Filicious Special Care Studio exists for one narrow job: grooming dogs whose age, recovery or anxiety means an ordinary appointment will not work.
Not a breed. Not a size. A judgement about today.
Special care is grooming for a dog whose age, condition, behaviour or coat changes how the session has to run. Every case begins with a pre-grooming consultation and a written plan — what we will do, what we will not attempt, and why.
Four parts, one purpose.
Four hearts meet in a clover: special care grooming for dogs whose needs change how the session has to run; first grooms and good habits for puppies; training for groomers, including inside veterinary clinics; and support for the clinics that refer to us. At the centre sits a paw — the reason for the other four.
The mark, painted — four hearts and the paw at the centre.
The gap this studio was built to close.
Grooming runs from the first puppy groom to the end of the dog's life. From 2020 we began hearing the same story from owners and from vets: a dog whose grooming had become difficult, and nowhere suitable to take it. That is the gap this studio was built to close — for the dogs first, and then for the groomers who want to work with them.
Assessed first. Planned in writing. Groomed to the plan.
Every dog is assessed before we groom. Every groom has a written plan. Every session ends with a record of what was done, what was not attempted, and why.
We work alongside veterinary care, not instead of it — when a dog needs a vet, the dog goes to the vet.
Fina — Director, and a special care groomer herself.
Fina has groomed since 2013. She learned the work from Ryohei over six years of full-time practice — not only the clipper and the coat, but how to read a dog: what the body says before the mouth does, where the weight sits, where the tension starts.
She is also a certified canine massage therapist. That training changed how she works: hands on the dog before the tools, finding the place that hurts instead of working around it. A dog cannot tell you what is wrong. Someone has to learn to listen.
That is why this studio exists — to use what we know to take some of the fear and the pain out of a groom, for dogs who have no way to ask for that themselves.
She grooms special care dogs herself, teaches the junior groomers on our team, and built the special care program with Ryohei.
Ryohei Otaki — Special Care Grooming Specialist and Educator.
Ryohei has groomed since 2007 — more than 30,000 dogs. He trained at Yamazaki Gakuen College of Animal Health Technology in Tokyo, groomed inside Takano Pet Clinic in Japan working alongside veterinarians, and worked as a senior groomer at Vetmed clinics in Sydney. He was invited by Pet Forest Trimming School in Japan to run a special care seminar for around 15 of their groomers. He is the founder of Filicious Pet Services, and the creator of the Special Care Dog Grooming program and the Puppy Classroom program for puppies under 16 weeks.
Lindfield, Sydney.
Filicious Special Care Studio operates within Filicious Pet Services at 327 Pacific Highway, Lindfield NSW 2070. Filicious Pet Services has run from Lindfield since 2020, and special care grooming has been part of it from the start. Sessions are by appointment.
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