Jennifer Bishop Jenkins MA, ICMG, PGC
Pet Grooming Education
Science-Based, Academically Rich
Home of the 15 Coat Types Poster
Jennifer appears (above) on the Hulu Network's Small Business Revolution, Season Three, "Shampooches" episode as the Grooming Expert. (Host, Amanda Brinkman, right)
Groomers Guide Educational Seminars and Publications are a product of the merging of Jennifer's three lifetime careers: teaching, advocacy, and a love of dogs. Jennifer Bishop-Jenkins is an International Certified Master Groomer who brings her engaging speaking style and dedicated research skills to her academically rich groomer educational programs. She has helped to revolutionize the grooming industry with the creation of her 15 Coat Types seminars, posters, and upcoming book. Debuting Spring 2024 you can also find Jennifer's new blog and GROOMERS GUIDE PODCAST focusing on groomer education on the platform hosted by Boss/PetEdge at www.petprotalk.com.
Jennifer's goal has been to dramatically reduce the number of incorrectly groomed and shaved-down dogs. For too long, too many dogs have been groomed incorrectly for their natural coat type. This has led them to suffer discomfort, a loss of their naturally most protective outer coat, patchiness and itchiness, and even medical harm, especially in the form of increased skin cancer risk, parasites, and yeast, fungal or bacterial problems in the skin . Instead, Jennifer urges, dog lovers everywhere should be able to get each of their dogs groomed correctly for its natural coat type by professional pet groomers who know the differences in coat type, and who know the correct grooming procedures for each type.
Dogs are the most diverse single species on land on the Earth in physical appearance. The canine coat is diverse, naturally evolved, and has specific functionality that protects each dog. The naturally-evolved coat types are adapted to the climate and function of the dogs in their regions. Dogs have very thin skin and a lot more hair than people. Shaving them down exposes them to seriously increased risk of skin cancer, not to mention discomfort. Removing, shaving, or even just trimming the upper torso area on a natural fur-type coat can greatly increase not only cancer risk but also fungal and bacterial infections and on-going skin and follicle discomfort and dysfunction. Shaving a fur-type coat forever changes the healthy appearance of the coat and damages the natural coat's function, texture, and protective abilities. Even one shave down can potentially ruin the natural coat for a dog's entire lifetime. #DogsNeedTheirNaturalCoatsToProtectThem #StopTheShaveDowns
Jennifer has been concerned about the fact that most pet owners are not aware of the utter lack of educational or competency requirements for professional pet groomers, and the unnecessary resulting harm to literally millions of dogs. Jennifer works tirelessly with other industry leaders to invigorate and reform "old school" grooming industry practices, replacing them with genetically and dermatologically appropriate good grooming science based on the dog's natural coat type.
Research into the incredible Dog has exploded in recent years. The more we learn about them, the more we understand how important the Dog is to our own human history. We have begun to see serious academic attention to the many things we are learning about dogs. Jennifer effectively communicates innovative science being done into dogs for her grooming audiences. Science-based grooming practices alone should determine grooming industry standards and Best Practices. Jennifer's publications and seminars have been called life-changing by many who have heard her speak.
Jennifer can come to your event or business, either in person or virtually, to train and explain the "why" of what we do, as well as the "how." You will learn more about dogs in one seminar than you ever thought possible!
Jennifer Bishop Jenkins
Award-Winning Groomer and Educator
Three-time Barkleigh Honors Nominee
Named "Best Groomer in Chicagoland" by the Chicago Tribune
Details on her "Post-Nominals":
MA - Jennifer has a Masters Degree in History and the equivalent in Education, Curriculum and Instruction. Jennifer taught in high schools, primarily in Social Studies for over 25 years. She also taught in a Junior High School and as an adjunct in two different colleges. She held a Secondary School Illinois teaching certificate for several decades and retired from school teaching in 2005 while serving as the Academic Dean at a Chicago area high school.
ICMG - Jennifer obtained her Certified Master Groomer in 1985 and is a certifier with International Professional Groomers, Inc.
PGC - Jennifer served on the advisory board to the World Pet Association (WPA) who worked through a lengthy process to create a legally valid and academically sound standardized test that can be used as an objective measure of competency in our grooming industry, the only assessment that would legally stand up in, for example, a courtroom. WPA generously aided our industry in creating this most unimpeachable credential. They hired professional standardized test writers that worked with the groomer advisory committee, towards the creation of the first legally valid and fully standardized test in our industry to measure basic grooming knowledge of safety and procedure - the Pet Grooming Credential or PGC. Once the test was publicly released, Jennifer took it and passed it, becoming one of the first to obtain the PGC credential, one she believes every groomer should take. Jennifer's 15 Coat Types class is one of the courses PGC recognizes as a preparatory course for the PGC examination. Jennifer is also a PGC Educator.