So one of the things I often see being wrongly advised is “never groom a dog on the floor” 😢 When someone tries to convince you that a dog will never associate calm behaviours on the floor, it only shows their lack of knowledge in behaviour and emotional safety. There are MANY circumstances where floor grooming can be a good way to de-escalate stress, specifically when it comes to: 👉🏻 dogs who have had traumatic grooming experiences involving grooming tables and/or restraints. 👉🏻 or where a dog feels emotionally and physically more stable being away from heights, and where they have the ability to move away. In the case study I’ve attached below, Harry felt most comfortable in the comfort of his OWN home, in the PRESENCE OF his caregivers, while ON THE FLOOR. To give you a little bit of context, Harry was a geriatric, blind, and partially deaf, Westie with diabetes. He couldn’t cope with a conventional grooming process. Instead, his grooming plan went a little like this: 🛁 He was bathed and dried the night before I visited by his main caregiver, to significantly reduce groom time. 🕰️ We built up his confidence gradually over weekly, 20-minute sessions until he knew and was familiar with my smell, voice, and all of the tools I intended to use. ✂️ And after around 2 months of introducing the process using positive reinforcements and lots of patience, we got to this point right here! Harry would relax so much so that he would often dose throughout his comfort groom — he would occasionally move away for a rest, but he would return when ready. My sessions were never longer than 30-minutes, but in that time, all of the necessary trimming, clipping and nail dremeling took place without stress 🐾 To his carers, this was worth the world and more - they paid me more than my hourly rate because they SAW my value 🩷 But the money was a secondary benefit to me, because to be able to make welfare grooming a respectful and dignified experience for the last months of a dog’s life, is one of the most gratifying feelings you can ever have.

Share one of your favourite tips in helping to reduce stress in dogs during grooming! Remember to keep it within HGA Ethical Pledge (any aversive suggestions will be deleted).

I have to share this- I bought a small tangle teaser off Temu (I know but keep reading!) and OMG it is literally the ONLY brush that my two clients, who HATE anything touching their faces, will accept!! It has been a literal game changer and only cost 95p!!! Im not sure if I’m allowed to share a pic of the brush or even if this post is allowed, but if Stephanie oks it I’ll gladly share. I’m honestly over the moon as I thought these dogs were going to have to have their faces shaved. I wanted to share cos it’s such a simple solution that can be used by guardians at home at such little expense it’s got to be worth a try surely??

I was just researching environmentally friendly alternatives for cleaning scissors. I found two products, On Nature's Side and Disicide, I wonders if anyone had experience of using these. Or any other suggestions…

Hey everyone! 👋 While we wait for launch day, I thought I'd share a recent post I published all about: unrealistic expectations. This one is targeted at groomers, but for those of you who are solely dog guardians, I would suggest you take a moment to read it too as you might gain a different perspective on things when it comes to what we want, versus, what our dog needs. Most of my blog posts are educational in nature and contain some really good bits of information that you can use in pursuit of providing dogs with a more holistic, and ethical approach to care. You can read it below👇 https://stephaniezikmann.com/the-demanding-carer-how-to-serve-dogs-while-still-protecting-ourselves-from-unrealistic-expectations/ And while we're here, let's see if we can kickstart some engagement with a poll! My question is: Do you feel you place unrealistic expectations on yourself when it comes to achieving the perfect groom every time? Let me know!