Navigating the Challenges of Pet Grooming: A Discussion with Julie Harris

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Welcome to the Pet Grooming Business Podcast with me, Bill Betts, where we give practical business advice to help you grow your pet grooming business. This podcast is sponsored by Low Pay, the low rate payment app that gives you more. So without further ado, let's get going.

Welcome, everyone. Good morning. I hope you are having a good Thursday morning. And if you're listening back on the podcast, I hope you're having a good. A good day. I am joined by the one and only Judy Harris. How are you? I'm good, thank you. Good morning. I just want to apologize to everybody, state of my office. Because Bill's literally overshadowed me. My office becomes Santa's Grotto, sort of from about October to about December, and it takes me around to Easter to get it back to looking anything like a decent office.

So it's in that. It's in that in between stage. Is that hiding all the presents from family or you just. I mean, family are not so bad, are they? I mean, you know, you. The adults should behave themselves.

Grandchildren. And then. I'm terrible because I buy Christmas presents throughout the whole year. I don't. I've never actually been Christmas shopping. I kind of go, oh, my God, so and so would love that. And then I pick it up and then it gets to a point where it can't no longer get in the cup. Can't no longer. That was terrible grammar. I can't get any more in the cupboard, so it just kind of spills out into various bags all across the floor and everything. And then when the cupboard's full, I have to take my clothes out so that I can get more in to hide from the grandchildren.

So how old are your grandchildren? I've got one that's seven. So he was seven on Christmas Eve, bless him. He's a Christmas Eve baby. And I've got one just coming up to five, so absolute joy. And I only ever had one child because once fit and twice shy. I mean, goodness me, any woman that goes through that again, I literally take my hand off to him. And so I've never had that kind of, you know, the relationship between two boys. And they're so different. So different. I mean, I had a sister and I was horrible to her.

I used to cut her hair while she was asleep. If she annoyed me, I'd wait until she was asleep, go in her bedroom, cut a bit out of her hair. This is like, you know, born with scissors in your hands almost. Yeah, yeah. No. Oh, I hadn't thought of it like that. I used to get into Trouble. I don't anymore. Thank God. Always had an interest in scissors or is it? Yeah, yeah, yeah, that sounds a bit, that sounds a bit wrong.

So you've got two boys, the grandchildren. Boys, yeah, two lovely boys. Yeah. Gentleman Logan. They're fab. Absolutely fab. I adore the bones of them, I really do. They can't do any wrong. So keep you busy as well, don't they? Definitely, yeah. I've got them this afternoon after school and then this is half term next week so I'm excited. I'm already planning what I'm doing so. Oh fantastic. And I'm sure there's people out there going, I wish we had a grandparent like yourself. Well unfortunately they're, they, they.

Well fortunately they live really near so you know, it's lovely. So. And their school they go to is walking distance from me so we walk to school in the mornings and yeah, it's just, it's really lovely. It is. They're, they're smashing and I, I just, yeah, as I say they're really good fun and they just come out with the just like the silliest things. They're going on holiday in May and they're going to, to Canada and see a friend. And Jensen said to me, well Logan said to me, oh, we're going to see a big waterfall.

And I went, oh, do you mean Niagara Falls? You went yes. And I went, oh, I've always wanted to go there. Little Jensen said, well grandma, you can come, you can sit next to me on the plane, we can play games. And I was like oh bless. Yeah, it was as simple as that. Oh, I'll just come, I'll come just for the Niagara Falls bit and then I'll come up. I, I learned this morning that our Josh who's 11, he went to Tesco's the other day and bought a pack of biscuits and just left them in his grandmother's cupboard and text her saying biscuits.

You know my. Bought me flowers. I had flowers at the week so. But at home he's horrible.

Well I often get a text from my daughter in law say and did you want to see them today? Only they're feral. Yeah, that's it. That's it. They always behave well outside the house. It's strange and it sounds like I'm not, I'm really not bragging at all. But we've got, we've got a hot tub so they're really, really fortunate. You know we, we got one along with 15 million people during COVID Do you know what I mean, and we adore it, I love it. And of course the grandkids think it's amazing.

So they come around, it's pouring with rain and they go, can we go in the hot tub? And I'm like, yeah, because I, you know, I don't mind the cold and all that sort of swimming stuff. So it's fine. We'll get on to that. Because I want to talk. Have you found it? This is completely off, like business topics and stuff, but like a shift in focus. Once you had grandchildren, sort of like a whole new, like, lease of life and purpose. And I, I, I, I think it is quite a deep thing to discuss.

I really do. And because my mum was a great mother, absolutely. Her and I had the same sense of humor and she's the only person I've really laughed with, you know, really, that belly laugh. I mean, I do with my mates occasionally, but my mum was, oh, my God, we had the same sense of humor. And it used to drive my sister up the wall because we'd be like, nearly wetting ourselves and she'd be there like, going, well, you're just immature, you know, so she had an amazing relationship with my son and to the point where I almost envied that as his mum.

And she died very young. I lost both my parents when I was in my 30s and my son was nearly 8 when she went. And to this day, even now, what the things that they did together have an impact on him. And I really wanted to be that grandma. Yeah. And it's like when, when, when the first one was born, Lose Lou's mom was like, oh, I want to be nanny, you know, And I was like, grandma, I'm going to be grandma. I know it sounds old, but that was what my mum was.

And I've been trying to not replicate, but I've tried, I've really tried to be that person to his kids that he, my mum was to him. So, yeah, it's, it's an absolute joy. A joy. I absolutely adore them. You know, they, they literally put a smile on your face when they walk in the door and they can be grumpy when they come in and I'm like, you know, it doesn't even bother me. Doesn't bother me because I'm thinking, give me two minutes, I'll turn that around. I enjoy it.

I love that as well. I love that outlook on life in a way. Yeah, it's just, you know, they're just lovely and I've got, I took, took, we took the car in for an MOT yesterday, so I've got to go and pick it up today. And I'm thinking, well, they'll have to come with me, so we're gonna have to have something exciting happening in the car. So. And I've got ridiculous amounts of CDs. And I go to them, should I sing for you? And they're like, no CD on, please.

I'm like, oh, go on, let me sing. No, no, Grandma, will you tell me what I can sing? And then they said, what do you sing at school? And we start with that and then off we go. And then the car's like a. Like a mobile disco. It's lovely. I love it. And I've got a lot of light things that we. Well, we just muck about all the time. And the amount of dens they came in the other morning and they went, grandma, we'd like to build a kitchen.

I'm like, okay, knock yourself out. And I was like, how are we going to do that then? And they're going, well, we could use the chairs in the dining room. Yep, let's go for it. Out they all come. So it's nothing. It's nothing that can't be put back, is it? It's a bit of effort, you know. But from here, if you cut it, you can't. Yeah, my sister won't see this. Your son, Your son will be like, why have you recorded a whole podcast about my children?

It will be. And I don't share them on social media. I don't. Because I don't know stuff like that. So they. Probably everybody. I mean, for the last 40 years, my husband hasn't existed.

Kept him in the cupboard. Yeah, yeah, it's fine. Down the bottom of the garden, he's got a shed. What more does he want? Relationships last longer. Sometimes they do. Most definitely. People are saying to me, oh, you're so busy. You're always away. And I'm like, that.

Right, let's. Let's bring it back.

Let's bring it back into. So I wanted to. Actually, I was just scrolling through your. Your Facebook page. I was trying to find the link to the, to the, to the book. And that's what we're going to talk about in a bit. But there was you talking about your ice bath experience. I thought, oh, we can't. We can't let you come on to the podcast and, and talk to you without going through this. Like, why. Why did you get in a bath of ice cubes? Is it wasn't so at Christmas.

Only as soon as Christmas, I've started going sea swimming, right? And I absolutely adore it. Absolutely adore it. And I went with my cousin. We went in, loved it. And then the girls, Sally and Louisa Tandy, were coming down and they said, well, I was going up to see them between Christmas and New Year, and they went, oh, my God, this looks amazing. We'll come down to you, we'll go see swimming. So they came down and we all. We all went in and loved it, you know, Loved it.

So I've. I've been. See, I love sea swimming. So Lou Tandy messages me a few weeks ago and says, do you fancy this? And it was Ice Queen Challenge. And I was like. And. And when I read it, it said, like, warrior women. And I'm not really into that sort of, you know, that's not me. But it was like, warrior women learn how to breathe properly in. In cold water and. And get the benefits of breathing. And I thought, that's not a bad idea. You know, that sounds like, you know, something that I should know how to breathe properly.

And. And then all, you know, other. Other. All the benefits of cold water plunges. So off we go on Sunday and we have a little talk about it all. Absolutely fine. Yeah. Then we go into the room to learn how to do all this breathing and. Oh, my God, Bill. It wasn't for me, right? For me it was. And I. And I fully appreciate the people it is for. But lying on the floor. Well, we were up. We would, like, dancing, moving our bot. And I was like, were you singing?

Well, yeah, we're chanting, Right, okay, chanting. So, I mean, I didn't laugh. I wasn't like, rude or anything like that. And it didn't strike me as a. A laughable thing. It just made me inwardly go, oh, my God, you know, what a way to spend a Sunday morning. The women were lovely and everything, but Lou and I both walked out of the room and we both went, oh, we'll talk about that later, and went into this other room that literally had this big, huge black bucket in it full of ice, basically.

So we all change into our. Our swimsuits and everybody's going in, and this guy, lovely guys, got all breeze, breathe properly. And then he was like, oh, go to your happy place. And I'm like, I haven't got one. Not at this precise point in time. There's no. There's no happy place for me. And so it came to my turn and I got in, bearing in mind I go sea swimming. So I Was. I was like, oh, this will be fine. And I thought, oh, it was cold.

It was cold. Went down under to plunge. And I literally, honest to God, I thought I was going to die. I had no. I had this searing headache. And they're called thunderclap headaches where all your. Your vessels literally constrict. And I literally. Lou said. She said, oh, my God. She was filming me when she suddenly stopped filming, going, oh, something's gone wrong here. I literally. All the color drained from me and my eyes just went, like, into my head. And I said to him, oh, I've got a really, really bad headache.

And he went all, just breathe, you know, go to your happy place. I was like, there's no happy place that's gonna do this for me. A E. And then he went. And so I listened to your body. And I went, well, my body's telling me to get the. Out of it. So I think I lasted about a minute, and then I. I got out and all I could think of is, I've got to drive home. And I really. I cannot see. You know, I really couldn't see.

I was a bit sort of like, panicked. And so we hung around for a couple of hours. We had coffee and that sort of thing, and I. I warmed up a bit and then I came home, went to bed, got up in the night twice and threw up. Oh, yeah. No, really. So. And I said to my husband, he's really made me scared about going back in the sea. And he was like, well, the sea's not full of ice. Don't let that worry you. You know, it's.

Even though you think the sea is cold, it's actually not. It's normally. I mean, it's normally about sort of. I think I've been in as low as 3, 3 degrees. You know, anything up to. I mean, it was 10 degrees the other day, which is not. I mean, it's not warm, but it's not, you know, it's not going to give you a brain freeze. Yeah. So. Yeah, so that was my experience. Lou, my God, what a hero. Did three minutes. Three minutes went down three minutes. Made a few funny noises.

Sorry, Lou, if you're listening.

And then what did it. He said to it, oh, and he kept saying to her, if you squeeze your pelvic floor, that helps with your inner heat. And she's like, trust me, I'm squeezing. I'm trying to get as much heat as possible here. So would I do it again? Probably not. The ice, I think, ice. My body. I have to accept that, you know, I. I can't do ice, but cold water swimming. Absolutely. And I think that you're in nature and I love being outdoor, yours. So I think, you know, being in nature and seeing it all around you and going in, you know, going in the water is fine.

But in a room, albeit a lovely room, with little candles lit and everything, with. With, you know, dimmed lighting, no, I think it just didn't match my personality. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, I do. And I. I can see how that could have been really scary for you as well. Yeah, honestly, it was terrible. I was like, oh, my God, you know, I've got an aneurysm now. Wow. Bless her. I came home and we were meant to be seeing them that Sunday night. And I said, I can't.

I've got to go straight to bed. And she was like, my God, why don't you just grow old graciously? And I was like, okay. And she said, just have a facial. Just go and have a facial.

Go and get some seaweed on your. Face next time you see Louisa. Have a facial. And I tickled me. And I was like, okay. I said, I'll put anything I want to do in the future by you first. You said, absolutely. It's understanding this, Emma. And my wife had fire cupping. She was going for fire cupping with. To try and help with muscles and aches and pains and backache and. And she had an experience like that where she came away feeling really ill and a bit like yourself, you know, and it's drawing all those toxins out and.

And put, you know, they go around your bloodstream. You say that, Bill, but I don't know, does it. It's like some. Somebody said to me. One of the lovely women there said to me when I'd had this literally searing headache, and she said, oh, you know what that is, don't you? She said, that's you moving on to the next plane. What? Dying? What?

I think I'm just. And I would love to be spiritual. I really would love that. And I'm not, you know, anybody that is. I know when my mum died, one of my neighbors was a. A Scientologist. And he used to. He used to say to me, oh, I just saw your mum walking along the path. And I used to get really upset. And he goes, oh, I don't mean to upset you. And I said to him, I am for you because I would love to have sinner.

And I just lit. And my mum was the same as me. She said, when her mum was dying. My grand. She said to my gran, if you come and visit me and sit at the bottom of my. Put in my bed, she says, she says, I'm not having that, we're not having any of that. She went, so I kind of knew that my mum would never come and visit me after she died. But yeah, I do envy people that, that have that and get a lot, lot from it.

But I just, I can't. It just doesn't happen to me. On to a new spiritual plane. I was like, no, I think you'll find I just nearly died. This podcast is sponsored by Low Pay. Low Pay is half the price of sum up and zettle. So you keep more the money that you earn. Rates start at 0.79%. Well, that wasn't the experience that I thought you were going to be honest. So that was quite interesting. So maybe some, you know, give it a go. But a word of warning, just be mindful of the side effects or.

It's not for everyone. It's not for everyone. No, no. And I think, I think had I have perhaps the breathing and I'd have, I don't know if I'd have calmed down a bit more, but I'm quite a not excitable person. But I'm, I, I'm quite nosy. Do you know what I mean? I like looking around and, yeah, just lying on the floor chanting. I was like. All I kept thinking about was, in 10 minutes I've got to get a nice bucket. And I think that just distracted me and perhaps if I, if I'd have been more open to that, I might have been all right.

But there you go, there you go. Not to put anybody off. I don't want to put anybody off because I know Lou was all right. I don't know if she's going to do it again, but she won't be doing it with me. So I'm having a facial. Sally, Sally was going to come and she had something on and all we, in our group chat, she was like, she was like, oh, well, I think I dodged a bullet there. Yeah, definitely.

Maybe the, the video will be released at some point. Just. No, I don't know if she's got it actually. She put a picture in our group chat and I showed my husband and he's got, he went to me. That doesn't even look like you, Gary. It doesn't even look like you. So. Right. Well.

Other than death, I think you. Almost died in a nice. In an ice bucket.

So I, I invited you on to talk about your, your new book. Tell us about your new book. It's Canine Anatomy, Skin Coats, Health and First aid. Yeah, so. So those of you that have known me for many years, I'm very much focused on theory. I, I am, because my own training had no theory in it. So when I went out into the big wide world of grooming, I mean, I knew roughly how to groom a dog and empty anal glands, I mean, everything had its anal glands emptied, you know, even if it didn't want to.

And I just, I had no knowledge, no sort of understanding of what I was doing or, you know, if you hold a leg this way, it's actually really uncomfortable for a dog and they're going to fidget and, you know, there was just nothing I didn't know about skin. And, you know, as time went on, you know, my mind kind of question things and there is, there's always a focus in training, always about the groom. It's always about the groom. And you ask any student, you know about their, their training and it's always, oh, you know, scissors and clippers.

It's not nothing about the theory base of it all, you know, why we do it, how we do it, what happens if we don't do it right, all that sort of stuff.

So that's always been my focus and I've always been fascinated every time I find a fact. So I wrote the theory course for students and that went really, really well. And that started in Covid because a lot of students were being unsupported, but they were still expecting to study. And there was. The Facebook was just drenched. It was almost traumatized with people going, where do I find this? Where do I find that? Where do I find the other? So I did a load of online lessons, just sitting in going, you know, I've got nothing prepared, but let's talk.

And people, you know, we, we got a huge, huge following and then we decided to make it a bit more formal, write a course, everything. So. And over the years, I've always been asked, you should write a book, you should write a book. So. And I've had a couple of publishers, really nice publishers, you know, approach me, but there's not been the support there. And I've got loads of content, but it's always been in a mess. It's been on that drive, this drive or that, bit more in depth.

So it's always been this huge, huge job that I've always been going to do.

So Joe and I set out a plan two years ago, two years ago to let's have a project and let's write a book. So it's probably taken about a year and a half. We wanted to launch it before Christmas because we thought it'd be a lovely stocking filler. And it didn't happen. And the publisher is great, but they, they have their way of working and it's, it can be, it can be not confrontational, but you have to kind of. You have to put your big girl pants on sometimes, you know.

An example, I've put quite a few pictures in the book and they've given us pictures. What about this? What about that? We've got this availability and you know, when we were doing diseases and disorders and that sort of thing and doing all the symptoms, I kind of wanted quite a lot a pictorial journey because I think, think, you know, groomers teach like that. And there was one picture I wanted to go in and one thing, another, and he insisted on putting a picture of a dog having diarrhea in.

And I was like, trust me, a groomer knows what a pile of shit looks like. Yeah, they don't need a picture going, that's a dog having a shit.

So we literally, you know, I was like, no, it's going, it's going. And every, Every. We had 11, 11 versions of the book before we signed it off. Every version up till about version 10 had this picture of this dog, I suppose, is it. I suppose you understand the audience, don't you? You understand the people that did, the publisher that you go with, did they do like any other animal sort of manuals? Yeah, so they do, they do lots of, they do animal care ones. So, so I mean, he was excellent.

There was nothing wrong with him, but it was just, I think, because Joe and I are both quite opinionated and we know what we want and we've, we've, we've already written loads of stuff for these people, you know, for students, for, you know, level four, level three, level two. We've already written all of that. So we, we had a really clear vision and he was, you know, and I think after a while he was, you know, I think he's probably learned a lot from us. I'd like to think he has.

That's, that's what I'm telling me in my brain. That's really. Oh, bless him. He, you know, we, we literally pressed the button on it about must be about three weeks ago now, so. Three weeks ago. And we've got pre order sales on.

So they, Anybody that. Pre orders, please. They're good, they're going really well. We had um, we had an initial 250 I think it was Jonas the figures a bit more. So the pre order sales are going so if you want a pre order please do that. They'll be shipped on the 28th of Feb and then after that it's obviously available on the website and then I'm going to be at crafts so I'm going to be on Raybark Canine which is up in Hall 3 by the Eukanuba stand.

Lovely stand everything. They got loads of stuff on there. I always spend a fortune on Rayba and they do really. They do all the Chris Christensen brushes and combs and they do power and working scissors so they're a real, a real spot to go. So whole three next to sort of like beside you can Uber. So I'll be on their book signing and also Mutney's who's like your one stop shop. So tables everything. So I'll be working between the two. We haven't got a stand this year purely because I've got muttones and I've got Raybart selling my products.

They just seemed a real big waste of money to then have a. It's, you know I, I get that it's. It's a big investment isn't it to be at crafts and I, I'm doing similar like I'll be floating around and if people want to me I'll go and grab a coffee with someone and just sit at a table, you know. So yeah it makes sense. I would love to. I would love to have a big stand and everything but all, all that would achieve is I'd have to put the prices up on everything.

That's it. So bring their book. But they pre ordered or buy a book from. Yeah, by all means.

My spelling's atrocious so I mean it'll be worth a fortune because it won't be spelled right. That was the other thing. Spell check. Oh my goodness. And. And typos in the book. You know with. We've read it. I've literally read that but I don't know how many times and so is Joe and we were still finding. Bearing in mind it's gone to a publisher. How. How the hell a publisher manages to get a typo But I think so much of it is you just see it so many times.

So I'll probably give a prize to the first person that finds a typo in the. I'm sure there will be. I'm sure they'll bloody deserve it. They really will. Because, you know, of all the times I've read it and, and it's like Joe's like, oh, I've sent it back over. You know, have a quick, quick read. Quick read. 168 pages. Thought it, Joe, that'll be, you know, and you get to a point where you're not reading it, you're, you're so familiar with it that you're like, I need to stop now.

And I'll pick that up again in the morning. So it's been a lot of late nights and a lot of early mornings. Getting up at sort of five, you know, fresh head on, you know, go for a walk, come back and then start, you know, looking at it again. So I am, I am really, really pleased with it. I think any project that you do, I don't know if you agree, it can always be better. You know, there's, there's a, I think I've got a book behind me.

It's like called the first ship version. You know, always that there's always going to be improvements and you might have different volumes as, as your knowledge improves and knowledge gets changes or gets better, you might update. The trouble is there's not, it sounds. There's not a lot of money to be made in books. There really isn't. So they have to be done with, with a bit of passion there. And there has to be an expectation of a certain amount of copies that you're going to sell, otherwise you, you're working at a loss.

So I'd love to do a level four book for, for groomers that are that want that extra level because I, you know, I study that all the time and I, and I include it in a lot of my seminars because I find that sometimes level four theory helps you understand the journey better. Do you know what I mean? I mean, it's examples like, you know, anagen Catage. Intelligent. You know, we all learn that at college. Oh, that's the growth cycle. Amazon cancer. Intelligent. But you just get told that's a cycle.

Level 4 content is like a Shih Tzu. You know, their hair is stuck in the anagen phase because it continues to grow. So how does that happen? Why does that happen? What happens when we clip a coat that is continuously stuck in the antigen phase? Because there's no, there's no shedding. It's the weight of the hair that pulls it out of the follicle when it gets a certain length. So if it never gets that length, what, what impact is that having on the skin? And coat and that.

That kind of makes groomers go, wow, oh, God, I need to know that. I want to know that. And, but just, you know, at college you get told, Anderson Catherine Challenger, and that's fine because that gives you a little bit of a, an insight. But for me, a groomer needs to know the level four stuff before, you know, before they. So when they're doing the job, they can go, right, I know, I know what I need to do here to keep this skin as healthy as I possibly can.

Yeah. And then the qualification to try and break it down into talking to the clients and then explaining it to them as well. I mean, I get that. That's the way education's built, isn't it? It's built very much around. We have these units that we have to have in there, you know, health and safety. I mean, you know what, Whoever thought that when they started a dog grooming course they'd have to write a risk assessment? Do you know what I mean? They're like, I can't do this.

So, you know, that, that's, you know, but we need, we need that awareness which we've all got. You know, men have got it in different ways to women.

So it's, you know, it is there, but it's, you know, I did some work with my girls at work yesterday and they were doing their, their first aid questions and they were, they were sort of like verbalizing them and then they were going, well, I have no idea. And I was like, well, it's not a trick question. It's just us. Which said, it can't be that simple. Yeah, it is. It's that simple. That's simple. Okay, that's all right then. And then they got like a bit of, you know, they're like, oh, no, we can do this.

Yeah, you can. But it's just that, you know, because your brain's not that way. It does. Cause, you know, it's hard. So I've tried to design the book with lots of, like, rhymes and did you knows. So people go, oh my God, that's really interesting. And then they're more engaged with the subject. I think when a subject's quite heavy, you need that bit of engagement with it for it to go in. And then all of my learning is always done on stacking. It's like, learn this and then that this bit will make sense and then that bit will make sense.

It's no good starting up here if you haven't got this knowledge, because it's just. You just learn it. Parrot Fashion, you haven't got any understanding of what you're learning. So, yeah, a lot of effort's gone into it and I, as I say, I'm thrilled to bits with it. So I. Whether there'll be another volume will depend on, I think, what I mean, I've got loads of stuff I've written, so we might just tinker about with something a little bit more deep. But there's no styling in it.

Styling we're going to be doing on individual like flashcards. We've already started those, but because we haven't got a standard crafts, we've kind of taken our foot off the pedal a bit with that. There's no great urgency to get them done. They'll just be for sale through the website, so. But it's good. I always, I always admire people that publish books because I, I trying to sort of look into it now for myself. It is very daunting. And how did you. I was talking to someone the other day and they said, well, how you get on with your book?

And I was like, like you said, you've got so much knowledge, there's so much in your head and, and stuff that you written about. It's like pinning down the topic and then pinning down exactly what you want to, to write about. How did you sort of decide this is, this is what we're going to be covering in the book? Well, you kind of need, you need a Joe in your life who likes spreadsheets. I actually bought her a button badge for Christmas that says, oh, what did it say on it?

This calls for a spreadsheet. Yeah. I don't know. I've got a frog in my fry. I do apologize for stopping.

So you basically, yes, start. You. I always. My, my head starts at the end. Okay. So I don't know what Jo did. I'm sure she didn't. So. But I kind of think, what, what do I want? And then I, I work my way backwards. So content wise we pretty much stuck to I, I got hold of all of the level three syllabuses and the level two syllabuses. So that was around about, I think I had about six qualifications that I had and then I cross referenced all of the content.

So to get this qualification, what do you need to know? So I took all of the content and I went, right, if we can confidently say this book will considerably help you in your level three. I'm not saying it's got every single single tiny little bit in it, but that was kind of like my focus was to cover this pile of, you know, the syllabus basically, and go, right, if I can give, give them a book that they can really read, proper read and, and get immersed in a little bit and, you know, be able to really help them with their exam, they won't need anything else, then that's, that's what I wanted to achieve.

And it kind of went back to, to Covid, when all I really wanted to do was these poor students that have been told, oh, you won't be having an exam in June. No, no, you'll be waiting till November till we're all back. And then, oh, by the way, three weeks time you got an exam, you know, and, and I was like, right, let's level three. It's just, it's just, you know, support those and what's their syllabus. So it's kind of gone from that. I wouldn't like to say everything is in it because there's going to be something that that's not or, you know, not in the correct death, but I would say sort of 99.9% is in there, hopefully in an engaging way that people can understand.

On those topics that we got on Skin on Coat we cover. I wrote it down actually, because I sometimes forget. So there's 11 chapters. So we've got anatomy, skin, hair and coats. So that covers all the, you know, the outside and the inside, obviously with the anatomy breed groups, we've got nails, the health chapter, check parasites, diseases, disorders and disabilities, the Ulster Cycle, pregnancy, because I didn't really cover that. First aid and the first aid section, we've taken loads and loads of pictures of bandaging. Then there's what I do like and what I generally try and do also is that the.

At the end we've got Q and A. And now another thing, you see, the publisher wanted us to put the answers online to encourage them to the website, which I get, and I do get that. But I'm like, they won't do that.

Yeah, I listen to audiobooks and they say you can get further resources at the website, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I was like, I never go and check the resources out. You, you just don't. And I thought that whole section of questions is useless without the groomer going in their head. Oh, I think that might be. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Two pages. Oh, well, I got half of it, but not quite. Not. Oh, I need to sit here and go. So we, we've got the, those questions and all the answers in the book to help you kind of With.

With that sort of thing. So that's really. That's what we wanted to do. And another thing, the book's got quite a few personal bits in it as well, in the fact that I've. I've tried to get my dogs in there in pictures, you know, whether it be their nose or their backside or something. So we've tried. I've tried to kind of, you know, get some real personal bits in it as well. Joe lost her beautiful cocker spaniel Lily during the process. So, you know, Lily is our elderly dog in there.

You know, it's. It's just, you know, silly things that only Joe and I know but, you know, makes us smile whenever we go through it. So, yeah, you know, we love it. I'm kind of imagining it like a complimentary book to level three. A textbook, a reference book, a guidebook. And it kind of sits on your. Sits on your. Sits in your salon next to the notes of. Notes from the grooming table. And when, when something comes up and you spot something on a dog, it's like, oh, go to that chapter and see.

Yeah. And it's. I found that over my years of grooming, an owner will come in and say, oh, my dog's got hyper. Hyperextension. And you, you know, as a groomer, you go, oh, oh, okay, okay. And in your head you're going, not. Not a clue, not a clue. So, you know, and then you kind of get onto Google and go, oh, right, okay. And this book is very much. I've added to it throughout it. What modifications to the groom do you need to do? So you've got a dog on the table that's got Cushings.

This is what it looks like. These are its symptoms. How are you going to modify the groom? So you're going to modify it by these ways. And that's right. So we don't cause any more trauma to a dog than we need to, you know, and some of it's like, send it home, you know, so it's all. It's very, very much a guide where, you know, you need one in the salon. So if a dog comes in, as you say, with a lump on its head, what does that mean?

You know? You know, let's look. You know, what. How am I going to do it? What should I do? What are the dangers? So it's, it's all written like that. You know, if. If they've got, you know, a parasite or something like that, or you're unsure. My lovely husband bought me a microscope and there's not, not a lot of pictures in the book, but there are some that I've used. But that's another book I'd like to do is to, I've got so many pictures of hair that I, you know, I did a talk at our local dog club and I, I said to them, send me, send me hair of your dogs.

I said, I'm still very in the early stages of understanding how to use the microscope, to be fair. And, and there was a dog that had Leishman's and another one that had just been in season, another one that was spayed. And they literally, they were so, they were lovely people. They wrote on the back of, on these labels exactly what the dog was. And I was just amazed to see when I put the hair under the microscope how, how the hair had changed and how even just grooming in what I did it for was for my products.

I wanted to see how grooming impacts hair and I wanted to see how using my products over a period of time built hair back up again. So, you know, that's why, why we got it. And my poor hubby said, you know, it was my, a big birthday for my 60th and he's like, most women want diamonds. And I'm like, oh no, I'd like you to spend a Microsoft nearly two grand on this amazing microscope that I'm probably using about, you know, a fifth of its capability. So, you know, it's amazing.

So, and I look at equipment as well underneath it and you can see under huge magnification like some of the, you know, the sticker brushes, you know, literally the damage that they do do to the hair. And then you look at a more expensive one and you can see that they're, you know, they've been hand finished and they're so much better for the coat. You know, that, that's the tip that I, you know, I'd kind of put out there in the fact that, you know, research your equipment, you know, ask loads of questions and, and try and buy, you know, the best that you can buy, you know, and ask questions if the person selling the brush doesn't know if it's hand finished or machine finished.

And they're two, you know, one with a slicker brush. We're totally digressing here. It's typical of me. With a slicker brush, if they push the pins through from the back, through the pad and then put the back on, that's a totally different brush than the way that they put them in from the front and stabilize them you know, and you'll get a totally different feel, it'll affect the coat differently. And this is all information that kind of, you know, when you're starting out, you don't need to know, but when you get to sort of like my age, you're like, you know, what have I been doing to these coats all this time?

And, or you know, I've, I show and I deal with a lot of show people that send me their dog's hair and go, what the is going on? And I go, look, I don't know everything at all. But what I'm seeing is this. And you know what, what brush do you use? And I'm going, oh, okay.

So, yeah, the difference in manufacturing and I suppose it's just being curious, isn't it? And asking, asking why. Yeah. Why? Just, just ask why. And, and if somebody doesn't know, I'm not gonna say don't buy from them, but I just kind of mean, you know, you just need to dig deep. You need to dig deep. You know, you don't have to, but you know, if all your dogs are coming back in naughty, you know, might not, might not be the owner's fault. But it's great blaming the owner.

It is, it is. Well, I'm not saying it's not, you know what I mean. But is it a combination? There's advice that you can give owners, you know, just simply is never brush a dry coat. You know, here's, here's a bottle of spray. We do the. No more knots. And it's great retail. It's so easy. Or your dog's always not it. Oh, where the harness goes, all they've got to do is just spray. Even if they just spray the harness to stop that friction, it's a situation then it won't match up as bad.

Now we've talked a lot about dogs. I just wanted to ask you, obviously. Your passion, sorry, and grandchildren. And grandchildren. Yeah. We won't talk about hair products for grandchildren and knits.

Your passion lies with dogs, isn't it? But we are seeing a big increase in the cat grooming sphere and you know, there's been a, there's a big, big change in cat ownership and the big breeds and long haired breeds, does that spark you like the, the examination of cat hair and, and, and products as much as it does for dogs or you just like, I just need to focus on one thing. Oh no, I do, I do love the cat grooming. I feel, I feel I've come into cats late.

Right. And I, I Don't want to put myself out there as an authority because I feel like I've probably got another five or six years of focus on that before, you know, so I do get a lot of people go, oh, you're doing cat courses? And I'm like, well, you can come along. I've actually written a cat course. I've written that course because I, I just wanted to, because again, when I did my training in the States, there were gaps in it and I was like, how can they not have taught us this?

How you know that that would have been so much better if they'd taught us this. So I came home and, and with, with Denise McLennan, we kind of put together a course of how we would deliver it if we did that, sat on the burner for two or three years and then I've, I've revisited it and, and I am going to be doing more towards cat. But when I feel like I've really got something to contribute. But you're absolutely right, there is a big boom in cat grooming.

I think the same with dogs. I think cat, cats do live longer than dogs, we know that. But I still think that with the movement of medical science and everything, they're living, they're living even longer. And cats unfortunately, you know, lose their flexibility. They get incredibly grumpy. They've got different types of muscle than dogs. So they're, their, their muscle is different colored so it's kind of degenerates in a different way to what it does in dogs. And you know, they are slippery suckers. They are. No, so I think a lot of, we get call after call of people going, I've got a 17 year old cat that now doesn't groom itself.

And it's not great. It's not. But you know, that's, that's where a lot of the calls are at the minute or you know, tummies get very naughty where they can't bend themselves back ends here because they can't bring their head down anymore. So, you know, and a lot of that is educating and that I'm still finding quite hard with a lot of my clients. And I've got over this year if we've, you know, we do two cat days a month.

You know, since the beginning of the year I've got a lot harder. I'm like, I need to see this cat back in eight weeks or, and then if they don't book or they cancel, we keep really good notes, I'll send it home. I'm not doing it you, you know, now you take that to the vet and spend 400 quid. Because I'm not prepared to pull your cat around. Yeah. And pick through all the, pick through all the matting and, and I sort of say like, release, unzipping the cat from its.

Yeah. And they feel so much better, you know, really do. Because, you know, the way, the way that hair mats, you know, it does constrict. You know, we see, we see it on dogs, but cats, it's worse because they're a lot more flexible, you know, and the cells that make up their skin are a different shape. You know, they are, they are a totally different species. Which is why when people go, oh, I'm going to have a go at cat grooming, I'm like, you can't. No. You know, would you decide, you know, would you ever go at doing a llama?

No. Well, then don't. Just because it's got four legs and people keep it in their home and that's where a lot of the problems arises. People, you know, have a go and it's not a have a go. Then you, you know, you do need special ninja skills. I mean, we have an angry stick, you know, that the cats can beat the crap out of if they really need to attack something. So they don't attack me. Yeah. And it's, it's, it's silly thing. They are, they're totally different.

Trying to take a picture of a cat is so different to taking a picture of a dog. You know, when you always have some cats on the website, you're like, oh God, here we go again. Trying to get a picture of a cat where it doesn't look absolutely raging. Like they're like livid. Absolutely livid. We've put a lot of focus last year and a lot of my clients have as well around the puppy package. You know, getting, getting dogs in, getting the owners in, getting them used to grooming, like upselling the information around brushes and stuff.

And hopefully we're, we're starting to see the benefits with coming through adolescents and they're actually used. And I, and I was talking to a cat only groomer the other day and it's like, and it's something that I want to do for our business is get that, that kitten, the kitten package. You know, you go out and get a Maine coon and again, just that educational like this is. You need to brush your cat every day. Yeah, yeah. I mean we, we love it when we get kittens in.

We really do. I've got one of One of my staff is allergic to cats, so she does, mainly does all the reception, does all the notes. So because cat grooming, you know, you can get a cat done in under half an hour for a maintenance groom through. We don't bath everything. So on a cat day we can have anything up to about 18 cats in. So that's quite a lot of paperwork of people coming and going. Really. You have to be very hot on security. We have different types of security on those days.

So having Claire, who's allergic to cats, sort of on, on the, on that area, she's great. She just deals with that and we get on with grooming cats. But yeah, and I've got one of my girls owns cats, so she has a real love and an affinity with cats because, you know, you can, you have to, you have to, like, if you don't like cats, please don't, don't. Don'T groom them, understand them. Yeah. You know, and it's that. I don't know, when I started out, when I went to the States to learn, I was very.

I, I just thought, it's a cat, then, oh, I'd groom it. You know, I wasn't, I didn't dislike cats, but I didn't, I didn't have that connection with cats that I had with dogs. And I found the beginning of my course really tough because I thought, I'm going to get found out.

What. I mean, you know, they're gonna go, oh, you're the imposter here. Because you, because the friend I went with, Denise was like, oh, you know, she was like. And I was like, I have. No way. I don't, I can't engage with a cat. Yeah, it doesn't sit for me. I like that going, hello, you know. Yeah, yeah, I've got a friend like that. Oh, my God. God. Jeez. You know, what's, you know, because you're, you're just used to a dog, aren't you? So it's really hard.

So that I would say is, is a big lesson to learn, you know, I mean, I joke about it, but I kind of, you know, I say to people we catch, you know, don't piss them off. And that, that is like, key message is, you know, if you piss them off, that is hard. And it's not any, it's not an enjoyable experience for the cat. You want the cat to enjoy it as well. And a lot of them do, you know, they're freed of all these mats, they start to groom themselves after you've done a bit and you're like, oh, bless them.

Yeah. Is there. Is it satisfying in that respect that you are giving them a new lease of life and, you know, you're solving some problems. It doesn't always look pretty, but owners seem to be. Owners seem to understand that. But I find owners totally different. Yeah. You know, a dog owner will go, oh, is his. Are his ears a little bit wonky? And you're like, no, I think that's the way he's holding his head. Or, oh, could you just. Just uncover his eyes, Just that bit there a little bit more.

Cat people are like, they're like, good luck, do what you can. And I'm like, oh, it doesn't look very. No, I don't care, I don't care. I don't care what it looks like. Just get my cat more comfortable. And you can literally, you know, you will, you do your best. You do, you know your best. And you say to, well, if you come back in a few weeks, I can tidy that up. And, you know, the majority of them do, but, yeah, cat owners and dog owners.

A cat owner doesn't blink at the cat being in your care for 15 minutes. Literally 15 minutes and paying 55 quid. Yeah, but it's a different understanding, isn't it? They want to give you a medal for sorting their cat out. And the funny thing is, is our salon is opposite a pub, a very, very old Victorian pub. It's beautiful. It's called the Railway. And they, you know, they open at 11 and the people, still. People are still in there when we leave work and in the summer, they kind of stand outside with their part, with their pints and everything.

We were grooming a cat once that was really bad, Ever so vocal, quite bad. And the owner's like, I cannot have this cat sedated. You've just got to do your best. So we did it. We did our best. And we, you know, somebody's holding it, wrapped it in a towel, did this, did that. Anyhow, it was quite traumatic for all of us. And when we finished and put it back in the basket, I looked up from my table and there was about six people in the pub going, world.

And they'd always stand in there with their points, watching me wrangle this cat and getting it, and they're all like.

But, yeah, they were literally, you know, and a lot of our owners go to the pub over the road and just sit in the window and watch us, you know, struggle.

There's like a cartoon of, like, this cat going for you some of them. Are, you know, and you. It's like the bar thing. And I. I start laughing. I. I find that any. Any sort of nervousness in me comes out in a laugh. And I'll start laughing and they'll be like, stop laughing. And I'm like, give me a sec, give me a sec, give me a sec. Next time you see a clip on the. On Facebook of a police officer trying to, like, laugh their way through a traumatic occasion.

Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I think because I'm. I'm in a safe environment. You know what I mean? I know this cat can't escape because we. We have measures in place. If it gets off the table or whatever, we just. We know what we do. You know, we've got calming measures, all that sort of thing, so. But I think it's just. It's just the quickness of a cat. I think they. They shock you and then you're like, jesus, I didn't see that. They're hanging off the H bar and you're like, oh, my God, how did this happen?

We've got a little gap underneath by the door. Little gap that goes kind of. They've boxed in some pipes, but they've left a little gap at the bottom. And a cat's never tried to get into it until a few weeks ago. And it literally got its head in there.

Sophie and I were like. And I'm like, we're gonna have to unscrew this to get this out. And we're like, how? We got it out? And we were like, how the hell did you do that? And Sophie was like, I reckon this cat could get out the letter box. Yeah, probably. Yeah. It's scary, isn't it? So there's a. There's another book there. Yeah. Yeah. Well, cat grooming, but also shouldn't happen to a pet groomer. No, that's. Oh, there's too many. Too many stories. Yeah. I'm sure that's a retirement book when you.

When you retire. That's a novel for you to. Yeah, probably. I don't know if anybody read it. They'd never want to become a dog groomer. We're about 26,000 dog groomers that we need in the UK at the minute. We are so short on dog groomers. I always hate you. You, You. You say this a lot. And I often, like. But I didn't look at Facebook groups and they're like, oh, there's dog groomers everywhere. And how. How do you come to this figure that we're really? Sure. Because every dog needs grooming.

Every dog needs grooming and the frequency of grooming, and it's all individual certain areas. I mean, I've got 15 groomers around me, and we're all, we're all chocker. We're literally all chocker. So I'm not suggesting that every area is that way, but there has been, there's been a huge influx of dogs of, of cockapoos. And sometimes. And I, and I, you know, I know the owners are, Are to blame or they're part of the problem, but, you know, it is genuine that some owners can't get their dogs in and then the, the coats just overwhelm them.

Yeah. You know, and, and, you know, I understand that. I do. I mean, any dog groomer that owns a coated dog has probably got the worst. Yeah. So the worst dog in the area because we've got no time to groom it. We've got the smelliest Labradors ever, you know. Yeah. So it, you know, but there is, There is a huge shortage of, of trained, qualified groomers. I mean, there's a lot of groomers that, you know, have just gone onto YouTube, which is so dangerous for them, and also for the dogs in their care.

You know, they, they. Some groomers wear it as a badge. Oh, I haven't done any training. You know, I've learned it all on YouTube and I'm like, you might have learned the groom, you know, but you haven't learned the foundation, to your knowledge, that keeps that, that pet safe. And, you know, with the groomer spotlight, we sometimes get criticism of, you know, oh, that's not a very good groomer. And I'm like, it's not all about the groom. No, you'll always get better, always get better with your grooming.

But we know because of their certificate that that groomer has been verified by somebody that they're safe and they're competent. You know, accidents happen all the time, you know. You know, regrettably, they do. But, you know, there's, you know, if you have got a certificate that says you've been assessed on these units to be competent to do it, then, you know, that's, you know, that's the only thing as an industry we can do. I'm, I've recently been going to Westminster. Yeah. Very scary, I'll have to tell you that.

To meetings at Westminster. I've got another one at the end of the month. And, you know, it's, it's part of the. I have to get this right. It's the all party parliamentary committee for animal welfare. So it's in a beautiful committee room up at Westminster. Lovely leather green seats with the, you know, the, the emblem on there with all the microphones hanging from the ceiling. Very intimidating. But it's, you know, animal welfare groups trying hard to be the voice for animals, you know, and trying to get things passed.

And you know, it's amazing because there's a screen in the corner of the committee room where generally when we're there, there's parliament are sitting and so they're making decisions and in the corner of the room there's this big screen that tells you all the decisions that are being made downstairs or, I don't know, across the hall or wherever it is. It's like a labyrinth up there and you know, so many this. It just comes up with a big red cross, big red cross, big red cross, big red cross.

And you're like how anything ever gets done up there or passed, I have no idea whatsoever. But it's, you know, it's, it's really good. And the only way that I think as an industry we're going to be. Have any form of not regulation. I don't, I don't even know what the word is. It's through welfare is the welfare of the dog, you know, is the welfare of the dog being taken care of while they're with you had to tell me you're safe. And the only way somebody can tell you they're safe is by going, look, I've got a certificate.

I find, I find it hard with the, with the regulation thing because we, we opened those events as well. So we had a veterinary. We opened a vaccination clinic and employed a vet and became registered under as a vets as well as the groomers that. Yeah blue. That blew the minds of loads of insurance companies. They couldn't deal with that. They didn't know what to do with that. So we had a vet come in and deliver vaccinations for, for pets. That's all we could do. It's like a, that's all you're allowed to do if you're, you're a single.

I can't remember what the wording is but you're not prop. You're not a full vets but you're just vaccination clinic. And it was so tough falling under. So we got an unregulated dog groom is and then a regulated vets and the, the dictates and the emails and the, the rules and the regulations that the, the RCBs were pumping out. And they were sending us into like us and other vets into a head spin, trying to interpret what they want. Like they'd send an email out on Wednesday saying one thing.

All the vets would be like, oh my God, what are we going to do about this? It was about flea treatments and prescriptions and then by the following Wednesday they'd say, oh sorry, we're retracting that, that, that email now because it's not, it's not what we mean. And, and this is the thing, isn't it? When we're writing legislation and writing guidance, it's like you have to look at the meaning of it, what, what they intend it to mean. They don't use clear words, do they? Or speak.

And the thing is, I would like, they don't know where to put dog grooming so they, they, they put us with defraud. I mean I, I don't, I, I kind of get it, but I don't. And I'm like, I'm, I'd be quite happy to be governed by the RCBS because they've got animal welfare at their forefront and I think it needs somebody, you know, sensible to be saying, you know, that's not going to work. This is going to work. You know, I, I don't know. I mean I've, I've just kind of, you know, I don't know where we go.

I know that when we had the kept animal bill we were going in the right direction. When the new government threw it out, there was so much in the kept animal bill that was wonderful. And now we're, we're back, we're back to, you know, and the way that the government work is, is, really, is, is quite tricky. You know, you, they, they, when they have a new government, they, they kind of say, right, we're going to put all of our politicians names into a bag. We're going to pick out 10 and they're the ones that can, they can move forward with something.

You then have to canvas those 10 to go dog grooming. Dog grooming. Dog grooming. And you know, it's like the last big thing that happened that canvas was the, you know, the, the need to, the dye, you know, the going to Dignitas and being allowed to do that. So of course they're going to take up a mantle like that rather than, oh, dog groomers. Dog groomers. So we had the kept animal bill that we were trying to shoehorn ourselves onto the back of and now the government went, oh no, it's too, it's too busy.

It's too much. Conservatives said the labor were ruining it. Now labor are in. They don't want anything to do with it.

The worry I have sometimes with, with this kind of things, a bit like licenses for breeders and licenses for caring for dogs at home, is they're quite happy to legislate and put through legislation for this, but then they. They push it out to councils.

The policing of anything is. Is where it falls down. I'll tell you a story. Years ago, when I first started teaching, I had.

I was being. I think it was EQA'd, externally, quality assured. And I was really excited because I was thinking, who they gonna send? Who am I gonna get to meet? You know, I'm being eqa, this is really big. And this guy came in and I was like, I don't recognize him, I don't know who he is. And we're chatting and I was like, where are you from? You know, this sort of thing. And I thought, oh, he's quite local, I don't know him. And I said, oh, you know, where.

Where's your salon? And he was like, sorry. And I was like, you know, well, where, you know. And he said, oh, no, no, no. He'd come to EQA me and he was a piano, so he was, he was assessing the process and not the content. It could be in teaching them a load of nonsense. But as long as you're teaching. As long as you're teaching. Well, yeah, I mean, you're listening to every student. Long as you're, you're moving around the room, long as you, you know, you haven't got you back to them, long as there's this and, you know, all sorts of things come in, you know, are you being fair?

Are you being specific? All of that. So that whole process he was assessing, nothing to do with dog grooming whatsoever. They actually gave me a blind student to teach.

You know, so it's, it's, you know, it is really, really hard. And, and I think we've, we have come so far. You know, I don't. I'm not down on people that are not qualified at all because I worked for 15 years without a qualification. So I know, I know what it's like and I know how easy it is to just slip into it. Why do I need a qualification? And when somebody comes up with that question, to me, it's hard to say, well, you actually don't. Yeah.

And for the good of the industry, for the good of the animals in your care, for the good of promoting Professionalism, you know, we have got to make this industry more professional and the only way that we can do that, unfortunately, is through qualification. No, we. We have to have. And it's not just a bit of paper, you know, you can't walk around all day going, this is everything I know. These are all the dogs I can groom. This is. This is everything I know you have to go.

It all boils down to, I've got this bit of paper that says I'm competent and, you know, and until the day I die, I shall always promote, you know, and I help, you know, I help anybody, you know, to get their qualification. It's really important and it does. It gives you a lift. And the thing with qualifications, I don't want to bang on about it, is if you work. So get. I get a bit passionate, is if you've never taken a qualification, right, that's fine, you've never taken the qualification.

But show me that student that's done a Level one, right, there's probably. This is a dog. There's a leg in each corner. Let's be fair. Yeah. When they've got that bit of paper that says you've got your Level one, there's not a student that doesn't go, what's next?

And when they got their Level two, they go, oh, well, I've got my Level two, when do I start my Level three? And then when they got their Level three, they go, oh, is this. Is there a seminar? Oh, I need to know more about the editor and a message the other day. Can you tell me? Yeah. Who. Who do I go to to find about Airdales? I'm really. I've got a beautiful Airdale coming in. I want to learn more.

So it's literally. It's a state of mind and it's that, what's next? What's next? And if they, you know, when you haven't. When you're stuck in your salon and you've. You've not got that little foot on that ladder. I think it's a very, very lonely place. I really. Yeah, it's like progression, isn't it? And then challenging yourself and. And learning more. Yeah. And I mean, I love it. I mean, I've got loads of books, as you can see. My husband's a real bookie, buys me books, you know, and I'll flick through them.

But I mean, I adore Google. I mean, it's just, you know, it's the best thing ever. I mean, GPS do. Oh, no, probably not. No. I don't do things. Mind you, if I buy aneurysm that I got on Sunday from my cold water plunge, Andy's like, just come off, comes in, you're fine. Yeah, you're still alive. So let's leave it at that. I was gonna. Obviously we're reflecting on the industry and how long, you know, you've been in the industry for a long time. I had. The question that came up was like, is there a.

Is there a dog that you used to groom that you miss as in a breed? Because the dog breeds from when you probably started to. What they are now, are quite significantly different. With the cockapoos and stuff. Is there a dog, you think? Actually, I haven't seen one of those dog, those that breed a dog for a really long time. And I really miss, I miss grooming that.

In all honesty. No. I mean, I love my long coats, so I, I love the briards and we. I'm kind of known for it, so people do travel. I'm also really lucky that I've had, you know, I've worked in London, I worked in Harrods and we had some lovely, lovely clients there, some unusual dogs and they, they still jump on the train. I have quite a few that jump on the train and come down to St. Leonard's for the day and drop their dog off. So I don't.

I still get a real, quite broad spectrum of dogs. I do a lot of hand stripping, which I need to sort of reconsider a little bit, I think, as. As I move forward. I was talking to Stu last night and he's. And I said to him, do you know what I really want to do? And he said, oh, you want to give up grooming? And I went, no, I said, I want to give up some of the other. And I'd like. I'm happy going into tails, just going into tails and grooming dogs.

Now. I've been really, really lucky that I've never had carpal tunnel, touch wood, you know, and I. I mean, standing all day. I mean, by the time it comes to midday, if I drop anything on the floor, it stays there, or I'll pick it to one of the girls and I'll go, which. Can you pick that up for me? So by lunchtime, my flexibility is gone. I can't, can't bend, but, you know, it's, it's fine, but there's nothing really. I still, I'm really lucky. I still do breed standards, which I know unfortunately, a lot of, A lot of groomers don't.

We still do loads of breed. I do. I'm very fortunate in the fact that I do quite a few show dogs. I do some cockers that are shown. I do some springers that are shown. I do a Welsh springer that's shown. I do a couple of Lucas terriers that are shown. They're quite unusual. I love doing them.

Yeah. So I. There's nothing really that I used to do that I. I miss. I'm. I'm the stuff that I used to do that I'm glad I don't do anymore. I mean, Newfoundland, you're giving up the big dogs. Yeah, give up that. I do a Great Dane cross poodle, but he comes in really regular and he's. He takes me longer to prep than what he does to trim. But he's a really good boy and he's lovely. He doesn't give me any bother at all. But. Yeah, no, there's nothing really.

I still see. I'm very lucky. I still see quite a broad spectrum of dogs. So I'm trying. I'm trying to picture a curly Great Dane. Well, he's a. Yeah, he's on the Tells Us and then his Facebook page. So his name's. His name's Cooper and he's a Harlequin Dane and a poodle. So he's very mottled. He's black, gray and white. He's lovely. I literally do a six comb all over and then just a bit of a scissor finish on him. Yeah. Beautiful dog. Yeah. He looks for his dad the whole time, so I never have any trouble of him fidgeting because he's like.

Yeah. As long as I face him towards the door and the window. He just looks for his dad the whole time. Adores his dad. But he's lovely. He's a really. He's a special one. We do Old English, we do. I do a Daddy Dimont, we do Bedlingtons, we do cockers, we do every Daxi in every size. You have a good variety, then. Because some people say the same. The same sort of stuff all the time. So. No, we're very lucky. We know. I mean, because we're a busy salon, we're still taking on new clients because I find with grooming, it's a little bit feast and famine, isn't it?

Yeah. Yeah. So we. We've not. We've never stopped taking on clients. When we get to around Christmas time, our booking changes slightly because I need to make sure my regulars are in and we hold back certain afternoons for people that have forgotten but the girls are very good about going through a diary and going, oh, my God, you know, Bob's not been in. We need to phone her and say you're coming in. But, yeah, we still taking on new clients. And that's always nice, you know, it's always, what breed you got?

Oh, we've done. I mean, we still do Yorkies. Yeah. Yeah. One of the girls did a Yorkie yesterday, and I'm like, you very rarely see Yorkies now, do you? They're all Yorkie poos, Yorkie shih Tzus or whatever. Yeah, do, do, sort of. And they're feisty. I love a Yorkie. I did a Yorkie on Saturday. He's. He's a feisty one. They make me laugh. I'm like, size of me and the size of you. If somebody the size of me in comparison grabbed hold of me, I just go, do whatever you like.

I wouldn't put up a fight because there's no point. But they're like, no, no, you're not. There's no way that you are. They'd rather die, wouldn't they, than have their nails cut. Some of them. They make me laugh. I think they're adorable. You give them a cuddle and the shock on their face, they're like that, oh, my God, she's giving me a cuddle. What is it with small dogs and biting your nose? We've got dachshunds and Jack Russell Cross and they just want to bite your nose when you're trying to, like, be nice to them.

It sticks out, I'm guessing.

It's obviously sport, isn't it? We need to try and get into the psyche of some dogs. Yeah. I often wonder what they talk about dogs really do. I really, really would love to. I'd love to know. I'd love to be able to talk. Dog, understand what they do all day. Yeah, well, it's like you get a noisy dog in and you. I never know whether that dog's going, I'm having an amazing time. Everybody come in, come in. Or they're going, save yourself. Run. Go, go. Do not come anywhere near this place.

It's horrendous. So, you know, all the dogs in the neighborhood know never to come in the salon or you get them. We do a beautiful little crossfit called Fergie, and she literally drags her owner across the road to come in and have a cuddle and everything. She's gorgeous. Thankfully, he's from the pub around the corner, so he's like, oh, pop in for a cocktail and we're like, oh, really? Okay.

But. And then you get other ones that you see our clients, we do the, a dog from the fish and chip shop and they literally drag them past on the other side of the road and you're going, why? What, what makes that, what experience has that dog had? And they said, oh, she's a nightmare. But I mean she's a good girl when she's in, but she doesn't want to come in. We, I need to start wrapping this up. But we, we see it like maybe a dog goes to the vets and obviously there's a different atmosphere, different smell in the vets and they don't like their nails being trimmed in the ve.

They come to a groomers and they're a bit more relaxed or. Yeah, there is obviously like the smells and the vibe and that maybe the tension from the, from the owners traveling down the lead and, and stuff like that. That's a lot of it, isn't it? I mean they hand the dog over and I've got to go, I've got to go, I can't watch. And you're like, God's sake, Fluffy, you'll be fine. You're like, don't worry, don't worry about dropping well kids off at, at nursery. Yeah.

So we've got, obviously you've got your book coming out on the 28th, so there's links in here to, to get that on pre order.

Yeah. You'll be signing them at crafts. Yeah. This is the beginning of the year, so where can people catch up with you throughout the year and if you've got any other amazing new products coming out. So product wise, we've got some ideas in the pipeline but nothing is. It takes so long. It really does take so long to get formulations. Right. And I'm, I'm really, I'm, I'm very much more about, you know, what, what does the groomer need, what does the dog need? And do no harm.

Do no harm. So I think with products, what people forget is they're very focused on the dog. But the dog gets a bath every eight weeks. A groomer is bathing eight dogs a day, so their exposure is far more.

The dog gets, you know, so I know the dog's got a thinner skin, but for us it's really important. So where am I? So we've got, oh, I've got a live Kind hands event on the 27th of April, so please put that in your diary. So it's going to be a seminar online that I'm doing with a load of new material. So we kind of try it out online, see how that goes. It's good stuff. I wouldn't. I don't like talking about stuff I don't understand. So.

So, yeah, so 27th of April, we've got an online webinar coming and then the other bits we've got are all sold out. Capel Manor, we're off to Capel Manor in a couple of weeks. That's sold out, we can't get there. And then we'll be releasing some more dates throughout the year. I'm up in Scotland, if you're going to Scotland in April. So I'm judging up there at Scott Groom and I'm giving a seminar on introduction to cat grooming. So letting people know what it involves and whether it's for them and where to go for, you know, for training, all that sort of thing.

And then. Yeah. So education wise, what we're going to be launching is we've got a product webinar that's coming out so introducing, you know, what the ingredients mean, how to read a label. Because it. Then it's like a Molotov cocktail in it. You don't know, you haven't got a clue. So that. That's coming out. It's been written twice and I'm not happy with it. So it's permanently on. In on the computer and I flick it up and have a look at it periodically so that. That I'll kick me ass into gear and get that done.

We're bringing out. Yeah. So there's lots of bits we've. We've created some new flashcards for crafts. So any of you that have had our cards, which are all revision cards or just to have up, you know, so we've got one on, I think. What have we done? Because we've got all the different shaped eyes, what they mean, all the different shaped ears. I think we've got a tails one coming out. I've done all what all the different shaped tails are and then we've got teeth coming out.

Parasites we've already done. So we want to try and get a nice little pack together for students because they like that type of thing, you know, I want to do like a Top Trumps type thing. Yeah, yeah. Like the breeds and like the weight and the height. Yeah, I'd love to do that, but I don't know. I mean, I kind of think. And also the difficulty in grooming, you know, and all that types of things. I'd like to do. But Joe's very good about keeping me focused and going.

Yeah, well, who's going to buy that, Julie? And I'm like, well, well, I don't know, you know. Do you realize it's going to cost us, you know, 25 pound to make a set? We've got to sell them for about 40. And I'm like, well, nobody wants 40 pound. Well, we won't do that then. Stocking fillers. Yeah. So we're trying to sort of. I want to reduce everything down to a different size. A lot of our booklets are big. I've got this vision of having Ladybird books, you know, like you did when you're a kid.

So I kind of want skin, nails, coats and, you know, but is it, you know, I can dream. But what we have got happening is a. A live event on the 27th of April, and we have got new products come out. We've got a free one that we did about hot and cold water. So the differences in using hot and cold water and hot and cold air, so what it does to the follicle and when you want to do it. So if you've got a tight curl, this is what you need to be doing to relaxing that curl.

And that's a free. A little webinar, I think it's about half an hour on. On the Julie Harris Groomer. So you can just go on and buy that for free. So just gives you a link to my style of grooming. And again, it's. If I get a question and I think, no, that's valid, I'll do a little webinar about that and then we just pop it out for free. But there's other webinars on there if you want to sort of click on those and do them. But.

Yeah, but mainly to book this year, mainly the book. You'll be at Greenfest Crafts Groom Fest. Yes, but I'm at Groom Fest on the second day doing education. I'm. I'm gonna be. I'll tell you what I am going to be. I want to mention I'm at Windsor Champ show, so I don't know if I sort the date. So we've come up with this idea. So Carla, Carla Keane, Sally Hart and myself wanted to do something at a champ show to get people to come to championship shows because they're so valuable.

If you've. If you've never seen a wild fox terrier looking fabulous or whatever, go to a champ show. So Windsor is a beautiful champ show. It's held in the grounds of Windsor Castle. So you've got the castle in the background. Historically, it's always lovely weather. And we're. I've got the spotlight stand there. So we're going to be talking to members of the public about grooming their dogs and encouraging them to use the correct tools and that sort of thing. So I've got a load of groomers coming along to help with that, but we're having a groomer's mingle there.

So at the back of the stand, we're going to be doing, like afternoon teas. We're going to be having some PIMs. And we've got. So far, we've got four guests that are coming along just to chat to you. So you know some top people in the show world that are coming in for half an hour to. To talk to you about, you know, their fabulous dogs and everything. So it's free to get in. You will have to pay for car parking, but you don't have to pay for entry to the show.

And it's just going to be the Saturday and Sunday and it's the 28th and 29th of June. So let's call it. No other shows on. There's no grooming shows on. So get yourself down to Windsor and come and find us and just chill, bring a chair, because I think we might run out. Call it. Call it. Let's call it networking, then you. Yeah, anything like that. I mean, honestly, Bill, if you want to come along and just sit there and just chat with people, you are more than welcome.

We want to have it ever so informal and just have groomers get together and just have a chat and, you know, hopefully just engage a few people and help sort a few problems. So. So we're doing that. Yeah, so there's lots happening throughout the summer. I will be at Groomfest, I say, on the educational day, trying to think what else. I'm in Scotland. Yeah. I'll be at Southern Counties. So, yeah, no, we'll be out and about. Excellent. Have we run out of time? We have. I've got.

I've got someone waiting in the.

But as I always know, like, when. When. When you come on the podcast and that, it's going to be a long one. So sorry.

It's lovely talking to you and it's great to be able to just talk through all the topics and. And chat about, you know, debate and. And chat about the. The good things, the bad things, the other things, grandchildren. I don't ever think there's anything bad. There's just things that we can improve on. Yeah, yeah, that's great. That's great. Obviously, always improve. So. Well, we'll have another catch up, I'm sure. And at some point. And I'll see you at Groomfest, hopefully.

Yeah, I'll see you at crafts definitely and we'll catch up then. But again, thank you for your time and you know, well done on getting your book out there and I hope everyone enjoys it. Yeah, please do pre order. I'm so excited to see how many pre order sales I get.

Number one, everybody. Take care. I hope you have enjoyed this podcast. Please make sure you give us a like or a review to help people find it. The podcast is sponsored by Low Pay. Head over to www.lowpay.com to find out more about their payment. Sol.