This thought is addressed to educators, groomers, veterinarians, veterinary technicians, teachers in the animal field and dog lovers.
I need to share a thought with you.
L'Art au Poil has been training TCAP behavioral grooming to professionals in Canada and Europe for 16 years. These professionals invest a lot of time in semi-private coaching to acquire the mechanical skills inherent to TCAP in order to become TCAP Intervenors.
This training requires 3 days of theory, 60 hours of supervised practice in a semi-private setting, coached practical work at a distance as well as a practical and theoretical evaluation. Some choose to switch from traditional grooming and courageously transform their way of doing things into behavioral grooming to become a TCAP Intervenor.
The path to becoming a TCAP practitioner requires stepping out of one's comfort zone, examining limiting beliefs, being professionally transparent, re-educating clients, changing all grooming interventions to force-free interventions with the animal's consent at every stage of grooming, walking hand in hand with each client so that he/she participates in his/her animal's evolution, creating individual strategies for each dog, TCAP grooming training sessions that will allow for force-free grooming later on.
Most also invest in our practical training of various species (CAP) where they train miniature horses, alpacas, chickens, dogs, cats, goat and sheep for 60 hours in a semi-private, force-free setting with the goal of achieving fluid, fast and reflective training mechanics. Students will learn how to make a training plan and how to dose the delicate balance between the dopaminergic and endophinergic systems in the brain throughout the training.
They practice in their shops to educate their customers on the essential need for their dogs to learn all the basics of grooming with motivation.
I like to say that ALL DOGS NEED TCAP!
Some of my students tell me that there are clients who still demand that the dog be forced (muzzled, forcibly restrained) or even violated against its will, with the stress and reactivity heightened. All they want is to pay for the dog to be groomed regardless of the process used.
Would you have any suggestions for human beings to become more aware and realize that an animal that undergoes grooming such as rape is experiencing post-traumatic stress that is detrimental to its physical and psychological health?
Do your clients know that every time the dog experiences a reduction in grooming choices, it may generalize and then react by redirecting with a family member or stranger?
As educators, do you refer your clients to TCAP Intervenors? Do you know what is behind the scenes of traditional grooming? Are you one of those who have your head in the sand about grooming? Are you one of those who still believe that the only criterion to help make an animal love grooming is gentleness?
Qu'est-ce qui pourrait nous aider à rendre l'humain un peu plus conscient du bien-être de son animal au niveau des soins et du toilettage?
There is a lack of transparency in the grooming industry everywhere. Dogs are forced, have a very high stress level, groomers do not have the tools or knowledge of animal behavior and many have no intention of changing their approach. Grooming as a whole is result oriented with a coercive process.
I encourage dog lovers to demand to stay during the grooming of their companion, to educate themselves on the non-verbal language and emotional mimics of their pets, to stop minimizing the impact of stress related to grooming manipulations.
Help us make our dream possible that grooming can be experienced as an essential well-being and not a necessary discomfort.
