JillFlorio

Is your grooming shop affiliated with an adoption agency? A lot of us, being animal lovers, give a bit of free time to the local pet shelters or rescue society, trying to make a difference in saving the lives of dogs. Often a groomer takes a few hours to brush out, de-matt, and spiffy-up a bedraggled homeless specimen…turning him into an fluffy, adoptable ball of love. This saves lives in a very real way!The online course, Enhancing the People/Pet Partnership, is directly related to the field of grooming. Whether we, as groomers, donate grooming time, or answer questions for clients on how to help new dog owners care for and bond with their pets, we are actively promoting pet welfare.

After enrolling in this course, I believe all prospective and newbie dog owners should be required to work through, and complete, this excellent program.

What’s in the Program?

Lesson One begins with a short treatise on the importance of animals to human co-existance, whether those pets are therapy dogs, search and rescue hounds, animal helpers, war dogs or just our loving companions. Compassionate stories of animals saving lives, from pigs to birds and all pets in-between, are relayed.

Lesson Two offers the real meat of the course, with sections detailing these important concepts:

• Choosing, Commitment, and Common Sense
• Pet Safety
• Pet Care
• Vaccinations
• Recognizing Common Health Problems
• Pet Manners
• Emergencies and First Aid

Lessons Three and Four are the Dog Whisperer part…with sections on how to bond with, spend time with, and love your pet…and also how to ease the suffering of both of you when it’s time to let your beloved friend pass over.

How You Can Help Teach Pet Owners

You can help people learn to better care for their new friends, too. You can take this course and/or recommend others do the same, or you can put a link to it in your salon newsletter - whether that newsletter is Web-based or paper.

If your newsletter is online, you can even earn extra cash by using an affiliate link (available free, whether you take the course or not).

A free course could be part of your New Puppy Grooming Package that includes a salon bandana, toothbrush, toothpaste, soft slicker brush and a year’s worth of salon visits (got to train those dogs to handle being groomed, and train their owners to come in regularly).

Course enrollments can be offered as holiday prizes in your raffle gift baskets (those were always very popular in my salon, along with a few nice toys, a holiday bandana, nail clippers, and a bottle of specialty dog shampoo).

You could also give out a free course with each adoption from your affiliated shelter (along with a new grooming, by YOU!), possibly including the course price in your adoption package.

The idea is there are lots of ways you can incorporate training your clients to work with, care for, and bond better with their animals. None of these options will detract from YOUR bottom line, and can increase your client retention rate dramatically.

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Here is the button for you to explore the course curriculum for Enhancing the People/Pet Partnership. Take a look at the introduction and overview to get a feel for the instruction provided!

Featured Course: Enhancing the People/Pet Partnership

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Who is the Author, anyway?

Course Author Joy Butler knows her stuff - she grew up on a farm with animal friends, has been involved in pet therapy, animal communication, dog obedience and other dog sports shows. She authored the ebook In the Hearts of Beasts, manages the Pets and Animals Community at Suite101, is Dean of Pets & Animals at SuiteU, is Contributing Editor for Suite101’s Extraordinary Animals topic, and volunteers her extra time in pet rescue in south Texas. Butler is currently owned by 6 dogs, with whom she Dog Whispers her way into loving, bonding, obedient relationships!