GROOMING X TRAINING
our inventive hybrid formula is designed to be tailored to each set of paws that come our way. From first time puppies, to those with complex past experiences, or if you're just looking to find a reliable groomer who focuses on setting up for success... We've got you!
Initial Meet and Greet
The most crutial part of any clients journey!
Firstly, it’s the perfect chance for us to all meet each other and see if we are the right fit for each other and ask any and all questions before committing with us! Most importantly, your dog can meet me and take a look around the space without the pressure of you leaving and immediately being groomed.
Secondly, our infamous meet and greet forms are designed for us to become part of the family from the first meet. We go over any medical, behavioural, dietary, emergency contacts, allergies, history information which allows us to tailor every part of the grooming process to your needs. This also includes a chance to discuss our T&C’s as we are passionate about creating clear, professional client relations to ensure your dog is getting the best care they need, you are getting a smooth service with no unexpected fees down the line, and secures fair conditions for our staff that is based on mutual respect all round!
Lastly, it is the perfect chance to get a ‘peek behind the curtain’ – something almost all groomers actively avoid at all costs! Environment is a huge part of ensuring your dog is as comfortable, so we’ll give you a full tour and you can suss out the space for yourself and actually get to see where your dog will be throughout their groom!
Secondary Meet
Designed around the mindset of “how can we make this more comfortable from the dog’s point of view?” anytime after your initial meet and greet we always have a Secondary Meet… This is key part of our process as it allows us precious time to get to know your dog and begin to build a bond without immediately throwing them in a bath!
Depending on your individual needs, this could be your dog having a solo 30min pop-in to the salon, or an hour split 30mins with you present and the rest solo, or a good couple of hours “daycare” with or without you present. We’ll use this time to play, bond, and gently see what in the salon intrigues them, allow them to safely explore it for themselves, and also see what they’re naturally ready and willing to offer up to us at this point. Ie. They’ll get free reign of the salon floor, with our 1-1 attention at all times.. It’s their chance to get familiar with the space and use that powerful nose to suss everything out! If they want to see up high on the table or jump up into the bath, they absolutely can, in fact we’ll be encouraging it – but they’ll be no actual bathing or grooming on this visit, so no betrayed trust before we’ve even gotten started. Just building a foundation of positive experiences with us in this new space, with or without their grown up present.
Additional Meets
An optional add on for more complex cases or anxious owners – we offer individual add on meets or set pre-work packages (a choice of either 3, 6, or 9 additional meet sessions) to help you save if you’re needing to book multiple pre-work sessions. We encourage as many as needed until we all free ready to move forward, but our goal is to keep progressing and get onto the next step.
At the end of each session, we always add an overview note to their file, give you a full debrief on how it went, and advise you on tips and tricks you can do at home in between sessions to help positively desensitise them to whatever tricky spots we might be noticing so far.
The goal for these add on sessions is to build up to us having alone time with pup in the salon, ensuring they’re never pushed past their threshold. If progress requires more advanced help, we will advise you on what may be more appropriate help for them currently – we won’t be pushing the dog for the sake of it or encouraging you to do endless add on sessions. Our goal is to get pup ready for a tester groom – if you’re half way through a pre-work package and we think they’re ready, we’ll let you know and likely advise trying a tester groom now, see how they go, then if we need to take a step back and do more meet sessions, you already have them banked and ready to use!
Our taster sessions are a dedicated part of our process. Whether you’ve been told your dog has always been perfect in their grooms (in which case great, this is a steal of a deal!), if this is your dogs first known groom, or this is our test to see how we’ll our pre-work has gone for our more complex cases… These taster grooms are a chance for us to try a groom with absolutely no expectations or pressure in place. Our goal is to work through every part of their tailored groom, one step at a time. Pausing and reviewing each step and stopping completely if it gets too much for them.
We’ll start with our physical health check, move to bathing, drying, etc… Literally stripping the process down to individual tick boxes, and see how far we get towards what would be their full ideal groom. It allows us to go slowly, document every part of the process, and note any potential ‘trigger spots’ to be aware of and working with you on moving forward. If fully successful, your dog will have completed their first full groom with us, and will receive their ‘passed first try’ onboarding certificate! From there you can book in any service with us as you will officially completed our onboarding process! If your pup didn’t quite manage the full groom, we’ll thoroughly chat through their struggles and successes with you upon pick up, and plan what route we’d like to take next… We may be ready to continue on to full grooms, just without X part of the process whilst we work on it together, we may need to take a full step back and complete some more pre-work before trying a full groom again, or we may have discovered a few bigger triggers that may need more advanced help. Whatever the case, we’re here to help and support on that journey to their version of a full groom!
FULL GROOM
We are BIG on our checks, that’s why as part of every single session we have dedicated health check forms which are to be completed at drop off or digitally beforehand (don’t worry, it takes like 30seconds, promise!). It’s to check if there’s been any health changes, injuries, adverse reactions to the last groom, any behavioural/life stressors, their sleep quality etc. recently. All are read before the groom begins and stored in their file after. The second part of their health check is the physical review we do at the start of every groom just to make sure we’re on top of pup’s general health status and can inform you of any concerns if necessary.
We vow to take it at the dog's pace - if they need a break, we take one. If we need to go back a step we will. And if it all get's too much, we will stop where we are, contact you and talk over a plan ready to try again another time. We purposely build in these breaks for us and the dog! And we’ll take as many as they need... If our grooms take longer than the average, we will happily make that decision if it means none of us are stressed during the process.
We all have off days: if your dog is usually doing well, then suddenly struggling with the groom one day, we’ll assess their health status, continue if safe to do so, and advise you at pickup if we feel a vet/pain check might be needed.
Where ethics meet expert care.
Finding Inspiration in Every Turn
​​​
•We work off of a truly ethical, force-free approach, meaning we won't ever traumatise your dog to get a quick result... In fact, we always allow plenty of time for every single groom - less pressure for your pup and our staff!​
​
•With our team trained in Pet First Aid and Canine Body Language.
​
•Instead we work off of the Sunflower Paws "Educate to Advocate" approach, where we will actively communicate with you about how your dog is doing during every part of the grooming process. PLUS we'll work with you, giving you tailored expert advice on how to help your dog in between sessions!
​
•Our environment sets your dog up for success with it's positive, considered and compassionate vibes.
​
•We use quality products that may cost us more, but we think it's worth it!
​
•Each dog has their own detailed records with us, including behavioural progress, owner feedback, which tailored mix of products we used, and more!
​
•Finally, we don't discriminate. Every dog deserves a chance, that's why we have designed our entire business model to centre around THEIR individual needs!
​
•It’s invaluable to have someone (especially with puppy or rescue grooms) to literally tell you exactly what to do to build your dog up for success. It impacts the rest of their life. I’ll give you advice, EASE into the process for them so that when we try a full groom the dog is hopefully ready and trusts me.
​
​•DISCLAIMER ON PAGE: welfare grooms, behavioural which needs dedicated training, or neurological cases.
•Very different to direct training. This is a template.
​
•Purposely build in breaks for us and the dog. Take as many as they need... If they don’t make a difference, we stop. Continue another day. Make them presentable enough, contact you and stop.
​
•We schedule time in between each client so no cross overs, and me/my staff get a break!!! And can record the session whilst it’s fresh in our minds.
​
•Our process may seem more expensive but it’s actually cheaper/way more cost effective in a lot of other ways/in the long run… because it’s ethical, you’ll save money on constantly changing groomers, having to book vet appointments to manage their behaviours, having to hire a dog trainer to help their case, having to pay for anxiety medication to calm them down when they’re at the groomers, or trying every online “quick fix”.
​
•We want to work so well, that if the owner was watching a live feed of us, they’d say “aw look they’re doing so well with each other, handled with so much care”, and we could go home proud of our work, not scared to be caught out or insecure.
WHY ALL THIS FOR A GROOM THOUGH...?
Click Here for the video transcript.