Creating Great Grooming Dogs

This week we'll talk about how grooming is more than just getting it done. We'll talk about how we can tailor our grooming sessions to each and every dog.  We often think that groomers either have to get the job done or refuse, and there's so much that happens in between those two choices. It's not black and white. It's not yes or no. There's a lot more tailoring that we can do. The Bitey End of the Dog: Chrissy Neumyer Smith For full transcripts, go to the audio episode on CreatingGreatGroomingDogs.com You can also listen to this episode as a podcast on my website or anywhere you listen to podcasts. You can watch episodes at youtube.com/@creatinggreatgroomingdogs For more information about my classes, go to MasterGroomerBehaviorSpecialist.com or go to the Whole Pet Grooming Academy website WholePetNH.com Want to support the show? Buy Me A Coffee!

This week, we’re talking about cooperative care in the real world. What do we really need to focus on? This episode is primarily for trainers, but also for anyone who communicates with them. The grooming world has some unique challenges and specific goals that set it apart. We'll talk about Grooming as a Very Elaborate Stand Stay. The Bitey End of the Dog: Chrissy Neumyer Smith  For full transcripts, go to the audio episode on CreatingGreatGroomingDogs.com You can also listen to this episode as a podcast on my website or anywhere you listen to podcasts. You can watch episodes at youtube.com/@creatinggreatgroomingdogs For more information about my classes, go to MasterGroomerBehaviorSpecialist.com or go to the Whole Pet Grooming Academy website https://education.wholepetnh.com/master-groomer-behavior-specialist Want to support the show? Buy Me A Coffee!

This week we're talking about communicating with people. There's a human end to working with animals. We need to communicate with the owners. We need to communicate with other pet professionals, and if you're an owner, you need to communicate with everybody. So we're gonna talk about how we can best get everyone on the same page. For full transcripts, go to the audio episode on CreatingGreat GroomingDogs.com You can also listen to this episode as a podcast on my website or anywhere you listen to podcasts. You can watch episodes at youtube.com/@creatinggreatgroomingdogs For more information about my classes, go to MasterGroomerBehaviorSpecialist.com or go to the Whole Pet Grooming Academy website WholePetNH.com Want to support the show? Buy Me A Coffee!

Working with behavior cases should not be frustrating. If you are frustrated working on behavior cases or working with dogs and pets who have difficulty with grooming, we will troubleshoot that this week. For full transcripts, go to the audio episode on CreatingGreat GroomingDogs.com You can also listen to this episode as a podcast on my website or anywhere you listen to podcasts. You can watch episodes at youtube.com/@creatinggreatgroomingdogs For more information about my classes, go to MasterGroomerBehaviorSpecialist.com or go to the Whole Pet Grooming Academy website WholePetNH.com Want to support the show? Buy Me A Coffee!

Does your owner know why their dog needs to be dried? Why do groomers want to dry the dog? And then what kind of drying can we do? What kind of tools and techniques do we have? And let's also discuss if dogs are really afraid of drying?  For full transcripts, go to the audio episode on CreatingGreat GroomingDogs.com You can also listen to this episode as a podcast on my website or anywhere you listen to podcasts. You can watch episodes at youtube.com/@creatinggreatgroomingdogs For more information about my classes, go to MasterGroomerBehaviorSpecialist.com or go to the Whole Pet Grooming Academy website WholePetNH.com Want to support the show? Buy Me A Coffee! #CreatingGreatGroomingDogs #DogGrooming #PetGrooming #DogTraining #GroomerLife #DogBehavior #PetSafety #GroomingTips #PetProfessionals #GroomingEducation #SafeGrooming #DogLovers #PetPodcast #DogBites

This week we're talking about repetition. Why is repetition important to learning? Why is that something that we would want to use in dog grooming, and how can that help us in dog grooming? Find out this week. For full transcripts, go to the audio episode on CreatingGreat GroomingDogs.com You can also listen to this episode as a podcast on my website or anywhere you listen to podcasts. You can watch episodes at youtube.com/@creatinggreatgroomingdogs For more information about my classes, go to MasterGroomerBehaviorSpecialist.com or go to the Whole Pet Grooming Academy website WholePetNH.com Want to support the show? Buy Me A Coffee! #CreatingGreatGroomingDogs #DogGrooming #PetGrooming #DogTraining #GroomerLife #DogBehavior #PetSafety #GroomingTips #PetProfessionals #GroomingEducation #SafeGrooming #DogLovers #PetPodcast #DogBites

This week, we'll talk about scratchboards and the dog toys designed to help you file your dog's nails or help your dog file their own nails. We'll talk about what they're good for, what they're not good for, and why your groomer might give you the hard eye roll if you say you've been using one. Dog Nail Scratch Board File https://a.co/d/eo6mDLG De' Vora Scratch Square Dog Nail Trimmer & File https://a.co/d/9pjlyQt For full transcripts, go to the audio episode on CreatingGreat GroomingDogs.com You can also listen to this episode as a podcast on my website or anywhere you listen to podcasts. You can watch episodes at youtube.com/@creatinggreatgroomingdogs For more information about my classes, go to MasterGroomerBehaviorSpecialist.com or go to the Whole Pet Grooming Academy website WholePetNH.com Want to support the show? Buy Me A Coffee! #CreatingGreatGroomingDogs #DogGrooming #PetGrooming #DogTraining #GroomerLife #DogBehavior #PetSafety #GroomingTips #PetProfessionals #GroomingEducation #SafeGrooming #DogLovers #PetPodcast #DogBites

Together We're Better Behavior Chats!  Welcome to a special bonus episode of the Creating Great Grooming Dogs show! In this installment of "Together We're Better Behavior Chats," your host, Chrissy, engages in a fascinating conversation with the amazing Kayce Cover from Syn Alia Training Systems. In this episode of Creating Great Grooming Dogs, Chrissy Neumyer Smith sits down with the renowned Kayce Cover, a friend, mentor, and pioneer in the field of animal training and cooperative care. Kayce shares her wealth of experience working with a diverse array of animals since the seventies, emphasizing the paradigm shift towards cooperative animal care in grooming and veterinary practices. The conversation dives deep into the philosophy of fostering trust and communication between groomers and animals, illustrating how understanding and adapting to each animal's unique needs can significantly enhance the grooming experience. Kayce introduces the concept of 'Perception Modification' and explains various techniques, including the use of specific sound cues, or bridges,' to communicate effectively with animals during grooming sessions. She emphasizes the importance of making grooming sessions a positive, stress-free experience for animals, detailing the profound impact of creating a calm and understanding environment on the animal's welfare and the groomer's ability to work efficiently and safely. Listeners will gain valuable insights into the practical application of these methods, understanding how even small adjustments in approach can lead to significant improvements in animal cooperation and reduce stress for both the groomer and the pets. This episode is a must-listen for groomers, trainers, vet professionals, and anyone interested in advancing the well-being of animals through compassionate and informed care practices. Here is a link to the blood drawing video that we discussed. Training With Kayce: Voluntary Swine Blood Collection https://youtu.be/4uI8MDIOjDw?si=rW7WvxpsXjZnj45O https://synalia.com/ For more info about About Kayce https://synalia.com/kayce-cover-resume/ For more information about Creating Great Grooming Dogs, go to CreatingGreat GroomingDogs.com For more information about my classes, go to MasterGroomerBehaviorSpecialist.com or go to the Whole Pet Grooming Academy website WholePetNH.com  Want to support the show? Buy Me A Coffee https://www.buymeacoffee.com/creatinggrv

This week, we'll talk about the "it came out of nowhere" bites. Some bites happen without warning, but what can cause that? What subtle warnings might have been missed? Now, whether you're a seasoned groomer or just starting out, this episode will give you some insights and help you have a safer, more understanding work environment.  For full transcripts, go to the episode on CreatingGreat GroomingDogs.com You can also listen to this episode as a podcast on my website or anywhere you listen to podcasts. You can watch episodes at youtube.com/@creatinggreatgroomingdogs For more information about my classes, go to MasterGroomerBehaviorSpecialist.com or go to the Whole Pet Grooming Academy website WholePetNH.com Want to support the show? Buy Me A Coffee! #CreatingGreatGroomingDogs #DogGrooming #PetGrooming #DogTraining #GroomerLife #DogBehavior #PetSafety #GroomingTips #PetProfessionals #GroomingEducation #SafeGrooming #DogLovers #PetPodcast #DogBites

We'll discuss how to talk with pet owners about the importance of safety in addressing behavior issues. This may be relevant to you if you're a pet owner or if your groomer has directed you here. Sometimes, conveying the significance of safety to owners who don't fully understand its relevance in addressing behavior and safety problems can be challenging.  For full transcripts, go to the episode on CreatingGreat GroomingDogs.com You can also listen to this episode as a podcast on my website or anywhere you listen to podcasts. You can watch episodes at youtube.com/@creatinggreatgroomingdogs For more information about my classes, go to MasterGroomerBehaviorSpecialist.com or go to the Whole Pet Grooming Academy website WholePetNH.com Want to support the show? Buy Me A Coffee!

Why can it be so much harder when it's your own dog? What makes it so different? There are some extra steps that we need to take when it's our own dogs. We have some blind spots, and sometimes, we get in our own way. We're going to explore some of those blind spots this week. For full transcripts, go to the episode on CreatingGreat GroomingDogs.com You can also listen to this episode as a podcast on my website or anywhere you listen to podcasts. You can watch episodes at youtube.com/@creatinggreatgroomingdogs For more information about my classes, go to MasterGroomerBehaviorSpecialist.com or go to the Whole Pet Grooming Academy website WholePetNH.com Want to support the show? Buy Me A Coffee!

What do you do with the really difficult cases? We're going explore that this week. What do you do when a dog is really, really "bad" for grooming when we already know everything about him. We've been grooming him for years and he's just not going to get better. What do you do? For full transcripts, go to the episode on CreatingGreat GroomingDogs.com You can also listen to this episode as a podcast on my website or anywhere you listen to podcasts. You can watch episodes at youtube.com/@creatinggreatgroomingdogs For more information about my classes, go to MasterGroomerBehaviorSpecialist.com or go to the Whole Pet Grooming Academy website WholePetNH.com Want to support the show? Buy Me A Coffee!

Together We're Better Behavior Chats!  Welcome to a special bonus episode of the Creating Great Grooming Dogs show! In this installment of "Together We're Better Behavior Chats," your host Chrissy engages in a fascinating conversation with the incredible Stephanie Zikmann from The Holistic Grooming Academy! She is  the renowned author of "The Magic of Holistic Grooming" and "A Teacher's Guide to Low-Stress Grooming." holisticgroomingacademy.com For more info about Stephanie go to holisticgroomingacademy.com For more information about Creating Great Grooming Dogs, go to CreatingGreat GroomingDogs.com For more information about my classes, go to MasterGroomerBehaviorSpecialist.com or go to the Whole Pet Grooming Academy website WholePetNH.com  Want to support the show? Buy Me A Coffee https://www.buymeacoffee.com/creatinggrv

We will talk about the controversy about using meds for animals who have difficulty with grooming. There are lots of strong feelings about this. I think that many groomers refuse to work with animals that are medicated. And then there are other people who really want the animals to be medicated. So we'll talk about where some of this bias comes from. This is not veterinary advice. I am not a veterinarian, and we will not list specific medications. We'll just talk about how many groomers feel about medications, and we'll give a little bit of a history lesson to see where that was coming from. For full transcripts, go to the episode on CreatingGreat GroomingDogs.com You can also listen to this episode as a podcast on my website or anywhere you listen to podcasts. You can watch episodes at youtube.com/@creatinggreatgroomingdogs For more information about my classes, go to MasterGroomerBehaviorSpecialist.com or go to the Whole Pet Grooming Academy website WholePetNH.com Want to support the show? Buy Me A Coffee!

Episode 191. This week, we're talking about National Train Your Dog Month. So January in the United States is National Train Your Dog Month, and I wanna talk about a variety of dog training options out there for owners to explore and also talk about the idea that training is enrichment and it should be fun for people and dogs. For full transcripts, go to the episode on CreatingGreat GroomingDogs.com You can also listen to this episode as a podcast on my website or anywhere you listen to podcasts. You can watch episodes at youtube.com/@creatinggreatgroomingdogs For more information about my classes, go to MasterGroomerBehaviorSpecialist.com or go to the Whole Pet Grooming Academy website WholePetNH.com Want to support the show? Buy Me A Coffee!

Episode 190 Warnings and Bites. What is the difference between a dog giving you a warning and a dog trying to hurt you? I don't want you to think a dog can't hurt you. Maybe you think they're too small, old, or young. Any pet can hurt you. I also don't want you to think that maybe a dog missed. “You got lucky that he missed.” They rarely miss. So we're gonna talk about the difference between warnings and a dog that's trying to hurt you and why we, as professionals, should take warnings very seriously.   https://www.dogstardaily.com/training/bite-scale https://www.wigglebuttacademy.com/post/ian-dunbar-s-dog-bite-scale Dogs Bite: But Balloons and Slippers Are More Dangerous by Janis Bradley https://a.co/d/9WRz2na For more info go to CreatingGreatGroomingDogs.com

There are lots of ways we can define learning. I think these 4 stages are going to be helpful. If you've ever wondered, well, we worked on it last time, why doesn't he understand this time? Or why does he need to practice this? There are lots of things that we can do better if we understand how dogs learn. This is the Creating Great Grooming Dog Show. I'm Chrissy Neumyer Smith. I'm a master groomer behavior specialist(MGBS), a certified professional groomer(CPG), a certified behavior consultant for canines(CBCC-KA), a certified professional dog trainer(CPDT-KA), a Fear Free certified professional(FFCP) in training and grooming, I'm an instructor at Whole Pet Grooming Academy, and I own Happy Critters in Nashua, New Hampshire, and this my friends and colleagues is the show where we talk about teaching dogs to be calm, comfortable, and cooperative for grooming in other types of care! For full transcripts, go to the episode on CreatingGreat GroomingDogs.com You can also listen to this episode as a podcast on my website or anywhere you listen to podcasts. You can watch episodes at youtube.com/@creatinggreatgroomingdogs For more information about my classes, go to MasterGroomerBehaviorSpecialist.com or go to the Whole Pet Grooming Academy website WholePetNH.com

Episode 188, is punishment necessary?  Is that something that we need to do to get our jobs done? Is that something that's going to be helpful? We'll explore that this week.   This is the Creating Great Grooming Dog Show. I'm Chrissy Neumyer Smith. I'm a master groomer behavior specialist(MGBS), a certified professional groomer(CPG), a certified behavior consultant for canines(CBCC-KA), a certified professional dog trainer(CPDT-KA), a Fear Free certified professional(FFCP) in training and grooming, I'm an instructor at Whole Pet Grooming Academy, and I own Happy Critters in Nashua, New Hampshire, and this my friends and colleagues is the show where we talk about teaching dogs to be calm, comfortable, and cooperative for grooming in other types of care! For full transcripts go to the episode on CreatingGreat GroomingDogs.com You can also watch this episode as a video on my website or on my YouTube channel youtube.com/@creatinggreatgroomingdogs For more information about my classes go to MasterGroomerBehaviorSpecialist.com or go to the Whole Pet Grooming Academy website 

Episode 187 Desensitization. What is it? How does it work? Why could it be helpful? What are a few reasons why maybe you haven't had good luck with it. That's what we'll be talking about this week. This is the Creating Great Grooming Dog Show. I'm Chrissy Neumyer Smith. I'm a master groomer behavior specialist(MGBS), a certified professional groomer(CPG), a certified professional dog trainer(CPDT-KA), and a certified behavior consultant for canines(CBCC-KA). I'm an instructor at Whole Pet Grooming Academy, and I am the owner of Happy Critters in Nashua, New Hampshire. And this, my friends and colleagues, is the show where we talk about teaching dogs to be calm, comfortable, and cooperative for grooming and other types of care. Full transcript available at CreatingGreatGroomingDogs.com Class info at WholePetNH.com  Diploma program info at MasterGroomerBehaviorSpecialist.com

Emotions And The"Why?" Ep 186  Episode 186. Is it okay to talk about emotions and animals? Is it anthropomorphic to talk about emotions and animals? Where is the line, between what we see and the story that we build around what we see? And let's talk about emotions and what we observe this week.  Find all show details, including transcripts, at CreatingGreatGroomingDogs.com You can find my online classes at Whole Pet Grooming Academy WholePetNH.com For more information about my Master Groomer Behavior Specialist diploma program, go to MasterGroomerBehaviorSpecialist.com You're listening to the Creating Great Grooming Dogs show. [00:00:21] I am Chrissy Neumeier Smith. I'm a Master Groomer Behavior Specialist. I'm a Certified Professional Groomer, a Certified Behavior Consultant for Canines, a Certified Professional Dog Trainer. And I'm also the owner of Happy Critters in Nashua, New Hampshire, and an instructor at Whole Pet Grooming Academy. [00:00:38] So this week we are talking about emotions. I had an entirely different topic started off this week, but it kept circling back to feelings and emotions. And I really wanted to delve into that a little bit deeper before we get into a topic that makes some assumptions that we would be on all on the same page. [00:01:00] We're not going to be all on the same page. So I decided that I really needed to revisit this particular piece all on its own. We've talked about anthropomorphic before, , which is when we attribute human feelings and desires onto dogs or other animals without really thinking a little bit more basically, what is this animal trying to do? [00:01:21] So we as humans talk about emotions and feelings, but let me ask you this. Let's consider this. Are we always correct when we try to figure out the why of another person? Oh. Do we always understand why another person is feeling the way they're feeling? , are we good with that? Do we always get it right? [00:01:45] When we are interacting with another person using shared language, expressing thoughts and feelings, do we always get it right? Hmm, that's interesting, isn't it? do we? Another question. Are we always good at explaining the reason for our own emotions? Are we good at explaining the why of what we're feeling and how that's affecting the way that we're behaving today or yesterday or last week, right? [00:02:16] Are we good at that? This answer is going to vary from person to person. Some people will be really good at that. , others are constantly trying to work on it. And some are blissfully unaware, but here's something to consider. Ask someone close to you. Ask, maybe it's a parent or a sibling or a spouse or a child. [00:02:38] Ask someone really close to you. Maybe it's your best friend. Are you good at understanding their point of view when they're trying to explain something to you? Are you good at expressing your own point of view when you're trying to explain how you feel? What you're going to find is that most of us are not great at this. [00:02:56] We're not very good at figuring out the why of emotions and expressing those emotions and figuring out why we behave the way we do. We observe behavior in the humans around us, but we don't always understand the why. So why are we talking about this? It probably seems a little off topic, doesn't it? But how does this relate to dogs? [00:03:21] Yeah, but you thought I was getting off track here. Um, the way it relates to dogs is we observe behavior. We see what the dog is doing with their body, but do we always understand why they are doing it? Do we understand the feelings, the emotions being expressed through that behavior? We see the behavior, what is observable to us, but how many of us can correctly guess why the dog is doing it? [00:03:51] It's not easy. It's not easy. And as we just discussed, even amongst other humans, when we are trying to figure out what another human feels, what another human thinks, and they're literally trying to tell us, We're not good at it, it takes a lot of understanding of humans and of dogs to be able to figure out why a behavior is happening. [00:04:16] So, maybe it's not so easy. Maybe this takes a ton of time and takes a ton of effort and we aren't used to thinking about it that way. , I will say there was a point in my career when I would have described looking at dogs and what they're doing as I have a feeling about why he's doing it. I have a feeling about why he's doing it. [00:04:38] All right. I think many of us do that. I have a feeling. But here's the thing I was watching what the dog was doing. And now that I've really been training my eye to watch what they're doing and think about what they're responding to. Now I realized that I didn't have a feeling. I was noticing things in the environment, noticing things about a dog and what they were doing and maybe making correct assumptions, right? [00:05:07] Or making assumptions and maybe they were incorrect assumptions. But that's the tricky part. We're observing body language. We're watching. We're listening. Sometimes we're smelling, right? Anal gland smell. Oh, that's a definite signal. That's not a happy moment most of the time if they spray their anal glands. [00:05:28] But you think about all of those things that we observe, but are we good at understanding why? And we're not really good at it, even with other human beings that we talk to that are literally trying to tell us. Well, the dog is literally trying to tell us also. Now I want you to think about we're viewing what the dog is doing, and we're trying to guess at why they're doing it. [00:05:55] And I want you to start thinking about gathering clues. Gathering clues about the behavior before we make assumptions about how a dog feels before we start jumping into, I think this is going on or this is going on. This dog is an individual just like we are. And we have to think about what is this dog responding to? [00:06:15] What is happening in that moment? , and what kind of emotions might this dog be having based on what is happening? Okay. Dogs have emotions. I think we can all observe a dog who is scared, a dog who is fearful, a dog who is happy. Come on. We know they have emotions. The problem comes in when we try to, make our stories around what we think that emotion is caused by. [00:06:47] That's where anthropomorphism comes in is when we're trying to say, well, he's happy , and that isn't always a bad thing. He's happy because we do need to kind of ask that question. The problem is, is if we're not on target, if we're trying to say, well, he did this because, or he did that because, then that's where the emotion part can become really kind of a blurred line. [00:07:14] , and while they have emotions. And , I think that we can all agree if you've worked with dogs, you've seen a variety of emotions we respond to different emotions differently. So there is some worry when we think a dog is, let's say, angry at us. How are we going to respond to that animal? We're probably going to be defensive, right? [00:07:40] How do we respond to other humans when we think they're angry at us? Right? Um, now if we respond to a dog thinking he seems stressed, then it becomes clearer that we are going to try to help them calm down. I'm going to give some examples here. I know I'm always giving examples and I feel like I'm spending my whole life saying I'm going to give some examples here. [00:08:04] , a human customer comes into your office and she is upset. Always understand why. Maybe we think that person is mean, that person is cranky, that person is, let's see, what other terms might we use? Some of the terms get really mean, right? But are we really good at noticing that this person is running late for something? [00:08:29] , is very, very stressed out, , is confused. Maybe they're really confused, but I do brush him. I don't understand what you're talking about. Now they're being defensive and you're being defensive and it all falls apart. Customer service stuff is also about thinking about the other side of the story, the why, why. [00:08:52] Is this customer having difficulty today? Like I said, it is not cut and dry. This is not easy for most of us to get a good read on why a behavior is happening and what emotions they are around it. So when we look at that customer, , maybe we're looking at her thinking she is really cranky. She is really mean. And is that really the motivation? Is she just a cranky person? That could be true. Okay. I think we know there are a lot of people out there who are just playing cranky, but why, why? I love people. I know a lot of groomers don't. [00:09:33] , I see those cranky people and they often become my really good customers. Cause I think about why I think about why the cranky, , what is this person responding to? And that's what we need to do with our dogs. If we see something that we interpret as an emotion, step back for a minute and instead think, what is this dog responding to? [00:09:54] And why, why is this happening? Because if we assume that a dog is angry, Or we start making big stories, that can really lead us down a path that doesn't make any sense. And next thing you know, you and the dog are in conflict of some sort when it didn't need to be. So in the next part, we are going to talk about where communication can really go wrong. [00:10:18] If you're enjoying the show, please remember to follow or subscribe or like wherever it is you are. The show is on YouTube, so you can watch it as videos. It's as a podcast, so you can just listen to the audio. And to find any of those things, go to CreatingGreatGroomingDogs. com, where you can also find full transcripts. [00:10:38] Well, since I started doing transcripts, you can find full transcripts. Um, there are a lot of other things there. There are a couple of blog posts, CreatingGreatGroomingDogs. com. When we talk about how we are figuring out what a dog wants or needs, when we're figuring out thos