Holiday Grooming 101: Expert Tips for Keeping Your Pet Healthy and Happy this Season with Julia Benning

The holiday season is approaching fast! In this episode, Amy Castro sits down with Julia Benning, Lead Grooming Advisor for Well Groomed Pets and a Fear-Free Certified Groomer, to dive into everything pet parents need to know for holiday grooming. Julia shares her insights on why grooming is more than just a haircut—it’s crucial for your pet's overall wellness. From prepping your pet for their first grooming experience to managing winter coat care and handling matting issues, Julia provides practical advice for ensuring your furry friends look and feel their best.

Key Topics Covered:

• Preparing for Your Pet's First Grooming Visit: Learn how to make grooming less stressful for new or anxious pets.
• Winter Grooming Tips: Discover how colder weather affects your pet’s coat and skin health, and which grooming products can make a difference.
• Doodle Grooming 101: Get essential advice for managing high-maintenance coats, from matting prevention to choosing the right grooming tools.
• Best Practices for Pet Health and Grooming: Explore how regular grooming can help prevent infections, hotspots, and other common issues in both long- and short-haired breeds.
• Holiday Scheduling Tips: Find out why early booking is crucial and how to plan grooming appointments for a stress-free holiday season.

Don’t wait until the last minute—give your pet the gift of a healthy, happy grooming experience this season! Listen now for expert advice on making every visit to the groomer smooth and enjoyable for both you and your pet.

Be sure to check out the Well Groomed Pets website to see if there's a location near you: https://wellgroomedpets.com/

For a list and links to the products Julia mentioned on the show, go to: https://www.starlightpettalk.com/p/our-favorite-products/

 Big changes are coming soon to Starlight Pet Talk! 🚀 We’re excited to share that we're evolving to bring you even more engaging content and fresh perspectives. Stay tuned for new features and exciting updates that will enhance your listening experience. We can’t wait to reveal what’s next—keep an eye out for more details! 

Chapters

• 0:00 Preparing Your Pet for Grooming Success
• 4:01 Positive Pet Grooming Preparation Advice
• 8:57 Effective Communication for Pet Grooming Maintenance
• 15:33 Grooming Needs Based on Coat Types
• 22:06 Importance of Professional Pet Grooming
• 31:47 Winter Pet Grooming Tips and Advice
• 39:41 Effective Pet Grooming Product Recommendations

Transcript

Amy Castro: 0:00

The holidays are going to be here before you know it, and don't you want your pet looking and feeling awesome going into the holiday season and into the new year. Well, we've got you covered. Today I'm sitting down with Julia Benning, lead Grooming Advisor for the Well-Groomed Pet franchise, and we're going to answer your questions about getting your pets ready, and more. We'll dive into tips for making a pet's first grooming a success and explore why well-groomed pets are healthy pets. And we're going to do it all so you're armed with this information just in time to make that appointment for the holiday season. Whether your pet's been to the groomers a hundred times or whether it's their first trip, if you want your furry friend to look and feel their best, you're not going to want to miss this episode. Stay tuned. You're listening to Starlight Pet Talk, a podcast for pet parents who want the best pet care advice from cat experts, dog trainers, veterinarians and other top pet professionals who will help you live your very best life with your pets.

Amy Castro: 0:57

My guest today is Julia Benning. Julia is the lead grooming advisor for Well-Groomed Pets and she's a passionate pet care professional with more than 13 years of experience in the industry. Julia is a certified fear-free groomer, and her extensive training and education in pet health and wellness have earned her an impressive 100% five-star client rating. I'm excited to have her here today to share her expert insights on grooming, but also how it connects to your pet's overall wellness. So, julia, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for having me, amy. I'm happy to be here.

Amy Castro: 1:33

I'm definitely glad to have you here, and I think this is perfect timing for everybody, because not only are we going to talk about grooming and some general guidelines and really open people's eyes maybe a little bit more, or open them completely, to the fact that grooming does have such a big impact on an animal's health, but then also, you know, everybody wants their pet to look great over the holidays, and I think sometimes we think about it at the last minute, kind of like getting our own hair done and then, guess what? You know, the person that cuts your hair can't get you in until February of 2025. So you got to plan ahead. So it's good we're doing this when we're doing this.

Amy Castro: 2:15

So one of the things that I think that I've heard from groomers is that there are a lot of things that people could be doing to help themselves when it comes to taking their pet to the groomer. Sometimes people complain about having a bad experience. They cut my pets too short, they shaved them down when I didn't really want that, and I feel like a lot of that has to do with what is the pet parent doing at home to maintain that grooming along the way. So what I was hoping to kick off with is if you could give us some tips of things that pet parents could be doing between groomings or even before they take their pet ever to a groomer, to make everybody's life easier.

Julia Benning: 2:46

Yeah, absolutely. That's definitely an important topic when we're talking about grooming here, and especially, like you said, in time for the holidays and things like that as well. So I think it kind of falls into two different categories here. There's the behavioral implications and then the maintenance, right, the maintenance of the skin and coat. So I'll kind of talk a little bit about the behavioral side of things first, and you know what we can do to mentally prepare our pups for the experiences that they're going to be going through during the grooming session.

Julia Benning: 3:15

Right, there's, you know, one of my favorite groomers, karina Stanworthy. She likes to compare it to being abducted by an alien as the pet's experience of going to a dog groomer, right, I'm kind of taken away from my comfortable environment and I'm asked to endure things that I don't typically have to endure, and so it can be quite foreign for them. And so, first of all, drawing an awareness to that fact that this is something that is out of the ordinary for our dogs right, it's not part of their daily routine and having some empathy for that right, understanding that this is a little bit different for them. And so, from there, what can we do to make it a little easier for them to understand. Now, a lot of that does have to do with your groomer making sure that your groomer is educated on, you know, fear-free handling techniques, and a lot of it does rely on what the groomer can do with your pet during the session. But there's so much that pet parents can do at home to help prepare their pet as well. So things like practicing brushing, practicing having their feet held or their face held, and different things like this, you know that aren't normally part of a dog's everyday picture that they see. But we can kind of start introducing them to these things in an environment when they're comfortable at home with their pet parent.

Julia Benning: 4:24

I will say there are some dogs who are, you know, particularly reactive to having their feet touched and things like that, and so there is a way to go about desensitizing your pet to these things. We don't want to just, you know, push them through it and force them to let me hold their paw. So if you're practicing these things with your pet at home practicing brushing or having their face held or their feet held and you notice them struggling a lot and it's it's something that's kind of increasing their, their distress then I would recommend waiting. You know, maybe that's not something that you practice at home. Leave that to a groomer who's been, you know, professionally trained or fear-free certified, to help kind of desensitize them to that process.

Julia Benning: 5:04

But most dogs we can do a lot at home as the pet parent. They trust us and they might be a little uncomfortable hey mom, I don't want you pulling on my paw right now, but we can usually kind of reason with them, maybe give them some treats, use some soothing words and make it a positive experience for them, and keeping it really short and sweet too. This is like five, maybe 10 minutes or so, once a day, a few times a week. It doesn't have to be anything super intensive, but just so that they start to understand the picture of what it looks like when someone comes to kind of pick up my paw Right. So from that behavioral standpoint that's kind of a super important piece that the pet parents can help kind of create what that picture looks like for the pet at home.

Amy Castro: 5:48

Right, and doesn't it help if they start that early on? I mean, I would think, just like any other, you know, getting an animal used to a certain experience, a certain level of conditioning, a certain level of training, you know there's elements of all of those things in there. But if I start when my puppy is a puppy, by touching their feet and associating that with positive things like getting, you know, I hold your paw to the count of two, you know, one Mississippi, two Mississippi, and I let it go and I give you a treat, and then maybe I make it a little bit longer as I go along versus expecting. At two years old I've never been groomed. I've never, you know, had a bath, except the water hose in the backyard in my face and thinking that that's going to go well when you run to the groomer. And then you're mad when the groomer can't do what you need to get done. Well, you didn't do your part at home?

Julia Benning: 6:28

Absolutely yes, and part of our responsibility as groomers is to be an advocate for the pet. Right, we have to be the ones that are sharing with the pet parents. Hey look, your pup's really not comfortable with this. We're not going to push them any further, right, we have to be that advocate. So that's why you'll hear that from your groomers a lot. It is our responsibility to make sure that we're protecting the pet's well-being and that doesn't that, you know that extends to a mental well-being as well.

Julia Benning: 6:51

But to answer your question, yes, of course it's always better to start early. The earlier you can start the desensitizing, the better. But you know, I'm always against that saying of you can't teach an old dog new tricks, right? We see it even with rescue dogs. People adopt dogs that are adult dogs and we have no idea what that pet's gone through in its life. Maybe it's been familiar with grooming, maybe it's had terrible grooming experiences, maybe it's never been groomed in its life, right, and we can still use the same tactics and the same methods to help desensitize to the grooming process and help them get more comfortable.

Julia Benning: 7:25

So that's honestly one of my favorite parts is when I have a rescue dog come in that's so sensitive. You know they're being screamed when you just go to touch them and then over the months that I groom them as they come back and we practice and I can show that pet that I respect their boundaries. I earn their trust and you know that first time that pet comes in their haircut might not look perfect, but by the third or fourth visit that pet trusts me enough that I'm able to give the pet parent the perfect haircut that they love and that's a really rewarding process. So of course it's important to start early, but it's also not an excuse not to start desensitizing as well. You can start this at any time and it will help your pet with the grooming experience.

Amy Castro: 8:06

Yeah, that's a good point and I think that setting that was actually I was going to ask you about not setting your expectations too high.

Amy Castro: 8:12

I mean, it's going to depend on the scenarios, and I've seen these videos where somebody finds a dog on the streets and of course this is an extreme example but finds a dog on the streets, has to lure it to their car. The dog's terrified, you know, just kind of like skulking around to the car. They pick it up, they put it in the car and the next thing you know they're throwing it in the bathtub and I'm like, is that really? I mean, I just adopted this dog from the shelter four days before Thanksgiving and I'm going to bring it to a new house. I'm going to, you know, get it to the vet to get vaccine. You know it's going to get neutered, all these things are going to happen to it, and then I'm going to run it to a groomer. Like you have to expect that you're not going to necessarily be able to accomplish all of those things effectively for many pets, because they need more time to decompress and get used to their surroundings, if nothing else.

Julia Benning: 9:11

Absolutely, and the same goes for puppies as well.

Julia Benning: 9:13

You know, with the holidays around the corner, a lot of people are going to be bringing home puppies and you know it's really good to have realistic expectations and understand that this is going to be really scary for the puppy at first and that the first grooming appointment, the whole goal, should really be just having a positive first experience for the puppy.

Julia Benning: 9:31

Now I will say there are some puppies just like with people, everybody's different. There are some puppies that might be so relaxed by the grooming process that I can give them the most beautiful haircut you've ever seen on their first time in the grooming salon. We do get those, so it does happen. But for the most part, you know you want to expect that first session. Maybe we'll get to trim a little bit around the feet, maybe a little bit around the eyes, but you're not expecting a full body haircut out of your puppy's first grooming session. And so it is good to make sure that, especially if you have some specific expectations of what you want your pup to look like for the holidays, if you guys have some holiday photo shoots coming up or family pictures, things like that, that you communicate that with your groomer early, like months in advance, so that if there's any prep work that needs to be done, either by the groomer or the pet parent, that you guys are working together as a team to work towards that goal.

Amy Castro: 10:26

Yeah, that's a good point. I mean, communication is such an important part of this process and I would think and this is terrible to admit, but I've never had a pet that I've taken to the groomer, except for one and it was a dog that I found when I was doing rescue and I ended up adopting. It was a foster fail kind of situation and he did go to the groomer. But other than that, I don't have a lot of experience taking my pet to the groomer. But I've been on the other end of, you know, helping groomers work on their communication skills and how do they respond when they get angry customers and things like that.

Amy Castro: 10:57

To know that you know that communication is such a two way street, you have to let your groomer know this is, you know, this is what I'm trying to accomplish, and groomers have to be great communicators to say I really would love to do that, but that's going to be a process. It's going to take this amount of months to get your dog to that point. It's not going to happen in this visit. It's so important to set those expectations and have those conversations before, not after, you hand over the dog. It's not one person's fault or the other. It's a two-way street for sure.

Julia Benning: 11:27

Yeah, absolutely. And that kind of ties into the second half of your question of you know what can people do to help prep their pets for grooming. The maintenance side of things, you know we kind of talked about the behavioral, but when it comes to the true skin and coat maintenance, that communication is just as important in those types of conversations as well. So things like matting matting is probably the number one kind of pain point between the pet parents and the groomers. It's really difficult for pet parents to understand why it is that we can't give them exactly what they want when their pet is matted. And being able to have the conversations and explain that to the pet parents is extremely important. And then you know vice versa as well.

Julia Benning: 12:12

It is extremely hard for us as a groomer to have a matted pet walk in and have a pet parent who tells us I promise, I brush them every day. Right, it's our instinct as a groomer to be like no, you don't. But I know plenty of pet parents who brush their dogs religiously and they still come in with mats and tangles. It's not a matter of a lack of care, it's a matter of a lot of people have dogs with difficult coats to maintain nowadays and it's hard to, even if you're investing the time to have the right tools and the right methods and the consistency. It's tough on pet parents out there.

Julia Benning: 12:41

So of course the communication between the pet parent and the groomers is super important.

Julia Benning: 12:46

But also we as groomers have to recognize that pet parents are doing their best with the information that they're provided as well, so it's up to us to kind of educate them. So things like regular brushing are extremely important to being able to have the type of groom or the type of haircut that you want. Now if you're one of those people where you like your dog nice and buzzed, super short, sure, maybe it's not as important to brush them quite as regularly. Of course we still want to keep them mat and tangle free for their own comfort. But if you're not too worried about having a really long fluffy fur, not quite as big of a deal. But if you do want your dog to be fluffy, then brushing them every day is super important and not just brushing them, you know, for five minutes and kind of calling it a day. But what happens a lot of times when pet parents spend just a little bit of time brushing their dog is they will brush the top layer of the fur.

Amy Castro: 13:35

That's what I was going to ask you. They don't brush those armpits. I know they don't.

Julia Benning: 13:42

Exactly, and I always like to play devil's advocate for the pet parent because I think they get a lot of heat. They catch a lot of heat and sometimes it's warranted, sometimes it's not. But you could spend 15 minutes brushing your dog from nose to tail, getting the armpits, and still be missing tangles. So because you're only using one brush, if you use a slicker brush, that's great. That's what we typically recommend for removing matting or dead undercoat tangles, things like that. A slicker brush is a phenomenal tool for pet parents to use. But you have to check with a metal comb as well. If you don't go over the coat with a metal comb, that slicker brush might just brush all the way through, and then when you go through with the comb, you'll hit a tangle that you didn't know was there, and so that's indicating to you that you have to go back to that area. So again, even I could spend 15 minutes brushing a dog from nose to tail and getting the armpits and the ears and everything, and I could go back over with the comb and there's still tangles in there that I need to go back and brush out.

Julia Benning: 14:39

So making sure that you're using the right tools and kind of checking your work is super important and to your point, amy, when you're brushing, there are areas that typically get more matting that we want to focus on, that groomers often have to shave out, and that is the armpit areas, the ears, behind the ears, under the ears, a lot of times the base of the tail as well, in the tail itself.

Julia Benning: 15:00

So those are areas that are kind of key matting areas that you want to double check. But step one, make sure you have a slicker brush and a comb, and I will always advocate as well for using some sort of scissoring spray or dematting spray, conditioning spray, leave-in conditioning spray. That type of product will help protect the integrity of the coat itself, so that you're not breaking and damaging the coat as you're brushing them out. Integrity of the coat itself, so that you're not breaking and damaging the coat as you're brushing them out. So it's super important for maintenance at home and that's going to, you know, help your groomer be able to to give you the haircut that you want.

Amy Castro: 15:33

Yeah, and I think people need to be realistic with themselves too as to how much are they willing to do. I mean, it's the same thing we talk about with all aspects of dog life, is? It's all about fit.

Amy Castro: 15:45

So, like I will be the first one to admit, I cannot tell you the last time any of my dogs have been brushed which I want to talk about, because there's a lot of people and I know it and I still don't do what I need to do but there's a lot of people that think you know, my dog's a lab so it doesn't need to be brushed. And I know that it does. But I've got all these short haired dogs. I don't brush them, but I know for a fact, like if I had a fluffy dog, it would be a matted mess, because I am honest enough with myself to know that I am not going to brush my dog every single day, Just like I don't brush their teeth every single day. I'm just, I'm a bad person, obviously.

Julia Benning: 16:17

I'm the same way. We don't worry.

Amy Castro: 16:30

That's why I got. That's why I got the dog that I got, because I knew I wouldn't be brushing it every single day. That's right. So you've got to think about that when you think about okay, either I'm going to have to do this myself in between, or I'm going to be taking my. If I decide that I want this higher maintenance animal as far as their coat or their teeth or whatever it might be, then I'm going to have to pay the groomer and I'm going to have to go more frequently. It's not going to be something where I can just go at Christmas time kind of thing, or just go for the holidays and think that that's going to cover it, or once a quarter, yeah you're not wrong, but unfortunately there is a lot of misinformation out there, particularly when it comes to our designer breeds, the doodles and anything with poodle mixes in it.

Julia Benning: 16:58

You know, I'm honestly not sure why, but for some reason there are a lot of doodle breeders out there that are deliberately misinforming their pet parents and people that purchase dogs from them. So we as groomers hear time and time again the breeder told me I didn't need to brush him. The breeder told me he shouldn't have a haircut until he's a year old.

Julia Benning: 17:17

And these are golden doodles and labradoodles and sheepadoodles and burnadoodles and all of those right, I see it time and time again in the Facebook groomer groups that this pet parent was told not to take their dog to the groomer until it's a year old. So again, we have to be, you know, kind of sympathetic with our pet parents, who are doing their best and thought that they could handle this type of dog, and now they're kind of saddled with a dog that realistically needs to be seen by a groomer every four weeks for the rest of its life. And doodle grooming is not cheap, right, and there's a reason for that when you have a dog that is partially a short hair breed or a medium hair breed mixed with a long hair breed. We get both of those coat types in this mysterious coat that pops up, and that's one of the reasons why doodle coats are so varied and so diverse.

Julia Benning: 18:05

You never really know, what you're going to get but you know it's going to be more difficult than you know even a standard poodles curly coat which has a lot of integrity to it and is very predictable, right so? So you're absolutely right. Making sure that you're picking a dog that is a good fit for what you are willing to invest is super important, but unfortunately, there are some pet parents out there who you know have been misinformed, and that's led them to be in a situation where, you know, maybe they can't afford grooming every four weeks for a doodle, and so that's when you have to kind of pivot work with your groomer on a haircut that is good for maintenance but still leaves you with a pup that looks as cute as you want.

Amy Castro: 18:45

Yeah, that's a good point, because there are so many types of coats you know some you're limited in what you can do with them.

Amy Castro: 18:50

I mean, if you've got a lab, that's the only thing you're going to do there Exactly, but if you've got a doodle or if you've got a poodle I mean there's so many Even Yorkies like I've always been a huge, huge fan of the puppy. Lower maintenance too, to keep that shorter cut. So you know it's. That's a good point is understanding what you're getting into. I want to hit on that idea, or mistaken idea, that I have, and probably a lot of people have that because my dog's got short hair, I don't need to go to a groomer.

Amy Castro: 19:25

What are the health or other advantages that even a short haired dog maybe they're not going for a haircut, but there are other things that they can get done at a groomer that help them.

Julia Benning: 19:59

Yeah, absolutely so. All dogs should be bathed technically speaking, if we want to go textbook level here every 21 days. So that's the keratinization cycle of the skin. So it takes about 21 days. If you were to bathe your dog 21 days later they've got dead skin cells sitting on them again, right? And so what can happen when the dog has dead skin cells and dead coat and things like that sitting on the skin is it can lead to bacterial infections and yeast infections, skin infections, things like that.

Julia Benning: 20:27

So being able to remove the dead skin, any dirt and debris that's in there, is really helpful for their skin and coat health from that perspective, right. But with short hair dogs they have different types of hair, right. So you have the undercoat and you have the top coat. So when the undercoat is dying and just sitting on the skin, it's just going to stack up and stack up and stack up, and that's when we start to see those little tufts on, usually towards, like the hindquarters, on, you know, huskies or labs that you just pull out these little tufts, right? So there's fur like that that's sitting all along the base of the skin. It's not just in those little areas that we're seeing and that's preventing the skin from being able to breathe.

Julia Benning: 21:07

So, in combination with having dead skin cells and dirt and debris and it being kind of pushed down and impacted underneath that dead coat, that's really a perfect breeding ground for bacteria and things like that and can lead to skin infections. It can also be something where maybe your pet doesn't seem to have issues with that, but maybe they got a particular area that's bugging them Maybe their hip is bugging them or they got a bug bite or something like that and if they go to start chewing on that area, having a healthy and clean skin is probably not going to cause many problems if they start chewing on it, whereas if they're dirty, that's like a perfect breeding ground for hot spots.

Amy Castro: 21:49

So like having dirty hands and getting a cut.

Julia Benning: 21:51

Exactly, exactly, yeah. So if your dog is, is you know, say they haven't been bathed in you know, four to six weeks or so and they get one little spot that starts to get itchy. Much more likely for that area to turn into a hotspot. Same thing for, like, your Labradors.

Julia Benning: 22:06

Sure, you may think, oh, you know, they don't really need much grooming or things like that, but that coat is so thick that if that dog gets moist, whether they are going for a swim, as labs do, or just taking a walk out in the rain, it's going to be so hard for that skin to dry and yet again, it's just a feeding ground for bacteria and other types of infections. So it's really, really crucial for those reasons, but it also we can have dry skin issues, and dry skin is so uncomfortable for our dogs as well. So if they get a little bit too dried out, they really need those oils replenished, and the only way to do that is with a bath. So those are just a couple of things that we typically see from short-coated dogs that don't get trips to the groomer very frequently. And of course, that is leaving out their ear cleaning and their anal glands and their nails and all of those other things that are super important, piece of what happens with your pet at the groomer as opposed to grooming them at home.

Amy Castro: 23:02

Yeah, and I think you know there's probably a lot of people listening at the, you know that are thinking to themselves well, you know I've got a lab and I can do that, or I've got a certain kind of dog and I can do that, but the question is, are you going to do it? Are you going to do it on a routine basis, like that? And then you mentioned some key things there. You know the other elements of things that are going to happen at a groomer, like I worked for a veterinarian for eight years so I can do anal glands, but most people are like you know, not only can they not do it, they don't want anything to do with it, and it's understandable, you know

Amy Castro: 23:33

but yeah, or or ear cleaning and knowing when there's an infection, versus, you know, just dirt in their ears or whether somebody's got mites of some kind or whatever. I mean, that's all stuff that a good groomer would be able to identify and help you, you know. At least bring it to your attention so that if you have to follow up with a veterinarian to get some, you know, ointment for the ears or whatever, it might be that they would notice that. Yeah absolutely.

Julia Benning: 23:57

That whole concept is actually the brainchild and the birth of well-groomed pets. That's everything that we do at Well-Groomed Pets is while your pet is here for grooming. It's an opportunity for us to be able to identify if there's any areas that your pet needs some support when it comes to wellness, right. So, of course, that's super crucial. You know that's another piece that your groomer is an educated pet professional that is able to see things that you might not be able to see, and we see our pets every day. We might not notice minute changes, right, but your groomer is going to be able to notice those changes.

Julia Benning: 24:27

So that's a huge piece of it, absolutely the kind of extra layer of eyes and expertise on your dog, but also the extra level of training and tools, even just the tools. You know like you could give your Labrador the best bath in the world at home and that dog is squeaky clean, but you don't have a high velocity dryer that's going to blow all of their undercoat out at home. So that makes a huge difference, and we see it time and time again with the short coated dogs that do come in for grooming. They're like you know I can do it at home, but it's just never the same. They'll even purchase our products and use them at home and they're like it still isn't the same. And so part of that is the tools that we have in the grooming salon as well that allow us to kind of create that product. That's just a little bit. It's just a different level above what you can do at home.

Amy Castro: 25:14

Yeah, yeah. It's kind of like the time I went to New Orleans and I went to Cafe Du Monde and was like totally enamored by the coffee and the beignets and thought, oh, I'm just going to buy that coffee and make it home. I don't know, there's either some secret ingredient or some equipment, because it's just, it's hard to recreate something when it's being created by a professional with the knowledge about how to do it right. And that's one of the. You know, when we were first talking about getting together and doing this episode, I was like, oh, you know, we've done a thing on grooming.

Amy Castro: 25:43

But what was very intriguing to me was the concept and I want to talk about that just a little bit more that it really is about the wellness of the pet, not just about getting the pet's haircut. So I'm assuming that your average groomer doesn't have. I mean, do they get, when they go through their grooming, training? Do they get pet wellness, you know, skin health, all of that stuff, or is it about how to do haircuts? Or how does one even know, if I'm going to a grooming shop, whether those people have any training at all? I mean, are they just maybe learned on the job? Like, how does that work as a consumer, to make good choices?

Julia Benning: 26:19

Yeah, that's a great question and unfortunately this industry is is quite unregulated, so there isn't an easy way to know. So there's a few different certifications that you can go by. When it comes to how the groomer has been trained on how to handle your pet, fear-free certification is always. I always recommend that people, if you can find a groomer that is fear-free certified. That's all about reducing fear, anxiety and stress in the pets during their grooming sessions. The AKC Safe certification is another great one to look for as well. That is a level of certification showing that you know how to safely groom this pet and keep that pet safe while it's out of the care of its pet parents. So that's another one. That's just kind of like a good base certification.

Julia Benning: 27:02

But when it comes to how the groomers received their training, there's so many different certifications out there from different groups and different programs and things like that. Generally speaking, most of them teach how to perform these haircuts on these dogs and they don't typically elaborate much on wellness. So most of the wellness information that the groomers receive is typically something that we learn on the job from seeing these dogs and saying, hey, this dog has this hotspot that's popping up in this one spot all the time. What's going on here? And then you learn, oh, he has arthritis in his joint right here. No wonder he's been licking this one specific spot. That's information for me that I'm going to apply moving forward.

Julia Benning: 27:43

So for a lot of people it is really experience related and unfortunately there's not like a system, wide certification for wellness in the industry.

Julia Benning: 27:53

So that's one of the things that we're kind of trying to compensate for here at Well-Groomed is that if you come to a Well-Groomed pet salon, you know that the staff here have been trained on these different wellness attributes.

Julia Benning: 28:03

So we actually have a technology where there's a portal for our pet parents that tracks over 50 different wellness attributes and those are behavioral, physiological and physical. So things like weight, things like you know their behavior, their anxiety, but also things like their you know their ears Is there discharge in their ears? Are their eyes cloudy? Are they displaying joint pain? There's, as I mentioned, over 50 different wellness attributes that we track. So that is the pillar of what we are trying to achieve at Well-Groomed Pets is not just beautiful haircuts but being able to be an advocate again for the pet and supportive for the pet parents so that they have more information on how they can help their pets live their best lives. But when it comes to the industry overall, there's unfortunately not really like a particular program or certification that you can look for and see if your groomer has.

Amy Castro: 29:00

It's more investigative and something that you would you know, have to have conversations about with that groomer? Yeah, and again, I'm not a client of, or extensive experience in any way working with groomers, but I would think if I am going to a grooming establishment and there is an extensive wellness form that I fill out for my pet, like that would be a good thing versus what I experienced and again, this was a long time ago.

Amy Castro: 29:23

One time experience was the only thing that they wanted to know about the dog was whether he had his rabies vaccine, which then led me to go run to a vet so I could get his rabies done, which then, oh yeah, go ahead and do heart heartworm test while you're there. Well, I didn't have a heartworm positive and it turned into this cascading thing, which is why I ended up keeping the dog, because I treated the heartworm and whatever else. But it was all just to get a haircut and make him look better. That's what I was going for. But you know, I would guess that you know to me, if the groomer doesn't ask any questions about my pet's history or health and just makes the appointment and wants to know if it's got its vaccines, then that might not be the one that's really focusing on their health. They're more focusing on a haircut.

Julia Benning: 30:04

Absolutely Fair to say yeah, absolutely. I think that that would be. I would definitely be a red flag to me if I, if I called a book of grooming appointment and all they wanted to know was are they up to date on vaccines? And also even you know what type of haircut you want? Those two, yeah, of course that's important information.

Julia Benning: 30:23

But typically you know a sign of a good groomer when you're booking that first appointment is, oh, and you know how often does your dog typically get groomed? And you know, does he have any past injuries and is there anything that you need us to be aware of for this appointment? You know those types of things. Asking some more clarifying questions helps the groomer be able to customize that experience for that pet rather than just treating them like every other pet that walks through the door. So having a groomer that's willing to investigate and take a little bit of time to speak with the pet parent and kind of figure out what works best for that pet and what that pet parent's vision is, that's a sign that your groomer is really invested in delivering a quality experience for both the pet parent and the pet during the service.

Amy Castro: 31:04

Yeah, that's good to know. So in going into the, let's talk a little bit about this time of year and going into the holidays Now, I'm in Houston today.

Amy Castro: 31:13

It is 81 degrees, so we don't not that it doesn't get cold here. It can get cold here, but I know for a lot of people that are listening, it's starting to get colder. In many places, the air is going to be drier. Does winter weather or fall weather impact our pets in some specific way we should be more aware of as far as their skin, their coat, things like that?

Julia Benning: 31:33

Yeah, absolutely. So full disclosure I am San Diego born and raised, so I also don't. Yeah, we really don't have much winter out here, but yes, there are absolutely some implications here. The first is going to be the dry weather.

Julia Benning: 31:48

Like you said, skin and coat does get a little bit more dry, and so we want to kind of make sure that we're doing a lot of conditioning, and whether that is, you know, as the pet parent at home, using one of those nice leave-in conditioner sprays while I'm brushing, and maybe doing that, you know, once or twice a week more than usual during the winter months, will help. And then while during the actual bathing process as well, we can use a really cool method called close-open-close, which is where we start using conditioner on the dog and then we shampoo and then we conditioner again, and that really helps just kind of deliver a maximum level of moisture and really kind of revitalize the skin and coat. So always love doing that on the pets during winter as well. A hot oil treatment is another really, really great kind of add-on treatment that you can do during the winter they have that for dogs?

Julia Benning: 32:37

Yes, and it's great. It's my favorite. The pets love it. I talked with your groomer about it, but basically they soak in the conditioner with a nice hot towel wrapped around them for 10 minutes and that dilates the pores, allowing them to absorb as much moisture as possible. It also helps kind of soothe arthritis, aches and pain, which sometimes tends to get a little bit.

Julia Benning: 33:01

We see that a little bit more during the cold winter months as well, our pets are a little bit more achy, so hot oil treatment's kind of like a perfect killing two birds with one stone. The pets like fall asleep during it. I love taking pictures of dogs during their hot oil treatments. It's great.

Amy Castro: 33:11

Really like a spa. It's not just going to get a haircut.

Julia Benning: 33:14

No, no, not at all. It's a whole spa treatment. So I love doing those kind of little extra services for pets during the winter time.

Julia Benning: 33:23

Another thing to be aware of in the snowy areas is those snowballs that get stuck on our dog's long fur. I have seen using a whisk on the snowballs helps kind of break them off. So a lot of people are like do I use a brush? Like what do I use? I've got these snowballs all over my dog, so a whisk helps to kind of break them up. You just kind of brush it against your dog and that'll break the snowballs off. So that's one kind of little tip that I like. But when it comes to your dog's paws during wintertime, a lot of times the dogs will get snowballs kind of stuck to their feet and so trimming the fur in between their toes on the tops is great to kind of help with that. But I personally am not a huge fan of shaving the paw pads all the way out during wintertime because that leaves them exposed to the really, really cold ground and the salt that can be on the ground from a lot of places.

Amy Castro: 34:14

I was going to ask you about salt because I would hope most people who walk their dogs in more city environments are aware of. You know the impact of having salt on their feet, but I mean, is it as simple as rinsing their feet off when you get home, or what's the best way to deal with that if you don't have any choice but to walk where it's been salted?

Julia Benning: 34:36

Yeah, yeah, washing their feet off at home with some nice warm water is always a good option.

Julia Benning: 34:38

But honestly, whether it's a salted area or a non-salted area, if you can find a way to walk with your dog in boots, that's going to be the best option, no matter what, if your dog can tolerate wearing some boots, it's going to be the best level of protection for them.

Julia Benning: 34:50

But for those pets that don't really like it, you can kind of trim the fur so that it's shorter. But leaving a little bit on the actual bottom of the paw pad, leaving that fur to grow out a little bit, will help protect the skin and so that way they're stepping kind of on their fur on the ground rather than their bare skin. So a lot of times we scoop out the paw pads, get them real, real short, so that there's no debris in there, and that's great. But I think during the winter months, leaving it a little bit longer so they have a little bit more cushion is going to be helpful. So a little bit of layer of protection for them there. But again, you know, yes, you should always. If your dog is going to be walking out where there's salt, you should rinse their paws when they get home with just some nice warm water, maybe some warm soapy water, dry them off. But boots.

Amy Castro: 35:54

Yeah, and that's another thing that you know some dogs are going to tolerate that and some dogs are going to need to have some acclimation to to wearing those boots. So don't wait until the two feet of snow is outside, exactly.

Julia Benning: 36:06

Yep Absolutely Start in summer, you know make it fun, you know, and you can make it a fun training activity for them, you know, incorporate some games into it. But yeah, probably don't wait until the snow is already sticking into it, but yeah, probably don't wait until the snow is already sticking.

Amy Castro: 36:25

Yeah, yeah, good, good point. So I would assume that the holidays get extra busy. So what would be some good planning tips for somebody you know, even if I do fairly regularly go to the groomer, should I be booking now for Christmas, or how does that usually work?

Julia Benning: 36:35

Absolutely so. Just in general, right now there are more dogs than dog groomers in the United States. That's just a.

Julia Benning: 36:42

That is a fact. So it is hard to get a grooming appointment anyways right now. Right, we see a lot of people are having trouble. If you call to book an appointment, a lot of people are booked out two weeks. Some people aren't taking new clients. It is only going to be worse during the holidays. So I always recommend to my clients, like as soon as they can possibly book their appointment, book it for the holidays, both your Thanksgiving and your Christmas time grooms. I will recommend on January 1st, if you know your schedule that far in advance.

Amy Castro: 37:13

I mean, you know when the holiday is going to be. Why is it such a surprise? Like Christmas, doesn't sneak up on you Hanukkah whatever you're grooming for you should be able to look at a calendar and know when that's coming. So don't wait till the last minute.

Julia Benning: 37:27

Yeah, and it's always better to book in advance. And then if you need to reschedule, you know that's fine. At least you have an appointment slot reserved, right. So it's always better to book as soon as possible. Honestly, right now, if you haven't booked your holiday appointments, call your groomer. Call them immediately, because it people are already starting to get booked. So, generally speaking, like looking ahead to next year, I would go ahead and book my Thanksgiving and Christmas appointments at the start of the summer If I could. That's kind of like just make sure that I have all of that time, because we do get plenty of calls and people are going to be getting turned away, unfortunately, and then that leaves you in a position where you may have to go to a groomer you don't want to go to, or you may have to be doing some grooming at home, things like that. So I always recommend start of the summer, go ahead and book your holiday appointments if you know your schedule that far in advance, because it gets extremely busy.

Amy Castro: 38:21

Yeah, you've got to think about it. Just like you know for getting your own hair done or you know things that it's going to be busy at the holidays. Everybody wants everybody to look good and that dog is not going to look good if you're doing your own home haircut Exactly For the Christmas cards. Buddy's going to have to be left out of the picture.

Julia Benning: 38:38

Yeah, exactly, exactly, and nobody wants that.

Amy Castro: 38:43

So just to kind of wrap up this holiday discussion, any thoughts as far as kind of looking at it two ways If I was going to get some grooming items for my pet, obviously I'm the one that's going to be using them. Or maybe giving a gift to somebody that's got a dog, what would be some good things that you think people might appreciate at this time of year?

Julia Benning: 39:04

Yeah, that's a great question. So one thing that's pretty much applicable to any type of breed of dog that somebody has could be one of those conditioning and scissoring sprays. Or conditioning spray, dematting spray, leave-in conditioner, those types of products anything that's going to be sprayed onto the coat. That'll work great for your Labrador, that'll work great for a doodle. Now, of course, there are products that are specifically formulated for certain coat types and you're welcome to evaluate that. But generally speaking, a spray is always great and that'll help with shedding for your lab, it'll help with dematting for your doodles. It'll help them smell nice, look shiny, feel nice and soft right. So that's a really easy one.

Julia Benning: 39:42

There's plenty of products out there. We love the Hydra line at Well-Groomed Pets. So there is a Hydra dematting spray that we swear by, that we love, and you can use it on cats too. So caveat with the spray. A lot of those sprays can't be used on cats because they do lick and groom themselves. So make sure, if you're going to be using it on cats, that you know you read the fine print there. Hydra is safe for cats, but just in case there's any cat people on here listening, other great tools the slicker brush and comb. I mean, that is a doodle or a any you know poodle mixes, your Shih Tzus, any long hair breed. Those are amazing tools and you can kind of invest as much as you want in them from a, from a a cost perspective. So you can get a metal comb and a slicker brush that are, you know, $15 each or so, and this has some really, really great tools. Or if you want to go luxurious, you could get a Chris Christensen slicker brush. Those are a dream for doodles.

Amy Castro: 40:43

Oh my gosh, I can't even how good of a friend are you?

Julia Benning: 40:52

Yeah, exactly yeah, they're expensive and they are professional. They are our favorite tools as groomers, these Chris Christensen slicker brushes. So if you're looking for luxury, you could go Chris Christensen slicker brush. There's also a Greyhound metal combs. Again, that would be kind of more the luxury line, if you really really love your groomer friend. Aside from that, though, there's also the Zoom Groom brush, which is like a little rubber curry comb. Those were great on short-coated dogs like French Bulldogs and Pugs and things like that. It's a really soft little brush that helps kind of remove all that dead coat. Those are very affordable. I believe they're about $15 or so. You can get those on Amazon too. So I think those are some good ones. My last one that I will say is for my double coated breeds. So anything from a lab to a Husky, the Andis de-shedding rakes are God's gift to groomers, and God's gift to shedding dogs.

Julia Benning: 41:38

They are amazing. The Andes Fine Tooth De-Shedding Rake is like my favorite tool on the market, so those tools work amazing. They're really great for maintenance, really gentle with the skin and coat, and so those are just a few products that might help, kind of based off of different coat types.

Amy Castro: 41:54

So those are great.

Julia Benning: 41:55

And then one more product that I will say if your pet is having, so those are, those are great. And then one more product that I will say if your pet is having has any sort of anxiety related to grooming, then using a lick mat is always great, I was just thinking of that.

Amy Castro: 42:06

I was going to add that at the end, but you beat me to the punch, Right?

Julia Benning: 42:09

Yeah, so a lick mat is is kind of like a little silicone mat that you can apply peanut butter or cheese whiz or whatever your pup likes, and they can lick that during the grooming process. And then there's also different types of pheromone sprays that can be super helpful for dogs that get a little bit more stressed out during the grooming process or during car rides or things like that too. So I like to use Adaptil. There's a few different brands out there, but basically it's a pheromone that's synthesized from the mother dog. So it's a really, really soothing kind of pheromone that helps just kind of helps take the edge off for pets, helps them relax. You just kind of spray it on a bandana and then put the bandana on them, spray it on a blanket that they're going to be nearby, things like that. So that helps a lot with some of the pets that need just a little bit of extra comfort and support to help them relax during the grooming process.

Amy Castro: 42:58

Yeah, good point and I would assume too that if it's something where you know, let's say, I acquire this like Buddy the original dog. He was totally cool with being at the groomer that time that he went, but let's just say it was a much more anxious dog. But at some point you know, like you said, I mean the health of the animal. If the animal's really, really matted, those mats need to come off. I would assume a consultation with your veterinarian about other possibilities, whether it's medication or something to you know, to relax them, even beyond what the adaptor might be able to do, is probably a good idea.

Julia Benning: 43:29

Yes, absolutely. I think there's a lot of stigma and a lot of back and forth, honestly, between even groomers about the use of pre-visit pharmaceuticals for grooming. So, you know, giving your pets some, some form of sedative or something to help take the edge off before grooming, there's a lot of of opinions and it's it's it's a very charged topic and so I always love talking about it because I think there's a little bit of misunderstanding. So you can take your dog to the vet and have them fully sedated for a grooming session, and that may be for the Cujos out there, the truly dangerous dogs out there, that individuals that we cannot get through the groom safely, either for the dog or the groomer. They can be fully sedated. So that's something that happens under the care of a veterinarian. But there are also these pre-visit pharmaceuticals that we can use as training tools. So I think that's kind of where the confusion begins is these pre-visit pharmaceuticals are not a solution to the problem. They're not a sedative so that the dog is sedated enough for me to be able to get through this. It's a training tool. So we use it to counter condition, essentially, the pet's experience.

Julia Benning: 44:37

So if I am on a sedative or something that you know an anti-anxiety med, something maybe like trazodone. When I come into the grooming session and I'm a little bit more relaxed throughout this process thanks to this medication, well, that's a new picture for me. I went through this grooming process and I was relaxed and we can build on that and so it really really helps, like, for example, I have used this countless times on dogs for four to six sessions and then by the seventh session we start weaning off the medication and the dog doesn't need it for the rest of its life. So there are certain outlier dogs that you know whether they had an extremely traumatic experience or maybe they are just an extremely strong personality, they may need those pre-visit pharmaceuticals for the duration of the time that they're getting groomed, and that's okay for those certain dogs. But most of the time it's something that we use over the course of maybe six months to a year to help kind of counter condition this previous association that I had with grooming and this is what I thought grooming was before the groomer tries to touch me. I don't want her to touch me, so I bite her.

Julia Benning: 45:43

Well, now I'm going to change the picture and and kind of help use that anti-anxiety medication to create a more positive experience for the pet and then they won't need it anymore.

Julia Benning: 45:54

So it's a phenomenal option. It is absolutely something that you discuss with your veterinarian. They will help with prescribing the dosage and things like that, and it's also a time for the groomer and the veterinarian to work together as well. So the groomer should be communicating with the pet parent or the veterinarian about how the pet did during their session so that if the medication needs to be increased or decreased or changed, sometimes they'll have you give your pet a dose like the night before in addition to the morning of. So it's very much a collaborative process for those types of pets, but it can be extremely helpful and it's not necessarily something that they'll need for the rest of their lives. If you work with your groomer and you're willing to bring them in regularly for six months to a year to help with this counter conditioning process, they can go, you know, the rest of their lives happily enjoying grooming.

Amy Castro: 46:44

Yeah, and basically reap all the benefits of having that done without the anxiety.

Julia Benning: 46:49

Absolutely.

Amy Castro: 46:49

Absolutely Nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with that.

Julia Benning: 46:52

Yeah, I think you know, just drawing more awareness to the fact that it's become very, very common for our pets to be more like our children nowadays. And that's great, that's amazing. I fully support that. But we also have to recognize that they are still animals that have their own wants, their own needs, their own feelings, and their feelings are valid. There's no reason that their feelings aren't valid.

Julia Benning: 47:17

So if your dog is struggling with grooming, if your dog doesn't want something done to it, we have to be respectful of that, whatever the reason for that feeling, and learn how to what we can do to to change that feeling.

Julia Benning: 47:29

Either as the pet parent, or as the groomer, or as the veterinarian, as the vet tech, it's our responsibility to understand this pet that we're caring for and try to accommodate them, because we can't use words right. So just bringing an awareness to the fact that that's its own little creature that has its own feelings, and it's my responsibility to care for them and to make sure that I'm protecting them in every way. I think it's easy to kind of forget that sometimes, as both as pet parents and as pet professionals, you know, and these, these guys, they need us and, um, we are their strongest advocate and so just bringing a little bit of patience and awareness into that situation, whether it's you know my dog going to the groomer, my dog going to the vet, or you know my dog being obnoxious when I have a bunch of friends over. Whatever it may be, they are entitled to their own feelings and it's our responsibility to advocate for them and try our best to accommodate them.

Amy Castro: 48:24

Yeah, that's such a good point because I see people trying to talk their way through some of these kind of scenarios, whether it's fear at the vet, fear of a trainer, fear of whatever it might be, and it's like you're not speaking their language when you're telling them don't be scared, it's going to be fine, she's not going to hurt you, they're not going to process that, especially when you're saying it with angry tone because you're annoyed that your dog is not cooperating.

Amy Castro: 48:48

So excellent point and very well put. I appreciate that. So, julia, thank you so much for being with us today. When we talked before, we were talking about doing multiple episodes on different topics and I definitely want to have you back to do some other. You know some other topics and dive into some of these things deeper, but I appreciate you trying to hit a little of like first time, repeat visits, the holidays I'm going to squeeze all these into one episode just to give people you know plenty of tools for their toolbox as they go into the holidays with their pets.

Julia Benning: 49:22

So thank you for being so accommodating on that. I appreciate it. Oh, absolutely, and thank you so much for having me and thank you for what you do. You know this is there is so much information out there for pet parents right now and it can be kind of hard to weed through and find the really good resources, and so thank you so much for what you're doing for this platform, that you know you're providing pet parents with this, this crucial information that's, you know, kind of missing out there. So thank you as well for having me.

Amy Castro: 49:47

Sure, I appreciate it and we'll put links up in our show notes, you know, to the Well-Groomed website so that people, if they're looking for that combination of you know, grooming knowledge and wellness knowledge that you might not be able to find elsewhere, we can definitely send them in the direction of Well Groomed. And maybe you can send me some links to some of the products that you mentioned and I can put those up in the show notes and then I can go to Andes and be like, hey, you need to be buying some ads on my show.

Julia Benning: 50:10

After we mentioned you 500 times.

Amy Castro: 50:14

Just kidding. But no, we can put some links up there so people can get directly to those products that you mentioned. Because what it got me thinking about was we're in the process of cleaning, we're in a cleaning mode right now around here and I have a grooming box, and in that grooming box, I kid you not, we're at least eight or nine different combs. This is just my personal pets. This isn't even the rescue grooming box, and it's like where did all these come from? I have no idea which ones are good, which ones worked, you know. So it's you know to know that you're going to get yourself a nice set of the appropriate tools for your pet that are proven to work by groomers who use them every single day, and that saves you so much time and money in wasting money on things that aren't going to work.

Amy Castro: 50:52

So those links would be super helpful. Yeah, no problem, I'll send those over. Awesome, all right. Well, and thank you to everybody for listening to another episode of Starlight Pet Talk. Again, use this advice for your own pets. Share this episode with your friends who have pets especially those ones that have doodles and other things that can be hard to groom, and hopefully they'll pull some tips that will make their life and their pet's life a lot easier. And we will see you next episode. Their life and their pet's life a lot easier, and we will see you next episode.

Amy Castro: 51:22

Thanks for listening to Starlight Pet Talk. Be sure to visit our website at starlightpettalkcom for more resources and be sure to follow this podcast on your favorite podcast app so you'll never miss a show. And hey, if you like this show text someone right now and say I've got a podcast recommendation, you need to check the show out and tell them to listen and let you know what they think. Don't forget to tune in next week and every week for a brand new episode of Starlight Pet Talk and if you don't do anything else this week, give your pets a big hug from us.