What One Nervous Rescue Taught Me—and Why I Changed My Business Model Overnight
Written by Victoria Shepherd
What One Nervous Rescue Taught Me—and Why I Changed My Business Model Overnight
There’s a reason I work the way I do, and I want to share it with you.
Obviously, if you’re on my page, you know that I’m an holistic grooming specialist and trainer with behaviour certification who focuses primarily on working with dogs who struggle with being touched or handled and maybe even have a bite history.But in the last few months, I switched from offering one-off sessions to clients who are on the fence about the way I work with dogs and guardians and moved overnight to a programme-only process which involves committing to multiple sessions.
Why I No Longer Offer One-Off Sessions
Why? Because even though I’ve gained all of the knowledge I have in canine behaviour and continue to do so as I start my Level 6 certification, I’ve had to come to terms with the fact that it would be impossible for me to prove to potential clients that I can change the way their nervous dog thinks and feels around being touched and handled in just one session.
It’s taken me years to grow and develop the Happy Henry’s! Happy Handling System and reshaping a dog’s emotional response takes time and patience. There are no quick fixes. Believe me, I wish there were.
Understanding Fear and the Need for Patience
If you were scared of something, to the point where you felt the need to react in a way that has previously helped keep you safe, such as kicking, biting, hitting, screaming, to simply get away from someone or something that petrified you, to stop them doing what they were doing, even if, in the eyes of most people, what they were doing seemed like ‘no big deal’ and ‘not hurting’, it would invariably take more than just a few kind words and touches to make you feel more comfortable. Do you agree with this?
The Dog Who Changed Everything
A few months ago, I booked in someone for a meet and greet with their rescue spaniel who they’d had for a while but did not know the dog’s history when it came to grooming and wanted to do the right thing by her. After observing the dog together and asking the guardians specific questions about everyday life outside of a grooming salon, they agreed with my initial assessment that the dog presented as lacking confidence and optimism and it would be important to not push the dog too far too fast as we learned more about her behaviour (I cannot provide all the answers in a simple 30-minute session based on observation, and building trust with a dog can take time. If the dog is a rescue with unknown history, it’s even more important because who knows when that scary trigger or “thing” may appear that causes the dog to jump from the lower-level ‘green’ of the natural canine communication ladder, to the ‘red’ fight/flight/fear behaviour responses?)
The meet and greet went well with the beautiful dog and the guardians fully understood what I was saying. Everything seemed great and they wanted to proceed. I offered my 6-session programme, or “if you’re not sure, why not try a one-off session and we see how Fluffy does. Of course, the guardians made the obvious and natural choice of selecting the second, less costly option. Why wouldn’t they? I would if it was me. I, as the supposed experienced professional, must have given them an option that would give them results and help them and their dog, right?
What Went Wrong—and Why It Was My Fault
WRONG. A big fat wrong. When it came to the one-off first session, everything started out great. The dog was showing all the signs I want to see when working with a nervous dog. There was no specific event or action I did that seemed to cause this dog any more anxiety than I’d seen before. However, in my gut I felt I was trying to incorporate too many things into the session that I could. I mean, after all, I was only doing things like:
Reward away
Light touch and release
Introducing noises at a distance (clippers, scissors, dryer)
Hop on and off table, and in and out of bath.
All things that we think are “no big deal”.
Now, the guardians didn’t at any point ask me to push their dog any further than I thought she could handle. Their expectations were great. And she wasn’t outwardly showing visual signs that things were getting too much. For some reason, I seemed to have some need to prove that I could help their dog, to show them that my way was the best way to help their girl. The problem was me. I tell potential clients who sign up for my re-introduction to grooming programmes that the dog is “driving the bus” and we must respect that, and that sometimes during a 6-session programme I might not even put my hands on a dog until the 4th or 5th session. I ask them to trust the process. The problem was that I put pressure on myself and felt that if I didn’t do something absolutely amazing during this brief session to get the guardians on board for a programme, they’d walk away.
They did walk away after one session. I didn’t listen to the voice in my head telling me I was going too fast, and shortly after the exercises mentioned above, the sweet girl found herself in a situation that was too much for her and she went to bite me. I had not yet taught her the skills or built up the trust with her yet so that she would know she could remove herself from the space safely if she felt uncomfortable or it was too much for her. I had not yet taught her how to be calm, confident, or optimistic, or given her the skills to enable her to “put up her paw” and opt out if she needed to.
The Lesson I Learned
I let this gorgeous girl down, and I let her guardians down. And that’s why I changed my business model overnight.
Why Programmes Are the Only Way Forward for Me
Helping a dog overcome prior trauma when we don’t know the specifics of its can take time and patience. It’s impossible for me to give guardians and their dogs the skills and knowledge I need to in order to help them in one session. To prevent me from making this mistake again and to ensure I really do help as many dogs and guardians as I can, I realise in-depth, multi-session programmes are the way to go forward.
Want to Learn More?
If you’d like to find out more about the Happy Henry’s! Happy Handling System and how I work with dogs and guardians to help reshape how a dog thinks and feels around being touched and handled, get in touch.
What Clients Are Saying
“We have visited Victoria twice now for help with our little cockapoo. She has been an absolute inspiration helping us to understand Fred’s needs and engaging him in a way that will eventually help him to be groomed stress free. We have the tools now to work with Fred at home and with his groomer. I’m sure we will visit Victoria again once we’ve jumped this hurdle. Such a knowledge and patient lady, would highly recommend” ~ Lisa
For more information or support, contact [email protected], www.happy-henrys.co.uk.
