r/grooming

I have a question about nail trims because my dog hates them. Some of my dog's front nails currently touch the floor slightly. Is it possible to allow him to stand with all four feet on the ground, put the clippers against the ground, and trim off what's there? Where did I get this idea? From some videos I saw on Instagram. Do groomers ever really do this? It seems like it could be faster and less stressful for the dog, especially if I just do one thin slice per day to keep his nails off the floor. But I also don't trust social media videos and wonder if this is a terrible idea. (Like, if it were a great idea, more people would be doing it.)

I'm working really hard to get better at this and do right by my dog. (I adopted him a few months ago, and he hadn't gotten the best care in his previous home.) We're doing a desensitization program called Pedicure Please, and he's made a lot of progress, but it's slow going. My goal is to eventually be able to clip or Dremel one nail per day. It seems reachable, but I need help in the meantime.

I bought a pair of Andis clippers and they were awful, so I decided to just buy another pair of Osters but the only people selling them are back alley sellers on Amazon, such as Dave's herbal teas. Are there any good clippers beside Oster? I liked the Andis because it had a smaller body and was easier to grip. I really want a good pair of clippers. Hard to believe it's this hard to find good clippers.

Hi everyone! I’m looking for an experienced groomer in the DMV area—specifically Washington, DC, Southern Maryland, or Northern Virginia—who genuinely knows how to groom and maintain an Afghan Hound coat.

I have a young male Afghan Hound puppy, about 10 weeks old, and I’d like to start building a relationship with a groomer who understands the breed and can support proper coat care as he grows.

I’m looking for someone comfortable with:
• Bathing, blow-drying, and line-brushing a long silky coat
• Preventing and safely working through mats
• Breed-appropriate trimming and feathering
• Nail trims, ear care, and general coat maintenance
• Gentle, patient puppy handling and experience with large sighthounds

Mobile groomers are welcome too. Personal recommendations, salon names, locations, pricing ranges, and photos of Afghan Hounds or similar long-coated breeds they have groomed would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

I’ve been wanting to become to work with animals for a while, and I think I’d enjoy becoming a pet groomer but I don’t know what the steps are or what online/in person courses are crediteable. Just want a opinion on what would be the best way to become one
But there are no grooming salons near where I’m at or where I’m about to be at. Except one store and theyer fully staffed

I love dogs. I have been a dogsitter/boarder for almost a decade, I’ve volunteered at the shelter, and I have a basic training certificate for dog training. I watch dog grooming and agility videos for fun. My life is dogs!

Many of my clients have asked if I offer grooming. There is a shortage everywhere, and my area is no exception. I would honestly love to take this on. My goal is to specialize in small dogs since my clients with the small dogs seem to struggle the most, and I have a sensitive back, so a lower weight class is very doable for me to handle.

After looking at ways to start, I decided doing petsmart’s program looked the best, especially in its current form. I applied, but never heard back, and I’m not even surprised because my schedule is so limited. As a full time mom and with my drop-in clients, I can only do evenings and weekends. No company wants to hire someone with that limited availability.

So where should I go from here?

My roommate's dog is some sort of mini Aussie Pomeranian mutt (he is crazy and very very fluffy!) so he has a ton of fur and rocks a double coat. His undercoat seems really dense and I think it is impacted, we've been talking about it and want to try to give him a bath with deshedding shampoo and conditioner and brush out what we can (this little guy is very anxious and she's worried if he went to a real groomer he would end up biting them) does anyone have any product recommendations or general advice?

He doesn't have a lot of mats or anything, a couple little ones by his hears but those she trims out as needed, really it's his fur that's super compacted near his skin we are wanting to get, since it can pulled out really really easily it makes us think it all needs to get groomed away.

I'm currently learning dog grooming. My instructor told me that I shouldn't use my left hand for grooming and doesn't recommend being a left-handed groomer.

Are there any left-handed groomers here? Do you use your left hand or both hands when grooming? Have you faced any difficulties?

Hii. (Working cockerspaniel, 2 years old, girl) - ( not me my dog)

So basically few months ago we tried a new groomer who used clippers on my dog really lightly but she clipped her sides and legs and now she quite literally looks like a yeti. Its really upsetting because her coat was beautiful, light and red coloured before now its thick and white fluff.

I brushed her hair every 2 days before and she had a silky coat with no mattes or issues before do there was 0 need to clip her. The groomer was just inexperienced with how to manage double coated dogs.

I really need help with how I can fix her coat. I haven't brought her to a groomer in a few months aside for cutting her nails. Ive bought a kit of detanglers, deshedders, combs and thinning scissors and have been brushing her ( as much as she'll tolerate shes not really a fan of it) and have been using thinning scissors to slowly trim away the white fluff in hopes to let her normal coat grow back.

Basically. How do I hand strip or like get rid of this fluffy mess? Im really struggling and I feel terrible for her.i read online that you can handstrip dead coat off cockers but idk the best tool for that im really just stuck on how to fix this. Or is it even fixable.( please tell me it is)

Hi! I just got a job as a groomer's assistant and will be starting out doing bathing. I am looking for recommendations on good shoes I can buy. Any suggestions are helpful! 😊

Hey everyone, hoping to get some opinions on this.
My dog is a 2 year old male Mini Goldendoodle, 28 lbs. He got groomed about a week and a half ago and started scratching afterwards. Honestly I thought it was just normal post-grooming itchiness so I didn’t think much of it. But recently I realized he was STILL scratching, and when I checked him over I noticed this thick dark crust, almost black, on the edges of both his ears. He was also shaking his head a lot.

I took him to the vet as soon as I found the crusts. The vet thought it was some kind of allergic reaction and gave him antihistamines. That alone didn’t really stop the itching so I’ve been using a topical anti-itch treatment too. The scratching has calmed down a bit but he’s still scratching and still shaking his head, and the crusts are still there.
The weird part is that when I look inside his ears, the canals actually look pretty clean. No heavy wax, no dark coffee ground looking debris, no pus or discharge. The problem seems to be just on the outer edges of both ear flaps. But since he keeps shaking his head I’m wondering if there’s something going on deeper inside that I can’t see.

Some things I’ve been wondering:
• Reaction to the grooming shampoo or products?
• Water trapped in his ears from the bath?
• Yeast or bacterial ear infection?
• Ear mites? (though he doesn’t have the typical coffee ground debris)
• Some kind of ear margin skin condition?
• Or is the crusting just from him scratching and shaking so much?

Has anyone’s dog gone through something like this after grooming? What did it end up being? And if you dealt with crusts like this on the ear edges, how long did they take to heal?
https://ibb.co/qM2hN9vX

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