Cone of Shame, Meet Clipper of Fame: Navigating Special Needs Pet Grooming

What Is Special Needs Dog Care?

When it comes to grooming special needs dogs, the focus shifts dramatically from aesthetics to comfort and care. Shannon and Tanya, professional groomers at Hound Therapy, dive deep into the specialized approaches required for our most vulnerable four-legged companions.

For senior dogs, those with sensory impairments, or pets recovering from medical procedures, regular grooming becomes even more essential than for their younger counterparts. As Shannon poignantly observes, "It's not about how they look, it's about how they feel." This philosophy guides their approach to every special needs pet that enters their salon. The episode covers critical adaptations for dogs with hearing impairments (more tactile communication, no surprising touches), vision problems (slower movements, verbal warnings), and mobility issues (gentle handling, awareness of potential pain points).

Particularly valuable is their advice on pre-surgical grooming. For dogs scheduled for spaying or neutering, a preventative grooming session with a slightly shorter cut can make recovery significantly easier. The unavoidable cone collar and reduced activity during healing often lead to matting—preparing ahead minimizes discomfort during an already challenging time. The groomers share practical insights about "happy tail syndrome" (yes, dogs can actually sprain their tails from excessive wagging!) and why sanitary cuts prioritize hygiene over appearance for special needs pets.

To learn more about Hound Therapy visit:
https://www.HoundTherapy.com
Hound Therapy
3509 E Park Blvd.
Plano, TX
469-367-0009

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Tail Talk Grooming Chronicles with Hound
Therapy, the podcast where wetalk all things pet grooming,
daycare academy and more.
Hosted by Shannon and Tanya ofHound Therapy serving pet owners
across North Texas, we're hereto share expert tips, hilarious
pet stories and the inside scoopon keeping your furry friends

(00:25):
happy and healthy.
Our motto humanity over vanity.
And don't worry, we don't bite.
Let's get started.
Who let the dogs out?
Who let the dogs out?

Speaker 2 (00:41):
Special needs dogs require extra love and care
during grooming, whether it's asenior dog with arthritis or a
rescue dog with past trauma.
Understanding their needs canmake all the difference in their
well-being.
Welcome back everyone.
I'm Sophia Yvette, co-hostslash producer, back in the
studio with Shannon and Tanya,professional groomers with Hound

(01:02):
Therapy.
Shannon and Tanya, how's itgoing today?
It's fantastic.

Speaker 3 (01:07):
Sophia, Some storms here but good otherwise.

Speaker 2 (01:11):
Well, that's great to hear that you're doing well.
We're excited to have you backin the studio.
Your listeners would love toknow about special needs dogs
care.
Let's get into it a bit.
What attention needs to be paidto senior dogs, cataracts dogs,
dogs that are just bin, spayed,shelter dogs and overly matted

(01:33):
dogs?

Speaker 3 (01:35):
All right.
I would say it's more importantfor any dog with a special need
to get groomed regularly thanit is for a younger dog.
It's important as regularexercise and nutrition for them
it's more about the hygiene thanthe actual appearance of the
dog.
As animals get older, they'reless likely to care for
themselves.
They move around less.
We have hearing impaired,vision impaired and motion

(01:59):
impaired.
I know you mentioned spayed andneutered.
We'll talk about that at theend of this.
If you have a dog that's hearingimpaired, they can't hear, so
it doesn't matter how loud it is, it doesn't really matter
what's going on.
They've got to go by emotions.
They tend to be a little moreanxious because they don't know
what's going around them.
So you've got to be a littlebit more hands-on with those
dogs.
In their face, hello, touchtheir back end, no sudden

(02:20):
movements.
I don't know if anybody's herehad a massage, but you know when
they stop and then they leaveand they come back.
You're like Ooh.
So we don't want to do thatwith a dog that can't hear.
We have a lot of dogs that areelderly that end up with
cataracts.
You can tell if they've gotcataracts.
Usually your vet will tell you.
If you're not certain.
If your dog's eye catches lightand it looks like a milky gray

(02:41):
at any sort half moon or all theeye, that's usually a sure sign
that your dog is gettingcataracts.
Another sign of that is if yougo to reach in front of them
where they wouldn't normallybite A dog.
That's just really good.
It's never bitten for anything.
And then you go to touch it oryou reach in front of it.
It just snaps out of nowhere.

(03:02):
It's usually because it'sfrightened.
It's like like, oh my god,you've startled it because he
didn't see you coming, quiteliterally.
So we need to be a little bitmore careful about that.
Motion impaired, those are thosedogs that hip dysplasia, back
injuries, a lot of tail wiggle,that's a real thing we have.
I have a dog in here today.
Knee injuries are big too, butwe have the.

(03:23):
The tail is all of those littlevertebraes are connected down
to the spine, kind of like youyou would have a sciatica or you
know your spine's connected allthe way down to your legs.
So if you have a broken spineor a spine that that it's
injured, you know it hurts.
So those tails, those dogs thatdon't have a tail or they have
those long whippy tails and theyjust move their butts back and

(03:44):
forth as fast as they can Happytail syndrome.
And it's a real world thing.
They can actually sprain.
So those are all things to becautious of for us.
We can see those and we try togive them a calm environment.
We move a little slower withdogs that have cataracts.
We obviously don't want tosneak up with them.
So we try to explain to peoplethat are there and I can't

(04:04):
express enough that the groomsthat we do for them it's not to
be pretty, these are not goodlooking grooms, these are
sanitary grooms.
These are grooms that we'regoing to do for comfort If
they're urinating on themselves,if they can't make it out, if
they've got pee pads or havingto wear a diaper because they've
got a loose bladder.
What we're gonna do is makethis dog as comfortable as

(04:27):
possible in the least amount oftime so that when you go home,
your dog, if it has an accident,if you can't walk, if it's
raining outside Cleanable yeah,take a chamois or a wipe and
clean up your dog pretty quickly, the quickest and easiest as
possible.
They're getting food in theirmouth.
They're missing teeth.
It's not about how they look,it's about how they feel.

(04:48):
And I don't know about you.
I'm definitely older than Tanyahere, but I'm much older than
you as well, sophia.
So the older we get, and foranybody else that's listening,
we know, right, I mean I lovedhigh heels and dressing up and
being pretty and doing my hair.
And you know, the other day myhusband called and said you know
, surprise, we're going out.

(05:09):
I'm like no, we're not, by thetime I go home, wash your shower
, do my hair and I don't evenfit into shoes.
So we went fishing.
That's what your dogs want todo.
Your dogs want to.
Just, you know they want to gohome and they want to chill and
that's what we're setting themup for.
This is not glam time.
They're not going to a prom.

(05:30):
As far as the spay and neutergoes, I miss almost all of my
dogs that are getting done rightbefore they get neutered or
spayed.
The neuter isn't as importantas the spay.
A neuter is a very quick, easyin and out kind of procedure.
Always are easy.
The spay is much more difficult.
They've got to be calm, they'vegot to be quiet, they cannot be
here for a long period of timeand they usually cannot get
groomed for at least 14 daysafter.

(05:52):
So if you have a long hair dog,a doodle per se, they're going
to shave right around your areaswhere the IVs are going to go,
and then they're going to shavetheir bellies, and then they're
going to come in here and yourdog is going to be matted.
So then you're going to have acompletely shaved dog.
So I highly recommend that youcome in here before you go to
get spayed and neutered.

(06:12):
Let's get your dog cleaned up.
Let's do a shorter than normalcut so that you have some extra
two and three weeks to have yourpup grow out and again be
comfortable after surgery.
I mean, nobody goes intosurgery ahead of time and fixes
their hair.
What you do is you make sureit's cut, it's clean, you know.
You make sure you've got freshclothes.
You make sure all your stuff islaid out, you've got pull-up

(06:35):
sweats.
You're not going to go intosurgery thinking, okay, well,
I'm going to put my tightest,skinniest jeans on.
It's not about looking good,it's about recovering.
The best way to recover is totake care of that before we even
have to get to that point.
And when they're healing,they're not going to want you
sitting there brushing andcombing on them either.
And they'll also have to.
More than likely, if it's afemale, we'll have to wear a

(06:55):
cone, and actually even a male.
So all of this around that neck, it is just going to promote
matting, matting, matting,matting.
Once we get down to a severelymatted dog, that's a whole
different problem, that's awhole different ball game.
Wow, does that answer yourquestion?

Speaker 2 (07:14):
no, that's some great insight for sure, and I
understand that you both have aspecial promo going on when it
comes to grooming.
Would you like to share thatwith our listeners today?

Speaker 3 (07:26):
Yes, If any of our listeners mentioned podcast
while they're booking theirappointment, you will receive $5
off of a nail trim, or $10 offof a bath and brush.
So we encourage you guys tocome in and see us and if you're
listening to us, let us know.
You can also book online.
Just put that down in thecomments and we'll give it to

(07:47):
you when you come in.

Speaker 2 (07:48):
Well as always.
Shannon and Tanya, thank youfor sharing this valuable
information with our listenerstoday.
I will catch you on the nextepisode and have a fantastic
rest of your day Fantastic.

Speaker 1 (08:05):
That's a wrap for this episode of Tail Talk with
Hound Therapy.
Ready to book your pet's nextgroom daycare stay or grooming
academy tour?
Call us at 469-367-0009.
That's 469-367-0009 to schedulean appointment, or visit us
online at wwwhoundtherapycom.

(08:27):
Serving North Texas with expertpet care.
Until next time, keep thosetails wagging.