SPONSORED BY
Stephanie Zikmann and Jess
Holistic Grooming Internationally-recognised School, The Holistic Grooming Academy launches ‘The Accredited Holistic Grooming Diploma’ Founder, Stephanie Zikmann explains how this can benefit pet groomers:
U
nco-operative dogs in the groom room can result in feelings of exhaustion and disappointment, at least that’s what I’ve observed over the last few years, and it’s not uncommon to see posts on social media from exasperated groomers pleading for guidance in dealing with the latest “demon dog” to pad through their doors. When we combine these struggles with long, laboursome hours and unrealistic customer expectations, our inexperience as dog handlers and communicators can often lead us down a stressful path if we aren’t careful, leading to total burnout and exposing
40 | www.simplysharp.co.uk
us to higher risk of injury in the groom room. There’s no denying that before the birth of The Holistic Grooming Academy, there was a strong demand for more support in the handling of dog’s with more challenging needs. Sadly, our Level 3 practical courses in Professional Styling just weren’t making the cut when considering how best to approach these dogs and this proved to be one of the leading causes of stress in the industry. While there’s no denying that there has been a recent influx of dogs with behavioural conditions as a result of limited socialisation opportunities
during lockdown, behaviour in the groom room has always been a problem. The reason why we are noticing it more today, I believe, comes down to the advancement of science itself which is heightening our awareness of the emotional advancement of other animal species, and the significance it has in the way we work with them. Concepts like “force-free”, “fear-free” and “holistic” have over the years been understandably ridiculed by many a pet professional because they have either been misunderstood entirely, or taken quite literally. Of course, professional styling is, for the most part, a highly stressful environment and it would
