Dental hygiene

Doggy Dental Hygiene

Anastasia Waugh, founder of the Dog Tooth Fairy Emmi-pet Distribution and courses, shares her tips on how to combat doggy dental disease:

Did you know that 80% of dogs have some form of dental disease by the time they reach the age of 3? Signs can include bad breath, drooling, swollen red gums, plaque and tartar, abscesses, a dog may appear to have pain around the mouth when handled, this is where Emmi-pet comes in.

There’s never been a better time to add ultrasonic teeth cleaning to your grooming business. This service which has revolutionised canine dental health, has increased in popularity so much over the past few years with a surge in dog groomers offering ultrasonic teeth cleaning as a service particularly in these past 18 months. Lockdown has been a time where many families in the UK have added pets to their homes 3.2 Million to be precise! Many dog groomers diary’s are bursting at the seams, so it’s a great time to branch out and add an extra service your clients will love.

Emmi-pet is a silent, non-vibrating, non-invasive, toothbrush, which uses ultrasonic waves that work 12mm beneath the gumline to eliminate bacteria and break down plaque and tartar. It’s a safe and stress-free option for pet owners, and can prevent the dog needing to go for bigger more costly veterinary dental work later down

the line which requires anaesthetic, and isn’t without its risks.

I first discovered Emmi-pet at Mastergroom in 2017, I was initially hesitant to purchase as it was so new at the time, I thought to myself “would it work”? “Would I get the same results as the photos on the distributors trade stand”? “Would it be worth the money”? I waited another 12 months to take the plunge and buy my first Emmi-pet toothbrush, in its first month my amazing brush had paid for itself more than 3 times over, I was really surprised it had taken off so well. With many of my clients signing up for the new service I was offering, news quickly spread around the town where my salon was based (I always find word of mouth is the greatest marketing tool of any business).

I regretted not investing sooner than I did (hind sights a wonderful thing).

After becoming rather addicted to cleaning dogs teeth and seeing the amazing results in my salon, I decided to become an Emmi-pet distributor, I signed up to Angela Rollinson’s team and The Dog Tooth Fairy was born.

I felt as a distributor it was important for me not just to sell the products but also to help other dog groomers succeed in the same way I had with the service. Any groomer who buys a starter kit off me gets unlimited aftercare, free marketing materials advice, guidance and support needed. This enables them to achieve great results, impress their clients and massively boost their salons revenue, this gives me the biggest buzz. Its important to remember that by going through a UK distributor you are supporting a small business and will get aftercare and support whereas if you shop directly with Emmi-pet or Amazon you won’t get that. “Emmi-pet made simple with the dog tooth fairy” is my Facebook group, a space where groomers can go to get advice and support about all things Emmi-pet and no question is too silly, we all learn by asking questions after all.

The common questions many groomers that come to me for advice have about are questions such as “what equipment will I need to get me started? ” “How many sessions will a dog need to achieve results?” “How much should I charge for this service?”. Allot of what I do is help groomers educate their clients that the dental health is really important, and just like grooming, dental care is an essential part of a dog’s welfare needs, and so Emmi-pet is a treatment a dog will need regularly to keep their gums and teeth nice and healthy. The worst case I ever seen was a client’s dogs molar that fallen out while my employee was washing around the dogs muzzle area in the bathtub during a groom. This was a client we had been requesting she see a vet about her dog’s teeth for quite some time, this is just an example of how bad teeth can get if regular dental hygiene methods are not a part of a dogs routine.

This year I created a zoom training course which condenses all of my knowledge and experience of running Emmi-pet in my own salon into a 2-hour training to give groomers the confidence they need to get them started on their Emmi-pet journey. In my previous Job I was an Animal Management Lecturer and taught at a land-based college for 12 years, so it’s been great to put my teaching hat back on again and help other groomers kick start their new service, it’s something I’m passionate about. The Zoom trainings are really popular with dog groomers and get booked up pretty quickly and I’ve had some really amazing feedback from the courses.

Emmi-pet is a much quicker and easier way of making money than grooming. A groomer can easily make almost treble an hour cleaning teeth as they can do grooming!! It’s also a lot less wear and tear physically on the groomers body which is something which seems to appeal to many that have injuries and other physical health issues that have been exacerbated by choosing dog grooming as a career.

The starter kits are around the £200 mark, but that cost can easily be made back after 4-6 sessions depending on your salon pricing structure. The Crufts deal package has been popular with dog groomers this year, it’s great value for money. I recently did a Facebook live with Bill Betts on his YouTube channel or podcast ‘Pet Passion to Profit’ where we talk about teeth cleaning as an add on service, it’s a great listen for groomers wanting to add this service to their business as it answers allot of questions that are commonly raised about the products.

You can find me on Facebook and Instagram @thedogtoothfairy, stop by and say hello, I’d love to hear from you.