's heartfelt. There it is.
Can you walk us through, like, what would a small change that makes a big difference for both the pets and the groomer.
[00:06:04] Speaker B: One of the biggest changes is to step back from the idea that you need to get the haircut finished and to have the conversation about behavior before we see a behavior problem so that our owners are already expecting. Well, if he gets nervous, if he gets scared, if he behaves aggressively, aggressively, my groomer is going to help my dog calm down, see if we can continue, maybe try another tool, try a different way, see what we can do to help them be comfortable. I will still be paying for my grooming even if it is not perfect and even if it's not complete. And that, that helps an owner understand what they're buying. And it helps a groomer be able to not have the social pressure that they have to make their owner happy. And they can focus in on what the job really is and what the important part is in this moment, which is if I teach him to be good, now I can have a dog who's good for 15 years or 14 or 10. It doesn't even need to be a puppy. It could be a dog that you adopted at 7 or 8 years old. That we're still have a number of grooming sessions to happen throughout their life.
[00:07:18] Speaker A: That, that's a great lead into, you know, for pet owners who, who are expecting a perfectly groomed pet. A lot of the times is that that's something that I know you teach on this and, and not just pets, how to be good at it. But, but what's a scenario with maybe one of your clients that you've had and saw that transformation of a customer that expects this and gets that.
[00:07:54] Speaker B: So I have an unfair advantage in the grooming world because I'm a house call groomer and my owners are in the room and it makes it a lot easier. They often come to me because they know they have a behavior problem. And other groomers have said, like, listen, this is dangerous and I'm not going to groom him anymore.
Which I think is responsible, but also leaves a lot of owners wondering, well, where can I go? So I take those dogs, but I talk to the owners and they are in the room going, oh my goodness, I did not know how much goes into grooming. I didn't know how much my pet was going to need to be able to understand.
And I didn't know that he could learn it. So when they start seeing Wait a minute. This dog is. He's actually learning this. He's being more comfortable with you. Sometimes they just need that proof of concept to be able to move forward. And I think sometimes groomers need that too, to see like, that we can help a pet be comfortable and see improvement. And it doesn't mean that it's all going to happen at once, but we can do it, and we can do it incrementally and slowly and gently and take it at that dog's pace. And that it's important because if we do it right, it's foundation work, and those behaviors don't come back later.
[00:09:10] Speaker A: I love that, that foundation work. Can you embellish on that a bit more what that means?
[00:09:18] Speaker B: Yeah. So if we get a puppy, I think most of us are thinking, or get a new dog, and we're like, okay, we need to teach him about everything in our house. If he's going to be around kids, we need to teach him about kids. If he's going to be around boats, we're going to teach him about boats. But we don't think about, are we going to teach him about grooming? Are we going to teach him about all the things that people are going to do? And part of that problem is that unless you're a dog groomer, you might not know the kind of things that we need to do.
So there's a lot to dog grooming that I think a lot of owners are not expecting. They're like, I massage his feet, he should be fine, and that's a great start.
But massaging his feet is not enough.
Massaging their feet is a beginning, but groomers are doing nail trimming. That's very different than a foot massage.
Groomers are scrubbing in shampoo, picking pine pitch out from between their toes.
We do a lot of other things that are different than foot massages.
So just a broader view of what is expected of their dog so that they can help teach them how to be good for it. In the beginning, part of this falls on owners, and I'm trying to make sure that owners have the resources they need to be able to do.
[00:10:33] Speaker A: It'S.
It is tough for our industry to. To put. And I say our industry because I am a retired groomer also for those out there watching and listening and, you know, our. Our best source of. Of education is to not just be teaching and working with groomers, but also to teach the owners and, and you and your pets alongside of us.
So, Chrissy, your approach to safety is just so both practical and it's so powerful and so needed in the pet care industry.
And for those who are watching who want to learn more or even connect with you, where can they find you?
[00:11:19] Speaker B: So I have a website for my podcast and it's creatinggreatgroomingdogs.com there are are episodes specifically for owners, so you don't even need to know how to do podcasts or find podcasts. You can go to the website, you can look there. I try to make blog posts once in a while, but my main format is the, is the audio version of episodes. You can find me on Facebook or LinkedIn. Any of those links are also on the, on the website.
[00:11:47] Speaker A: Excellent. Excellent. Well, hey, everyone, stay tuned. We've got a lot more coming back and we have some more questions for Chrissy and hopefully she's going to help us solve some problems of the universe.
So we will be right back. We'll be right back. Do not go anywhere. This is the business of pet care. And we're back. I am Dara Forleo and this is the business of pet care where the conversation continues.
We are back with Christine Meyer Smith who works bridges and grooming and behavior cases and science and bridges all of this together. In this segment, we are going to jump into talking about some major stress points and helping fearful dogs feel safe and seen and supported.
Welcome back. And Chrissy, you know, a lot of the problems that many face, especially with grooming, is the, the struggle of, of working and with fearful and anxious and, and those nervous pets. And it just feels like maybe it could be a battle instead of helping them overcome.
So in these cases, why do so many dogs fear grooming? What, what is, is that history of mistreatment?
[00:13:18] Speaker B: So I think a lot of dogs fear grooming in general because we do a lot of weird stuff and things and I say stuff and things a lot because we have a lot of equipment. Every groomer has their own separate equipment. So even if they go from one groomer to another groomer, the chances are they're going to find different equipment, things that make a different noise, look a little different, smell a little different. But we have these issues because there are so many pieces to what we're doing. And for us to think about these nervous dogs, they might just be part of their character, not necessarily that something has gone wrong. And I think if we think about humans that we know who are anxious, you know, everybody knows someone, they would never call for a ride to the, to the hospital.
You know, like, you'd be like, no, I, she'd fall apart if I asked for a ride to the hospital, that we all know people like that. So for us to be able to say, well, maybe that's part of this dog's character and how do we help that dog and be, feel supported and help them be good for it without trying to just get it done.
Just trying to get it done is the traumatizing part. If someone is saying, please, please stop, please, please stop. I'm not comfortable with this. And we're like, it'll be fine. And we just.
There's a lot of patience and loving traumatizing of dogs and it's still traumatic even if your heart was in the right place. Because tell you what, groomers love dogs. Even the stuff that I see that I'm totally against, they are doing it out of a place of. I think I'm doing what's best for this pet.
But sometimes we have to think about is this part of this pet's character? Can we help them learn to be, to cope with things better? And a lot of people think their aggressive dogs are just jerks, quote unquote jerks. But what is often happening is they behave aggressively because they are uncomfortable with something.
[00:15:21] Speaker A: Yeah, so what, what are some early signs that, that they might be giving or are there any blind spots that, that groomers are, are totally missing? Because again, I know you teach on this in depth.
How can they spot this? How can an owner spot this?
[00:15:42] Speaker B: So I think groomers, their blind spot is they think everything is a grooming problem.
But so many of these problems are happening at home also.
So if you are an owner and your dog is having difficulty just managing sleeping on the sofa during the day, they're probably going to have a real difficult time in a grooming setting where now there are a lot of expectations, a lot of handling and a lot of focus that they can't cope with. And yet that groomer is probably thinking they have a nail trim problem or a grooming problem when really this dog is uncomfortable with their day to day life. And then we increased the difficulty by bringing them to a grooming shop.
I hope that answers it.
[00:16:25] Speaker A: Yeah, it stems more questions always. But yeah. So I mean, and, and that being said, how, how should, how should you start building trust with this nervous dog? Even, even before getting them maybe on the table or into the tub, you know, we're quick to move them and hustle them through. So what is, is something to start building that trust.
[00:16:56] Speaker B: So to start building that trust, I think it's really important for us to step Back and assess where this pet is calm. Is there a point where they are calm? Because that's the point that we want to start at where they're, I call it the three Cs. Calm, comfortable and cooperative. And we can measure those. If a dog is panting, they are not calm. Calm is a loose body, soft eyes, maybe their jaws open a little bit and they're kind of smiling. That's calm. And most of the time we aren't even starting with that.
So we want to take what they're comfortable with and expand outward from there and then comfortable. Are they comfortable physically? Because some of our dogs have health problems that we're not thinking about. Puppies are teething. That's a big health problem. They're sore.
Older dogs have joint issues often some of our younger dogs, even though they're adults, their legs are kind of twisted. They have some issues going on. So we need to think about are they comfortable or not.
And then cooperative is where we meet them part way.
It's not calm. Comfortable in obedience. We want to meet them part way. And that could be watching for any of those signs where they ask us to stop when they say, I'm not ready. Not everything is a refusal. Sometimes it's a, oh, wait, wait, wait, I'm not ready. And yet we often take it as a refusal and either stop completely or continue going. But there's a middle ground where we can say, how can I help you relax and try it again.
[00:18:28] Speaker A: Can, can you share a personal story?
[00:18:32] Speaker B: Personal story?
[00:18:34] Speaker A: Yeah, something.
How, how did you get into working with. With this? Because I know there are a lot of. I'm gonna probably say it a little harshly, but there are a lot of self proclaimed grooming behavior experts out there.
How, how did you get this start?
[00:18:57] Speaker B: So I started at an agricultural high school for animal science and my first job was working at a boarding kennel. And I was a kennel attendant. I was 14, it was 1986. And I know, right?
But I my lunch break, I was watching the groomers groom and just fascinated. And then I'd stay after work for the training classes because that was just as fascinating. So I had been doing both care all along and really love both of them, but they do not naturally merge. And it took me a long time to get those two to merge together to say, well, wait a minute, what if I treat this like a training session instead of a grooming session? Instead of selling haircuts, we should be selling haircutting services. And if a pet isn't prepared for our services we should be thinking about behavior services to teach them about grooming services.
And yet we still see. But he has to get finished.
And then we also have to help our owners understand that. What if we bring him in more often when he does not need to be completed?
And that's part of our problem. If you only bring a pet in once every eight weeks, the chances of them learning it are smaller because they're not getting enough repetition. We learn through repetition.
And if you'll indulge me for a second, one of the examples I give people is if I hand you knitting needles and a ball of yarn and show you some stuff, what will you remember in eight weeks?
The only thing you're going to remember is how you felt about it, how I made you feel about it. You're likely to not remember anything.
So a part of this is really helping the pets feel comfortable and making that important.
[00:20:44] Speaker A: It is very, very true. I, I got a quick. You know, our Chihuahua mix has a really bad time with her nails, and it's been a long process of getting her to let me really do them without the screaming and the squealing and the, the flailing that she had. And now as long as I hold her the right and put her in the right place. And I just found recently now that tapping her nail and telling her, are you ready? Are you ready? Because I'm gonna click and then do it and give her pray. And she's like, oh, this isn't so bad.
[00:21:28] Speaker B: So I didn't know where you were gonna go next.
[00:21:31] Speaker A: Yeah, right. She knew what was coming, but. And it's just on her front nails. So, you know, I, I appreciate, I know every. The compassion and everything that you do, and you're.
Again, so for our viewers who, who really want to follow along with what you're doing and where you're going with this, how about bringing.
Bringing a new level of pet care to their own business?
Where. Where can they find you?
[00:22:01] Speaker B: Creatinggreatgroomingdogs.com you can also find me on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, all of those. But creating great groomingdogs.com has every link for everything.
And it's also someplace that as an owner, you can listen to shows. I try to make every episode something that is accessible to owners and groomers and trainers and any other pet pro who is trying to teach pets to be good for grooming and other types of care. And that's also part of it, too. There's a lot of other types of care, and if we can teach them to be good for grooming. It often directly relates to how they are for the vet visit too.
[00:22:40] Speaker A: Yes, so true. Oh, I can't wait. We'll be right back. And we are going to get more into what is coming up next.
We'll see you in a little bit, so hopefully stay tuned. And we'll be right back.
We'll be right back. Do not go anywhere. This is the business of pet care. And we're back. I am Dara Forleo and this is the business of pet care, where the conversation continues.
And we are back with Christy Neumeyer Smith, a safety first grooming specialist who not only has her own podcast, but an educational platform that is changing how groomers show for their clients. This segment is all about being very loud today. Wow. This segment is all about using safety is part of your business identity and messaging.
So starting off, Chrissy, you know, one thing you had mentioned earlier was about how people price themselves and how groomers are showcasing themselves. So why does safe group. What, what does, I'm sorry, what does safe grooming look like for from the pet owners point of view?
[00:23:58] Speaker B: So, pet owners, I want you to think that your dog should be feeling safe the entire time they're being groomed.
I want you to know that there are groomers out there who mean well but will just keep adding straps. And the sad truth is that dogs get injured that way and dogs have died that way.
And I don't say that lightly and I'm not trying to be dramatic, but. But that is definitely true. So you want someone who's going to pause if your dog is scared instead of adding more equipment or adding more people, even if that's the way you always did it with your last dog or the vet said it would be fine or whatever story we might have heard, it's something that you only have to see it once to realize this is a very, very real risk and it is happening to dogs. So it's important for your pet to feel safe and it's important for your groomer to be prioritizing that. Also, dogs who are very, very safe for grooming and feel comfortable with it, we can do our best work. Groomers are artists and we want that dog to look perfect. Any groomer out there, if you're like, I want him to be long, I want him to be fluffy and I want his face to look this way, they want to do that for you. We need the dog to be able to be equipped to handle that. We use sharp tools on moving objects. And every one of Our tools could hurt a dog.
[00:25:27] Speaker A: That is, I think a lot of people maybe not know that or understand that.
And I want to go back to what you said a little bit ago and just ask, you know, being in the industry myself, right there with you.
There are a lot of viral videos going around right now that are really causing some negativity in the industry. And I, I did a blog post about it for the academy just because I wanted to bring some light to it.
And, you know, you and I have had multiple conversations about it.
What, what is your perspective on that and what do we need to do to make this change?
[00:26:16] Speaker B: I think a lot of groomers are trying their best, but again, this is prioritizing the haircut. So they're like, well, I'll add this other strap and then he can't move and I can get the things I need done.
But if we are adding more straps, whether that be a grooming loop, a second connection, belly band, hammock, there are all sorts of crazy things happening out there.
What we're doing is we're strapping them down and getting it done, which is really scary for dogs. And if they struggle against those kind of restraints, they are going to hurt themselves. And there are a lot of groomers who honestly believe that they have been trained to use those things safely, who maybe are not using them safely. The safe way of using that type of equipment is to use it to help the pet feel more comfortable. And I'm not against any of this equipment or necessarily for this equipment, but the idea is, is it going to help this pet feel more saf.
Like they're not going to fall off the table. That's a great use for a belly band, you know, so that they don't feel like they're going to fall the hammock. It might be for a dog who has bad joints so that they aren't feeling like they have to put all of their weight on three legs when four legs was hard enough. A lot of these tools have a great use, but they are being misused in a way that's just, I need to get the job done. And some of these videos are really horrific and have thousands of likes. I mean, I just can't imagine why you can look at animals who are crying out and struggling and vocalizing and still think that this is wonderful. I just don't understand it.
[00:27:57] Speaker A: No, it's. And, and I, I. We need to bring awareness to pet owners that are seeing this because this is, is it safe to say, a disservice to all of us as groomers, seeing this and watching this go viral and knowing that there's so many of us that are just cringing and going, but that's not how it's supposed to be.
You know, we want to get that message out to the owners. And I know that you have some more thoughts on that. Pets.
[00:28:33] Speaker B: I do.
[00:28:34] Speaker A: Lots of them go for it. This is your time.
[00:28:38] Speaker B: There you go. Well, and I think if we, if we want owners to know what to look for, the things to look for is that grooming, if you're doing it right, if you're grooming a behavior case, it should look as interesting as watching paint dry.
The pet is never afraid. And maybe you don't get things done that time, but it should be boring.
And that's why it doesn't make for really fantastic videos. And that's why I get, you know, people saying, but what would you do? If he's twirling and screaming, I'm like, that's four steps past what he could handle. We don't let them get that scared. It's a different mindset, and many of us weren't taught that way. And the grooming industry is sort of run like a medieval guild. You learn from someone who learned from someone and often never question the things that you've learned.
So there are things that are really outdated and misguided that are still being taught even though they have been outdated for as long as that groomer has been alive. I say that as someone who has been grooming for a long time.
You know, if you're in your early 20s and you're still doing some of this old school stuff, you need to know that's from the 80s and it's not okay.
[00:29:51] Speaker A: Yeah. And that is.
It's so scary.
[00:29:54] Speaker B: And a lot of groomers tell me, I had no idea I was being trained to do things that weren't safe. And I'm like, well, join us. The water's fine. Join us. I'm happy to teach that. I. I've been there. I've done things that I would. I was taught to do, and I learned better and had to forgive myself for what I did when I didn't know.
[00:30:16] Speaker A: We. We've all been there. I mean, we start somewhere. And education is so important that it's really not a good place to get your.
I don't want to say it's not. It's not good to, to get your knowledge through social media, because social media wasn't meant to be a teaching platform. It was meant to Be visual, right? It was meant to be set up for talking about what you're doing what, or showcasing yourself as a business. But, but now it's kind of taken a, a spin off of that and become a platform for just really loosey goosey, right? Like, how can, how can grooming brands grow from this? How can they differentiate themselves?
[00:31:08] Speaker B: So one of the things I want people to think about is if the dog or cat or any other pet were leaving the review, what review would they leave?
And I think for a lot of groomers, they're like, whoa, I'm not sure that pet would leave a good review, you know, and that, that can help us, like, have our emotional compass, you know, to help us rein in what we're doing. Like, wait a minute, I have to think about this dog, this dog in this moment. And, and also know that what we do affects the rest of this dog's life.
So let's just teach them to be good for it. The other part, I think is it makes it a little bit easier for people if I say the idea of fighting with this dog every single time for 15 years of their life, six times a year, maybe it's 12 times a year for 15 years. Makes no sense to me as a dog trainer. I'm like, that's ridiculous. It makes no sense.
So sometimes that's what people need to hear. Like, ooh, yeah, that doesn't make sense. You know, if you knew you were going to have the problem every single time, you know, it's sort of like saying, oh, no, the car's out of gas. What could I have done? I could have planned ahead, you know, and, and just know that there are things we can do and to explore those.
[00:32:26] Speaker A: Yeah, so, so true.
Real quick, I got one more question and then we'll, we'll go. But how do, how, how do pet owners, how do they ask or what should they do to ask? How do they know that their pet's going to be safe with so and so? How do I know my pet's going to be safe with you? What, what, what's the best answer for them that they should be looking for or listening for?
[00:32:52] Speaker B: I would like every pet owner to ask their groomer, what happens if my pet becomes afraid? How do you handle it if my pet behaves aggressively?
How do you respond if my pet gets really nervous or sits or tries to run away and get a feel for what those groomers responses are? Because you might hear things like, hey, we're just going to calm them down again and see what we can get done. And then hopefully they would ask you, do you suspect that this is the way your pet would react? Because we need to talk about that.
But you might also hear things like, don't worry, we don't let dogs get away with that here. And yeah, take your pet and run. Don't stay there.
Like, that's not a good answer.
[00:33:39] Speaker A: Yeah. And trust your gut.
Trust your gut because you're gonna know. But Chrissy, this kind of messaging is great for every pet professional and, and all the pet owners for groomers out there once again who are looking to elevate themselves and they want to talk about this safety. How can they connect with you?
[00:34:03] Speaker B: Creating great groomingdogs.com come find me. I'm on Facebook, I'm on Instagram, all those other things. Christina Meyer Smith.
I do teach the master groomer behavior specialist diploma program at the whole pet Grooming Academy. I've got a lot of stuff going on, but I am happy to answer questions and I often have my listeners just go ahead and they just text me directly because we're friends. So that's how things work.
[00:34:28] Speaker A: That's what happens. We get to know everyone.
So we will be back if you guys are loving this and want to learn more, we are going to get back into some more heart and safety right after this message.
We'll be right back. Do not go anywhere. This is the business of pet Care. And we're back. I am Dara Forleo and this is the business of Pet Care where the conversation continues.
So getting back in, this is our final segment and we have been exploring all kinds of challenges that face grooming salon owners and pet groomers all over the world.
And we are going to get back with Chrissy and talk more about how she has led grooming teams and mentored new professionals and how her foundation and everything has been really boosted a lot of areas of our industry including, and I'm gonna do a little pitch here saying that the foundation of the whole pet grooming academy is based all around Chrissy and her podcast. So, Chrissy, come on back. What do we say? How are you know this is your programming is doing what you teach is so needed in the industry. And over the last 10 years I have changed myself and my reasoning and believing based off of what I have learned from you and the struggles are so real for other professionals.
How, how has this since, since you've started teaching and nurturing and, and growing this podcast? What, what's this journey been like for you?
[00:36:24] Speaker B: So I started the podcast Thinking I'm not sure if groomers are ready to hear it. And what I quickly learned was there were a lot of groomers out there, like, what do we do? And they needed to hear it, and they enjoy it. I have a pretty nice following of people who are like, yes, teach us more. Oh, my God, that makes so much sense. Why didn't I.
And really, it comes down to, I want you to feel like I'm always making progress. And sometimes, like, when I was, like, teaching other groomers, I'm like, but hold on a second, because what you're doing right now is scary. Let's just make it not scary. And sometimes it's just that easy, like, oh, I could hold him differently, or do it slower or break things up differently and see results that they didn't think were possible. And so much of it feels like common sense when, you know. But until someone tells you or shows you or demonstrates on the very dog that you were having a problem with, it doesn't necessarily make sense. And so sometimes I've had people go, well, fine, you try. And they're like, why is he so different for you?
And it's because I can teach you how to do it.
It's not me. It's a process. It's about thinking about helping the dog be comfortable. And it can be done.
There are some dogs that have health problems that are always going to have some issues, but the healthy dog can be taught to be a safe dog. And we do it every day. It's. It's. It's not out of reach, and it's not necessarily more than what you're already doing, but you can't necessarily. You can't just go ahead and do a haircut. You can't be like, okay, and let's. Let's just get it done, you know? Yeah.
[00:38:06] Speaker A: So one of the. The struggles that we see a lot and that I. I talk to a lot of people on the phone who are calling into the school is.
But my boss won't let me, or I get weird looks from my co workers or how. How can you.
[00:38:31] Speaker B: I can't let him leave looking like that. People will do good haircuts. Yeah.
[00:38:37] Speaker A: Yeah. How do you. How do you boost a salon mentality to. To embrace this? Is. Is that even a thing?
[00:38:45] Speaker B: So actually, it can start off with, there's usually someone who's thinking only about, like, I want the dogs to be comfortable, and that's a great place to start. But for somebody who doesn't understand the discomfort of grooming, maybe it's a boss who isn't even a groomer. If we break it down and say behavior problems are. When dogs get hurt, people get hurt, equipment gets broken, and customers get upset and tell all of their friends and you're out of business.
Behavior problems that are mismanaged cost us a lot of money.
And sometimes that's the way to reach them. Oh, it'll cost us money. Well, tell us how we can save money and, and burnout. A lot of groomers burn out because this is not what they thought they were signing up for. They wanted to love on dogs. And you can.
I can be a groomer and love on dogs. You can enjoy every minute.
[00:39:37] Speaker A: We get that. That stereotype. You play with dogs all day sometimes there's really cute ones that we play with all day too.
[00:39:48] Speaker B: But you should be enjoying the dogs. You should be able to still enjoy it. If you're, if you're afraid that a dog is going to be. Act aggressively or be really hard to handle, then you're not preparing well for safety.
And let's step back and go, wait a minute. If I'm getting stressed out, then it's not safe. Do you think that dog trainers get stressed out every time they have an untrained dog? Of course not. That's the job.
So it's not that every groomer has to work on behavior problems, but if they are going to, they need to be prepared for safety, and that lets a lot of that stress go.
[00:40:25] Speaker A: I, I love that you said about introducing the, the financial aspects of that to a owner's attention because we spend a ton of money on our equipment, and the last thing you want to do is have to replace it because it gets damaged. And, and that's one thing. You see, I'm going to go back to the way the dogs. You've probably seen them hanging from the bar on the table, belly band facing.
[00:40:56] Speaker B: This way and a grooming loop facing the other way. And.
Yeah, just trying to keep them still, you know, which is really misguided.
[00:41:07] Speaker A: Well, what's the best way to, to handle that?
[00:41:11] Speaker B: So we want them to be learning to stay still. And I think that a lot of people vilify the grooming loop, which, by the way, is not a grooming noose. For over 20 years, we've been trying to get people to call it a grooming loop. It's just your leash when you're on a grooming table. But most of our dogs are used to collars and leashes, so it makes sense for them. And they go, oh, I'm attached to something. I should probably settle down. And you can use things like a belly band. If a dog is really nervous and they feel like they're going to fall over or maybe have some issues that make it hard for them to stand and as something to help them. But we can't just keep adding more straps and adding more equipment. And when we do, we are very likely to hurt an animal. And the day after an accident, it is so clear that it was not worth it. And I don't want owners to feel like, oh, my God, I didn't know that not stopping could, could cause this kind of injury to my pet. I would not have prioritized the haircut. And that's what we hear from owners whose pets have been injured or died. Like, oh, my God, why didn't they stop?
But that same owner might have been pressuring the groomer to get everything perfect for years. And we need groomers to really say, I'm the professional and I know what's safe and what's not.
And, and sometimes, you know, like I said, the money comes down to part of what we're doing. I mean, it is a business, it's not a charity. But also, I think a lot of things happen because people are saying, but I won't get paid if he doesn't look perfect.
But if an owner is on board with, they're trying to help Fluffy feel better about this so that Fluffy can have beautiful haircuts for the rest of their life from here on out, then I think that is really good customer service. The trick is you have to help owners understand. And they're like, yes, treat my dog well. I love that owners want their dogs to be treated well.
[00:43:07] Speaker A: And as we should want to be treating them well, that that's part of our job.
[00:43:12] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And some of the time you look at what an owner wants and you're, and you're trying to explain it to them and maybe they are not on board. And that's okay because you can also say, I'm, I'm in charge of your dog's safety and well being while they're in my care. If I take them in my care and you are not want, you don't want my services, you want something else that I am not willing to do because I know it to be unsafe.
Sort of like getting your brakes repaired. You know, if you bring it to the garage, if they open that up, they have to do the full brake job. You can't just decide that I don't want the Brake lines done. I'll use some duct tape later. Just get the brake pads done. Like, that's not how this works. Your professional knows what's. Yeah, your professional knows what's safe and what's not safe. And as. As dog groomers, we need to help our owners understand or refuse if we can't do it.
[00:44:04] Speaker A: Yep. And there are. And if you can't, it's okay to say no.
It's okay to say no. All right, I want to end this on a great note. So I want to know, how do you celebrate team wins, graduate your. Your student wins around this?
[00:44:25] Speaker B: I love, love, love it when someone tells me that they had a win.
And usually it's just a matter of like, oh, that is fabulous. I love it so much.
It's. It's just so nice to see, even if it's a change in just one dog, that one dog has been changed. That one dog had a great experience, you know, and how beautiful is that? So, yeah, yeah. Sometimes I. I run into people, and we're like. We hug it out. We're so happy because it is. Is such an important part. And a lot of people that did not think it was possible are so thrilled that they found out that it's possible.
[00:45:05] Speaker A: Ah, so true. So true. And. And we need to keep getting that out there, that it is possible that it is not.
You. You can say no, and you can work them through it. Chrissy, you are such an amazing leader. Like, your advice is just so grounded, and you have so much empathy.
It is.
Where can our viewers follow your podcast one more time? Tell us again.
[00:45:33] Speaker B: It is creating great grooming dogs. You can find it anywhere you find podcasts, but you can go to creating great groomingdogs.com and. And listen at the website if you want. You can even send it to your groomer, you can send it to your vet. You can send it to your owners if you're a groomer. But, yeah, creating great groomingdogs.com and right now, I have 208 episodes. There's over 70 hours of free content there.
[00:45:57] Speaker A: Yes. Go listen. Go check her out. Chrissy, thank you so much for being here and bringing your experiences again, your empathy and. And your commitment to safety and respectful dog grooming. To our viewers out there, grooming is totally more than a haircut. It is a relationship. And relationships do nothing but thrive on trust, communication, and care.
Whether you're handling your first nervous puff, if you're leading a team of seasoned pros, safety is a box to check, and it is so valuable to live by. So take what you've learned and hear and listen to here today. Turn it into action.
Build a brand your clients can trust. And build a salon your team is proud of. And most of all, build a practice that every dog is excited to walk into.
I'm host Dara Forleo. Thank you so much for joining us on the business of pet care. And until next time, lead with care and groom with love.
