If you want to stir up some arguments among a group of groomers, bring up the topic of offering “shedless treatments” as an add-on service. The three most significant points that groomers argue about when it comes to this discussion are:
- Removing loose hair should automatically be part of the service offered if a dog is shedding.
- If you offer a particular service to remove shedding hair, what are you doing (or NOT doing) to the dogs that are shedding if their owners don’t choose the add-on service?
- Are products labeled as being designed to help remove shedding a bunch of malarky?
Let’s take it from the top, shall we? First off, let’s just lay it on the table that all dogs shed. Some shed lots and lots (I’m looking at you, Dalmatians!), and some hardly shed at all (respectfully nodding at Poodles.) For the sake of this discussion, I will be talking about your average double-coated dog that has guard hair and undercoat and sheds a little all the time and a LOT in springand fall. I am picturing Golden Retrievers, Huskies, Newfoundland’s, Pomeranians, and similar coat types, whether purebred or mixed-breed dogs.
The first argument is a good one. If you offer shedless treatments as an additional service and charge extra for them, you will eventually be asked to justify that upcharge. If you answer that removing the bulk of the shedding hair (and you can’t get it all!) takes extra time, that is a reasonable justification. We should be reimbursed for the time we spend. But that begs the question, “What about the pet owner who does not want to pay extra? Are you sending their pet home laden with dead coat that you didn’t correctly brush out? Because if you are, that is just lousy grooming practice.
The third point is, “Are products labeled as being designed to help remove shedding for real?” The short answer is yes. Some are better than others, to be sure. Still, in general, these products contain ingredients that clean the coat well (clean hair releases the tangled, dead, shedding coat more easily) and conditioners (which replace the sebum the shampoo washed away and smooths the cuticles on each hair shaft, so they release dead coat more easily.) In my experience, products that offer separate shampoo, conditioner, and dematting sprays work the best. The Best Shot system contains all three and is well-respected industry-wide, as it is very effective at helping groomers easily remove as much shedding coat as possible.
The bottom line is that groomers provide themselves and their customers with a service by buying effective products that enable them to achieve excellent grooming results. If they need to charge extra to remove as much shedding hair as is groomerly possible or to cover the cost of upgraded products, that is reasonable and fair. My motto? Less arguing over semantics, more shedding hair removal!
