Katie Rourke Dowding ICMG (International Certified Master Groomer) -

Katie Rourke Dowding has spent the last 30 years working professionally with dogs.  She spent the first 15 years as a Dog Trainer and brought clicker training to the UK in 1996 after attending one of the many Volhard Instructor Camps in the USA. 1998 saw Katie open “The Canine Film Academy”, a dog training school dedicated to training pet dogs (like yours) how to perform the sort of behaviours seen on TV and in films. This was the first Dog Training School to offer a dedicated Clicker Training course in the UK.

However, children arrived and her passion for grooming turned professional and she opened Centre Stage Dog Grooming in January 2010. Katie is a passionate supporter of the grooming industry and in 2019 was nominated for the Speaker of the Year award in recognition of her Business of Grooming Seminars.

Katie is a member of a number of Professional Grooming organisations, has attended a two-day NAPAG workshop where she learned how to dye dogs safely and, over the last 17 years, has regularly attended specialist workshops run by celebrity groomers such as Colin Taylor (an international dog grooming star and competition judge).

In November 2018 she designed, created and brought The Centre Stage Backdrop to the market. This nifty device keeps small dogs in the right place on a grooming table which has proved to be immensely popular amongst professional groomers.

What is an International Certified Master Groomer?

The ICMG qualification requires groomers to demonstrate advanced grooming skills and complete written exams.

The practical exams require groomers to display their skills in grooming to the breed standards and show technical skills, balance and angulation, whilst the written exams test their knowledge of canine anatomy, health and safety procedures and their knowledge of specific breeds in excruciating detail.

Katie completed the jaw-dropping 16 hours of practical exams and 11 gruelling hours of written exams in 2017 to complete the ICMG title, which is, as the title infers, recognized worldwide.

Grooming and a Natural Raw Diet 

Katie has not vaccinated a dog and fed only a raw diet since 1991.  “I was enlightened by the likes of Christopher Day MRCVS and was lucky enough to attend several Volhard Instructor camps in the USA,” says Katie.  “Once you know what goes into most kibble, you’ll never feed it again.  The benefits of a Raw Natural Diet cannot be extolled enough. Because the dog's coat and skin are in better shape, the dog is quicker to wash, much quicker to dry and will have a better finish than their poorly-fed counterpart.”

Contact Centre Stage Dog Grooming.

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