FARGO — Oak and Elm Tree Dog Training and Grooming has really gone to the dogs, in a good way.
At this new studio at 2796 5th Ave. S., terrified terriers and anxious Affenpinschers get the last word (or bark).
A Goldendoodle named Sarge — coat as fluffy as a dandelion puffball, tail a magnificent plume — stands calmly on a grooming table. Oak and Elm co-owner Tatum Slepica brushes his elaborately tapered legs, yet no grooming loop or restraint holds him in place.
David Samson / The Forum
When Sarge tires of the primping, he jumps off the low table to frolic with Slepica’s Basset hound, Rutherford; co-owner/trainer Sonnet Grueneich’s 5-pound Chihuahua, Honeydew, and another client, a merle mini-Aussie with Paul Newman-blue eyes.
A little later, Sarge voluntarily jumps back up on the table, ready to be lavished with more attention.
It’s a surprising sight to anyone who’s ever had to drag their dog to the groomer.
“He loves being groomed. If I walk through any of these doors, he'll actually try to jump on the table next to me, so I groom him,” says Slepica.
That’s partly due to “consent-based grooming,” a canine-centric approach in which the pooch’s comfort and well-being are top dog. Consent-trained groomers carefully observe a dog’s body language and behavior to identify when the animal is hurting, scared or simply stressed by the sometimes-lengthy ritual of being bathed, blowdried, brushed, clipped and coiffed.
They then use positive reinforcement and communication, rather than force or fear, to help the dog baby-step (or “puppy-step?”) through the grooming process.
Oak and Elm Tree opened its doors March 28, and has since gained a paw-hold among owners whose dogs have resisted grooming due to behavioral issues, age-related health concerns or past trauma.
“I’ve had a lot of pet parents who are like, ‘We’ve been kicked out of so many salons and they tell me to work with my dog. But how do I work with my dog?’ Slepica says. “How can (owners) automatically know that?”
Through their consent-based philosophy and training practices, Slepica says they’ve successfully groomed dogs whose only alternative was sedation and grooming at a veterinary clinic.
“It’s a lot of energy work,” Slepica says. “I would say it's a lot of just having your hands on the dog and feeling how they react. Like, simply paying attention to their body language and how they move.”
Nailing the non-scary nail trim
To illustrate, they point out that many dogs initially dislike nail-clipping. So if a dog growls or pulls away its paw, a consent-informed handler won’t force the issue.
They've learned that fearful or traumatized dogs often panic if they try to pull a paw away and the groomer refuses to let go. “Their thought is, “'I'm not going to have a way out.' That's really scary,” Slepica says. “A lot of it is they don't know why we're grooming them. And a lot of it is encouraging and teaching them communication skills and letting them know we're listening.”
Conversely, a scary, forceful reaction to a scared or stressed dog can place the animal in “fight or flight” mode: “When we … disregard their attempts at telling us they are uncomfortable or frightened, we increase the likelihood of aggressive behavior,” writes Claire Anderson, a
Fear-Free dog trainer,
on the training website, aggressivedog.com.
Yet once a groomer learns to read a dog's sign of distress — which can range from head-lowering and averted eyes to growling, cowering or snapping — they know to stop forcing the issue. And when the dog realizes that the human is listening to their distress, their aggression often dissipates.
This doesn't mean the dog gets to do whatever they want, Anderson says. Instead, the groomers will troubleshoot the source of the dog's negative reaction, then approach the groom in a less overwhelming way. That might mean gradually exposing the dog to the nail trim — first by simply letting the dog adjust to the sound of the nail grinder and then using positive rewards to ease the dog into trimming a few nails at a time.
The consent concept grew from methods used by animal trainers for years to handle much larger and less people-friendly creatures, like tigers, whales and alligators.
“Sometimes, other groomers are like, ‘How can you let the dog give consent for things?’ And I’m like, if they can do it with tigers, dolphins and everything that’s in the zoo, we can do it with dogs,” Slepica says. “I guarantee it.”
Learning to read Lassie's distress
Oak and Elm’s co-founders grew up around dogs. A native of Hutchinson, Minn., Slepica says she “volunteered at shelters a lot growing up, so I learned how to tell when dogs were uncomfortable or uncertain about a lot of things.”
Grueneich is from Valley City, N.D., where she got involved in the local 4-H dog-training program.
The two met while working at the same Fargo grooming facility, where they soon clicked over their love of dogs and a shared belief that force and intimidation weren’t the best way to handle them.
“I think probably the reason we gravitated to each other was because we both were so focused on continuing education, on making dogs feel better and understanding why they didn't feel better,” Slepica says.
David Samson / The Forum
By that point, Grueneich had managed a dog-boarding and daycare facility in Moorhead. Slepica had worked at several grooming places and managed a large, corporate grooming salon for a year. A mentor there first taught her the basics of consent, which she started incorporating into her own grooms.
The two women talked excitedly of opening their own consent-based salon for several years before taking the plunge.
When brainstorming on names, both liked the idea of a sturdy, sheltering symbol from nature. “Trees tend to evoke feelings of safety, trustworthiness, stability and calm, which is who we strive to be as a business and as people,” Grueneich says.
Today, a wall in their lobby is filled with certificates of continuiing-ed courses they've completed to help them understand dogs more completely. This includes special certifications in advanced skin and coat care, arthritis management, safe handling practices and dog neurophysiology, which examines the connection between pain and the brain and how that manifests in the body.
They’re also trained in canine first-aid and CPR, which is important, Grueneich says, as they groom many geriatric dogs.
They will accommodate older dogs who seem too tired or achey to stand for long periods. That means elderly pupsters can lie down during the groom, or might benefit from a gentle mini-massage midway through the process.
David Samson / The Forum
On the other hand, younger, more playful puppies appreciate a few play breaks throughout the grooming session to burn up excess energy.
While both owners are groomers, Grueneich also holds small-group and one-on-one dog training sessions here.
The training program fits naturally with Oak and Elm’s grooming component, especially if a dog is highly reactive to other dogs at the salon. Slepica and Grueneich are happy to provide a dog-free salon if a canine client doesn’t play well with others, but they can also suggest positive-reinforcement training sessions as a longer-term solution.
The grooming salon here is a comfortable, busy place. While Slepica continues Sarge’s groom, Grueneich prepares to trim the nails of Ruby — a large mixed-breed rescue with the thick, gingery coat of a Golden Retriever.
Grueneich first started working with Ruby a year ago, after her owner, Ashley Jordet of Fargo, reached out to Gruenich’s former grooming studio. “I had asked for somebody that was good with more reactive dogs and can take a slower time with her and slow down,” Jordet says. “As you can see, Ruby is sensitive. That was actually from another place: I think they clipped a nail pretty bad.”
Ruby loves Grueneich and tolerates grooming OK, but she remains skittish about nail trims. So rather than heap the anxiety of nail trims atop her regular grooms, Grueneich has arranged for Jordet to bring her in for a series of nails-only appointments.
For this appointment, Grueneich was able to trim Ruby’s back paws before she got too restless. The front paws need to wait till next time. Afterward, Jordet brought out an ice cream treat as a reward, which Ruby happily lapped up in the middle of the lobby.
“When (Sonnet) comes out here, Ruby can’t wait to go see her,” Jordet says. “Of course, a nail trim still isn’t her favorite thing. But I feel so much better dropping her off here with Sonnet, because I know that she is in a good place.”
David Samson / The Forum
Not every owner has time to bring in a dog for multiple grooming sessions. But for clients who have had bad past experiences, it can be worth it.
One option their clients prefer is a restraint called a trachea saver. The “trach saver” runs vertically down the chest and around the front legs to keep the dog from leaping off the table, but it doesn’t press on the throat, sternum or ribs like the traditional grooming loop does. “So it’s really, really helpful for dogs if you have collapsed tracheas,” she says.
Grueneich says her grooms take about a half-hour longer than a traditional one. However, “for most dogs, it starts to take less time because they are more comfortable with the process,” she says, adding that dogs with dementia or mobility issues still might take longer.
Slepica, who has groomed professionally for eight years and trained other groomers, says her sessions don't take any longer than a conventional groom.
Oak and Elm Tree’s price packages hinge on a dog’s size, coat length, coat condition and behavior. Prices range from $65 to $185 for a bath and from $75 to $195 for a groom. They also offer a la carte services like nail trims and creative grooming, such as dye jobs.
Find the salon under
“oakandelmtree”
on Facebook.
