BENGALURU: Hobbs had a trust issue. He wasn’t comfortable with his groomers as he was sedated during massage sessions. But, now the Shih Tzu enjoys his grooming sessions. He wants the head groomer Aashita Mathew of Tail Lovers Company to be in the room when he’s being given a massage. His pet parent Natasha Pai says, “When Aashita comes out to talk to me, he would start barking. He’s only confident when she’s in the room, even if she’s not doing the massage for him. He has to keep looking at her while being groomed.” They say Hobbs is a drama queen.
The Shih Tzu was not confident when he was taken to Tail Lovers Company because of his bad experience earlier at a different pet service provider. Natasha adds, “Aashita has done a course on calming the dog, which helps her communicate well. He’s now comfortable even when I bathe him at home.”
Aashita says that she and her staff are trained to understand the body language of dogs. “We interact with them like the other dogs would do. We use lavendar oil, which has natural properties to calm humans too,” she adds.
Aashita is a certified groomer. She says while doing the course she learned the ten varieties of hairs that dogs have. The spa treatments that she provides also depend on the size of the coat of a dog.
Spa treatments are an important ritual as it can help detect allergies in dogs, she says. The dog might get infected and would start itching. The pet parents and vets might find it difficult to understand the issue if the dog has a long hair coat and then it may lead to secondary infections.
“When we give massages, we touch all parts of dogs and can detect any boils or allergies in them, which might be otherwise difficult for pet parents or vets to find,” she adds saying, “We then suggest them to go see a vet.” She says breeds such as Shih tzu need regular grooming to keep a check on nodes. “The skin around the nodes stop breathing and it can lead to infection. So, a cut to one or one and a half inch coat is necessary,” she says. The company, launched recently in Koramangala first block is perhaps the only pet service provider in the city that offer specialised massages for pets such as calming massage for dogs with anxiety, pain relieving massage, bug free oil massage and healing oil massage.
Spa services
n Shine enhancement for dull fur
n Lightning treatment for white and light colored coats
n Treatment for dry and itchy skin type
n Oil reduction spa for greasy and oily coats