This post will focus solely on how I (Untangled Grooming) decrease the risk of contagious diseases in a grooming setting. For those who don't know, I am a groomer and a licensed veterinary technician of 8 years. So by combining my knowledge of these 2 fields, I am confident that I am doing everything in my power to prevent the spread of disease.
So there are many contagious diseases that can be spread from dog to dog outside your home, such as kennel cough, intestinal/external parasites, parvo, distemper, etc. Different diseases can be contracted in different ways (ex. kennel cough is airborne). As a home-based dog groomer, I have a slight advantage when it comes to disinfecting between pets. A lot of pet facilities such as storefront grooming salons, boarding, and daycare have dogs interacting with each other in some way. Whether that be physically interacting with another dog or even the dog walking past another dog. There is no way to eliminate the risk of contracting contagious diseases, but there are ways to decrease this risk.
Being home-based allows me to offer 1 on 1 services. This service eliminates interactions between dogs, thus decreasing the risk significantly. I personally give myself 15-30 minutes between appointments to disinfect and sanitize.
Here is where I get into the nitty-gritty of how I clean. First I use a blade brush or can of air to get rid of any hair stuck on the clipper blades, clip combs, shears, metal combs, brushes, or any tool I've used on the dog. Once I've gotten the majority of the fur off, I spray the blades and clip combs with 99% isopropyl alcohol. While I let that sit for a couple of minutes, I put my shears, brushes, and metal combs in a UV sterilizer for 5 minutes. After the blades and clip combs have sat for a bit, I will rinse them in hot water, then place them in the ultrasonic cleaner for 5 minutes. I use a solution called Whitman's redip in the ultrasonic cleaner. This solution is made specifically for pet groomers to help not only clean but also lubricate the blade at the same time, and of course, it is completely safe for pets as well. By this time the UV sterilizer is done and those tools have been sanitized. Once the ultrasonic cleaner is done, I remove the blades, and I use a paper towel and high-velocity dryer to remove the excess solution. Once all my tools are cleaned and disinfected, I will sweep and mop. I mop using a solution called Best Shot 256. I love this product because it is a veterinary-grade product and kills one of the most common viruses - parvo, which is very difficult to kill. I will use this product to wipe my table, spray down the neck loops, clean the tub, and anything else the dog has come in contact with.
As you can see it is a very tedious, but very necessary cleaning process. I deeply care about the health of the dogs that I have the pleasure of working with. Unfortunately, bacteria and viruses do mutate and can become resistant to the products I use. But rest assured, as a licensed vet tech I am continuing my education, staying up to date, researching diseases and what I can do to prevent them.
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