Cooperative Care Training for Professional Groomers
Behavior and training techniques you can actually use in a grooming salon.
Grooming animals is a challenging job. Managing time, communicating with owners, scheduling, caring for pets, the actual grooming tasks - it’s a lot to keep track of! Just one uncooperative dog can easily push things into chaos.
When I first heard about cooperative care, I wasn’t sure how it could be realistically used in a grooming shop setting. Even grooming one-on-one, I didn’t have time to train the dogs on top of grooming. I hardly had time to take a lunch break most days!
Once I began to learn how to to incorporate modern, science based behavior practices into into a real-life grooming salon setting, I was able to save so much time, with so much less stress for me and the dogs in my care.
I was already using techniques to change behavior in the grooming salon before I switched to using cooperative care - I just wasn’t using the most effective ones! I still spent just as much time (if not more) problem solving and changing things to get the job done as I do now.
With cooperative care, every groom becomes a building block for both you and the dog. Investing in your foundation as a behavior-informed groomer can help you grow into a sustainable and rewarding career working with animals.
Me and my dog Blush at West Coast Groom Fest 2023 (we got 1st place!)
Why use Cooperative Care?
Safer for you and the dogs
Less stress, fear and anxiety for the dogs makes grooming much safer. Dogs aren’t going to be biting your sharp tools - or you!
Make more progress on grooms
When behavior problems get in the way, we not only have to navigate finishing the groom but talking to owners. We can set expectations and boundaries that keep safety and progress in mind.
Support dogs through community
Groomers are just one (very important) part of a dogs care team. We can learn how to effectively collaborate and communicate with other parts of a dog’s care team.
Set pets up for a lifetime of success
If we can teach dogs that they are safe and can trust us now, we can set them up for successful grooms as they age and their care needs change.
Lessons & Training
You can learn how to use Cooperative Care in grooming from your home! Grooming lessons are held over video call on a schedule that works for you.
Cooperative Care Lessons for Groomers
If you work with multiple pets in a week, this is a good place to start. Learn about starting to incorporate cooperative care in a salon, mobile or house call setting.
Our initial consult will go over what techniques you currently use in your practice and what your goals are. After our consult, you will receive:
A custom plan for the following sessions and target specific skills and behaviors to work on.
Resources for grooming specific behavior protocols
Weekly video review (up to 15 minutes of footage)
Clear, easy to follow instructions for building your skills after each lesson
Investment
Lessons are available as a la carte options, or you can purchase a package. All services start with a consult!
A la carte
$225/consult (1 hr)
$125/session (1 hr)
Package
$650 includes
1 hr consult + 4 weekly sessions
Individual Client Dog Lessons
If you have a specific dog you would like to work with (whether that’s a client dog or your own) we can build an individual behavior plan together. This is a great option if you want to dive deeper into the whole picture of a specific dog.
Sessions can be weekly after a consult if its a dog you own or see frequently, or they can be stretched out every 4 - 8 weeks if they are a client dog.
Investment
Lessons are available as a la carte options, or you can purchase a package. All services start with a consult!
A la carte
$250/consult (1 - 1.5 hrs)
$150/session (1 hr)
Package
$725 includes
1 consult + 4 sessions
(Weekly or on grooming schedule)
Mini Sessions
If you aren’t sure which option is best for you, have a specific behavioral concern, need an in-between follow up or if your dog has a major or many medical concerns this is a good place to start. Some more complex cases may require a referral out to another pet professional to assess health before we can get started on training.
Mini session fees can be applied to the consult price if we decide to move forward and you do not need a referral. For example, if you paid $60 for a mini and we schedule a consult, the consult would be $140 instead of $200.
Investment
$60/half hour with the option to apply to a full consult fee
Groomer Highlight
Nat & Murph
I worked with Nat to help her with one of her grooming dogs, Murph, who was struggling with the clippers and other grooming procedures.
Nat’s Testimonial
“Throughout my grooming career there were countless times when I felt at a loss when dealing with dog behavioral issues that prevented me from doing my job. I had been told by some of my peers to just power through and force grooms on dogs who were struggling, but that never felt right. Still, when these problems arose, I didn’t know what to do that would actually help.
There was one specific dog I worked with who was absolutely terrified of the clippers, the dryer, and anything near his face. It was clear to me that Murph had been forced through aggressive grooming which made him fearful, and that I needed a new approach to work with him.
After reaching out to Jules for help, we met remotely and went over all of Murph’s triggers, figuring out together how to proceed. It was such a relief to have a plan backed by a Master Groomer Behavioral Specialist! After some time and patience using Jules’ strategies, and a few follow-up sessions to fine-tune our approach, I saw amazing progress. With the techniques Jules shared with me, I taught Murph a system for how to opt in or out of grooming tasks, which worked wonders in helping him feel safe enough to be groomed without shutting down. Since he got lots of rewards during our sessions, he became excited to show up at the salon, and I felt like I developed a really special bond with him.
Jules not only helped me with one struggling dog, but more importantly, taught me techniques that completely changed how I approached fearful dogs from that point on. Instead of feeling stuck, I had real tools to reach for, and that made me a better, more capable groomer.”
— Nat, Home Sweet Grooms
