u/kittensandshrimps

For context I am a dog bather moving into learning dog grooming and since the beginning I've always been cautious of my lung health and worn a mask/glasses when it comes to drying and deshedding dogs and being around dogs getting shaved/clipped. I'd hate to get good at my job and then end up getting groomers lung.

However my coworkers who have been dog groomers for years never do this. They don't mind at all that I wear it but surely it should be standard for all dog groomers to wear these things? Even when I see them dremel nails so close to their face they don't wear them. The only thing they do wear is ear protection. They are very good at what they do but I feel they don't care enough about their own health.

It not just in my grooming salon though. I've seen countless groomer influencers who also don't wear any PPE either.

Been eyeing a couple of textbooks including notes from the grooming table as I'm about to take the next step as a dog washer of one year and go into grooming training. It has written steps of grooming each breed and useful techniques. I generally like to read up on things beforehand to prepare myself, but I can go a bit overboard with this. I know grooming is a very physical job and nothing can beat practical experience and demonstrations. Just wondering if you groomers think it'll be of good use to me or if it's not worth it?

Long story short I work in the animal care industry, and honestly as much as I love pets I despise many pet owners who don't train or care for their pets and get away with it. It's extremely exhausting and makes me so sad when I see it, I don't think mentally think this is sustainable for much longer. It's become very clear to me why so many in this industry are depressed and suicidal, the stuff you see is horrid.

Since I've graduated high school I've always been in the animal care industry, working myself up through many roles for 8 years now. And even though in this industry I really could go anywhere, I just don't know how to leave it for something else when I don't have any experience or degrees in other fields, and I don't have the funds to do a new degree either. I feel like anyone looking at my cv will see my experience and not take me seriously. I think I've boxed myself into animal care and now I am stuck here. I'm willing to try anything else as long as it pays a living wage tbh

For context I work at a doggy daycare and my cat is always obsessed with my work shoes and sleeping on the clothes I wear to the daycare. When he was introduced to our family we had a Cavoodle, and my cat absolutely loved her, more than any of the other pets. The thing is, since we introduced a cat after himself, he hated them more than anything and started spraying everywhere. So I'm not sure if his liking to our old dog was because she was already there or because he just likes dogs. Since then our dog has passed away and I've moved out of my family home, taking only my cat. He lives on his own and while I think he prefers to not be around the company of other cats, I think he might be a bit lonely, hence sleeping on the dog scented clothing? The last thing I want to do is introduce a dog that he'll hate and have him start spraying everywhere again. Not really sure what to take this behaviour as. If I was sure he wanted a dog friend I would definitely get one, but I don't want to rush it and make a regretful adoption.