A Grooming Trend Gone Wild A
new grooming trend emerged this year. Since Covid-19 hit the states, many of us faced unprecedented challenges, focusing on essentials and re-prioritizing. Of course, for many our beloved pets are a top priority. During New Hampshire’s 2020 Covid-19 lockdown, essential businesses were able to stay open. The animal care industry was a gray area including grooming. Is grooming essential? What makes grooming a necessity for pets?
14 4 Legs & a Tail
Aimee Doiron - Swanzey, NH Some groomers and local governments banded together to come up with a plan to help pet owners with grooming services for pets in our community. Our industry was soon after listed as essential, here’s a brief outlook on why. As a professional pet groomer, I used to get calls for grooming appointments, nail care, skin therapy solutions, brushing, new pets, and the occasional at home DIY grooming gone wrong. From a pro-
fessional groomer and animal advocate perspective, I saw groomers as essential workers without question. From a pet owner and animal lover perspective, I saw possibilities for owners to be able to stay at home and do the bare necessities to avoid exposing themselves to the potential exposure of Covid-19 while our industry was in the “gray area of essential versus non-essential. I began thinking about how many pet owners do not know how to properly brush their pets, owners with disabilities or limitations, and pets that dislike aspects of grooming. More concerns dawned on me. Owners are cutting mats out with scissors, using dad’s hair clippers, mom’s shampoo and the pet may not be fully rinsed. Some breeds can get by with regular or emergency DIY grooming. Pets that are not properly groomed (too frequent, infrequently, or using wrong products) can be a recipe for a disaster. Skin irritation, hot spots from the coat not drying properly, injuries from cutting out mats, overgrown toenails among many more scenarios have occurred by accident from pet owners trying to help their pet but do not have proper training or experience. If a pet does not naturally file their nails or have regular trimming it can lead to pain, nails growing into paw pads, or nails curling. Many pets shed which can lead to packed coats, excessive shedding, itchy skin, painful matting, fur pulling, and prevents the pet from being able to regular their body temperature properly. Pets with long hair or fur of all textures can develop mats that can pull the skin, cause pain and irritation. Cats on the other hand are typically great DIYers. They are constantly washing up and priming themselves. However, that undercoat has to go somewhere. It’s often found on your bed, on your clothes, in the corner of the room as dust bunnies, and ultimately a big hairball. Some cats cannot groom themselves properly. This leads to those skin and coat conditions which can be prevented with help of a groomer. So yes, professional pet grooming is essential! The number of “DIY grooming gone wild” has soared nationwide. “Emergency”, frantic calls outweighed the calm, excited, routine calls by far in the spring of 2020. Before this pandemic, occasionally worried pet owners called all hours the day and night still but it was more of “Help, my dog got sprayed by a skunk” or “My dog just rolled in something stinky and gross. I don’t know what it was but he needs a bath asap.” Recently it has been Winter 2021
