Every day I receive emails, phone calls and text messages from people inquiring about Grooming during this Covid-19 pandemic. Each and everyday it is the same response and the same explanations as to why it is not safe to have your pet groomed by a Mobile Groomer at this time.
Reason number one. Well Groomed Mobile is a mobile grooming business where our motto is that we are an ‘in home’ pet service. This means that there is no van that is brought to your house. The grooming is all done through your home and therefore there is no way that social distancing or any Covid-19 regulated protocols can be followed. People will challenge me on the phone and say, “But you are just coming to my house and I can assure you I haven’t been anywhere, and my pet is in desperate need”. This will bring me to one of my topics in this blog soon.
It isn’t that I do not trust you, it is simply that when a mobile groomer is going from house to house grooming all day, it is like getting together with 6-12 people in a day during this pandemic – not social distancing!
Reason number two. It does not matter that it is only your family in the house and your pet! One of the conflicts that has come up in the news constantly is, is this illness transmittable through pets? From everything I have read it is not that the animal itself is the one contracting Covid-19, it’s the exposure the pet has around your house and what you have touched to bring Covid-19 into your house (if you have at all).
You have been going to the grocery store for food, possibly taken yourself or a loved one to the doctors, had family come and visit or been out traveling before this all started. We all give our pet love and affection and this means that you have pet them, kissed them and rubbed your clothes on them at some point; and worse you probably did it the moment you walked in the door not thinking. This is what is spreading the virus onto their fur and around your house.
Reason number three. As stated earlier in point number one, ‘my pet is in desperate need of grooming’, people are exaggerating on this point a lot! Most clients I have ever looked after take very good care of their pet and sometimes things come up that do not allow them to have the pet groomed every 6 – 8 weeks, and instead the pet has hit 12 – 16 weeks. This does not mean that you neglect your pet, that you should be embarrassed or that your pet hates you. All that it means is that you need to take some time to do some extra groundwork on their coat yourself until Covid-19 passes.
Which brings me to my next point that this is the perfect time for bonding, education, and appreciation.
Pets love to be brushed for the most part, and even if they do not, they are sure going to appreciate it during this crisis. Brushing your pet is a huge essential to keeping a healthy coat, to maintaining the grooming style you like and making a closer bond and trust with your pet. Brushing should be done daily and regularly but usually with people’s busy schedule this gets limited down to once every few days – if that. Well now we all have no excuses because we all have nothing but time!
Take some time to educate yourself on how to properly brush out the fur, what type of coat your pet has, what type of brushes you should use (this information can be found in my blogs) or even some tricks to seeing if your pet will love being brushed. This will have your pet ready for when you go to bathe them or have them groomed in hopefully the near future. I keep getting told by client’s, friends, family and new customers that they had no idea how hard of a skill it is to groom and how appreciative they are to have me – or their groomer. It is such a wonderful feeling from the previous comments that have risen in the past like ‘you’re a glorified hair dresser’, or ‘your job is to brush, bathe and play with pets all day – how hard is that?’ Take this time if you want to contact your groomer and simply let them know that your pet and you miss them, and you can not wait to see them when Covid-19 is over.
Lastly DO NOT try and groom your pet yourself other than some basics like brushing and bathing. Not that I doubt any of my clients’ skill – it is simply for your and the pet’s safety. Clipping can cause burns, rashes, cuts, and really bad hair styles. Scissoring is deadly if not done by a professional as it is easy to nick an ear, poke an eye, or cut too close to the skin. Groomers equipment is very sharp as it is meant to be to help us complete your pets grooming styles with ease, comfort, and precision. This being said – YES there is a huge difference between the clippers you use on your head and the scissors you have in your kitchen drawer.
These are all just one groomers helpful tips, opinions and suggestions to helping you get through Covid-19 2020. Stay safe, healthy and we are going to get through this.
