Thinking of doing a dog grooming course

[kale99]

What's your thoughts ?

Well around us, they’re always in demand. Hair dressers have had to close but dog groomers are considered essential Services as some breeds HAVE to be groomed or suffer health consequences. So go for it. Very much good for job security and there’s many options to work in an existing groomers, start your own or have a mobile unit. One groomer we used to use had converted her garage into a full fog grooming salon.

Thanks for your reply Yehh I think I want to try it I love dogs and have 2 myself

You need bravery (and insurance!) when clipping nails. Especially the black nailed dogs. And the small dogs are usually the nippers. You can earn a lot of money once you’re set up and confident. Good luck.

That's what Am
Worried about also do dog groomers do the anal glands I always ask my vet to do that

Yes. But some prefer to refer to vets as they can’t administer an antibiotic as well.

No not all groomers do that. It's a vet job usually. It would be a wonderful job op. I wish you the best of luck if you go for it!

I was recently(half heartedly)looking at possible careers changes as I haven't been able to work since last march and I spent a long time looking at courses to become a doggie day care manager it was thousands just to do the courses. I'll hold off for a bit

Yehh the courses am
Seeing are around £5000 quite steep but I'd love a career change I work late every night I hate that

Go for it. There are some online courses on Centre of Excellence, they are £27 at the moment and are fab.

Can I just do a cheap online course and apply for dog grooming jobs ?

Great idea, but please make sure you learn well. Our dog came back from a new groomers just before lockdown and I still had to trim his hairy armpits.

Hi OP, I am a dog groomer. I would really suggest getting some work experience first somewhere to see if you like it. It’s not always what everyone expects it to be. It’s physically demanding, stressful at times and also quite a dirty job. The only time the dogs are nice and clean is when they are heading out the door 😆.

I know people who have spent thousands on courses and then realised it’s not what they want to do. It doesn’t help that the examples of grooming that you often see on tv for example show model dogs standing perfectly still. The reality is most of them don’t even like their feet being touched, nevermind being brushed or clipped.

Definitely something you need to try before you buy in my opinion!

I worked at a "canine beauticians" when I was 17 and I wouldn't care to repeat it. Don't get me wrong, I love dogs, particularly big dogs, but I am squeamish.

Lifting heavy dogs in and out of a bath really isn't much fun, and I was young and fit then (I wouldn't be able to do it now). Being constantly wet, and covered in hair isn't much fun either.

But the worst part was the flea bites. My stomach was constantly covered in them. That's where they seem to get through your clothes when you're washing them.

I'd much rather just walk or pet sit - see the fun side of them - than have to clip claws (always had my heart in my mouth), or sort out a caked arsehole.

@PerfectionistProcrastinator please tell me the pros and cons

Ok I’ll try to give you some based on my experience:

Cons:
It doesn’t pay all that well if you are working for someone else. And in my opinion it’d be extremely challenging to qualify and then go out on your own. I work with people who have been doing the job for 35 years and still someone’s need someone occasionally to help hold a dog still. I know someone who qualified and then when presented with a Westie, didn’t want to cut his face because she wasn’t sure she would do it right.

You get covered in hair, it is stuck to you constantly. Small sharp clipped bits of hair get everywhere, imbedded in your clothes, in your bra!? And little bits someone’s get stuck in your fingers and feel like pieces of glass. It is in my eyes daily, often in my mouth too. Cups need to have lids otherwise your tea will be 10% hair.

It can be really noisy. Plenty of dogs enjoy coming for their groom but equality plenty don’t. Some let you know by barking LOUDLY whilst they wait their turn and sometimes during. And they don’t shut up no matter how much you try to make them.

Wriggly dogs that don’t want to comply. This is a big one. Most dogs wriggle to some degree. You’ll hold yourself in a somewhat uncomfortable position to just reach that part that you need to cut..you’re nearly there and then move. Time after time. And when I say move they buck and squirm and pull and do whatever it takes to not let you just do that bit you need to do. Usually their legs and feet. It get get SO frustrating, especially when you need to make it look nice.

It’s physically demanding. You’re on your feet for hours, holding yourself in weird positions and often holding the some of the weight of the dog in order to do what you need to do if they won’t cooperate. We’ve had a few work experience teenagers come to help and they all flop after a while!

If you’re new to bathing a dog, you will probably get very wet. And that added to all the other uncomfortableness can be annoying.

I have to say that unlike the pp I’ve never had flea bites. We hardly ever see a dog with fleas at my place.

Pros:
Dogs! Lots of (mostly) lovely dogs! If you love dogs, all of the above might be irrelevant! For me once I started to get my head around the actual job and not what I had thought it was in my head, I started to enjoy it more. But I really advise that when possible you try to get some work experience and see if you like it first. Good luck!

The work experience idea sounds great!

Please don’t do a cheap online course. You get what you pay for and any self respecting groomer shouldn’t employ someone for a physical job that’s sat at a desk and thinks they qualified. There are a few online jobs and certificates like this; not just canine beauticians.

City and Guilds courses are great for dog grooming, a lot of level 2 courses do actually show you how to clip and do a very basic cut so that would be a good place to start.

I have set up my own dog grooming business from home at 20 (now 23) after doing a level 3, it's been hard work but really great. I would encourage you to do a taster day with someone that does city and guilds courses in your area. Give them a ring after this lockdown and ask if you can come in to see what you think of it all.

You could also go down the route of being a bather then a groomer in a salon, less upfront costs but maybe slightly harder to get into in the current climate. There's also no need for any qualifications at all for grooming so you could set up your own business in 4-5 years if that's what you're after. Having your own business is much more lucrative, but you also never leave work at home.

I knew a primary school teacher who gave it up and became a dog groomer.
She worked for herself, first doing it just at weekends then went part time at work then gave up primary teaching completely,
She loved it. I know she spent a fair amount on training and equipment.
She said it was well paid but suppose that will depend on where you are and demand.

One of my colleagues does this on Saturdays in addition to her Monday to Friday. The salon is at its busiest and wants the extra help, my colleague loves dogs and earns a bit extra.

It might be a good way to test the water if you can get a Saturday job?

You really can't learn it online, you need to learn in person on real animals.

You'll need to understand the different breeds and what they 'should' look like, not everyone will want the textbook groom but many will want their Westie to have the rounded face, their schnauzer to have the beard and eyebrows with very straight neat legs and a rounded foot.....

You need to understand the different coats/hair types and how to care for them, which shampoos to use, which brushes to use....

Then you need lots and lots of practice manoeuvring the dogs and handling the different personalities and behaviours.

I did an NVQ level 2 when I was 16 and then did it as a weekend/holiday job for a few years. Not my cup of tea but fit well as parents owned a boarding kennels. It's possible to make decent money but it really is a filthy job and some of the requests were ridiculous. I always felt a bit sorry for the dogs who's owners wanted them to have bows or be dyed bright pink.

@PerfectionistProcrastinator

It's 25 years ago now since I did it. Thank god for flea treatments! The place I worked at wasn't exactly high end.

I;d second the advice to go and work for someone else first.

Long hours of standing or bending or contorting yourself into awful shapes.

Most of the available courses will teach you how to clip a dog short in a variety of ways but they won't teach you much about how those breeds should be clipped, or why, and thats because most clients don't want their dogs to look like they breed they are and most clients won't groom between visits to you.. they will leave the dog until its matted and then expect you to fix it.

Ideally you'd be a force free, fear free groomer, which means getting clients in from when a pup is tiny and working hard to ensure grooming is not force based, dogs are happy and relaxed.. but this requires some decent knowledge of dog behaviour and client commitment, and the latter part is the bit you will find really hard.

Most groomers end up forcing dogs to behave because to do enough dogs in a day to make the job pay, you haven't the time to train the dog (which the owner should have done and shoud pay for your time in doing, but they don't).

This time pressure means many dogs are unhappy, uncomfortable and that progresses to growly and bitey

The financial outlay for setting up by yourself is pretty huge, clippers come in at several hundred quid for a decent set and you'll want several, blades 30-50 per set and that the cheap stuff. Blaster dryers, directional dryers, dog bathing systems, grooming tables, suitable venue or mobile van... you are looking at thousands to set up on top of training costs.

Then when you get set up your first clients will be the ones who have been through every groomer in town and been sent away with a flea in their ear over deeply matted dogs, bitey unhappy dogs etc etc. Whilst you are trying to set up your niche, fear free, superduper lovely business with dogs coming out looking like fashion stars, what you are GETTING is clients who want a dog shaved bald so they can leave it six months, or a client who wants a dog that looks like a fashion star but has to be shaved bald as the coat is so bad....

To get the clients you actualy want, you will need skills, and some seriously good marketing, it would help if you are already known within the dog world for your own dogs excellent grooming, for example if you already own and show poodles, that would help.

Realistically to make money you need a decent venue that is low overhead (a double garage converted perhaps) and several people working for you.

If you adore dogs and LOVE grooming (I adore dogs, I love grooming my own, I could not be arsed grooming other peoples) it can be great, but it can be absolute HELL.

Absolutely second everything you’ve said @WiddlinDiddlin. Especially the bit about people who don’t brush their dogs and then expect you to perform a miracle when they bring them back matted to the skin!

The groomer used to charge £50 to hand strip my lakeland terriers. It sounds a lot, but each time it took 2.5-3 hours to do one dog, so even before overheads it was only £20ph max.

And they were bastards, they hated being groomed and bit her a couple of times. (Lovely at all other times, I hasten to add, they never bit anyone bar groomers.)

I got myself a second hand grooming table and some basic kit with a view to doing it myself, and it is really hard work. My back and neck ached, my hands ached, my legs ached and it's much harder than it looks. I'd been shown how to do it by a breeder who shows dogs and does very well, and he made it look easy. It bloody isn't!

And that's before you get into all the special trims for different breeds.

Can you imagine how long it takes to brush, trim, bathe and dry a breed with a lot of coat, like an Afghan or an Old English Sheepdog?

I adore dogs, but I'd rather shovel shit in a kennels than be a groomer. At least then you don't have to deal with the owners.

Thanks for the advice guys think I'll get some work experience first see if I like it I can't stop thinking about it am excited and nervous xx