r/doggrooming

I recently met a dog whose owner said this, the last groomer never had trouble with him etc. Owner was still very nice and understanding but I feel like I failed somewhere because the dog bit me. She was apologetic and wants to keep requesting me so I can build trust with this dog but I'm really doubting my ability to do that and I have no real plan for next time to go better.

Did everything slowly and extra extra gentle, dog is a chihuahua less than 10lbs. I was talking to him the whole time, just doing everything I know to do to try and make him more comfortable. He was very tense throughout but easy to bathe and dry, let me do his back nails and paw pads. He bit me and broke skin while I trimmed the tops of his back feet. I know dogs bite, sometimes you can't avoid it but her saying that the last groomer never had a problem is sticking in my mind. Feels like there must be a way to handle this specific dog correctly and I can't think of what to do differently?

I have been renting a van for about five years now. The past four-ish months, I have been trying to find ways to acquire a van of my own. They seem to be pretty pricey. A new one runs about $120k. I've been trying to apply for a loan under my newly established LLC, but I think I'm going to scrap that. It's getting me nowhere.

Anyone here successfully get a van or trailer? Any tips on how to do this?

Like all groomers I’m doing a lot of bathing and blowing coat everywhere, and I’ve been really struggling with groomers lung lately. Any product recommendations besides face masks to help with it? I don’t like face masks as I have glasses and they fog like crazy for masks. Thanks friends! :)

I've been trying to find certifications to take to improve as a groomer and business. When I was in the veterinary field, Fear Free was a big one. I found out they had one for groomers as well. The price for one person to take the course is $229, which is a bit much for an online course but then you have to pay $59 per year to maintain "fear free registered?"

Has anyone done this course? Did you learn anything that made it worth the money, do you maintain an annual membership?

I have had 10 very spread out days in the salon so far bathing/drying/nails/paw pads/ teeth brushing.

Yesterday I was given:

Shar pei with yeast and irritated folds

Large Golden Retriever

Aussiedoodle

Siberian Husky

Siberian Husky

Siberian Husky

Shizu

3 of the of the dogs were almost an hour late. Only one dog could kennel dry.

4 hours to complete them all as a newbie.

Does this seem reasonable?

hihi i'm a new bather i just started working on the 13th and i LOVE my job. my only problem is i'm literally terrified of doing nail trims.

i know it'll just take time to get comfortable doing them especially since it's notorious for dogs hating it, but does anyone have any advice to slowly build up confidence? i think it's definitely the quick making me so nervous along with the dogs being so jerky when it comes to their nails. the place i work at definitely puts a lot of emphasis on their safety protocols to prevent you from getting bit so biting is definitely on my radar as well when it comes to getting nervous.

grooming is something i want to pursue a full career in moving forward, i truly love doing this soo much:)

I am getting a little fed up at my current salon so I could be just excited about something new. I love my boss and my coworkers. This is honestly the best place I’ve worked and I’ve worked in a good bit of salons. I had someone message me through indeed looking for a lead mobile groomer. The pay looks much better compared to what I’m making now. I find myself gravitating towards more of a leader position anywhere I work. I’m nervous because I’m a slower groomer and I don’t know how well that would go over in a mobile setting. When I say slow I mean like ~2hrs on a small dog. I’ve been doing this for 5yrs so I don’t think it’s a “you’ll get faster over time” I’m just slow. My other concern is I don’t really like driving in crowded areas. How tf am I going to drive a van???? Is maneuvering a van just something you get used to? If I leave and I don’t like it my current boss would let me come back.

almost every night i have grooming nightmares. cutting dogs, not getting dogs done on time, doing the wrong haircut, etc.

it makes me not wanna do this anymore. i’ve wanted to call out a lot lately. it’s like i have a fear of grooming. i’m terrified to do sanis, use a 7, and trim ears.

i’ve been doing this 8 years and i don’t have any other skills or else i’d leave just to hopefully stop this.

idk if this is a rant or asking for advice. just needed to get it off my chest.

I bought the Nova hybrid last year and I was amazed by the quality and sharpness. Now I have been thinking about picking up another pair of Utsumi scissors but want to make sure I go with the right ones since they’re so expensive. I need a really good pair of thinners and was looking at the Speedy 2 thinners since they’re on sale for $740 right now. Or the PA30 speedy thinner for $690. Can anyone tell me if they’re worth the price or should I be spending that money on another scissor?

Has anyone else had to switch careers? Ever since I started this grooming journey. I have never been able to keep myself afloat financially. It’s like I am never able to find a good place that charges accordingly, have to take in way too many dogs to just to survive somewhat. And it’s put a strain with my partner. He hates that I chose this job. But I don’t want to switch. I put in so much work into this career.. and I love what I do. I recently decided to join mobile instead. And even then, I saw what my paycheck is, it’s just nothing livable. For a four day week I did 22 pups, all haircuts. 30% commission
I don’t want to keep breaking my back just to survive! I want to show him there is places that charges accordingly and do less dogs so body isn’t hurting.
I just want to work somewhere where I can make a decent check and live comfortably for our family.

The dog’s ears were matted and I shaved them like how I would do any other matted dog but this is the first time this has happened. The whole thing was stressful because I was the only groomer in the store and the owner didn’t really believe me when I told him that his dog has hematomas from matting. He kept insisting that I cut his dog but I told him that I didn’t and that we have a certain protocol for when dogs do get cut and that’s not what happened. He told me his dog’s ears have been matted before and this hasn’t happened but I didn’t have any answer besides what I already told him. Rough day, but at least it’s over.

Like the title states. I use Dechra’s Dermalley shampoo on my personal dog and cat to help with their skin issues (not suggested by a vet, just went scrolling through amazon one day for hypo-shampoo that’s safe for cats and decided to give it a try). I love its effectiveness and pleasant light apple (?) smell that isn’t overwhelming. I would love to buy the gallon version so I don’t run out as quickly at home, but it costs $140.

If anyone has any dupes that have a similar pleasant apple scent, are tearless (basically I could use it as a full body shampoo), hypoallergenic, and can be used on cats I would greatly appreciate it! (though it being cat friendly isn’t a must).

*edit: Now that I thought about it, the scent part isn’t a must. But I would like an affordable, tearless, hypo, all body shampoo recommendation.

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.

I used to be a power groomer (8-10 dogs a day), but I struggle with 6 dogs these days (not all grooms). Needless to say, grooms weren’t perfect and prep was good enough when I was grooming more. I developed an anxiety disorder and had to slow down and really started to care about the quality of my work. But I’d like to work on regaining speed to go back to at least 8 dogs without sacrificing quality. Any advice or tricks?

I have the Andis ZR II something or other and like 20 minutes ago they were working just fine, and now all of the sudden they don’t want to work with a blade on them. Fully charged, runs without a blade just fine, but as soon as I put a blade on it, it just- stops. Currently having a mental breakdown bcs that was my straw that broke the camels back with dogs screaming at the tops of their lungs all week and pooping everywhere and I’m at a new shop so it’s just all super stressful and I don’t have $400 for a new pair of clippers rn

Hey everyone, I work at a dog boarding/daycare business and the owners wanted to offer grooming so they offered to put me through grooming school. I'm still going through school, I've only been grooming for about 5 months now. I'm a little frustrated with the owners because they are constantly questioning what I do even though they know nothing about dog grooming. They have a mentor that runs a large grooming facility about an hour away from that they get a lot of their advice from.

Long story short, we had a dog in a couple of weeks ago that was majorly stressed out and very, very reactive and difficult to handle. He ended up having a seizure on the table (the owners had him checked out by a vet and turns out they gave him THREE different anxiety meds he's never had before all within less than 12 hours of the groom), and I obviously stopped the groom and contacted the owners to come and get him.

When they picked him up the owners of the business were there and offered (without consulting me) to try the groom again, this time with the owners present while I did the groom. They said that their mentor said that with some difficult dogs they allow the owners to be there for the groom to see if it helps the dogs' behavior.

I've never heard of this before, and I'm worried. While I'm a baby groomer, I've worked with dogs for a long time and in my experience they are always much more difficult when their owners are present. I'm also worried that I nay have to handle the dog a little firmly considering how aggressive he is and the owners will freak out. Plus.....who wants someone breathing over their shoulder the whole time they're working???

I'm just not sure how normal this is or how to address this. If it was my choice, I'd fire this client and let them be someone else's problem but unfortunately since we are new the owners don't want to turn anyone away. The dog shouldn't even be shaved in the first place, it's a pom/chihuahua mix. 🙃