Professional groomers are often disregarded as valuable assets within the dog health sector because there is a widespread belief that they are only good for "washing dogs" and making them look "pretty". But contrary to popular belief, dog grooming can be an invaluable way to pick up on early signs of disease, illness and injury, with scope to even save lives!
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What are the risks in dog groomers not being valued by Veterinary Professionals?
True Story
As I sat impatiently in the waiting room with Jess for the second time in the space of a few weeks, I was reluctantly greeted by the locum Vet who continued to sip her cup of tea as she looked down at us, "So, what's the problem now?", she asked me.
"Jessica's symptoms are not improving", I said, "and I am growing more concerned by the day. I know there's something else going on and I would like you to investigate her symptoms further".
She looked down at Jess and then to me and replied, "well, she seems fine - she's barking away at other dogs...". There was a few moments silence as I stared at her directly before she sighed, "Oh well, best come in then."
To put things into context, a couple of weeks prior I had met with the same Vet after explaining that I could see that Jessica was in pain and that I wanted to have tests done.
During that appointment I went on to describe how I groomed Jessica every day and had noticed that she wasn't enjoying our bonding sessions as much as what she used to - she would arch her back, quietly groan even with the most gentle of handling around her stomach area and excessively lick my hands while I was handling her.
She was also struggling to urinate and would spend minutes squatting down only to produce the tiniest of puddles - I knew it wasn't normal but without diagnosing what I felt it might be, I simply requested further investigation. While I was explaining all of this, the Vet seemed preoccupied looking through Jessica's history records on screen before she turned to me and explained that perhaps Jessica's back surgery a few years prior would be contributing to the pain I thought she was experiencing, and that her diet may be contributing to her toileting issues. After failing an attempt to sell me prescription kibble, she decided to prescribe Jess with a months' supply of Nutri-Cyst and sent us on our way.
Since Jess' symptoms were getting worse, I had decided not to persevere and there I was back at the Vet a couple of weeks later much to her disapproval. After relaying Jessica's progressing symptoms to her yet again, I was told I would need to hand in a urine sample the following morning to have it tested - I received a call just before closing time to say that the results had shown "significant blood" found in her urine. I was asked to return to the Vets the following morning to hand in another urine sample and collect medication.
A Vet nurse was there to greet me this time and after sampling the urine I handed over, went on to tell me that there were no signs of infection, her urine was clear and that we wouldn't need antibiotics after all. This of course, confused me since I hadn't treated her with anything, it had been less than 24 hours and her symptoms were still persistent, yet despite my concerns, we were sent home with no treatment.
Jessica began crying through the night and after a few days had passed, I finally decided I had to call again only this time I requested an alternative Vet for a second opinion.
Again, I was told to bring a sample with me so that they could send it to another Lab for more advanced testing. As the new Vet thoroughly checked Jess over, she agreed that it would be best to get to the bottom of her discomfort one way or another.
I was told to go home and await the results of the tests the following day - the Vet wanted to make sure the antibiotics prescribed would be the right ones based on what was found. Only, when I called to get the results, I was told that her sample been "lost in transit" and we would need to repeat the entire process again!
At this point I demanded to be referred to a specialist Vet elsewhere and happily paid a £500 consultation fee just to secure our appointment with a clinic in Glasgow. After waiting an excruciating week, we were finally on our way to our specialist appointment which was an hour drive away from home. The Vet there decided it would be best to perform an abdominal scan and extract a sample directly from her bladder via syringe under general anaesthetic. Desperate to get to the bottom of what was wrong with Jess, I signed the disclaimer and was told to go for a coffee somewhere and wait.
Just twenty minutes later we were called and asked us to come back urgently - Jessica's urinary tract was completely blocked by a cancerous tumour known as 'Transitional Cell Carcinoma' and the Vet estimated that she wouldn't last more than a few weeks. The Vet went on to explain just how much pain she would have been in and that there was a high chance it had spread all over her body. After explaining our limited options, we were given a few moments alone to think about what was best to do for Jess.
However, before we could decide, Jessica had passed away while under anaesthetic in another room, and I never got to be with her, or even say Goodbye.
The reason I am sharing a snippet of Jessica's story in this article is because this was the moment I realised just how disconnected pet care providers and carers are when it comes to a dog's health.
In this instance, I was faced with a Veterinary Professional who clearly didn't respect nor value my professional and/or personal input based on my own experience and how much I knew my own dog. What's more, I was even made to feel stupid on one occasion and feel like I was a pest for requesting further appointments.
Since that day, I have spent many hours thinking about Jessica and how things might have been different had the first Vet I had seen, listened to my initial concerns - we probably couldn't have avoided her passing but we might have been able to make her passing more peaceful. Perhaps I could have managed her pain more and planned her end of life better so that I could have definitely been there to hold her when she passed.
Instead she was on her own.
Sadly, my experience isn't an isolated event.
Over the years I have heard various stories of pet care providers disregarding a pet carer's concerns over their dog and I've also heard stories where pet care providers have undermined other pet care providers whom they regard less qualified or not qualified at all.
In many ways, I find this incredibly shortsighted.
On the one hand, there is no disputing that the Vet I was faced with found me to be infringing on her duty and expertise when I explained the reasons why I felt the way I did - perhaps she thought I was trying to play vet and undermine her?
Whatever the case, it was Jessica who suffered due to that Vet's unwillingness to acknowledge the observations and concerns of a groomer and/or dog carer.
What's the point in educating ourselves in dog health if we cannot use the information, skills and knowledge we have learned to help contribute to and make a difference to the lives of the animals in our care?
The Vet most likely viewed me as a dog groomer overstepping the mark, but she failed to see me as the educated person I actually am.
A large majority of people believe grooming to be merely a "task-based" job consisting solely of styling coats to look a certain way - in fact, in my grooming clinic is has NOTHING to do with this process whatsoever (I'm not a stylist!), but is this belief the reason Vets often don't want to listen to us when we vocalise concerns?
Do they think we are being lazy and just fobbing clients off to avoid having to deal with a dog? Maybe...
What does the legislation say (Veterinary Surgeons Act) and how does this hinder the professional dog grooming industry?
One of the first things we learn when going through legislation and the law during training is that groomers do not have the authority to diagnose or offer any medical advice to a pet carer under any circumstance because they are simply not qualified to do so.
And while this may be true on paper and I understand fully the reasons why this sort of rule is in place, there's a whole lot more to identifying pain, disease and injury that the VSA doesn't take into consideration...
Based on my experience (and I have only been in this industry for seven years!), I have seen countless cases where a professional groomer has identified illness and injury in a dog when the dog's Vet has failed to do so.
I've also heard stories where, like me, a dog carer has been made to feel over-dramatic by a Vet only to discover that their dog actually did have something medically underlying after-all, often when it's too late to do anything about it.
As a tutor of over 100 professional groomers from around the world, I have had countless conversations with my fellow peers who have presented case studies of dog's they have referred to Vets for assessment only for them to be discharged with "no issues" - some of which have ended up biting members of their family or other professionals due to, you guessed it, unidentified pain!
This isn't a dig at Veterinary professionals by the way - the job is so high stress and they are almost always doing their very best. But I think it's important to remember what a typical veterinary appointment consists of - for one, they absolutely aren't as hands-on as groomers, so it's not surprising they can easily miss indicators of pain.
We also know that the sudden increase of Cortisol within a dog's bloodstream due to the stress a dog experiences attending a Veterinary Appointment will cause a temporary masking of pain resulting in what looks like a pain-free dog! (Fisher, 2024).
And it wasn't until speaking more in-depth with Dr Edward Bassingthewaite all about 'silent pain' it all began to make complete sense - "pain, specifically soft tissue pain, is often undetectable by conventional modes of testing and can only really be identified through physical touch, feeling and observation"! (Bassingthewaite, 2023).
Through his extensive knowledge, research and experience, Dr Bassingthewaite has, (I assume) unknowingly given professional groomers a real valuable insight into our potential to identify early signs of illness and injury, that might just blow certain legislation out the water entirely.
Just like in the groom room, accidents and mistakes happen and sometimes symptoms are so well masked by dogs who have undeniably learned how to be stoic despite their pain -
The bottom line is that Vets aren't superhuman and there's an element of guess work at play which is why, I believe, it's all the more important that they take advantage of the input from other professionals, especially dog groomers (and absolutely dog carers) in their attempt to get to the root cause of certain symptoms.
What is stopping groomers from being credible assets to Veterinary Professionals?
Alas, there are two main issues that currently exist in our sector that would put a blocker on changing this particular legislative restriction, and they are:
How outdated and aesthetic-driven mainstream grooming qualifications are and how many different (often conflicting) options are available today
How little a groomer has to study/needs to know to gain a qualification and be deemed competent in the field indefinitely without the need to showcase any ongoing CPD
Sadly not all groomers are equipped to be that asset especially if they haven't undergone appropriate training in the first instance...
But what if ALL groomers were required to study an advanced education in:
canine psychology, behaviour and emotions
cooperative care and safe/compassionate handling
canine body language, observation and communication
products, dermatology and skin care
anatomy, physiology and first aid
BEFORE ever learning about aesthetics and all of the styling-specific terminology and skills required to appeal to Kennel Club Breed Standards?
I wonder if this would impact how professional groomers groom today...
What if a future grooming licence/regulation was to insist that grooming trainers, trainees and existing professional groomers were able to actively demonstrate competence and show evidence of an updated education in the above fields before ever being allowed to teach or become an "influencer" (many of our most well-known groomers still practice in a less than dog-centred way)?
It was brought to my attention the other day that there are certain professional groomers who are teaching behaviour and handling of dogs in the context of professional grooming at colleges despite having zero certifications/qualifications specifically in those areas, just because they are "popular" in our sector!
I wonder how many grooming trainers/influencers/establishments today would need to temporarily cease trading because they do not tick all of those boxes...
And finally, what if, that in order to continue to be deemed a competent groomer or grooming trainer, there was an additional mandatory requirement to invest in ongoing CPD to include behaviour, safe handling, anatomy and all of the other health-focussed topics?
How might this impact the entire grooming industry in terms of value and credibility?
If a Vet Nurse has to attend University for 3-4 years to obtain their qualification in working with animals, why should groomers be any less, really?
In college terms, a "diploma" involves one and two years study - even my online diploma is 24 months (320 hours of learning)!
I do believe that for groomers to feel confident and competent in working with animals the way they do, there should at the very least be more of a requirement to remain in active learning to ensure that we are constantly learning and evolving with the times.
While there are many incredibly competent groomers and stylists out there, some with little "qualifications" to their name, the worry is that the individuals who are either:
not as competent in their roles when it comes to grooming as a means to preserve health and well-being due to a lack of an updated education
more focused on achieving an aesthetically-pleasing trim and competing in grooming competitions than thinking about what a dog actually needs,
are the ones who are unintentionally preventing our industry from being recognised and respected by Veterinary Professionals when it comes to pet health.
Why do groomers have the best opportunity to identify pain, illness and disease in dogs?
If we first start with saying the average dog has a lifespan of 10 years, let's look at how many opportunities we have to work with and develop an intimate relationship with dogs:
Based on a dog visiting the groomer every 8 weeks, they will see their groomer 6 times per year, which is 65 times over the course his lifespan.
Based on a dog visiting the groomer every 4 weeks (as recommended through my accreditation) they will see their groomer on average 13 times per annum, which is around 130 times over the course of his lifespan.
If we then compare this to the average number of times a healthy dog will visit their registered Vet (once a year) probably until they are senior (every 6 months), a Vet will often only see a dog around 13 times over the course of his lifespan.
If we go on to actually look at how long a dog will spend at the groomer's versus a veterinary appointment over the course of his life, we can again easily identify that a groomer will have several hours more.
Add to this the activities involved in the average grooming session versus a veterinary appointment, and again we can safely assume that a groomer will spend more time physically touching and examining a dog over the course of his/her life.
Which leads me onto the significance of my second point which I tapped into earlier: silent pain and how it is often identified.
This might also support the need for an additional avenue of education in groomers that would require them to up-skill into something like TTouch or Canine Massage, where they could get to know more about the muscular and skeletal parts of a dog and how to identify abnormalities during grooming sessions effectively.
Perhaps having these additional credentials behind us would be enough to warrant us more freedom to advise dog carers to explore and investigate potential issues without the fear of breaching legislation or being discredited by a Veterinary Professional?
Overall, there is no denying that acknowledging the potential contribution a more holistic, dog-centred groomer can give in pursuit of helping to enhance a dog's life, might just be the last piece of the puzzle when striving for a more successful care plan for all dogs going forward.
Disclaimer: I want to also make it clear here that there are many pet professionals actively working together between various pet care sectors, and not all Vets are reluctant to listen to professional groomers.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic.
Bibliography
Sarah Fisher Webinar on 'ACE Freework for Professional Groomers' via The Holistic Grooming Academy Student Community. June 6th 2024.
Dr Edward Bassignthewaite Q&A via The Holistic Grooming Academy Student Community. November 2023.
Winwright, R. (2023) Signs of a dog in pain - read more here, Nutriment. Available at: https://www.nutriment.co.uk/blog/post/signs-of-dog-pain#:~:text=It%20can%20be%20very%20challenging,be%20difficult%20to%20physically%20assess. (Accessed: 25 June 2024).
Further Reading
Suffering In Silence Article - https://www.safehands.dog/post/is-your-dog-suffering-in-silence
ACE Freework - http://www.tilleyfarm.org.uk/AceIndex.php
TTouch - https://ttouch.com/about-us/what-is-the-tellington-method/
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