It is not because a dog is tied up that he is not groomed in behavioral grooming. He is not groomed in free force but can be groomed low stress and without fear and that is already huge for him.
The 100% force free care is practiced in TCAP behavioral grooming from A to Z in Canada in grooming salons but in France, there is still a long way to go. To achieve this, we have done a lot of work in the field (Yanick and Marie), spread over several years. And if this path is not accessible to professionals, it will never be done.
In order to transform the grooming culture they have been taught, classical groomers have to show a lot of courage and determination; they have to face rejections from clients and have to make the choice to displease them, they are sometimes seen as crazy and have to do violence to hand over an unfinished job to the client.
What is valued in grooming, everywhere in the world, is the beauty, the perfection, the aesthetics, the techniques allowing to make a "top notch" dog.
The human doesn't know how the professional got there but leaves his dog and gets him back in 1 to 2 hours all pretty, all shiny. To achieve this, groomers have learned to cut themselves off emotionally from the animal in order to make the work impeccable, whatever the cost. Classic grooming is performed in non-transparency and we all know that the groomer achieves his goals by coercing the animal. Grooming on a global scale is usually done behind closed doors without the client being able to witness the exercise. And even if he were, he believes that forcing the animal is perfectly normal to obtain the desired result (according to beauty standards).
We have been teaching TCAP in France for 6 years... maybe longer... and the evolution is at a different pace than in America.
The 1st video of the dog in the bath licking the licki mat is really amazing. The dog seems to be fine (busy licking); the groomer did a hell of a job with this animal.
The 2nd video is very short and therefore very difficult to analyze.
We have been teaching TCAP since 2006 in America and have worked closely with groomers in private and semi-private coaching (we literally hold their hands so that they can break through the wall of fear, insecurity in the face of a radical change of culture to make TCAP Behavioral Grooming feasible in the salon (both for the groomer and the client). The groomer works with dogs of clients who travel from far away.
Classical grooming is taught with an approach that has been perpetuated for several decades in many countries. 99% of the groomers work in a classical way without questioning the learned approaches.
When we have 1% of groomers who want to change their approach, let's make it accessible and analyze more deeply their context, their economic reality, their physical reality, their beliefs, their cognitive biases, their insecurities, the ultra aesthetic environment based on breed standards criteria they face. And let's all start from there to influence them to change, one step at a time, their approach to the animal. The 2 worlds (educators) and groomers must meet "somewhere in the middle".
The culture of the grooming in Europe starts from very far, the customer, the professional, the schools all are very anchored in this culture.
In TCAP behavioral grooming we are kind to other professionals. It doesn't matter if they are educators, trainers, behaviorists, veterinarians, pet specialists, zootherapists, classical groomers or TCAP behavioral grooming practitioners.
We are respectful and benevolent towards other groomers whether they practice classical grooming or behavioral grooming, whether it is with a force free approach or in stress reduction or without fear. TCAP is learned one step at a time and TCAP certified groomers have come a long way to get where they are. In TCAP we approach humans with understanding because each human being has his own map of the world.
In the end, we all have the same mission at heart: animal & human well-being !
It will still take time to change mentalities in Europe. L'Art au Poil, creator of the TCAP Behavioral Grooming more than 15 years ago, is doing everything possible to reach this goal, for the good of our furry friends.
The goal of the behavioral groomer changes completely and it is very courageous to question everything we have learned or practiced over the years.
How to make humans understand that following the dog's rhythm, taking into account its emotional state and respecting its limits is essential for its mental and physical well-being? That the stress undergone does a lot of damage, in the long term?
