Canine Opportunities Changing the World, One Dog at a Time.

By Helen Donald

The Canine Groom School and sister business, Canine Health and Hydro, both situated in Clitheroe, are heart-warming businesses that you really need to get to know.

The businesses are up for the Ribble Valley Business Awards 2023, (they certainly get our vote!). We spoke to Steven Maney –Co Founder, to find out more.

Steven and his wife Poppy, both original dog groomers from Kent, packed up and sold everything to take the leap up north, and start up the Groom School and Hydrotherapy centre together.

Steven does the business side of things and teaches the business to clients; the skills, the marketing, bookings, referrals etc. as well as being in the grooming sessions, but it is Poppy who runs the grooming side.

The Groom School itself isn’t just your average kind of school. Steven talks with such passion about helping people make a life changing move by undertaking these qualifications. He mentions how people from all walks of life, including many medical, law, teaching, etc. professionals come to the school – it could be anybody, but they usually have one thing in common and that is being unhappy in their work life, and in desperate need of a change. Steven says how at the Canine Groom School they are not just instructors, that they are often therapists and motivational coaches too. They believe in helping people believe in themselves, in setting up their own businesses and in achieving these new goals. By training and qualifying here you not only become a certified groomer, but you make contacts and friends, you become a part of a new interlinked network, who can all continue to aid each other to succeed in business and in life.

Steven and Poppy both say that the Groom School is not just about dogs, that what brings people here goes deeper, it is often about trauma, mental health problems, job loathing, redundancy, divorce . . . people can often hit rock bottom and be looking for exactly this kind of life changing opportunity that the School can offer. So, here they strive to flip these negatives into positives with you and make downfalls like this become the root of the change to success.

We don’t think the course costs are bad at all compared to education costs in general, the courses include City and Guilds Certificates of various levels, Diplomas and ICMG’s – all verified official certifications, which people come to take on from all over the world. (Someone recently from Iceland!)

Even if the cost does seem like a lot of money, it is important to remember like any qualification, it is an investment for the future. Steven says, people are always surprised how quickly they recoup these initial costs and that when you get fully booked up, which you will, people either then whittle down and struggle to have to be picky, or they expand. They end up hiring more groomers, and then they get the chance to spread the opportunities. This also gives people great satisfaction.

To start up any business includes initial investment, and this is a very reasonable cost to start up. It is also the kind of business you could potentially run from home, or via a mobile service.

Plus, here they have a range of Interest Free Payment options to make it even easier.

Steven and Poppy described it to us as being like a snowball effect of opportunity, all starting with one. In fact, they have a motto above the hydrotherapy pool which says –

Changing the World, One Dog at a Time!

They told us how they feel, (and feedback they receive from students often concurs), that the grooming itself is therapeutic, and how the dogs themselves can be healers for us, as well as being cared for and healed themselves.

The facilities here are amazing, and the team offer Free Taster Tours and welcome enquiries for these and for any of their services, it is well worth going along for a look around.

The hydrotherapy side of the business is about treatment, and about going that extra mile for your dog to give the best for them. Steven told us that thankfully, gone are the days that the vet would say the dogs’ back legs are gone, so that’s it! That attitudes have changed, and it is thanks to places and people like this. Because yes medication and operations are still suggested, but now more and more vets are advising alternative medical therapies and approaches for dogs too.

Steven told us when he and Poppy started out, they had to face up to a lot of criticisms, comments, laughter and ridicule about what they were doing, people saying things like ‘Canine hydro what, that’s not a real thing!’ but they were right to persist through and have had a lot of apologies since too.

They have trained over 1000 groomers and healed over 5000 dogs! Steven says the technology is there to do the treatment the non-invasively way and thankfully here they invested all they had in the best equipment right from the start.

So, we asked about the equipment.

They have their Hydrotherapy Pool – a 32 degree heated indoor pool. The heat consistently maintained as it is important in the recovery process. In the pool they even have something called the Quantum Photocatalytic Oxidiser! What is that I thought –thinking it sounded like something which belonged in a sci-fi movie? It is in fact a UV germ killer. Again, another example of how the company does not want to use any unnecessary chemicals.

Then they have two Water Treadmills. Imagine an electric treadmill submerged in water, and there are two of these, but don’t worry the staff get in there with your dogs because it is perfectly safe. Did you know - even Usain Bolt and Mo Farah use these to train and strengthen!

At the centre, the team take every dog into individual consideration though, as every situation is different and treatment has to be delivered and sometimes altered accordingly. This can be down to factors such a the breed of dog, the type of injury, or the individual stage of recovery. But the dogs are in the safest hands, and the wealth of knowledge and understanding here is incredible.

There are also the K Lazers, and here there are two of these as well. The centre here has been using these for 7 years now. Even football teams have started to jump on this one, (Arsenal for example!). What the K-Lazers do is they work at a cellular level by forcing the body’s healing process to work at a dramatically faster pace. They are stimulating natural repair though, so again, it is another chance to avoid medication and surgery. (You can find videos on You-tube of how these Lazers work.)

This company works through a vet referral service, in doing so they get the official medical reports on the dogs, and in doing this they are also officially accredited by the registered professionals. This helps avoid any cowboys, and also help owners to trust in them too. Good vets know that this is the right thing to do, to heal in as natural a way as possible. Think about it, as people we don’t give up after an injury, we would go to a physio or therapy to walk again or be mobile again. Gone are the days of doctors telling someone with a bad back to stay in bed and not move for example, we have to keep moving and retrain and regain strength and it is no different for dogs. Steven and Poppy often us the motto – You use it or lose it!

One other important thing to note is that they will encourage the owners to continue with the plan given, to keep going with the rehabilitation process so they don’t end up with the dogs retreating and ending up back at square one. Maintenance is a key, and they will help guide you with this, they really do want to help heal dogs here and not keep them on a money churning conveyor belt, and this is a great quality of the ethos of this company. The staff here therefore will be honest with you, they often do have to deliver hard truths, but they will do that in order to help take the right recovery steps for your faithful friends.

As well as the equipment here they do have a qualified physio on site who compliments all the treatments. If say a dog gets a cuts whilst going through hydrotherapy treatment and can not temporarily go in the pool, then the physio will step in. As mentioned, treatments can be tailored as they go along, but as the company work on a credit system, they help you use the credits you have (relating to the level of package you have) in the most efficient and lucrative ways for you. They welcome you to call and ask for more information on anything.

The Canine group uses joint supplements which they carefully source from researched and reputable suppliers, as a key component in aiding a healthy recovery. They also promote Butternut Box; this is the dog food company they turn to. They produce human grade, fresh to frozen dog food, delivered to your door, containing no additives or preservatives. If you look on the canine company’s websites you can find out more about this too and find a discount code.

This is a couple who have been in the business for a long time and honestly care about everything they do, as they literally have invested everything they have in it. They have even teamed up with a local Mental Health Organisation in Burnley, worth looking up as they need support too, called Casual Minds Matter.

This is an incredible couple who run an amazing business both teaching and training as well as healing and saving, all of it makes for so much better qualities of life for you and for your dogs.

They have so many incredible stories to share too, stories that will bring a tear to your eye – please watch the video on You-tube – BEN THE DOG & HIS IMPOSSIBLE STORY. Then you will see what I mean.

If you pay them a visit please ask them to also tell you the story of Butch and where – Love from Butch came from. You will leave inspired!