Saturday, January 7, 2012
Back in the Saddle Again
Well, finally, after a hiatus of about 2 weeks, I was back to work. Before taking a break, I was suffering from severe anxiety over 'messing up' every dog I touched. I'm not sure what caused the problem, but it was extremely debilitating. Then along with it came a fear of being bitten. Again, no reason for it. It just WAS. For the last week before christmas I found myself unable to finish a dog for one reason or another, and let mom finish them for me. Some of it was time constraints, some were difficult dogs, some were silly things, like fear of cutting the eyebrows off a schnauzer. Go figure.
That horrible streak finally came to an end yesterday. Although my dogs still took 2 hours each, and they weren't what I would call perfect by any means, they were done, they were clean, neat, and completed by me. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures because I was more focused on relaxing and getting the job done. But for the first time in about a month, I was relaxed and enjoying what I did. I'm sure hoping to have broken that horrible streak of anxiety and lack of confidence!
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Glad you are back gipsiwriter. Don't be too hard on yourself. It is not unusual for a newbie to go through a period when you doubt yourself and feel like you can't remember anything you learned. I went through this a few times in the early years. How did I get through it? I worked by myself through my first meltdown. I remember crying while grooming. Then I would stop, stand in the middle of the room and give myself a major lecture. I was mad at myself. I told myself to get a grip. I would mentally run through the grooming that I was going to do on the dog. Then I would start giving myself a pep talk. "Come on now, see, you know what you are supposed to do. You have been doing this for a year now. Just work through it step by step."
ReplyDeleteThat was just one of my lectures and pep talks to myself. Looking at the dog in parts really helped. I would not think ahead of myself. I would just concentrate on one step at a time. Step1: get the dog bathed and dried. Step 2: clip the body. "See you know what you are doing." I would constantly tell myself. Step3: the head, and so on.
Still to this day I concentrate on one dog at a time. I don't look at the appointment book for the next day before I go home because I don't want to think about the dogs that will be coming in the next day. They are coming in no matter if I think about them or not. I want to relax when I get home. Even when I get to work the next day, I just concentrate on the dog that needs to be done first and so on through the day.
Even now, after 28 years, some days can be overwhelming. Especially around the holidays. When I feel like I am getting over whelmed, I tell myself to 'stop it' and remember that by 7pm I will be sitting in front of the computer writing or reading and the day will be over. :)
I am not sure what to tell you about the biting. I am bad. I tend to let dogs bite me. Don't get me wrong, I am not a total idiot. I do try to avoid a biting dog, but to me if it happens it happens, I will deal with it then.
Fear can bring a bite on even from a dog that normally would not bite. Here is a trick that some competitors do in grooming competitions. They chew spearmint gum. Yep, something about the smell of the spearmint calms the dogs and people. I have heard that the chewing also helps to relax.
I have tried it, but to be honest I am not sure if it makes a difference or not. I tend to get worked up ahead of time, but once I start, I go to a whole other place, and tone out everything around me.
Apparently I do the same at work also, because sometimes my kids and husband say that they have to call my name 3 or 4 times to get my attention. I guess that is how hard I concentrate while grooming.
Keep pushing forward!! I was very glad to see your post tonight. I was a little worried.
Lisa, MFF
Thanks Lisa. It's always good to hear your take, and ESPECIALLY nice to know I'm not the only one who has driven herself crazy rofl.
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