June 13, 2023
Pro Tips from a Celebrity Groomer - with Jess Rona
Hey there!
In this episode, you’ll hear us refer to the show as Starlight Pet Talk—that’s what we called it before we decided to embrace the fur, mess, and mayhem. Don’t worry, you’re in the right place for Muddy Paws and Hairballs—same great content, just with a name that fits! - Amy
Join us for an entertaining chat with the exceptionally talented Jess Rona, an award-winning groomer, instructor, and content creator who has built her own grooming empire and has an impressive celebrity clientele, including Katy Perry, Jane Lynch, Nina Join us for a chat with Jess Rona, award-winning groomer to celebrities like Katy Perry and Zoey Deschanel! Jess shares grooming tips and hilarious stories from her years in the industry. Amy and Jess discuss building trust during grooming, handling resistant pets, and managing client expectations. Get ready for insights on maintaining your pet's coat in summer and showing gratitude to your groomer.
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Thanks for listening to Muddy Paws and Hairballs, your go-to resource for all things pet care. From dog training, behavior, and socialization to cat enrichment, pet adoption, and tackling behavior problems, we provide expert advice and real talk to help you create a happy, healthy life with your pets. Whether you're dealing with dog anxiety, looking for puppy training tips, or exploring enrichment ideas for your cat, we've got you covered. Be sure to check out all our episodes!
Chapters
00:02 - Grooming Tips for Pet Owners
10:30 - Reduce Pet Grooming Stress Tips
15:10 - Challenges With Pet Grooming Expectations
26:21 - Don't Shave Double-Coated Dogs
32:02 - Grooming With Gratitude and Honesty
40:01 - Dog Grooming and Care Tips
48:05 - Supporting Animal Rescue
Transcript
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Welcome to the Starlight Pet Talk podcast, where we'll talk about and explore ways to help pet parents and future pet parents learn everything they need to know to have a happy and healthy relationship with their pet.
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Just visit our website at wwwstarlightpettalkcom to order your merchandise today.
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Welcome to Starlight Pet Talk.
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I'm your host, amy Castro, and today we're going to talk about grooming your pet.
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It doesn't matter if you have a dog or a cat or some other animal, and it doesn't really even matter what kind of coat they're wearing.
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All our pets need grooming to be at their happiest and healthiest.
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So my guest today is Jess Rona, and Jess is an award-winning groomer, an instructor and president of her own multi-dimensional grooming empire.
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She has a cult-like following you would not believe on social media and an impressive celebrity clientele for her Los Angeles business.
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She's also a content creator and a comedian, and she spent her 20s and 30s basically grooming dogs by day and making people laugh doing improv at night.
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So I think we're going to have a fun episode.
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Jess, thank you so much for being with me today, and I know you're super busy.
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I appreciate you making the time for us, of course.
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Thanks for having me, hi.
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So how did you get started as a groomer?
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Because?
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obviously I'm sure if everything's a path right.
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Yeah, And it was the path that I was not expecting to take.
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I sort of fell into it organically.
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My mom would get cat food at PetSmart deep in the valley in LA, in Recita, and I went with her to get cat food and there was a help wanted sign.
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She found out they were hiring and she's like a very pushy mom and she was like we're getting you a job.
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I just needed a job of any kind.
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I was 18, and so I saw all these different jobs on the application.
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You can work with the aquatics In the aquatics section, you can work as a cashier, You can do all these things at PetSmart.
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But then, oh, there's dog-bather And I was like, ooh, that's cool.
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That's not a typical nine to five job.
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I feel like that would be more fun.
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And so I started bathing dogs and I was so bad at it, It was so hard.
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I did love it, though.
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I loved it.
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And then, because I had always wanted to be an actress, I saw myself as an actress, And so I was like, well, this is a fun temporary thing just to make some money while I pursue acting.
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And then I was at PetSmart for four years, and over those four years I was a bather for two years and then I slowly just started to learn how to do pads, What's a cock, or haircut, What's a schnauzer, Like all these different breeds, because when I first started I knew nothing about dogs, I only had cats.
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So I knew nothing.
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I didn't even know dog breeds, I didn't know anything.
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And so, yeah, I just started to learn organically over the years.
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But that's the short answer, but that's how I got started.
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It's funny that you said that you thought dog bathing would be fun.
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That's anyone that has a dog would know.
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It's probably, unless it's a little dog Like.
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I don't mind bathing my chihuahua, but bathing my bulldogs a whole nother wallowax.
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Oh yeah, And I was a kid, You know, I didn't know anything at that time really He didn't know enough to be very afraid.
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No, so going from working at PetSmart to building your own business, i mean that is a I think it's a huge accomplishment.
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I mean for anybody to have a business, but to have a business that's operating at the level that you're operating with the clientele that you have, because and I will speak as a client And also I actually was a dog bather and I got to trim the pads and I got to do anal glands as far as they let me go- So I love that.
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You said I got to do anal glands Like it's a privilege.
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That's right, yeah.
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That's a, it's a graduation from bathing, right, but people can be very demanding And so it's a challenge.
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I think when people get into working with animals, you think about working with animals.
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You don't think about how difficult it can sometimes be working with people, whether it's clients, employees, things like that.
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So more power to you for doing what you're doing.
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So what I was hoping we could talk about today a little bit is because I have kind of seen it from both sides.
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I think there are definitely things that people can do to make the whole trip to the groomer easier for everybody involved, not only for yourself as the pet owner, but for your pet, but also for the groomer, because I think we expect groomers to.
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Sometimes we see these.
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I mean, i've seen your fabulous videos.
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You see these fabulous looking animals, but they don't happen in a vacuum.
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You know that that miraculous haircut or whatever it might be, doesn't happen without a lot of stuff happening behind the scenes to make that even a possibility.
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So what would be a couple of things you think that that pet owners could do, let's say, before they even leave the house or between grooming appointments?
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that would make the whole process easier.
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Well, when you say between grooming appointments, are you talking about making the process easier for everybody, at the groomer or at home?
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Let's start at home and then we'll go and then we'll kind of like, we'll kind of progress chronologically, because I think there are a lot of things at least in my experience that if you just did this first, then your groomer could do this magical thing that you want them to do.
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Well, sure, i mean, the first thing I think about is brushing, but I want to talk about brushing in a way that also, a lot of times, a new client will come in and say I brush my dog all the time, every day, and it's still matted.
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Or they don't believe that the dog is matted because they brush every day but they're using like a soft bore bristle brush and it's not getting through the coat, or they're only brushing the back of the dog And so when you brush a dog, you just want to make sure.
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For the most part, with most coat types, i recommend a slicker brush for pet parents.
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I sell one on my website.
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That's my favorite.
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I went to Tokyo to a dog show and I found this tiny brush and I was like what is this little, cute little brush?
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I'm going to try it and I'm obsessed with it.
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So I contacted the company and I was like please send me all of your brushes because I'm obsessed.
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So it's called the tiny K-Pro, but what I love about it is that it has a tiny, hollow handle.
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So a lot of times pet parents are like well, my dog hates getting brushed.
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So here's the thing with pet parents they think their dog hates getting brushed and they are brushing just the back or their dog won't allow them to brush certain parts.
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So there's so many ways you can tackle this.
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First of all, the dog hates being brushed because it probably hurts or it hurt in the past, so they have this memory of like brushing equals pain or discomfort.
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So what you can do is how can we think about rebuilding the trust, and that's what I'm working on.
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I have a new course coming out all about rebuilding trust.
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It's more for groomers, but I'm sure pet parents would benefit.
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But it's just like once you break the trust which happens like, oh, you're going to snag a mat sometimes And not every dog is going to be like now, i don't, i don't like you, but it's like what can I do to make this the most comfortable for the dog?
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And so what I recommend?
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there's a couple of things.
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Number one always have a slicker brush.
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Have maybe try to do a conditioning spray while you're brushing, which is just a nice thing you can do.
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You can mist it on the brush and glide the brush through, or you can mist it on the coat.
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If you don't have a budget for a conditioning spray, you can take some really high quality dog conditioner and mix it into a spray bottle and create sort of like a spray on leave on conditioner.
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Don't overspray and don't leave it in the bottle for months and months.
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That has a shelf life if it's mixed with water.
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Another thing I tell pet parents is to do one small section at a time.
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So let's say you just let's say your dog needs to be brushed, but your dog hates to get brushed.
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What if you only brush the tail?
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Just brush the tail today, that's it.
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And then give lots of treats And then tomorrow do one leg.
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And what I also recommend is put the dog up on a high surface, maybe on a yoga mat or a towel or something, so they're not slipping, and start by brushing the feet first and smush up the coat and do section by section and start with the foot and then go up from there.
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And if you can't do that, no problem, but just give it a shot.
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The key is you want to be able to open the coat and see the skin and also never leave a harness on Those harnesses.
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Make so many mats, and this also, you know, this just doesn't apply to short-coated dogs, but this is only for those dogs that really will get mad at if they don't go to the groomer.
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And so this is more for like maintaining your dog between groomings.
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I also have a pet parent course on my website for maintaining your dog between groomings, because I'm in alignment with you.
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I want to teach pet parents how to make it like not just easy on the dog but easy on the groomer and easy on the pet parent.
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Like what can we do?
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There's so many things you can do.
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That's just brushing.
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That's like one small thing.
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I also just highly recommend starting a nice relationship with the groomer early on in the dog's life or as soon as you adopt a dog.
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And so if you get a puppy, i even encourage people to go bi-weekly for just baths for the first three months after their last set of shots and book it when the puppy is like not even ready to go, pre-book it.
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I love saying do the first appointment if you can.
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Those first early appointments are usually the best because the groomer is focused on that one dog.
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There isn't the whole day of dogs coming in.
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There's so many things.
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I feel like I'm going off topic.
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No, but you're right If you think about it.
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I remember when my daughter's 30 now so, but when she was little, you know it wasn't like you wait till they're five and take them to the dentist and expect that they're going to cooperate and it's going to be a pleasant experience.
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I mean, at least our dentist was great in saying bring her here and we'll do nothing, just have her hang out while you're getting your teeth cleaned and then you know like we'll let her sit in the chair And you can tell I mean, even as a lay person, i can tell you talking about walking by.
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you know pet smart, you can tell the animals who've been there done that and the ones who somebody decided I'm eight years old and I need to go to the groomer out of the blue and they've not had that acclimation.
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that, i think, is really important for their not only their stress level, but I would assume it makes them much more cooperative when you're trying to work on them.
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Yeah, i mean I've been surprised, though Sometimes the dog is like an adopted dog and they haven't really been to the groomer and they're fine.
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So I mean, i think it's a lot about building trust and if the dog is just naturally submissive and passive, they're going to be okay.
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But if the dog has anxiety or isn't trusting, that's like another thing.
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It's funny that you said it's like a dentist, because when I teach groomers I compare our experience at a dentist to a dog's experience at the groomers.
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It's just this thing it sucks, we got to do it.
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It's like it's not fun, it's uncomfortable.
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But it's so funny that you said dentist, because that's how I explain, that's my, how I imagine a dog would feel about the groomer.
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Yeah, i was talking to my veterinarian the other day and she was basically talking about the same way with the vet.
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You practice by going in the car.
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you practice by making it a positive, like you said, giving treats, things like that, doing things in little steps If you need to.
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I mean, if somebody is go with the flow and they're great with it, then great.
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But I think being prepared to go through that process is probably important.
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So, let's talk about some of the things maybe that clients do, whether it's once they get there and making their appointment.
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That makes the process harder on everybody.
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Yeah.
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So a lot of times I will coach my clients to have a no big deal energy when dropping off the dog, because even some of my regulars the dog will get a little trembling and this is just their way of releasing their anxiety, so it's nothing to get too worried about.
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But what happens is with some of my clients they'll carry the dog in like a baby.
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They'll try to treat the dog like a human baby, which of course human babies give them all the comfort that they need, or little kids like, of course, hug all the children.
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But when you do it with a dog sometimes it makes it worse.
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So my biggest advice is to have a no big deal energy only at drop off And then when you pick up, also sort of have a no big deal energy and then wait for the dog to calm down before you say hello And that's sort of like just any greeting for the most part, because sometimes that big excitement can lead to other behavioral issues with dogs Too much jumping, just like overly excited, just crazy.
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So I just say just ignore, act like no big deal.
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And this is usually with newer clients that are new dog owners And I just say, like the biggest lesson I learned especially when I was a new puppy owner and I did all this research and I realized I have to wait till I had a little puppy.
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She's 11 now, but when she was a baby I had to kind of ignore her until she settled.
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And I never pet the dog when they're not in a state that I want them to be in.
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And so that's the biggest advice I can give to pet parents is, the more anxious you're feeling, the dog will pick up on it.
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So even fake it, fake having a no big deal energy.
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And if the dog is nervous at drop off, see if you can call ahead of time or email your groomer and give all haircut instructions or chat about it, so that you're not sitting and talking to the groomer while your dog is like panicked, because a lot of times once the pet owners leave, the dog calms down instantly with us.
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So it's like usually just that drop off And I have to convince them like I promise you they're fine once you leave.
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It's like the leaving part is really hard.
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And I'm a pet parent too.
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I'm the same way.
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I'm overly protective of my dogs.
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I have two dogs And I'm just I'm a naturally sort of anxious person.
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I do a lot of work on it.
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You know I meditate, i do a lot of work on that, but it's just in my bones And so I accept it.
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I live with it.
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But I don't want to put it too much on my dogs.
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That's great advice, and I did see that one of your videos about the short and drop off time.
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Yeah, i remember It's quick and easy.
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Yeah, make it, make it, make it no big deal And it's going to be no big deal.
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That's that's great advice.
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What else?
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what else do they do that might make things difficult for you in trying to accomplish what it is that they want you to accomplish with their pet?
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Well, i mean, pet parents are not groomers, and so if a pet parent is really heavy handed with the instructions, it makes a groomer feel like they're not trusted.
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That said, i don't mind some feedback, i don't mind being guided.
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You know, if you like.
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Long years, great.
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Before I became known, i would have to prove myself to my clients, and so they didn't know what I could do.
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So I would get a list of things like do this, this, this and this, and I would just be like well, of course I'm going to do those, like clip the nails, you know all that stuff.
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And this is just a responsible pet parent, you know, trying to make sure that they're getting what they're paying for.
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But I think there's a fine line between letting the groomer do their job and being too heavy handed, and so that's another little point that I wanted to make.
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Luckily, i don't have a ton of that.
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I don't think a ton of people are like that.
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For me personally, my preference is to allow me to do my job, and then I always say, especially with first time clients, it might take a couple tries for me to get it right, because I am a people pleaser and I want people to like what I do.
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So, yeah, i feel like, just if there's anyone out there listening, that is just not trusting of the groomer just maybe try to give it a shot and see what they do.
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I don't know, could backfire, who knows?
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I think it just depends on the skill level of the groomer.
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Yeah, And I think it's important too that people have not only realistic expectations of the groomer, but also of what you're giving the person to work with.
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It's like if you're expecting me to make a really high quality, fancy Italian dinner and you give me the cheapest canned tomato sauce and want me to use that instead of making my own with fresh ingredients, you're going to get what you get.
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So how do you handle people that have unrealistic expectations?
00:16:56.898 --> 00:17:13.807
Oh, I'm very honest with them And I've done so much work on how to run a business and how to have clients and treat them with empathy and love which I do, and I love all my clients And I just say, if you bring me a photo of a dog, that's a totally different breed.
00:17:13.807 --> 00:17:21.278
It's usually people bring me a photo of their dog when their dog was a puppy and say can you recreate this?
00:17:21.278 --> 00:17:25.503
Or they'll give me a photo of a dog that is not freshly groomed.
00:17:25.503 --> 00:17:32.104
They want a natural puppy look And what happens is puppies have a different coat than their adult.
00:17:32.104 --> 00:17:39.445
There's an adult coat and a puppy coat, and so I'll just be really upfront and just say well, this is, let's just call the dog, josie.
00:17:39.445 --> 00:17:42.421
This is Josie as a baby, so her nose is smaller.
00:17:42.421 --> 00:17:49.724
Like, puppies have different coat types, their features are different, and so I won't be able to recreate it, but I can use this as inspiration for sure.
00:17:50.615 --> 00:17:52.603
But I'm just totally honest with people.
00:17:52.603 --> 00:17:53.719
That's how I handle it.
00:17:53.719 --> 00:17:55.159
I'm just like you know.
00:17:55.159 --> 00:17:56.262
I'll do my best.
00:17:56.262 --> 00:18:06.124
This can be a beautiful starting point, but that's why I kind of give myself an out when I have new clients and I just say let the haircut settle for a couple of days, see how you like it.
00:18:06.124 --> 00:18:11.439
I'll check in in a couple of days and we can go from there and just I love this, i don't love this.
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I love feedback.
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So I want to make sure I get that from my clients because ultimately, i'm in the service industry and I want to make sure I'm being of service.
00:18:20.544 --> 00:18:25.000
I also, like I said, i'm a total people pleaser, so I'm in the right line of work.
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So if you're happy, i'm happy.
00:18:27.236 --> 00:18:28.781
Well, and you've got the double challenge too.
00:18:28.781 --> 00:18:36.702
I've, you know, not only keeping the person happy, but keeping the animal happy and doing what's what's right by the animal, for sure, oh yeah.
00:18:37.064 --> 00:18:39.457
Oh yeah, if a dog, it's a very.
00:18:39.457 --> 00:18:39.959
I'll tell you.
00:18:39.959 --> 00:18:43.836
There's a very common cycle, especially with doodle owners.
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Doodle owners are getting a reputation in the grooming industry.
00:18:47.284 --> 00:18:56.703
I don't know if you know about this, but what happens is I'll tell you, and especially since you have a an audience of pet parents, if you're a doodle owner.
00:18:56.703 --> 00:18:59.009
Here's what we groomers are starting to say.
00:18:59.009 --> 00:19:08.718
I mean, i don't know if you're noticing, but it's harder to get your doodle groomed unless you are grandfathered in or you've started as a puppy and you come regularly New doodle owners.
00:19:08.718 --> 00:19:10.723
It's hard to get in, especially in LA.
00:19:10.723 --> 00:19:20.988
I don't know if it's like this everywhere, but here's a cycle that we're seeing over and over again is the pet parent wants to keep the dog fluffy, so fluffy.
00:19:20.988 --> 00:19:24.317
Sometimes they don't even want the eyes trimmed So fluffy.
00:19:24.317 --> 00:19:25.557
Right, i don't care that.
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You can't see I know they don't care, the dog can't see.
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I mean, not everybody's like that, but some of them are.
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They do not brush properly.
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And when they say I brush every day, all I do is brush my dog, Do you brush in between the toes?
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Do you brush the armpits?
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Do you brush the ankles?
00:19:40.119 --> 00:19:41.459
How about under the tail?
00:19:41.459 --> 00:19:43.180
How about behind the ears?
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These little details?
00:19:44.297 --> 00:19:48.446
let's say I brush my whole dog, but all those little spots are matted.
00:19:49.055 --> 00:19:55.817
So now the dog is matted, according to the groomer, because this is going to take time, and the time is.
00:19:55.817 --> 00:20:04.440
I mean we charge $2 a minute for dematting at my shop And the clients pay for it because they get beautiful work, but also we draw the line.
00:20:04.440 --> 00:20:06.085
But hold on, i'm diverting.
00:20:06.085 --> 00:20:11.303
So the cycle is my dog is long, i want them long, great.
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They're a little matted.
00:20:12.575 --> 00:20:18.384
Let's demat today, but I recommend that you take the dog shorter so it's a little bit less of maintenance.
00:20:18.384 --> 00:20:19.067
No, no, no, no, no, no.
00:20:19.067 --> 00:20:20.519
I want my dog long, great.
00:20:20.519 --> 00:20:24.604
Next time I promise I'm going to brush and I'm going to stay on a schedule.
00:20:24.604 --> 00:20:27.623
Next time, same thing, same thing.
00:20:27.623 --> 00:20:32.506
So now a little bit more matted because the coat didn't get cut the last time, or the cut.
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The coat was left too long.
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Now the dog's more matted and now it's another D mat charge and the client is frustrated.
00:20:38.747 --> 00:20:42.545
Now the dog is associating being at the groomer with getting dematted.
00:20:42.545 --> 00:20:45.182
Luckily, at my shop I've trained everybody.
00:20:45.182 --> 00:20:47.462
We have a very gentle dematting technique.
00:20:47.462 --> 00:20:51.384
It's time consuming, but it is not uncomfortable for the dog for the most part.
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So now we have a cycle And then what happens is the client comes in again.
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The dog is so mad that we have to shave it.
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So now we shave the dog and now it's a shaved dog and the owner is so upset And so are we.
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We don't want to shave the dog, we want to do something beautiful.
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