There was a time when I lived in a city with many other groomers. I would invite a few of them to my house to watch grooming videos regularly. I’d put out lots of snacks and a couple of bottles of wine, and pretty soon, we’d quit watching the video and just gab, swap stories, and laugh. It was a lot of fun. As I cleaned up the next day, I’d put the video back on and watch it myself. I could pay much better attention when I wasn’t swapping “worst anal sac” stories with other groomers.
At this point, I had been grooming for over twenty years and felt pretty confident with my skills. One particular video I watched was about hand-stripping techniques, and the instructor had a lovely British accent. At one point in her teaching, she scissored around an ear or foot, I forget which, and she calmly said, “If you should feel resistance, stop.” I laughed out loud because, duh, that seemed incredibly obvious.
Fast forward about a week, and I was merrily grooming a wiggly Shih Tzu and trimming away when my scissors encountered some resistance. I chalked it up to a clump of thick hair and was about to close those blades when somewhere in the back of my brain, I heard that accented voice whisper, “If you should feel resistance, stop.” I did. Upon investigation, I found it was not thick hair as I imagined but an odd little growth I had failed to notice. Had I continued my trimming, I would have been dealing with an injury to the pet.
I can’t tell you much about any of the other educational videos I watched back then. I am sure I learned many things that I incorporated into my grooming repertoire. Yet, I vividly remember that simple sentence that I considered so glaringly evident all those many years ago. It echoes in my head to this day and has saved me and the pets I work on from grief on multiple occasions.
That simple sentence can be applied to many things in life, but it is a particularly helpful line to remember for grooming purposes as we clip and snip on pets. A wise veterinarian once told me, “Groomers work on moving, living creatures with sharp tools. It’s a wonder that more accidents don’t happen.” I believe that following the rule of stopping if you feel resistance is an excellent way to avoid mishaps. I hope that after reading this, you, too, will have a little reminding voice (British accent optional) in your head that will help you to pause and inspect any time you feel resistance in the future.
