Welcome back to the Senior Dog Digest from Grey Whiskers. We are closing out this 3 part series about choosing a groomer so let’s get into it!

In this week’s issue here’s what we are sniffing out

• A new member of the Grey Whiskers family

• Building a relationship with your groomer

New, Old Dog Joining the Grey Whiskers team…

First things first this week… Welcome Ginger to the Grey Whiskers family! People ask me a lot about how you know when it’s time to bring another dog into a grieving family. This is a topic for another day, but to be clear, we weren’t looking to adopt right now. Ginger showed up on my social media feed and we couldn’t resist her face. She’s 12 years old and came to us from Old Dogs New Digs, a wonderful Colorado senior dog rescue group. She’s had a great life, you can tell. Her owner died and she ended up at the shelter after shuffling between family members who liked her but whose cats she didn’t like. Old Dogs New Digs pulled her out of the shelter, got her medical care updated, and then we were lucky enough to be chosen to adopt her. She fits in very well with our family. She and our 13-year-old dog Uma are getting along great. I know I live in a weird world where I question the idea of adopting a dog with very little health issues and who is “only” 12 years old. But of our last 4 adoptions, 3 were seniors who came off death row at their shelters, and one came from a home where she was so poorly cared for that her two housemates didn’t survive after being relinquished. Because my heart is still partially broken from losing two dogs earlier this year, adopting an easy, youngish senior dog like Ginger seemed like a free pass we don’t usually take. But as a friend told me, you don’t always have to do all the hard things. Next time maybe we’ll adopt a hospice needs dog, but right now having a senior dog who is playful and healthy is a good fit for Uma and the best choice for our grieving family.

Relationships Matter…

So far we’ve talked about the importance of doing your research, narrowing down your salon options to a handful of your favorites, and what questions to ask those groomers. Hopefully, you’ve found a groomer who has answered some of your important questions well and seems to have the temperament and compassion you’re looking for. Maybe you have even booked an appointment, hurray! But you can’t rest quite yet. You also have some responsibilities to bear in this stage of the game. Instead of looking at grooming as just a necessary service provided to your dog by a random stranger, consider it a partnership with the dynamic of open communication. (BTW, this goes for your groomer for your younger dogs as well!) In this day and age, some of us have a similar partnership with our veterinarians. We no longer just take a dog to the vet, listen to what she says, and make a choice from the options given to us. We want to hear the pros and cons, we ask questions, and we may even go home, do research, and report back our choices. Obviously, this is not how grooming works, but it’s still important to have an open and ongoing dialogue about your senior dog with your groomer. It’s really important to do everything possible to help keep your dog safe once she’s at the salon and to make sure the groomer has all the information they need to do their part.

Follow these tips:

1. Be open with your chosen groomer. For example, if they’ve agreed to work on your dog who has an advanced heart condition, consider telling them what to watch for elevated heart rate, change in color of gums, escalation of breathing, etc. They can then give your dog a quick break if they see any of these symptoms. A break goes a surprisingly long way toward keeping the dog safe overall. The little guy below was the oldest pup I’ve ever had the privilege of working with. Kirby was 21 and had some dementia among other things. He fought anytime anyone touched his face, although he never tried to bite, and he paced endlessly. He didn’t understand the parameters of a grooming table any longer, so we had to sit with him on the ground. Working with him required a lot of breaks because he was hardly ever still in his daily life - asking him to stand still for the duration of his groom would be beyond his capability. The fact that he didn’t like to be handled or restrained compounded that, so even holding onto to keep him with us on the ground was a lot for him to manage. Breaks helped him blow off some steam so he could tolerate a little more touch and restraint without his stress level escalating to the point he couldn’t be groomed.

2. Be willing to accept that the haircut isn’t perfect. We groomers HATE sending a dog home knowing we did not give our best haircut, but if I’ve learned anything working with this particular segment of the pet population, it’s that putting perfectionism aside is mandatory. In a few weeks the haircut will even out. Be sure you let the groomer know that you appreciate any change they are willing to make to the process or the day for your dog, and that you will help make that happen in any way you can, even if it means you have to trim some hair at home. Ms. Snickers is a lovely little dog and the sweetest for every part of the groom. But she will NOT let me trim her face 95% of the time. I spend most of my time on her face, attempting to take the barest of snips here and there when she’s not expecting it. She has never once tried to bite, but being a master wiggler with  shih tzu eyes makes sharp objects a very dangerous proposition. So, her person and I do the best we can and we are grateful for everything she lets us do each time.

3. Tell your groomer when you arrive if there have been changes in your dog’s medical conditions, functionality, or cognition since you were there last. You may not think it’s important to them that your dog has started pacing during the day, but it may explain why your dog won’t stand on the table, starts whining, crying and fighting the longer he is there. If you just noticed that his eyesight seems to be going, this could affect how he handles hands, scissors, and clippers coming at his face. It could also cause him to startle or snap anytime anyone touches him where he didn’t see it coming.

4. Take care of your groomers: tip them if you can afford to and if they expect tips. Or, if you are able to, bake or buy cookies or cupcakes, take in produce from your garden, or a nice quality hand wash and hand balm for the salon. Just like the people who care for our older adults in care settings, groomers and bathers work HARD. Groomers in small or single-person salons tend to skip meals and breaks, work long days, take little vacation time, and put themselves last behind the care of their clients. Any kindness goes a long way to making their days more fun and manageable!

5. If you liked the groomer and your dog seems to be doing well after the groom, rebook on your way out or a few days later, and ask for the same groomer every time. This consistency will help many dogs be more comfortable with the process. Remember that older dogs like routines and predictability. If they know that the person who grooms them has behavior they can predict and makes them feel safe it will make the day a little more comfortable for them. I often tell my clients that choosing a groomer for your dog is like choosing a human hair stylist. Your dog needs to feel comfortable with and trust the person they’re seeing for the process. In the end, that is more important than the quality of the haircut itself. If you don’t like your hairstylist, you aren’t going to stick around, are you? Your dog told me to tell you he doesn’t want to either. It may take a few tries to get the right groomer and salon, but once you do, hopefully, these tips help you develop a great dynamic with the groomer that will set your dog up for success each time he visits the salon.

🐶 Sniffing Out Senior Dog News 📰

🥰 Senior Dog Goes from Sad Story to Happy Ending 

 🫶 The Senior Pet Month Story

Senior Dog Humor 🤣 

How did we do with this week’s newsletter?

• High Paws

• Pooped in the House