Tail Talk Grooming Chronicles with Hound Therapy

Consistency is Key: How to Strengthen the Bond With Your Furry Friend

• Shannon & Tanya • Episode 8

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Strengthening Bonds Between Owner & Pet, And Pet & Their Groomer

Dogs pick up on everything—especially your anxiety. Professional groomers Shannon and Tanya reveal how your energy directly shapes your pet's behavior and comfort level in this illuminating episode of Tail Talk Grooming Chronicles with Hound Therapy.

The foundation of pet trust begins with consistency. Whether you're raising a puppy or bonding with a shelter dog, maintaining clear, reliable patterns in your commands, schedules, and emotional responses creates security for your pet. As Shannon emphasizes, "Consistency, rules, consistency, consistency." This repetition isn't accidental—it's the golden rule of pet relationships.

Perhaps the most powerful takeaway is how our pets mirror our emotional states. When you label your dog as "aggressive" or "difficult," or approach situations with nervousness, your pet absorbs and reflects that energy. The groomers share practical techniques for overcoming these challenges: using distinct command words (like "off" versus "down"), creating positive associations through play and rewards, and gradually introducing pets to potentially stressful experiences.

Building meaningful connections requires quality time and shared activities. Take your dog on adventures, integrate them into your daily routines, and most importantly, be fully present with them. As Tanya simply puts it, "Your animals are there for enjoyment. Enjoy them and let them enjoy you." These moments of connection transform both your life and your pet's.

Has your pet's behavior been puzzling you? This episode might reveal how your own energy is influencing their reactions. Listen now, and discover the transformative power of consistency, positive reinforcement, and mindful pet parenting. Call 469-367-0009 to book your next pet grooming appointment and experience the Hound Therapy difference.

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

Speaker 1:

Welcome to Tail Talk Grooming Chronicles with Hound Therapy, the podcast where we talk all things pet grooming, daycare academy and more, hosted by Shannon and Tanya of Hound Therapy, serving pet owners across North Texas. We're here to share expert tips, hilarious pet stories. We're here to share expert tips, hilarious pet stories and the inside scoop on keeping your furry friends 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:

A stronger bond between pets owners and groomers leads to happier experiences for everyone. Here's how we help build trust at every level. Welcome back everyone. I'm Sophia Yvette, co-host, slash producer, back in the studio with Shannon and Tanya, professional groomers at Hound Therapy. Shannon and Tanya how's it going today?

Speaker 3:

Today's good it's a real day today.

Speaker 2:

Well, that's great to hear. Shannon and Tanya, can you inform our listeners about how to strengthen bonds between owners and pets, and likewise between pet and groomers?

Speaker 3:

Absolutely. The strength begins when they're a puppy. So there's a couple of different things. You have a lot of people that will adopt a dog and you've got to teach that dog that hey look, we have to have trust, right. So that just comes over time. If they're scared, don't make sudden movements. If they're nervous, if they don't want to go in a crate, that doesn't mean that we're not going to, you know, eventually get them there, but you just may need to go a little slower on their time. If it's a puppy, you need to start from the day that you get that dog to the time you know, forever. But for the first year, every single moment that counts is this is the rules, this is what we're doing. Positive reinforcement it's. I mean, consistency, rules, consistency, consistency, yeah.

Speaker 4:

And your body language as well.

Speaker 3:

A hundred percent, yeah, yeah. So if, if you're nervous, if loud noises scare you, if you're afraid to drive on the highway and you're walking your dog on the highway, or if you've had a dog that's gotten off of a leash and you're walking that dog and a loud noise comes and you're scared and you're acting like, oh my gosh, well, your dog is going to pick up on that. So when you walk into a grooming salon and you've already projected that my dog doesn't like the groomer and you know he's you're labeling your dog and that's that's kind of how I call it. My dog's aggressive. My dog bites. My dog doesn't like to ride in the car. My dog doesn't like this. Well, does he?

Speaker 4:

They feed off of your actions and your behavior, your body language.

Speaker 3:

So when you, when you grab that leash, your dog knows is going for a walk, he can tell by the jingle Um, my dog can tell when my husband comes home because of the truck noise it's outside, um. So, that said, being consistent with your emotions, if, if you're afraid of something, overcome your own fear, uh, don't project that onto your dog, because your dog is going to absorb all of that energy and it's going to it's going to portray that when it comes in. So if you're nervous walking through a door, your dog's going to be nervous first. I mean, the best way that I can describe it is if consistent training with a positive reinforcement, if you're, if you're constantly yelling at your dog, those are things that we'll touch on in a minute. But your attitude on how you want your dog to live its best life is 100% how you need to be acting. So, without you living your best life, they're companions, they're best friends, they're not just here socially.

Speaker 3:

I mean, for a lot of people these dogs use their, their, their use as a buffer, for you know the real world of scary things in life and that's a lot of pressure to put on you know dog, on on any one being in general. So you know, use that dog. If, if he's thriving when you're out playing over a time that you're afraid or scared, then you know, try to embrace that moment and have fun with your dog when your dog is having fun. If your dog is afraid of something, try to be the like okay, look, I'm not afraid, it's scary but it's okay. Yeah, we'll live through it. Yeah, we're going to do this. So if, if I'm walking through, I see a cave and we're together and it's got a dark, scary entrance and I look at you and I'm like ooh.

Speaker 2:

Help me.

Speaker 3:

Hey, why don't you go first and then I'll go after you and I mean we'll just see how it goes from there. Does that work for you? And you know, if, if you look at me and you're like cool, right, then you've got a dog, that that's awesome and you've got a really good friend that's that's willing to take some scary stuff on for you. But most people are going to be like, well, hold up, you know, maybe maybe you go first or we'll go together. So there's a reason that you go through the door first, your dog doesn't. There's a reason that you know you guys walk together. Your dogs don't walk in front of you, they don't walk behind you. There's a reason for that You're, you're a team, you're a teamwork, and that that needs to be started as early as possible.

Speaker 3:

Puppies are much easier to train that too, and to imprint them with those kind of emotions and feelings. It's a little harder to do with a shelter dog. But patience, consistency and I can't say consistency enough. Just if you feed at two o'clock, you feed at two o'clock every day so that you can take them out. You know that at 2.30, they're going to have to pee and poop. That's how you train a dog to, you know, not potty inside. If you want him to get used to the crate, make crate a fun place, you know, start feeding him in the crate. You can get a crate that's big enough for you to sit in and then at night put him in a different crate that's smaller for him to sleep in. I mean it's it's sometimes you got to do the extra with the crate kind of creates a.

Speaker 4:

you have to respect their boundaries. Um, like, if you want that crate to be a safe place, don't let anything come into their safe place. Yeah, children, other animals, things like that, like that's their safe place.

Speaker 3:

And don't put them there when you're punishing them right? We don't want it to be a place that's oh, every time I'm in here it's because I've done something bad. Um. So consistency you want, you want to, you want to give your best foot forward and you want to to to do it at the same time Every time. Uh, if you have a word that you're using for getting off the table or you know, sit, stay down, is are common, but get down is different than lay down, because they both all your dog is hearing is down, so we use the word off, because get down is not the same as down right, get off the counter. So off, uh, and down, uh, it's a. Use your words. Make sure everybody in your family uses the same word. You don't want to confuse them.

Speaker 3:

Dogs are very capable of learning words and pitch and noises and sounds. So the way that you speak and how you speak, your accents, whether it's a different language or not, I mean it honestly doesn't matter. Your dogs are capable of learning 100 plus words and some dogs more. But on the average dog that's a lot plus words and some dogs more, but on the average dog it's that's a lot of words, so you can use those words into sentences later, but for now, keep it short and sweet, keep it consistent, keep your attitude and your energy high, because if it's low, your dog is really going to absorb that and they're they're going to. That's what other people are going to see. So, yeah, consistency.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and any other words of wisdom when it comes to strengthening those bonds.

Speaker 3:

You, you just a lot of petting, loving, reinforcement, reassurance. Food works great. If you have a food made of hidden dog, uh, food's great. That's like hey, you're my best friend, You've got, you've got. You know, chicken? Um, I like canned chicken. Um, a lot of animals are really allergic to chicken, so you can try some, um, some Beggin strips if they like that. You want to try to stick. Uh, stay away from super high sugary content foods.

Speaker 3:

Um, if you can, if you've got a dog, that's toy motivated even better because you can always have a toy. So, um, strengthening those bonds, just like you do with your kids, right, take them out, show them a good time. Um, don't always leave If they're afraid of something. Show them that they're not pet. I'm loving it. They don't like their feet touched. You know, sit down and play a game that's touching their feet. Um, if they're aggressive with food, if they're, you know, just nervous with loud noises, make a loud noise and then squeak the toy and throw it so he forgets. Eventually they're going to forget the bad part of it. So you're going to strengthen those bonds and if you do have a bad moment, you know, sit down, let you and your dog just kind of absorb that minute together.

Speaker 3:

Take some time, don't? You know? No screen time off your phones. Enjoy your animals are there for enjoyment. Enjoy them and let them enjoy you. It's. It's. It's easier said than done. Right, but stop and smell the roses Like if you got a dog, because hopefully you want to spend some time with it. You know you want it to be part of your family, so let it be part of your family. You know, go for walks, take them to your grandmother's house. Go for a drive, take them into Home Depot and Lowe's. You know, go on a hike, yeah, bond, with your dog. Have it do the things you like to do.

Speaker 2:

Well, thank you so much for those helpful insights, shannon and Tanya, we'll catch you in the next episode. Have a fantastic rest of your day. You do the same, sophia.

Speaker 1:

That's a wrap for this episode of Tail Talk with Hound Therapy. Ready to book your pet's next groom daycare stay or grooming academy tour? Call us at 469-367-0009 that's 469-367-0009 to schedule an appointment, or visit us online at wwwhoundtherapycom. Serving north texas with expert pet care.

Speaker 2:

until next time, keep those tails wagging all right, you both did a great job, so we'll go into your next episode.