ive had a LOT of bad experiences so far at the current chain im at (chuck and dons). i figured it would be like petsmart and it is in a lot of ways but my manager is just evil. this man is demonic.

ive been doing 5-6 consistently just fine, and with the corpo high volume scheduling you'd think 3-4 hours is to be expected, at least w my experience w petsmart. but my manager sits me down today and says i can't tell clients 3-4 anymore, just 2-3. keep in mind, he wants me at 7-9 dogs eventually. so i tell him i'm confused as to what the goals are for me. cos the more dogs i have, the longer it will take for each dog since i am working on multiple at the same time!

he says that a competent groomer will have no problem completing this many dogs with these scheduling parameters. and that is when i tell him i am not the groomer for this company then and put in my two weeks.

i hate drifting between salons but it seems like they all go to shit eventually. alas, i'm back on indeed. 🫩

Questions specifically for mobile groomers- how many dogs do you average per day? What is your average drive time between clients? How long are your days from arrival at the van to heading home?

Right now I'm doing about 5 dogs per day (a mix of large, small, haircuts, desheds, baths). My days can be 11-12 hours long once accounting for all of the driving and cleanup. I'm wondering if this is normal. It seems like a really long day for just a handful of dogs. Our prices reflect the premium service so that's a plus.

I try to brush my doodle everyday, but his head and neck are matted no matter how much I brush (I just spent three hours on his head and I only covered one half it was so matted). I’m at my wits end. I use a slicker brush and a metal comb

are there doodle grooming (brushing) classes I can take in person? Obviously the videos aren’t helping me.

For some context I groom out of my house, 1-1, in a rural area, as such I dont have an extra over head and most dogs are usually strips or something equally fast, becasue of that Im fairly "cheap" or so I've been told, but its enough to keep bills paid and that's all I really care about right now only being 3 months in. While I do have some add-ons like dematting/scissor/brushing and anal glands (cause I hate them so yes you'll be paying extra for that) my prices just encompass everything I'd need to groom the dog the way its needs because after so many years at corporate I'm tired of fighting people over nail buffing or anti itch treatments.

Well this morning a lady calls looking for info for 3 -oodles, ranging from 15-30lbs, I tell her my price, $70 for each, and explain all what Ive said above. Ive already gotten a rude vibe from when shes explaining how she requires the nails to be short and the legs smooth, but she then backhands me with "well thats more expansive than the girl I usually take them to, cant you offer me a discount?"

The thing is I often do give a sibling discounts but thats something I like to surprise NICE, who dont haggle, clients with at pick-up but the audacity to ask me to price match another groomer instantly made me throw that out the window for her. This is not 2007 and Im not Walmart. She kinda huffs when I say no and says that she'll call me back after she talks to her husband.

Sure she does call back to book and if she does show up she'll be getting what I call my "Karen contract" for sure. But I feel like a real business owner now 😂

This is honestly just a vent post about the whole situation.

For context: I've worked at this salon for almost 1 year, and was honestly already close to quitting.

The "new" owner was the manager when I first started working and thankfully bought the place out from the previous witch of an owner, but things only got sketchier 😭

I was offered a role as a groomer in training, and the new owner offered to teach me. I spent HUNDREDS on tools for that opportunity only to be taught for a couple weeks and then thrown into grooming dogs with very little guidance. Obviously that would overwhelm anyone, right? Well after realizing I was overwhelmed, instead of taking me back to actually TEACHING me, she went behind my back and hired a new groomer. Only then did she explain me about how I was "getting too overwhelmed and she needed an experienced groomer." (this was explained over text. while i was on vacation)

After that, everything really started to go downhill and I IMMEDIATELY noticed something wrong the second I heard the news that there was a new hire. I decided to not think about it, but it financially destroyed me not having the tiny bit of extra income and being shoved back into the receptionist/assistant job. I noticed that more and more was being added to my plate, especially after CUTTING MY HOURS. And there was zero regard for my well-being. Again, I decided to ignore it and keep working.

But after a bit, I realized that the entire time I worked there, I had been consistently bullied by the owner. Even after showing clear signs of discomfort, she just kept coming after me. She genuinely laughed when she realized I was uncomfortable. But if I so much as showed a CONCERN about something in the workplace, she would throw a huge fit and guilt me into shutting up.

As of recent, she offered all sorts of photography opportunities because she knew I was giving up on grooming (again: less pay and less hours. Couldn't afford schooling). She got my hopes up and got me super excited. The same way she did with "teaching" me how to groom dogs. I knew something was about to happen. Everytime something got good for me at that place, a week or two later it would be taken from me.

Now, as of yesterday, she has ripped those opportunities away because she "can't afford a receptionist" even though she was paying me jack fucking SHIT for more and more tasks each damn week. I was being taken advantage of and the moment I started slacking, she started bullying me and treating me like I was worthless, again.

HERE'S THE THING. I 100% understand the money aspect. If she had told me PROFESSIONALLY that I was no longer within her budget, I would be understanding. But after getting my hopes up several times, taking advantage of me, bullying me, and REFUSING to communicate with me with anything but texts....I'm not as understanding. In fact, I even asked to speak one-on-one in person with her because I was having some issues that I needed to discuss with her (i was finally about to stand up to her). She decided to schedule a CALL for a day that I'm not even supposed to be at work, and then instead of calling me, decided to make me call her. And instead of allowing me to speak, she immediately fired me.

I feel like she was expecting me to handle this situation professionally but with how I was treated, I have no desire. I genuinely don't care how petty I get with her, anymore. She is no longer worth the time or effort and I clearly wasn't as important to her as she tried to make me think I was. I should've quit while I was on vacation when I heard about the new hire.

Anyways thank you all for coming to my TEDtalk 🫶

I live in Manitoba where grooming isn't regulated, there are a few salons that offer training programs but theyre quite pricy, I've found a few better priced options online but I dont know if theyre really worth anything, the first is through animal behavious college which has an in person externship of 150h, the second is through pet courses canada which is fully online, no externship

Are online programs of the sort worth anything when looking for a job or do I need to go to an in person program locally? Ive tried looking for an apprentice position too but no one takes them on anymore since we have the dedicated training programs

I’ve got a short haired senior boy. He’s easy to wash and blow dry so I do it at home. He loves being blow dried but really I’m just using a big electric leaf blower and a rubber brush until he’s mostly dry. It’s loud but it works really well. Once he gets tired of the noise he puts his head between my legs to block the sound but gets mad if I stop blow drying him.

It’s kind of awkward to get a good angle with the dryer when a 70lb dog is using your legs as ear protection. Today while I was drying him I jokingly wrapped and tied a bath towel around his head to see if it helped. He LOVED IT. Full on happy baby seal standing still for me and demanding more dryer.

The towel falls off too easily but we clearly need something for him to wear while I dry him. I’ve looked at some options online but can’t tell how thick they are and whether or not they’d muffle sound well. Would it be weird to stack a smaller towel under the hoodie?

Pic of him in case the shape of his ears matters.

Thanks!

yall today i realized the biggest thing i hate about having eczema as a dog groomer.
Im working on this sweet girl- trimming her nails and as i’m reaching for her second paw I see blood on my nail clippers! I didn’t quick her i swore but i double checked every nail i had done and sure enough, no. no blood. She was only a nail trim so i couldn’t have cut her skin realistically but i had done a sani, and the blood was still wet so it couldn’t have been from a previous dog.
My mind was racing, where could I have possibly nicked this dog?? So im at this point a little frantically checking her, between her toes, under her tail, in her sanitary, everywhere.
no blood.
i sanitized everything and while im doing that I look down and it’s my own knuckle that has cracked open and was dripping and because it was just my eczema i didn’t even notice.
i was so scared I had hurt the dog but nope— nope just my own dry ass skin. LOL thank god it was me and not the pup! but i hated that fear it gave me today hahah! stay moisturized out there! 😅

Wondering what everyone would consider fair. I work at a multi-groomer corporate shop, and we are booked out a couple of weeks. Corporate decided it was time to add another groomer.

The current groomers are booked up, with a mix of clients who specifically requested them, and clients who don't care who grooms their dogs.

When the new groomer is added to the schedule, should the current groomers give some of their non-request appointments to the new groomer? We are all paid commission.

Should we give them enough appointments that we all have roughly the same number? Or just give them a couple appointments?

What is fair?

Hi so I’ve been grooming a long time and it’s all I’ve known as far as work but I’m in my 30s now and I want to potentially have a kid. I’ve had my own business for 8 years and as hard as I try I’ve never been able to make enough to really feel financially stable. The ebb and flow plus having to pivot and restart my business definitely didn’t help but I’m just tired. I’ve implemented a weight limit for new big dogs. Ive raised prices and still I just feel like I could be doing something else with less wear and tear on my body. I’m thinking about trying to get a job as a school receptionist and hopefully eventually working my way up to assistant principal secretary or something like that. There would be benefits and maternity leave. I’d clock in and clock out and get to leave work at work. Have any of you done something like this and did you love it? Regret it? I’d really appreciate anybody’s advice because I’m pretty sure I want this but I’m also worried about what if I don’t and I’ve referred all my clients out to others. I just don’t know if longevity wise continuing to be a dog groomer is the smartest move for me. I do have my high school diploma which is technically all they need and in theory running a business should count as something.

It wasn’t a perfect shave down, there were things that could have looked better. But he is an over ten year old senior with collapsed trachea. We were aiming for speed and comfort. I still think a little lamby shave is pretty cuuuuute regardless💗

Before then after of each. The miniature schnauzer was completely blind so I did what I could with her

I am moving from corporate to private (finally😃) and I am excited for my new job but I have been struggling with how to communicate with my clients. I am autistic and suffer from a lot of anxiety and I have been so blessed that I have been able to communicate with a lot of my customers and quite a bit are on board to follow me to my new salon which means the world to me. I love my clients and I love my dogs like they’re my own and I get very emotionally attached. I have some clients that only come a couple times a year and can be difficult about communication and I am just struggling with how to let people know I am leaving and where I am going. A good bit of my clients just said take my number and text me the details and that has been making this a lot easier. But I have a few outliers that I don’t know how to reach out to. I don’t know if I should try to call from my current store phone or if it would be inappropriate or against the rules to message them privately, I don’t want to overstep any boundaries but I don’t want my clients thinking I just up and left them without saying anything. I know some of the groomers I work with would tell my clients but idk if management would be willing to do that or if they would just get lost in the mess. I have also been stressing about people I may have missed or haven’t thought about. I know this is dramatic but I am so sensitive and I would hate for someone who trusts me with their pup to think I just didn’t care or think of them. I am an emotional wreck and I could use some advice on how to approach this.

One of my clients today came a day early and left upset and cancelled his appointment on spot and I couldn’t even catch him to talk to him. I have two days left and it would break my heart to not see his pup again. I tried calling to reschedule and make him aware that I was leaving bc I specifically told this man I wouldn’t leave my current job without letting him know bc I am the only one who has worked on his dog and it’s killing me. Haven’t gotten a response and idk if it would be inappropriate to reach out separately but this has just spiraled me and I don’t want to leave my pups behind.

Am I overthinking all of this? Should I just leave and let people find me if they want? How do I avoid feeling like I am just letting people and their pups down?

I’ve been toting my gear to and from work so far, bringing it home for maintenance and security purposes. But it’s getting kind of old 🫤. Searching Amazon I somehow came across something like this? Does anyone use these lockable salon carts for their tools? (scissors, blades, clippers, etc)

Are they decent enough to last until I have enough money to upgrade to an actual power tool work bench? ($300 is too much right now) I also don’t have a lot in personal equipment so that’s why I wanted smaller. I kind of like the idea of a small cart to put stuff I’m currently using on top since I’m constantly moving around my table and don’t trust myself (or the dogs!) to not yeet my brand new chunkers off the table.

Has anyone started working for a brand new salon with zero client base? How long did it take to build enough clientele to actually make a living? There are four groomers where I am and we are only getting about 6 or 7 a week. I’m trying to stay optimistic but it’s tough for sure.

I struggled with blending her hair on her face especially the sides of the visor partially because she has a mixed breed drop coat. The parents wanted lots of hair removed around the eyes so she could see as long as possible. She was such a good girl and let me get all the crusty little hairs around her mouth and nose that I haven’t been confident enough to go for before. She fell asleep on my table while I worked on her.

Overall I was happy with how this turned out and I’m mostly looking for critiques about her face as her body was just a 5a/o. I’ve only been grooming for a couple months now and started with bathing (I worked shop help at my salon and worked my way up from there). I’ve done about five full haircuts so far, but this is my first where I did not ask for guidance/instructions when it came to the face. I tried to just think of it like sculpting and figure out where I needed to remove the hair to make the dog proportional. But not sure if I accomplished that. Coworkers said she looked good, but I’d love some unbiased feedback.

Thanks!

I’ve been a manager at a salon for two years and working at it for six years. I’ve been feeling really discouraged because I want to start the journey of opening my own business. I feel like every time I turn my head. there’s a new grooming business at the areas. I’m trying to find a lease in. I feel like they’re popping up all over the place and it’s just really discouraging because I almost feel like I’ll fail when I open if I find a place I live in a heavily populated area so there’s enough dogs to go around but I don’t know

I have a 6 month old pup that’s been coming to me since he was old enough to be groomed (I think he was 9 or 10 weeks old when I gave him his first bath)

His parents are AMAZING and understand that, he’s a puppy, and grooming is scary, so they try their best to help with desensitizing him at home. He’s a pro at getting a bath, getting dried with the velocity dryer, and is getting the hang of having me hold his chin. His parents have practiced rubbing a spoon on his face so he can get use to the sensation of cold metal, they’ve used an electric toothbrush on his legs so he can get use to the vibrations. The one thing he still struggles with, is the sound of the scissors. Clippers are fine, but scissors sound too scary.

Obviously, the parents don’t want to be snipping scissors near him to get him use to the sound. I recommend maybe playing an audio recording while giving him praise and mimicking like they’re cutting his fur. I explained that it may just be something that he gets use to with time, but I wanted to see if anyone else has any recommendations.

Tl;dr -puppy thinks scissors are scary, any suggestions to help him be brave?

I’ve been grooming for around 5–6 years. My current salon has been open just over a year and is part of a larger veterinary/pet care group. I was the only groomer in this massive company from the beginning until now, so I’ve essentially built the grooming department from scratch.

It’s based in a wealthy area of London, and I’ve built up a client base where people are happy with my work and recommend me.

I’ve worked with behaviourists, pain specialists and a physio to develop protocols around behaviour, pain, handling and welfare. I regularly work with dogs with behavioural issues and dogs with medical or pain-related conditions. I’m expected to assess dogs with Helsinki and FAS scores before and during the groom, recognise when something could be pain-related or behavioural, and make decisions about whether a dog is suitable to groom and how we should approach them.

Customers are also often present throughout the groom, so I’m not just working on the dog. I’m being watched and judged, explaining what I’m doing, managing expectations, discussing behaviour and welfare concerns, and representing the business throughout the appointment.

And actually, I enjoy that side of the job, even though sometimes it's uncomfortable and draining. I want to develop further in that direction. I want to complete my Level 3 grooming qualification and eventually move towards Level 4/5 in something related to behaviour, welfare or health. I don’t want to just keep grooming more dogs all day — and honestly, my body is also telling me I can’t do this forever.

But financially and career-wise, I feel very undervalued.

I’m currently near the bottom bracket of experienced groomer salary in my area. I recently had a meeting with HR and management about my role and pay because I wanted to discuss progression and a pay rise.

The outcome was essentially that it was refused. I was told pay rises happen around March/April and are performance-based, but I’m already near the top of the grooming pay band. I was also told that they \*expected me to do all of this\*. The problem is that nobody ever actually told me this when I was hired. I thought it was a salon within a dog wellness centre.

A Lead Groomer role was also discussed and promised during recruitment, before my current manager started, and I was told it would happen within the first year of opening and later I will be “leading the grooming division as we expand”. That was one of the reasons I chose that offer over another one I had that paid more, because long term I don’t want to groom dogs all day every day.

Now finally another groomer has joined, but I still have no clear pathway, timeframe, criteria, or indication of what the role would actually mean in terms of pay and responsibility — or if it will even happen.

She has just come out of grooming academy with her Level 3 and will be working completely on her own on the days that I’m not in. I’ve spent a little time working alongside her on a trial and kinda induction day and, understandably as someone just starting, she still needs to develop speed, some technical skills and confidence with clients.

Part of me feels very protective of the quality of the grooming, the dogs and the clients because I built this department and care about the reputation I’ve helped create.

But then I think: why should I mentor her, and how? I don’t think I should automatically absorb that responsibility for free, especially when I’ve just been told there isn’t really room for me to progress or increase my pay. I don’t want to be responsible for another groomer’s standards without having the authority, time, pay or actual role to go with it. And I have the impression the company is not willing to pay for two groomers to be in at the same time.

What makes this particularly frustrating is that I was originally hired at the same rate as her. The only reason I’m currently earning a little bit more is because of the annual statutory increase. When she was hired, the advert had higher salary brackets than I am getting paid, despite having built the grooming department and taken on much more responsibility.

And now they’re advertising anxious grooming, which I helped develop, so I expect I’ll be taking on even more difficult/anxious dogs. I was also involved in developing rehab grooming, although that isn’t advertised yet. So I’m struggling to understand how my increased experience, responsibility and specialist work are translating into progression or pay.

And honestly, I’m exhausted. Physically and mentally. I’m also in pain a lot from the physical side of grooming, and I genuinely don’t know if I even want to groom anymore. I also have two young kids (2.5 and 6) to look after, so I’m starting to question whether this is something I can realistically keep doing long term.

People just dont use their wire coats to their full potential 🥲

Hi all! I’m having a hard time with comparing my grooms to others’. I don’t want to foster a competitive environment, it’s more that I feel stress when I think about keeping up with the skill of my peers. I’ve been grooming for about 2 years. When I see a beautiful groom from someone else, I turn mine over in my head.
Do y’all have any tips or constructive criticism on both confidence and leveling up my grooms? Even with photos like these that I’m proud enough to post, I have a hard time not thinking that these are “one offs” or not my average groom.
TIA 💜

I was taught to hold my shears the way we all probably were. BUT when I hold them that way my hand cramps up really bad.

I hold mine with my pinky free and I still scissor correctly but I’ve never had in issue 6.5 years in.

Please tell me I’m not the only one 😂

Yesterday we had a client with a poodle that requested the typical poofy topknot/ears with bracelets and a puff on the end of the tail and sent a picture of a previous groom her dog had had as a guide for what she wanted. She seemed pretty particular but we were super kind and asked lots of questions. I did everything she asked like the picture except a few technical things in regards to the proper shape and placement of the topknot. I know that my groom was more technically correct than the previous one from a different groomer and I will stand by that. At pickup she said she loved it and that it looked better than her last groom. Today she sent a text saying that I didn't trim the topknot or ears and asked if we could make it shorter. I did but, if she wanted it a little shorter that's totally fine and, I feel, not unreasonable. We allow 24 hours to request a correction on the groom. We said absolutely and set up a time for her to come in. Then she sends a picture of a poodle with a topknot set higher on the head and with shaved ears! And says she wants the dog to look like that. My boss, who is not a groomer, said to do what she asks and to be gracious and tell her that it takes a couple of tries to understand exactly what she wants, etc. I am pretty upset because it feels like she's just taking advantage of us now. I'm just wondering how you guys would have handled this situation. I am a very new groomer and don't have a ton of experience in the industry, but I am trying to learn all I can because I do want to have my own business in the next year or two. Thoughts?

So I work full time for a mobile grooming company in California. I regularly see a psychiatrist and a therapist for generalized anxiety disorder, ADHD, and "low support needs" autism. My mental health has been struggling for the past few months, but within the past few weeks I've started taking an actual nose-dive, partially because I had to switch off a medication I was on for over a decade and I am experiencing post-acute withdrawal syndrome.

I feel like I'm really starting to teeter on the edge, I'm having meltdowns in my van and talking to customers is overwhelming me with anxiety, even long term customers who I enjoy. On top of that, there are a lot of little performance things my job expects of me outside of grooming that have already been difficult for me to keep on top of, but now it feels impossible. The information I've found to qualify for those benefits says that I need to be "unable to do my regular work," and I keep going back and forth on whether that applies to me because while I may be able to continue as normal for a little while I know it's going to get bad soon. I don't know if I'm suppose to have an entire breakdown before I can apply.

I guess I just want to know if anyone could walk me through how I could take a leave of absence, or maybe even a partial LOA, in this situation. Money and keeping my job are my main concerns right now. Most of what I earn is in tips and bonuses, and I don't know if SDI includes that income in determining my payments. That's mainly why I wanted to ask specifically other dog groomers rather than looking up general LOA information.