Oct 18 2023 31 mins
Hi everyone! This is Krista with Episode #186 on the Wag Out Loud pawdcast. Did you know that canine cognitive dysfunction syndrome, or CCDS, is very common, and it affects about 28% of 11 - 12 year old dogs, and 68% of 15 - 16 year old dogs? So it's a good idea to be aware with your senior pup. And the most common signs and symptoms of CCDS to watch out for are disorientation, abnormal interactions, changes with their sleep or wake cycle, house soiling, increased or decreased activity, and learning difficulties or memory loss. But if your dog has CCDS, don't panic, and know that dogs that have it tend to live just as long as dogs that experience healthy aging. But you can make things easier for them by keeping stress to a minimum and maintain a regular routine for meals walks and bedtime and wake time.
Welcome to the Wag Out Loud pawdcast, where we are obsessed with bringing you helpful tips on canine health care, nutrition, and overall wellbeing. If you'd like to support the show, check out the amazing online events, products and resources that I personally recommend on the Wag Out Loud website. I'm your host, Krista and I'm super excited to be bringing you yet another tail wagging episode.
Christy Boswell is an experienced operations leader turned entrepreneur ushering the nation's first wellness centered, membership-based dog grooming service into the Denver metropolitan area.
Hi there dog lovers! Welcome to yet another fantastic Wag Out Loud pawdcast episode. And today I am chatting with my guest, Christy Boswell. And she is going to be chatting with us about paws for prevention, the power of wellness based dog grooming. So Christy, thank you so much for being here with us today.
Yeah, of course, thank you so much for having me,
This is going to be great. Well, I'm going to ask you to please introduce yourself and give us a little more about your background and why you are so obsessed with wellness-based dog grooming.
Yeah, absolutely. So my background is actually a little bit unusual for considering what I what I am doing now. Just that I've been in the corporate world for about 20 years doing management consulting and decided I really wanted to branch out into kind of an entrepreneurial fashion and in opening my own business. And so decided to do the franchise route. And in so doing came across the concept of wellness-based dog grooming, and so signed on to become a franchisee with a company called the Scenthound. And it's a very interesting concept. It's a new concept for the for the grooming world, in that we're really very much focused on educating pet parents on the importance of grooming, and how that can impact their dog's long term health. So I signed on with them in 2020, and have opened two stores in the Denver area. And so just in the experience, you know, that I've been doing this in the last couple of years, I've learned so much. But it's really, I think the most gratifying thing is seeing or seeing the concept in action and, and how we can help how we can actually play a role in helping pet parents, you know, understand how they can take care of their dogs and extend their dog's lives just by doing simple grooming things, or, you know, just pointing things out to them that maybe they wouldn't have noticed, you know, just because we do have hands on the dog a lot more often. So, you know, that's one of the biggest, you know, advantages to what I'm doing now. But just very, you know, really gotten into the wellness, wellness dog industry in the last couple of years. Trying to understand more about nutrition, and that sort of thing. And so, it's a really great approach to grooming.
And I love it. I love the education piece and you're right our dog's wellness depends on so many different aspects. And maybe a lot of us don't think about grooming as part of a wellness plan ,if you will. So Christy, I know that when we first met, you talked about that you believe that regular maintenance is absolutely critical to the comfort and well- being of our dogs. So what do you consider basic hygiene or routine grooming? What does that look like?
What Does Routine Grooming Look Like?
Right? So, you know, and this can depend on the dog, of course. But what we we consider really kind of a once a month, check in with a groomer, whether you know that, that's where your dog is going to get their their bath, have somebody have the hands on the dog, doing a good once over. So we're talking to the pet parent about things that they're coming across, whether that's Oh, you know, I'm noticing some redness in their ears. It's easy as a pet parent to really kind of overlook those things with your, you know, with your dog living with you every day. And so maybe you're not noticing that the dog's ear is getting quite a bit more red. But that's something you know that your groomer, seeing them on a regular basis, you know, that good four to four to six week schedule, can really help pet parents kind of key in on early detection, and get them to the appropriate resources.
That's great. And I have to assume that we're talking about even us pet parents that do our own grooming, like I do, all of these things that you're going to be talking about today apply for whoever has their hands on the dog, correct?
What If We Groom Our Own Dog?
Absolutely. And we try to break break it down into, you know, kind of five core areas, the dog's skin, their coat, their ears, their nails, their teeth, right. So, you know, skin is very important, you gotta look out for things like like parasites , tick and flea prevention, things like that. So making sure that your your dog doesn't have any infestations. Any allergies, you know, if you notice redness, in the paw pads, you know, maybe there's a grass allergy or something like that. So things to look at, be on the lookout for for skin. Coat, really is very dependent on the dog, you know it dogs have so many different types of coats, you’ve got your double coated breeds, you've got your poodles and your doodles with the hair. And so there's there's a lot of different things to look out for there. Depending on what kind of dog you have, whether that’s matting, you know, severe matting around the ears, or armpits. Your double coated dogs, whether or not they're, they're getting too much of a build up, and that coat might be getting impacted, you know, you've got to do the regular brushing to really kind of stimulate the, the regrowth of the hair too, and get that excess coat out of there. Ears, so important, you know, just taking a look making sure you don't have an extra buildup of that gunk in there. You know, smelling, you know, you can tell a difference in the smell of their ears if they're starting to get some kind of an infection, or looking out for that redness. Nails are so so, so important. And a lot of folks really struggle with, you know, keeping control on the length of their dog's nails. It's very difficult, right. So, you know, we have a lot of lot of pet parents, they come in and they just cannot get their own dog's nails done that, you know, we take them in the back and get it done in like five minutes. And I have the same issue with my own dogs. They won't let me do it. But I can take him to the shop and get it done with with no trouble.
So what do you guys do since you know, I grow my own dog. I've got a six month old puppy Dutton. And I've always used the Dremel tool on the nails with past dogs. And he of course wanted nothing to do with it. So then I had to buy the sling so that he's you know, hanging there and even then he stressed out. So, what do you guys do to make it so quick and “easy”?
Nail Grooming
Well, you know, it really does depend on the dog, especially for puppies and people that come that bring their dog in early stages. We recommend for them to do a lot of repeated exposure to that. We prefer the Dremel. You know, I think it's a better tool for the nails, you can get a little closer to the quick but even if you have an old electric toothbrush at home, you know without introducing him to the to the sling, or anything else associated with the nails, but just run that electric toothbrush up and down his legs and give them treats while you're doing it. Just to kind of get used to that it's that vibration. Yeah, yeah that that Usually what kind of triggers that stress response in them. and so we recommend doing things like that. Sometimes we'll have dogs come in, you know, several times and just come into the lobby, maybe take him back to the grooming room and, you know, introduce him to some of the staff and do pats, and then send them home without even doing any services. Just if it's a really, you know, you we know that dog is going to be having a lot of anxiety around grooming, we don't want to make that first experience, extremely uncomfortable, because that will be very difficult to break down the road. Right. But for the most part, I would say that the biggest, you know, the easiest, easiest way we can get things get the nails done is through distraction methods. Usually, you know, that usually requires a couple of people, you know, get one person up at the top, maybe doing some head pats and, and treats, nose scratches, that sort of thing. But distraction really is key, and then that positive reinforcement, you know, just at home when we're not doing anything to the nails, but there's similar sensations that are happening and they’re being positively reinforced.
Okay, so that's how we can set up either our puppies or if we get a rescue, and not sure if the dog has been used to grooming. It's baby steps, obviously. And I love that approach. Christy, we have just a little bit of time before we take our first commercial break. So you mentioned Dental, as far as a health preventative with routine care. Do you guys do anything at the groomers regarding dental or is this stuff of course that we should be doing at home?
Dental and Grooming
Both. In fact, really, teeth is such a, that's such a huge long term health concern for dogs and by the time, most dogs are age three, they have some form of periodontal disease, right. So regular teeth brushing is just critical, right? And that's another one of those things that you can start early with your puppies introducing them the toothbrush, I like to recommend for the at home brushing to get an enzymatic toothpaste. So even if your dog is difficult and doesn't want to let you get that toothbrush in there to do a lot of really good back and forth scrubbing. If you have enzymatic toothpaste and you're able to get a couple of good swipes of that toothpaste in their mouth, on their teeth. That's gonna do some good, you know, and that's gonna, that's going to help you and then of course I did regular or the teeth brushing is part of our regular hygiene process at the groomers but, you know, trying to do whatever we can to prevent the periodontal disease, to prevent having to do those regular anesthesia cleanings. You know, that's scary, that's risky for your dog to be put under anesthesia and very expensive. So, just really important to do that regular tooth brushing,
Okay, and our listeners know that I am a huge fan of TEEF, which is an all natural water additive, and it actually sets up the oral microbiome. So the dog does not get excess plaque and tartar buildup so I've used TEEF on my previous dog Winston and now that Dutton has all his adult teeth, he is on TEEF as well and I just love it. It's an amazing product.
Yes, the water additives are very helpful as well.
Well Christy, we are going to take a quick commercial break and we're gonna continue our chat everybody sit tight.
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And we are back speaking with Christy about wellness-based dog grooming. And this is so important. So Christy, what? Well, let me ask this first, do all dogs require grooming?
Do All Dogs Need Grooming?
Absolutely. And this is kind of a passion of mine too. I feel like the traditional grooming industry focuses a lot on dogs that need haircuts, right. But all dogs, whether they're short haired, double coated, or long haired and need regular haircuts, they all need regular hygiene care. You know, I mentioned early, earlier, even though short, short haired dogs, they need that regular brushing of their coats. You know you get those rubber zoom groom brushes, and you just hit em with those once a day, could just keep the oil glands and their skin stimulated and keep the excess hair from building up. But you know, and then getting back to the nails, the teeth, the ears, even though their coat may not be long, they still need regular maintenance of those core core areas in order, you know, to prevent long term healthcare issues.
And I've read that most dogs need to be bathed at least every three months. Do you agree with that? Or is there a frequency that is actually too much on their coat and skin?
Bathing Frequency
I mean, there are definitely, you know, there may be dogs that have particular skin conditions or allergies, that would prevent them from getting bathed on a regular basis. I feel that monthly is a is a very good cadence for most dogs. You get your hands as the groomer has a hands on their dog the dog at least once a month. And so they're able to look at those five core areas and make sure that there's nothing standing out to them that the pet parent needs to know about. And it just keeps them clean, right? It keeps them you know, looking for ticks and fleas and things like that. So um, no, I don't I don't really feel like once a month is too much.
Okay. Well, since we're talking about bathing, we know that a lot and I mean, a lot of the products on the market for shampoos, they have harsh chemicals in them. And a lot of times it's the smell that appeals to us, you know, oh, my dog smells so wonderful, like lavender or lemons or whatever it is after my dog is groomed. How do we know that our groomer is looking out for our dogs and not using products with toxic chemicals?
Grooming Products That are Toxic
Yeah, I mean, definitely ask them. You want to know what what products are being used on your dog, you want to look for groomers that are that are using shampoo solutions that don't have sulfates, parabens or colorants you know that are 100%, biodegradable degradable that are healthy for your dog's skin. So any groomer should be very happy to share with you what, what kinds of products they're using, and and what what are the ingredients in them.
And from your experience, if you know that a dog is on a raw or fresh diet, do you notice that their coat looks better that their skin is healthier that they don't smell like a dog on kibble if you know what I mean?
Diet and Grooming
Yes, yes, you definitely notice a difference in the skin, skin and coat condition less dandruffy, typically not a lot of not a lot of like allergic conditions. So you know the it you can definitely tell a difference.
And if I were to take my dog to a groomer, do most of them require vaccinations or not?
Vaccinations and Grooming
Yeah, so it really is dependent on state. It you know, the pet industry is not very well regulated. So, for example, Colorado here we are required determined proof of rabies vaccination for grooming. Okay. And that's it. So, yeah, it really depends on your state or the regulatory agency, in your state over that particular industry.
And what most of them take titers in lieu of revaccination.
Titers?
I do do as long as we have a vet that signs off on that. We do take titer exception, right. I don't I can't speak for you know, other states.
Right. Well, I know again, when we originally met, which was months and months and months ago, you also wanted to touch on the intersection of grooming, and the veterinarian industries, do you want to unpack that a little more?
Grooming and Veterinary Industry
Absolutely. And, you know, is also kind of getting back to those, those five core areas I talked about skin, coat ears, nails, and teeth. Those are the, you know, the core areas that a lot of health conditions can develop out of. And so, you know, our mission is to really kind of bridge the gap between the grooming industry and the veterinary industry, you know, oftentimes, your dog only sees that once a year, whereas they may see a groomer many more times a year, just so the groomer is gonna have their hands on your dog a lot more often, you know, running a running their hands along their body. And so they’re able to detect lumps and bumps that might not have been there a month or two beforehand, and that maybe the pet parent didn't notice. And so, you know, this has happened to us a few months ago, we had a dog and for grooming, and she had a growth near her her groin area. Our groomer noticed it right away, pointed it out to the pet parent took her to the vet and it needed to be removed before that it was going to start developing a lot of complications for this dog, you know, so things, things like that, that your groomer can do to really point the pet parents in the right direction, whether that's going, you know, doing primary care with your, your vet, with their vet, or you know, any sort of like urgent care that they might need, but really kind of trying to work more in tandem with the with the veterinary industry in approaching grooming from a much more wellness standpoint, rather than an aesthetic or a creative standpoint, right? Talking to pet parents more about like, hey, matting is painful, and it can create bruising, you know, and it can really keep create a lot of skin problems for your dog. Rather than taking the approach, you know that the pet parent wants to keep their dog's coat really long, they don't really care about the matting, but talking to them about like the health impact that that has, rather than the aesthetic impact.
And I love that approach. Well, what do you do with dogs that already have some behavioral issues? You know, a lot of dogs either going to the vet or the groomer, they're already anxiety ridden?
Absolutely.
What do you guys do to welcome a dog that that has some issues like that?
Grooming and Anxious Dogs
Yeah, and that's, you know, another benefit of seeing your groomer on a monthly basis is it gets that dog much more familiar with the environment with the groomer, or with the process, they need that regular exposure to become comfortable with the process, rather than if they don't come in and get groomed once a year. Yeah, it's gonna be traumatic for them and they're gonna hate it. So that's really another reason that we encourage those regular monthly visits, we've had some several success stories where we've had a dog, the dogs that have come in, and we're only able to do maybe a quick bath, you know, at first, they're uncomfortable with getting nails done, you know, don't want anybody touching them or their ears or something. And so we take that kind of slow, steady approach with with dogs like that, you know, maybe recommend that the pet parent try try out some CBD products at home first to see how their dog reacts to them. And if it's if it's positive, and we try to incorporate that into the grooming experience and giving, incorporating CBD before they come in to see us. And so, you know, really just that repeated exposure, and just slow and steady wins the race.
Yeah, I love that you mentioned CBD because, you know, we know that there's natural things that are go to to help calm our dogs, you know, CBD, there's calming medicinal mushrooms. There's Rescue Remedy. You know, there's other things that we can go to without medication, which is great to help the experience.
Yeah, that's always a last resort.
Well, Christy, as we are coming to a close, you mentioned Scenthound is the company and you've got two franchises here in Colorado. Can you talk just a little bit about the business model? You know, in case of if anybody's interested in looking into this franchise for themselves, you know, wherever they're located. What is the business model? I think you mentioned it's membership based.
More About Scenthound
Correct? Yeah. So we are membership based and that's, you know, that's kind of our way of keeping people accountable to bringing their dogs in on a regular basis, we incorporate our report card process into our services. So you know, every time that you come in, you get a report through our app, that rates your dog’s skin coat, ears, nails teeth. And it also gives you any information that you know, maybe we see some new lumps or bumps, things like that. So incorporate that into the process, you have that information, historical information to look at. For every visit that your dog has with us, we track their weight, membership based, like I said, we have a few different membership options. But the membership covers the cost of the services. So you know, you have the option to to come in once a month, get the bath, their dog gets the bass, ears cleaned, nails done, teeth cleaned, and then from there, you have services that you may need to add on. Well, depending on what your dog needs, whether that's a haircut, deshedding treatments or what have you. And then our memberships are just month to month, it's not a long term contract. And then the other thing to note that is different about us is that we don't do any breed specific or kind of creative grooming, we really just offer puppy cuts, you know, so the pet parent chooses the length, we do the same length all over the body, round face, flag tail. And then you know, options for double coated dogs like Goldens and Australian shepherds, we would just clean up the lines, that sort of thing. And then I should note also, Scenthound is a national brand. There are over 50 stores in operation right now across the country. And I believe there are over 100 and development.
That is exciting. And is there any continuing education like you know, if this is membership based? Do you send out health information as part of their membership?
Yeah, absolutely, we have. So the Scenthound site has a blog feature that talks about those core areas can coat yours nails, teeth, and you know, the health and wellness around those areas. We also send those out in newsletters. And then we also have a membership level two membership levels that provide access to a virtual vet. And that's handy. That's just straight through our app that that I found to be very handy. If you need to, like triage something you're not sure if you should go to the emergency vet or not. It's after hours, maybe you should just have some general some general health questions, but maybe not enough to merit an actual visit to the vet. So. So that's another handy feature.
I just love this what you guys are doing. That's fantastic. Christy, as we're wrapping up, what would you like to leave us with today?
Yeah, just I think that it's just, it's the education, right. And a lot of people don't realize that all dogs need regular, basic hygiene. And so when people talk about groomers, they really kind of think about, you know, just going in for a haircut and what have you, but really just kind of increasing awareness for the general population that it's so important to maintain the dog's basic hygiene because that can really help prolong their life. And just like nutrition, proper nutrition, can help prolong the dog's life. So can regular teeth brushing, you know, maintenance of the ears, maintenance of the nails. So it's just remembering those, you know, those things that you can do to help keep your pup around even longer?
That's right, all great advice. And Christy, where can everybody go to find out more information about you and Scenthound?
Yeah, if you just go to https://www.scenthound.com/ you can find out a little bit more about what we do have a nice little informational video on the site about how our services work. And then they can find all the different locations across the country.
Great. And then I will put that as well as all of your specific social media information in the show notes of this episode. So Christy, thank you, thank you for being here and sharing all of this great information. And thanks to the listeners for wanting to learn more.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scenthound/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ScenthoundSmokyHill
https://www.facebook.com/ScenthoundCentennialWest/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christy-boswell-497a1a7/
Of course. Thank you, Krista.
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Welcome to the Wag Out Loud pawdcast, where we are obsessed with bringing you helpful tips on canine health care, nutrition, and overall wellbeing. If you'd like to support the show, check out the amazing online events, products and resources that I personally recommend on the Wag Out Loud website. I'm your host, Krista and I'm super excited to be bringing you yet another tail wagging episode.
Christy Boswell is an experienced operations leader turned entrepreneur ushering the nation's first wellness centered, membership-based dog grooming service into the Denver metropolitan area.
Hi there dog lovers! Welcome to yet another fantastic Wag Out Loud pawdcast episode. And today I am chatting with my guest, Christy Boswell. And she is going to be chatting with us about paws for prevention, the power of wellness based dog grooming. So Christy, thank you so much for being here with us today.
Yeah, of course, thank you so much for having me,
This is going to be great. Well, I'm going to ask you to please introduce yourself and give us a little more about your background and why you are so obsessed with wellness-based dog grooming.
Yeah, absolutely. So my background is actually a little bit unusual for considering what I what I am doing now. Just that I've been in the corporate world for about 20 years doing management consulting and decided I really wanted to branch out into kind of an entrepreneurial fashion and in opening my own business. And so decided to do the franchise route. And in so doing came across the concept of wellness-based dog grooming, and so signed on to become a franchisee with a company called the Scenthound. And it's a very interesting concept. It's a new concept for the for the grooming world, in that we're really very much focused on educating pet parents on the importance of grooming, and how that can impact their dog's long term health. So I signed on with them in 2020, and have opened two stores in the Denver area. And so just in the experience, you know, that I've been doing this in the last couple of years, I've learned so much. But it's really, I think the most gratifying thing is seeing or seeing the concept in action and, and how we can help how we can actually play a role in helping pet parents, you know, understand how they can take care of their dogs and extend their dog's lives just by doing simple grooming things, or, you know, just pointing things out to them that maybe they wouldn't have noticed, you know, just because we do have hands on the dog a lot more often. So, you know, that's one of the biggest, you know, advantages to what I'm doing now. But just very, you know, really gotten into the wellness, wellness dog industry in the last couple of years. Trying to understand more about nutrition, and that sort of thing. And so, it's a really great approach to grooming.
And I love it. I love the education piece and you're right our dog's wellness depends on so many different aspects. And maybe a lot of us don't think about grooming as part of a wellness plan ,if you will. So Christy, I know that when we first met, you talked about that you believe that regular maintenance is absolutely critical to the comfort and well- being of our dogs. So what do you consider basic hygiene or routine grooming? What does that look like?
What Does Routine Grooming Look Like?
Right? So, you know, and this can depend on the dog, of course. But what we we consider really kind of a once a month, check in with a groomer, whether you know that, that's where your dog is going to get their their bath, have somebody have the hands on the dog, doing a good once over. So we're talking to the pet parent about things that they're coming across, whether that's Oh, you know, I'm noticing some redness in their ears. It's easy as a pet parent to really kind of overlook those things with your, you know, with your dog living with you every day. And so maybe you're not noticing that the dog's ear is getting quite a bit more red. But that's something you know that your groomer, seeing them on a regular basis, you know, that good four to four to six week schedule, can really help pet parents kind of key in on early detection, and get them to the appropriate resources.
That's great. And I have to assume that we're talking about even us pet parents that do our own grooming, like I do, all of these things that you're going to be talking about today apply for whoever has their hands on the dog, correct?
What If We Groom Our Own Dog?
Absolutely. And we try to break break it down into, you know, kind of five core areas, the dog's skin, their coat, their ears, their nails, their teeth, right. So, you know, skin is very important, you gotta look out for things like like parasites , tick and flea prevention, things like that. So making sure that your your dog doesn't have any infestations. Any allergies, you know, if you notice redness, in the paw pads, you know, maybe there's a grass allergy or something like that. So things to look at, be on the lookout for for skin. Coat, really is very dependent on the dog, you know it dogs have so many different types of coats, you’ve got your double coated breeds, you've got your poodles and your doodles with the hair. And so there's there's a lot of different things to look out for there. Depending on what kind of dog you have, whether that’s matting, you know, severe matting around the ears, or armpits. Your double coated dogs, whether or not they're, they're getting too much of a build up, and that coat might be getting impacted, you know, you've got to do the regular brushing to really kind of stimulate the, the regrowth of the hair too, and get that excess coat out of there. Ears, so important, you know, just taking a look making sure you don't have an extra buildup of that gunk in there. You know, smelling, you know, you can tell a difference in the smell of their ears if they're starting to get some kind of an infection, or looking out for that redness. Nails are so so, so important. And a lot of folks really struggle with, you know, keeping control on the length of their dog's nails. It's very difficult, right. So, you know, we have a lot of lot of pet parents, they come in and they just cannot get their own dog's nails done that, you know, we take them in the back and get it done in like five minutes. And I have the same issue with my own dogs. They won't let me do it. But I can take him to the shop and get it done with with no trouble.
So what do you guys do since you know, I grow my own dog. I've got a six month old puppy Dutton. And I've always used the Dremel tool on the nails with past dogs. And he of course wanted nothing to do with it. So then I had to buy the sling so that he's you know, hanging there and even then he stressed out. So, what do you guys do to make it so quick and “easy”?
Nail Grooming
Well, you know, it really does depend on the dog, especially for puppies and people that come that bring their dog in early stages. We recommend for them to do a lot of repeated exposure to that. We prefer the Dremel. You know, I think it's a better tool for the nails, you can get a little closer to the quick but even if you have an old electric toothbrush at home, you know without introducing him to the to the sling, or anything else associated with the nails, but just run that electric toothbrush up and down his legs and give them treats while you're doing it. Just to kind of get used to that it's that vibration. Yeah, yeah that that Usually what kind of triggers that stress response in them. and so we recommend doing things like that. Sometimes we'll have dogs come in, you know, several times and just come into the lobby, maybe take him back to the grooming room and, you know, introduce him to some of the staff and do pats, and then send them home without even doing any services. Just if it's a really, you know, you we know that dog is going to be having a lot of anxiety around grooming, we don't want to make that first experience, extremely uncomfortable, because that will be very difficult to break down the road. Right. But for the most part, I would say that the biggest, you know, the easiest, easiest way we can get things get the nails done is through distraction methods. Usually, you know, that usually requires a couple of people, you know, get one person up at the top, maybe doing some head pats and, and treats, nose scratches, that sort of thing. But distraction really is key, and then that positive reinforcement, you know, just at home when we're not doing anything to the nails, but there's similar sensations that are happening and they’re being positively reinforced.
Okay, so that's how we can set up either our puppies or if we get a rescue, and not sure if the dog has been used to grooming. It's baby steps, obviously. And I love that approach. Christy, we have just a little bit of time before we take our first commercial break. So you mentioned Dental, as far as a health preventative with routine care. Do you guys do anything at the groomers regarding dental or is this stuff of course that we should be doing at home?
Dental and Grooming
Both. In fact, really, teeth is such a, that's such a huge long term health concern for dogs and by the time, most dogs are age three, they have some form of periodontal disease, right. So regular teeth brushing is just critical, right? And that's another one of those things that you can start early with your puppies introducing them the toothbrush, I like to recommend for the at home brushing to get an enzymatic toothpaste. So even if your dog is difficult and doesn't want to let you get that toothbrush in there to do a lot of really good back and forth scrubbing. If you have enzymatic toothpaste and you're able to get a couple of good swipes of that toothpaste in their mouth, on their teeth. That's gonna do some good, you know, and that's gonna, that's going to help you and then of course I did regular or the teeth brushing is part of our regular hygiene process at the groomers but, you know, trying to do whatever we can to prevent the periodontal disease, to prevent having to do those regular anesthesia cleanings. You know, that's scary, that's risky for your dog to be put under anesthesia and very expensive. So, just really important to do that regular tooth brushing,
Okay, and our listeners know that I am a huge fan of TEEF, which is an all natural water additive, and it actually sets up the oral microbiome. So the dog does not get excess plaque and tartar buildup so I've used TEEF on my previous dog Winston and now that Dutton has all his adult teeth, he is on TEEF as well and I just love it. It's an amazing product.
Yes, the water additives are very helpful as well.
Well Christy, we are going to take a quick commercial break and we're gonna continue our chat everybody sit tight.
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And we are back speaking with Christy about wellness-based dog grooming. And this is so important. So Christy, what? Well, let me ask this first, do all dogs require grooming?
Do All Dogs Need Grooming?
Absolutely. And this is kind of a passion of mine too. I feel like the traditional grooming industry focuses a lot on dogs that need haircuts, right. But all dogs, whether they're short haired, double coated, or long haired and need regular haircuts, they all need regular hygiene care. You know, I mentioned early, earlier, even though short, short haired dogs, they need that regular brushing of their coats. You know you get those rubber zoom groom brushes, and you just hit em with those once a day, could just keep the oil glands and their skin stimulated and keep the excess hair from building up. But you know, and then getting back to the nails, the teeth, the ears, even though their coat may not be long, they still need regular maintenance of those core core areas in order, you know, to prevent long term healthcare issues.
And I've read that most dogs need to be bathed at least every three months. Do you agree with that? Or is there a frequency that is actually too much on their coat and skin?
Bathing Frequency
I mean, there are definitely, you know, there may be dogs that have particular skin conditions or allergies, that would prevent them from getting bathed on a regular basis. I feel that monthly is a is a very good cadence for most dogs. You get your hands as the groomer has a hands on their dog the dog at least once a month. And so they're able to look at those five core areas and make sure that there's nothing standing out to them that the pet parent needs to know about. And it just keeps them clean, right? It keeps them you know, looking for ticks and fleas and things like that. So um, no, I don't I don't really feel like once a month is too much.
Okay. Well, since we're talking about bathing, we know that a lot and I mean, a lot of the products on the market for shampoos, they have harsh chemicals in them. And a lot of times it's the smell that appeals to us, you know, oh, my dog smells so wonderful, like lavender or lemons or whatever it is after my dog is groomed. How do we know that our groomer is looking out for our dogs and not using products with toxic chemicals?
Grooming Products That are Toxic
Yeah, I mean, definitely ask them. You want to know what what products are being used on your dog, you want to look for groomers that are that are using shampoo solutions that don't have sulfates, parabens or colorants you know that are 100%, biodegradable degradable that are healthy for your dog's skin. So any groomer should be very happy to share with you what, what kinds of products they're using, and and what what are the ingredients in them.
And from your experience, if you know that a dog is on a raw or fresh diet, do you notice that their coat looks better that their skin is healthier that they don't smell like a dog on kibble if you know what I mean?
Diet and Grooming
Yes, yes, you definitely notice a difference in the skin, skin and coat condition less dandruffy, typically not a lot of not a lot of like allergic conditions. So you know the it you can definitely tell a difference.
And if I were to take my dog to a groomer, do most of them require vaccinations or not?
Vaccinations and Grooming
Yeah, so it really is dependent on state. It you know, the pet industry is not very well regulated. So, for example, Colorado here we are required determined proof of rabies vaccination for grooming. Okay. And that's it. So, yeah, it really depends on your state or the regulatory agency, in your state over that particular industry.
And what most of them take titers in lieu of revaccination.
Titers?
I do do as long as we have a vet that signs off on that. We do take titer exception, right. I don't I can't speak for you know, other states.
Right. Well, I know again, when we originally met, which was months and months and months ago, you also wanted to touch on the intersection of grooming, and the veterinarian industries, do you want to unpack that a little more?
Grooming and Veterinary Industry
Absolutely. And, you know, is also kind of getting back to those, those five core areas I talked about skin, coat ears, nails, and teeth. Those are the, you know, the core areas that a lot of health conditions can develop out of. And so, you know, our mission is to really kind of bridge the gap between the grooming industry and the veterinary industry, you know, oftentimes, your dog only sees that once a year, whereas they may see a groomer many more times a year, just so the groomer is gonna have their hands on your dog a lot more often, you know, running a running their hands along their body. And so they’re able to detect lumps and bumps that might not have been there a month or two beforehand, and that maybe the pet parent didn't notice. And so, you know, this has happened to us a few months ago, we had a dog and for grooming, and she had a growth near her her groin area. Our groomer noticed it right away, pointed it out to the pet parent took her to the vet and it needed to be removed before that it was going to start developing a lot of complications for this dog, you know, so things, things like that, that your groomer can do to really point the pet parents in the right direction, whether that's going, you know, doing primary care with your, your vet, with their vet, or you know, any sort of like urgent care that they might need, but really kind of trying to work more in tandem with the with the veterinary industry in approaching grooming from a much more wellness standpoint, rather than an aesthetic or a creative standpoint, right? Talking to pet parents more about like, hey, matting is painful, and it can create bruising, you know, and it can really keep create a lot of skin problems for your dog. Rather than taking the approach, you know that the pet parent wants to keep their dog's coat really long, they don't really care about the matting, but talking to them about like the health impact that that has, rather than the aesthetic impact.
And I love that approach. Well, what do you do with dogs that already have some behavioral issues? You know, a lot of dogs either going to the vet or the groomer, they're already anxiety ridden?
Absolutely.
What do you guys do to welcome a dog that that has some issues like that?
Grooming and Anxious Dogs
Yeah, and that's, you know, another benefit of seeing your groomer on a monthly basis is it gets that dog much more familiar with the environment with the groomer, or with the process, they need that regular exposure to become comfortable with the process, rather than if they don't come in and get groomed once a year. Yeah, it's gonna be traumatic for them and they're gonna hate it. So that's really another reason that we encourage those regular monthly visits, we've had some several success stories where we've had a dog, the dogs that have come in, and we're only able to do maybe a quick bath, you know, at first, they're uncomfortable with getting nails done, you know, don't want anybody touching them or their ears or something. And so we take that kind of slow, steady approach with with dogs like that, you know, maybe recommend that the pet parent try try out some CBD products at home first to see how their dog reacts to them. And if it's if it's positive, and we try to incorporate that into the grooming experience and giving, incorporating CBD before they come in to see us. And so, you know, really just that repeated exposure, and just slow and steady wins the race.
Yeah, I love that you mentioned CBD because, you know, we know that there's natural things that are go to to help calm our dogs, you know, CBD, there's calming medicinal mushrooms. There's Rescue Remedy. You know, there's other things that we can go to without medication, which is great to help the experience.
Yeah, that's always a last resort.
Well, Christy, as we are coming to a close, you mentioned Scenthound is the company and you've got two franchises here in Colorado. Can you talk just a little bit about the business model? You know, in case of if anybody's interested in looking into this franchise for themselves, you know, wherever they're located. What is the business model? I think you mentioned it's membership based.
More About Scenthound
Correct? Yeah. So we are membership based and that's, you know, that's kind of our way of keeping people accountable to bringing their dogs in on a regular basis, we incorporate our report card process into our services. So you know, every time that you come in, you get a report through our app, that rates your dog’s skin coat, ears, nails teeth. And it also gives you any information that you know, maybe we see some new lumps or bumps, things like that. So incorporate that into the process, you have that information, historical information to look at. For every visit that your dog has with us, we track their weight, membership based, like I said, we have a few different membership options. But the membership covers the cost of the services. So you know, you have the option to to come in once a month, get the bath, their dog gets the bass, ears cleaned, nails done, teeth cleaned, and then from there, you have services that you may need to add on. Well, depending on what your dog needs, whether that's a haircut, deshedding treatments or what have you. And then our memberships are just month to month, it's not a long term contract. And then the other thing to note that is different about us is that we don't do any breed specific or kind of creative grooming, we really just offer puppy cuts, you know, so the pet parent chooses the length, we do the same length all over the body, round face, flag tail. And then you know, options for double coated dogs like Goldens and Australian shepherds, we would just clean up the lines, that sort of thing. And then I should note also, Scenthound is a national brand. There are over 50 stores in operation right now across the country. And I believe there are over 100 and development.
That is exciting. And is there any continuing education like you know, if this is membership based? Do you send out health information as part of their membership?
Yeah, absolutely, we have. So the Scenthound site has a blog feature that talks about those core areas can coat yours nails, teeth, and you know, the health and wellness around those areas. We also send those out in newsletters. And then we also have a membership level two membership levels that provide access to a virtual vet. And that's handy. That's just straight through our app that that I found to be very handy. If you need to, like triage something you're not sure if you should go to the emergency vet or not. It's after hours, maybe you should just have some general some general health questions, but maybe not enough to merit an actual visit to the vet. So. So that's another handy feature.
I just love this what you guys are doing. That's fantastic. Christy, as we're wrapping up, what would you like to leave us with today?
Yeah, just I think that it's just, it's the education, right. And a lot of people don't realize that all dogs need regular, basic hygiene. And so when people talk about groomers, they really kind of think about, you know, just going in for a haircut and what have you, but really just kind of increasing awareness for the general population that it's so important to maintain the dog's basic hygiene because that can really help prolong their life. And just like nutrition, proper nutrition, can help prolong the dog's life. So can regular teeth brushing, you know, maintenance of the ears, maintenance of the nails. So it's just remembering those, you know, those things that you can do to help keep your pup around even longer?
That's right, all great advice. And Christy, where can everybody go to find out more information about you and Scenthound?
Yeah, if you just go to https://www.scenthound.com/ you can find out a little bit more about what we do have a nice little informational video on the site about how our services work. And then they can find all the different locations across the country.
Great. And then I will put that as well as all of your specific social media information in the show notes of this episode. So Christy, thank you, thank you for being here and sharing all of this great information. And thanks to the listeners for wanting to learn more.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scenthound/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ScenthoundSmokyHill
https://www.facebook.com/ScenthoundCentennialWest/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christy-boswell-497a1a7/
Of course. Thank you, Krista.
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