"What I learned from a Cocker Spaniel"

   About twelve years ago I went to a dog grooming expo in San
Bernardino California. At the time I had been grooming for a few
years and thought I knew lots. I remember watching the
scissoring competition. One of the entries later became a team
member of Groom USA. The whole experience humbled me and helped
me strive to be better at my art.
    Then one of the judges
for the competition gave a lecture on grooming the Cocker
Spaniel. At first I was only mildly interested. She began her
lecture with "Most people don't really understand the Cocker
Spaniel". She went on to say that Cocker Spaniels were
"sensitive dogs". A Cocker was a dog who's feelings were hurt
easily. While she was giving this lecture she had her own Cocker
Spaniel on the grooming table, let us call her, Buffy. The woman
began demonstrating how to groom Buffy. I still was not ready to
buy into this whole "sensitive" thing. That was because before
the lecture, Buffy was being walked through the crowd up to the
lecturing platform. Two different audience members tried to pet
Buffy as she walked to the front. Buffy let out a yelp, a snap
and a little tinkle each time.
    While this woman groomed
Buffy, I noticed that the dog stood very proudly, cooperating at
every step of the grooming. When the woman would start to turn
Buffy around the dog would immediately turn around for her. Then
Buffy would be quietly praised by her owner and she would stand
straighter and more proud. This is where I started to think that
maybe this woman had something with her whole "sensitive"
thing.
    Well wouldn't you know it...first dog scheduled on
Monday was a Cocker Spaniel. We referred to her as "the brat".
The honest truth was that if a dog came in with an attitude I
would just groom them. I Didn't take their attitudes personally,
just did my job to the best of my ability. The "good" dogs got
the pats, the praise and the added attention.
    On this
Monday I decided to groom her differently. Whenever she did any
small thing well, I praised her. If she waited a second before
she growled at me for picking up her foot I would tell her how
brave she was. Slowly I noticed a change in her that day.
Although she was still a brat she seemed to want to be good. Her
patients with me seemed a little longer. When I finished
grooming her I actually saw her tail wiggle. I told her how good
she had been and how brave she was, it wiggled even more. I
realized that there was a "good" dog in there and it was too
sensitive to trust just yet.
    That day changed my whole
outlook in regards to my work. I realized that positive
reinforcement was my best grooming tool. From then on, no matter
how busy my shop was I tried to give each dog a little added
attention. After a time I was amazed at how many dogs that would
normally wear muzzles during the grooming would later graduate
to never having to wear them. I began getting more and more dogs
that were being referred to me because no other dog grooming
shop in the area would groom them. Although not all of the dogs
got over their little quirks, many of them became more trusting
and more cooperative. Praise and patience are the keys to
cooperation.
    Dogs are similar to people. If you give them
a chance, let them relax, and try not to initially judge and
label them, you are sometimes surprised at what you learn.