A focused update on welfare, law and professional standards.
In this edition, the Animal Focused Alliance‘s Vicky Skinner looks at three things currently shaping the sector – new funding opportunities for those looking to take on an apprentice, why you should have your say on the government’s firework consultation and how understanding canine behaviour can minimise stress in the grooming salon.
What new research tells us about canine anxiety
As a dog groomer, you’ll know just how much loud noises and fireworks distress can affect an animal’s behaviour.. That’s exactly why your voice matters in the government’s current consultation on fireworks and pyrotechnics.
Launched on 16 July 2026, the twelve-week consultation is looking at reducing the maximum noise level for consumer fireworks, restricting louder products to professional use only, and reviewing risk classifications. It closes on 7 October 2026, and you don’t need to be a fireworks expert to respond, just your professional experience of how noise affects the animals in your care.
Groomers see the physical and emotional toll first-hand: dogs who won’t settle on the table, increased shedding or self-soothing behaviours, and owners asking for calming advice around bonfire season. That real-world insight is valuable evidence for policymakers.
To make sure the groomer’s perspective is properly represented, the Animal Focused Alliance will be putting together an industry submission on behalf of their members but you can submit your own response.
A data protection change to put on your radar
If you’ve ever thought about taking on an apprentice, there are a couple of options, for dog groomers the level 2 Dog Grooming Assistant is a great starting point into the industry or for those who already have the foundations in place the level 3 Animal Welfare Manager provides a progression route.
Now is a particularly good time to consider an apprentice as the government have recently changed the funding available.. From 1 August 2026, training for apprentices under the age of 25 became fully funded by the government, removing the contribution smaller employers used to pay. From October 2026, non-levy small and medium-sized businesses will also be able to claim a new £2,000 grant when they recruit an apprentice aged 16 to 24. There are additional payments too, including £1,000 when you take on an apprentice aged 16 to 18.
For a small business, an apprentice can be a practical way to grow your team while bringing fresh energy into your work – and helping shape a skilled, welfare-focused professional from the very start.
Beyond Fight or Flight: Changes to our understanding of the canine stress response.
In our recent Ask the Expert webinar, canine behaviour expert Leza Bliss explained how the traditionally understood stress response of fight, flight or freeze actually has five potential actions – adding fawn and the “faff about” to the picture.
The grooming table is exactly where these additional behaviours show up. Fight might be a growl or snap; flight, a dog straining to get off the table or away from the equipment. But freeze is easily missed — a dog that goes still and “well-behaved” may in fact be shut down rather than settled, and a normally food-motivated dog that suddenly won’t take a treat is often a dog that has tipped over its threshold.
Fawn is just as easily misread: rolling over, licking and appeasing can look like affection when it’s actually a dog trying to defuse the situation. And the “faff about” ( a sudden burst of the zoomies, often once a dog is back on the floor) is frequently a release of built-up tension rather than simple excitement or bad behaviour.
Knowing all five helps us read a dog accurately, step in sooner, and protect both the animal’s welfare and our own safety.
Where the Alliance comes in…
We monitor developments across the sector and translate them into practical, plain-English guidance and Ask the Expert webinars, so you can work confidently and professionally with animal welfare always at the centre of what you do.
