BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY

Safety Measures We Studied from the Seminar – by Karla Addington-Smith

It was Day 2 of the 2nd National Dog Grooming Competition. The day started from the Model Dog Championship. Participants were given prizes. It was a rather wealthy day for the participants as instead of “3” We gave “6” Prizes that too cash prize. Everyone was now waiting to enhance the knowledge as next in schedule was the seminar by Karla Addington Smith on Ready, Prep…Groom.
Karla taught us the techniques and tricks by which we can save time while grooming the dog. Bathing, Styling, Nail Clipping, Handling a dog, Brushing and Ear Cleaning were the measures the seminar was filled with. The seminar was of almost 3-4 hours as participants extended it with their endless queries.
Karla Addington Smith has a career span of 45 years and owns a spa named a ‘FORTUNATE DOG SPA’. She told us how they entertain the dog. They have 16 employees and are booked till the end of the year. Seems like the US is a lot into dog grooming. Dog Grooming is a booming industry in India too.
We have to work on a dog’s health, its comfort and most importantly its safety. Because you never know when he will just jump off the table and hurt himself. Out of all the measures Safety is foremost.

NEVER LEAVE THE DOG UNATTENDED
Always move your dog in the salon to your arms. If it’s heavy or may be not staying in the arms carry him on the leash. You should never allow the dog to run without being secured in some way. Never leave the dog un-attendant on the table or in a tub. You will never know when it would jump off and can hurt his neck or worse may be hung itself.
In any case, if you have to leave the table or tub pick up the dog or put them on a leash and have him follow you.

HAND ON THE DOG
Another major safety measure which may affect a lot while you are grooming the dog is to always put a hand on the dog. While you are brushing the dog, put one hand on it as support. Even while you are clipping the dog put one hand for supporting the skin. You always had to have the hand on the dog. ‘ALWAYS’ It gives the comfort to the dog too which will help you to handle the dog grooming.

There are people having a high-velocity dryer in one hand and brush on other. There is no hand on the dog. It is not a best practice. Never ever preoccupy your both hands with the tools. Always keep one hand free for the dog.
SUITE SETUP
Take the collar off the dog
It is necessary to take the collar off the dog else it’s possible he might get hung up on the crate, cage or suite. When there is something on the dog it can possibly give him the chance to hang up. So it’s better to have nothing on the dog. If the dog is cage aggressive, he might try to bite you when you reach him so it’s better to leave the collar on the dog. It’s because you can guide him out and put him on a bottom suite or cage.

CLEAN YOUR WORKSPACE
If you are grooming multiple dogs at one time then you need to stop after each dog and clean your workspace. You don’t want someone’s black hair or white hair to merge into brown hair. It’s better to clean the pet table or the tub after each dog is groomed or bathed. Try to keep the surroundings also clean so a warmth comes up which increases the comfort for the dog.
One experience you might have faced quite a few times is there is hair on the table, hair on the ground and some floating in the air and one of the groomer beside you do “Fooooo” on the table to remove the hair. Now hair is everywhere in the air and you are now actually breathing them. Never ever do that. Also, recommend others not to follow such practice.
Always take your comb, sweep the hair off the table so that it falls down on the ground and not in the air. This is the best practice to keep the workplace clean.

PLACING THE TOOLS ON TABLE
This is the biggest safety measure you need to remember all the time. This practice can help you from a lot of things. You should know how to place your Grooming Tools on the pet table .
If you are using the brush and at the moment you need a comb but we already studied you can’t have both and occupy both the hands you need to keep one hand on the dog. In that case, you have to keep the brush on the table but it’s important how you keep it. Never keep the nails of the brush upwards always keep it downwards. Keeping the nails upside is very dangerous. You never know when the dog would jump on that and hurt himself. Always place the brush side touching the pet table .

Similarly goes with the dog hair trimmer india. Never keep the blade side upwards. Those sharp edges are very dangerous if kept upside. maybe it catches the dog’s eye and he jumps on that. He can get a cut or may be poke his eye out. There will be blood all over the place and you might be knowing further circumstances. So it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Scissors should be never kept open on the pet table . They are dangerous too with the sharp edges they have. If the dog stepped on it he can give him the cut. Likewise, with the comb. Never keep the comb edges upwards. Keep it sideways or opposite the dog’s direction to avoid any situation.
Please follow the below link for our YouTube channel to learn more effectively by seeing the videos and get a glimpse of the seminar too. Do share your experiences of grooming the dog and the tricks you use to enhance the look through the comments.
https://youtu.be/V4_f-8_tsg8
Thank You!!