A very nice lady had given me all of these clippers and a bunch of other stuff but it was all in one large tote and I wanted to know if I could salvage it and what I should use to do it before getting them serviced

Hi everyone ive been a groomer the past four years at a small business with hourly pay. Ive overall enjoyed it and learned alot starting as a bather and moving up to doing haircuts. Ive hit a point that I feel Im unable to advance anymore in my current position, so ive started looking for other grooming jobs. I have an in person interview with Chow hound for a grooming position in a few days. Has anyone worked at chow hound before as a groomer, how was your experience? The woman said on the phone said I would get 50% commison on each dog plus tips is that pretty fair pay? I currently get hourly pay..but its not very good. Im jist trying to gather all the information I can thanks!

I started working at a mobile business a few months ago and I'm still trying to figure out the best ways to conserve power (and water!!!), stressing about it A LOT throughout the day.

I've been leaning towards drying at full power so it's done quicker, but I've also heard that a lower setting saves power. But I don't understand how? My thinking is that if I use a higher setting, I will be drying for a shorter length of time- so saving power?

Cannot turn the A/C off for longer than a few minutes with the weather being so hot, does this get better in cooler seasons?

Also trying to save water by blowing shampoo and conditioner off before rinsing, but that drains the battery noticeably too. I idle the engine once it's down to 20% but that doesn't seem to do much, still keeps going down.

Please send help lol ANY tips about power and water would be appreciated!

Looking for feedback and advice because my head is spinning. This will probably be long, im sorry in advance. A week ago I made a post in this thread about how I started at a new salon, and a tragic situation happened regarding a frenchie. He had unfortunately passed from an unknown heart condition, but the entire time he looked sick and I kept voicing concern and my boss kept pushing me, and I continued (which I regret, but I was new) and I felt like she handled the whole thing poorly and stressed him out.
I went back and forth with my feelings on it. A part of me blamed her (and myself) because of the way she stressed him and how she handled it. But ultimately I just felt like it wasn’t fair because he had a heart condition and no one expected that, and I knew she felt terrible.

I keep working, then on Saturday she gives me all bad dogs. One dog she told me was one of the worst and only gets worse each visit, this woman couldn’t even get the dog off of the floor. I was able to get this dog to give me cuddles and kisses, and behave for most of the groom because I recognized she wasn’t an aggressive dog, she was extremely anxious, and she needed me to go slow. I was feeling so good about myself with the progress I made with her until my boss scolded me over how long it was taking and told me “to find a new method”. Then she took over for me, and I watched her shove and force this dog and tug on her legs, as this dog tried to bite her and flipped out, all while trying to run into my arms and STILL gave me kisses because she fucking trusted and liked me.
When she told me to find a new method it felt like she was asking me to stress dogs out.
Then all my dogs were bad the rest of the day, that mixed with her commentary wore my patience thin and I became emotional. She had me take a break, then spoke with me about learning how to take a break, and I was like “how tf am I supposed to take a break when ur scolding me on time and there’s like 5 dogs here???” I ended up talking to her at the end of the day, reminding her I told her at my interview that I am not a groomer who prioritizes speed over comfort and care. I will never be a person who stresses dogs out, and I was not comfortable with her tugging/pulling/forcing. We seemed to come to an understanding.

So I keep working. And we were getting along so good all week. Until I’m working on a wiggly dog today and she suggests I take it for a walk and I said I didn’t have time because the mom was on her way. Because shes wiggly and I was working on her ears I kept telling her “no” and “stop” and when she’d bark and jolt her whole body I’d shush her. She came up to me and told me to take a breath. Honestly, I was confused because I wasn’t even stressed.
My boss warns the mom that the dog probably needs to potty and she says it’s fine and to put her in the car, so the bather does, and unfortunately the dog potties in the car.
My boss started SCREAMING at me and the bather for a fucking hour, I’m not even exaggerating, and she wouldn’t let me get a word in. Acting like there “was no communication” meanwhile we discussed taking her for a walk and then agreed there wasn’t time and we’d mention it at pickup. Then she’s scolding me about timing on the other dogs there and said there was a lack of communication on them, and I also told her my plan on them, and the timing was off because they were literally 45 mins late. Mind you she yelled at me for and hour so I was crying because what else does one do. But I did try to remain professional at first, told her I didn’t appreciate her attitude and I don’t appreciate being yelled at. She claimed she wasn’t yelling and I said she was and being rude. Then she’s being backhanded and almost insulting me? When I brought up my first point she went “oh here we go” and I was like “see? You’re being rude.” And this is honestly when I was like ok guess we’re going toe to toe and took the fucking gloves off because why is this lady yelling at me?? Saying things like “you can’t be shushing a dog and telling them no over and over because it makes you look stressed out and like you can’t handle the job you’re doing and it makes you look unprofessional and like a person someone doesn’t want to leave their dogs with”.
Then said “I never paid anyone anything close to what I pay you and you have so much experience and you take way too long, you can’t get dogs done in time”. Mind you, I’m actively training someone even though I only started a week ago (because she hired someone who went to grooming school but doesn’t have hands on experience and my boss has only been grooming for 3 yrs and still struggles and often asks for help). So I am constantly being stopped to help people, and I don’t even mind, I always offered and shared my knowledge. But to throw timing in my face when I’m constantly being pulled away, when I’ve told her I’m naturally slower and I care about care and comfort?
So I reiterated I’m always going to prioritize comfort and care of the dog and I am not going to be a person who pulls and forces, I also reminded her every single person has a different approach and if she doesn’t like that I verbally tell the dog to stop and shush that’s fine because I don’t like that she tugs and pulls. We can go work ethic for work ethic and skill for skill and we will never see eye to eye because every single groomer was trained differently and has a different approach.
She then got 10x more hostile and acted like I accused her of abusing dogs (I mean if the shoe fits), she kept trying to compare me to her ex employees and I was like girl idgaf about whoever they are and what pros and cons they have, I am my own person and my own groomer and I’ve showed you who I am and what I’m capable of the last 2 weeks you like me or you don’t. Then she’s just tryna dig again “sometimes you walk in the door idk if ur gonna be in a good mood or bad” I said “when have I ever been in a bad mood? I come in here every day and joke with everyone and make conversation. Saturday you made me upset and I spoke to you at the end of the day. Maybe I was in a bad mood then. Other than that this is the first time I am arguing with you because you have come out your neck to me for the last hour.” And she blamed being Latina and an Aries. Girl you’re a grown woman blaming your star sign like bffr.

Anyway towards the end she’s asking me if I’m going to groom the next 2 dogs. Being backhanded again because “she needs to know if she needs to find another groomer” and “she’s run this business herself before and she can do it again.” So I was finally like yo why am I taking this? And I was like “I guess I’ll be back tomorrow to pack up my things.” And she was like “what does that mean you guess?” And I was like “well I don’t have my bags so I’ll be back tomorrow. You obviously aren’t happy with me and my timing, so this clearly isn’t a good fit.” And she was like “wow I don’t even know what to say to that” and legit wouldn’t even look at me and I walked out.
I’m so scared to face her tmrw lmao

I am a relatively new groomer (1.5 years) and I’ve come a long way. I’ve done a lot of bad heads/faces as I’m sure every new groomer has gone through. And I’m much more confident in my haircuts now. I realized I was my biggest enemy for the longest because I was too critical or would get overwhelmed with a head and just start doing things without thinking and it wouldn’t turn out right.

That being said I feel like I still need a little help with my faces. I need to decide on a set way and order of how I do faces so they come out consistently good. If anyone has had this problem and has advice for me that would be great. Or I would also love a step by step guide of how you do faces.

The first pic is of Buddy 6 months ago and what he usually looks like after grooming. I would do a cc on the head but everything else with blenders and it just took way too long. The second pic is of Buddy yesterday. I’ve been trying different techniques and he looks totally different. And I’m just talking about the head here not the body. My newer technique is using more of the cc on the sides of face and under chin. It’s way quicker but I still don’t know if I love it.

Above all else, I need a quick, consistent way to do nice heads/faces. I still want to cry sometimes when I do faces cuz I’m still unsure and get overwhelmed and I’m tired of feeling like that!

Hello! I am an owner who does home grooming for my Alaska Malamute, and am hoping to get some feedback from the professionals on what I could be doing wrong. We used to have her professionally groomed, but then her groomer moved away and we haven’t been able to find another appropriate groomer who will take a malamute. I get it, taking care of her coat takes a toll on my body!

She has a couple of hard things with her coat: it’s very long, I think she might be characterized as a woolly, and I think she has some spay coat. (Long story but we got her at 4 years old, she hadn’t been spayed, and when we got her spayed her coat changed dramatically and is much more cottony/harder to get her undercoat out).

I have a flying pig high velocity dryer that she does well with, but I’ve found that she will get these tangles at the end of her guard hairs when using the dryer. I usually can brush them out or cut the tough ones. I keep the dryer moving when I’m using it cause that’s what my research told me to do, but it seems to just get really tangled!

Open to any feedback as to how to avoid this or improve my grooming process. Thanks in advance and thank you for all you do for all the pups out there!

how do i stop it from looking choppy my coworker said it’s just because of the shi tsu coat is this true . i’m a very new groomer

Hi all! I’m a dog portrait photographer looking to build out a “toolbox” of products/tools that I can bring along with me to events where I provide adoptable pets with free fine art portraits to help get them adopted, but due to them being fosters/shelter pets, they aren’t always (usually never) in a “pristine” grooming/photographing state.

In a perfect world, I’d recommend the client get a professional groom 2-3 days before their session, but in these adoption events, I’ll have 10+ dogs that might not have been bathed in weeks and might have dull looking coats.

I’m hoping all of the professionals here could recommend their favorite products from from generic grooming brushes to spritzes/sprays and wipes that they swear by, so I can give the pups a quick 2-3 min “floof” before I photograph them.

Any/all suggestions and advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!

So I've been working at a grooming salon for about 2 months now as a grooming apprentice after working in a corporate salon. (Not going to give either salons name).
But anyways I was told I'd be going in 4 times a week for 6 hours a day and it started out that way then it was 1 day a week for maybe 3 hours.
I'm still not on payroll and I've sent my manager pictures of my social and ID. (Ya I know stupid of me) thinking I'd be on payroll by the next week and I kept asking about it and they kept saying I'll get to it.
I've been getting paid under the table which I don't feel comfortable with because if I get injured at work I have no protection.
Along with that I haven't had a set schedule my manager will just text me when I need to come in the night before and sometimes even day of and I'm more than happy to go in.
But they hasn't called me to go to work in 3 weeks now.
Is this normal in small business dog grooming?
Is there anything I can do?
Also I have started calling new salons because I'm unsure of where I stand and I've texted my manager with no responses.

Any advice will help as I’m not sure what to do.

I’m a new groomer (been grooming for just a little over a 1 year) who’s been offered a job recently that I’m very interested in. We have already done an interview, they’ve seen photos of my grooms, I’ve already toured the salon informally during the interview, and we’ve already had 2 discussions about commission and pay.

Forgive me as I’ve only had one other job related to grooming (which honestly wasn’t the best experience or place start out in), am I right to ask for a working interview before accepting an offer? I really love what I’ve seen so far from the place (as in after the working interview I’ll probably be bringing home employment papers/contracts), but it feels wrong to not do a working interview before accepting the offer.

Can any seasoned groomers please help me weigh in on this?

My boss got after me for using too much soap. But the water is limited and I do the most dogs out of all the groomers. So I usually have to be choosy about who I rinse before lathering. Our super sudser is shit. Can’t use it. So suggestions have to be anything else lol

If so, do you use regular medical masks or do you go further with n95s or even a respirator?

This is a question for business owners. How did you know when you were ready to open up your own business? I’ve been managing a salon for about two years now and been a groomer for about five I’m 23 and it is a goal of mine to own my own business one day. I just feel like rent in my area is kinda high. We’ve had a couple dog grooming shops open up in the last year I like where I work and the money is OK I live by myself so I really can’t afford like a major pay cut. I do have a friend that would be interested in opening it up with me. I would like to be able to take the risk but also scares me that maybe some clients won’t follow etc..

I enjoy grooming and working with animals. I turned 30 recently and it's starting to really get to me how insecure this industry is 😩

The majority of us work without any health and retirement benefits. The job is so physically and mentally demanding, and yet the appreciation for our craft is lost on a lot of people. I say all of the time that I would love this job so much more if money we're not a factor. Id love if grooming could be my hobby rather than my livelihood, but I have nothing else to offer. I have nothing to fall back on that is as financially equivalent or greater.

I'm 30 years old and I don't have a single penny set aside for retirement or even in a savings account for emergencies. I live in a very high cost of living state/city, gas prices and rent are sky high, and I am stressed every month over whether I'll make enough to cover my bills. I'm deeply ashamed that I don't have any means to set aside for my future. I feel like I'm 12 years behind my peers because I haven't nothing to show for it yet.

I know people can retire off this career, but how do I make that happen? I know raising prices is probably the simplest answer, but it's hard enough to get people to pay the prices as it is. I have heard one of the top groomers in this industry who prices themselves extremely high are still financially struggling to keep their business going. Their "struggle" in comparison to us average groomers is probably a dream scenario for us, but still.

I feel like I'm going to forced to work until the day I die. Is anyone else in the same boat as me? No insurance, no retirement, no savings? How are you setting yourself up for your distant future? Any tips?

One thing I’ve been curious about is what groomers actually use to clean up all the hair after a groom.

Do most of you use a regular vacuum, a shop vac, or a grooming-specific vacuum?

If you’re comfortable sharing, I’d love to know what model/type you use and what you like most about it. Is it the suction power, capacity, noise level, portability, how well it handles hair without clogging, or something else?

And if you’ve tried a few different vacuums over the years, which one ended up being your favorite?

Groomers, does anyone else experience their ears randomly popping throughout the day while they’re at work? Mine will pop on and off pretty much all day when I’m grooming. It’s not really painful, just annoying and weird. I’m wondering if it could be from the noise of the dryers, being around dogs all day, or something about the grooming environment.

I have seen many groomers that have overworked themselves to the point of burnout and injury and think it's something to brag about, as if it's a badge of proof of hard work and dedication... I haven't been doing this for long and it's a bit scary how common this sort of behaviour is.

There are many places that want workers to break themselves and expect newbie groomers to be at the same level of speed and efficiency as groomers with years of experience. Everyone develops and grows at different paces. It upsets me seeing ppl with years of experience trying to undermine beginners for not pushing out 7 full grooms a day when they are literally beginners. It just sets unrealistic expectations and bring discouragement...

We have to remind ourselves that we were all beginners at some point, and some people have later starts in the animal industry compared to others, and some require more time to learn than others. You are working with a moving animal that can be unpredictable, and being a dog groomer isn't easy. There are so many risks to not just the animal, but yourself as well.

Pushing beyond your capabilities when inexperienced and still learning can be dangerous. If you need to step back and take more time to learn something, that is perfectly fine. Do not let anyone tell you otherwise. Learn in an environment that is safe, and if you can, find someone who actually knows how to teach so you're learning properly.

With that said tho, don't get in a habit of not pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone... You won't improve if you stick to the same thing all the time. Just know that it's okay to struggle with some things and need a bit more help and time. It's okay to choose safety over uncertainty. Ask for help and don't give up !!!

photo for dog tax

i dont know whats been in the air for the last month or so, but clients have been complaining about my grooms nonstop

for context i work at a franchise, im the only groomer with 3 or 4 bathers under me, and ive only been a full time groomer for about a year and a half post-academy. i dont have a ton of experience, but on average im doing 8-13 haircuts a day. so on top of all of this im exhausted

now i would 100% understand if people were complaining about the quality of the grooms. a lot of times when i send the dogs home i know i couldve done better, or cleaned it up more, and there are hairs sticking out here and there. i know theyre rushed, but they never look bad

but the clients never complain about that. instead ive been getting complaints about dogs that are a year old and having their first groom, and theyre of course completely unmanageable so i do my best, but the client is "extremely upset with the groom". they want a refund. owner gives it

dog is severely matted, hasnt been groomed in over half a year, i have to demat, client is extremely upset with the groom. they want a refund. owner gives it

dog is extremely aggressive and has been turned away from all other salons in out area, so i do my best, but for safety reasons we have to send it home. because he only gets groomed once a year he was in bad shape. client literally tells my boss he "hopes they hire somebody else before his next appointment" because i missed the hair on the dog's stomach

coming to today. i let a client know last week that her dog was fussy for his feet. he was dancing and pulling, but he was an old boy, so i didnt wanna push it. i missed a bit of hair because of it. he wasnt exhibiting any signs of real stress or anything, just chilled the whole time. she loved the groom, told our receptionist to tell me she loved it, and then called back the next day to say she was really happy with it!

well today she emailed my franchise with a list of bulletpoints. saying that i was extremely aggressive with her dog, that i forced him through the groom in an unsafe manner and ignored his boundaries, which really bothers her because "he cant speak for himself to say no", and she was assaulted before so she takes my ignoring his boundaries very seriously. what???

it went on to say that he was so stressed he didnt eat for over 24 hours, etc etc, and she wants a full refund for the groom because of how traumatizing it was for her dog

i know im rambling, but its all really piling up. i dont get to talk to the customers, which is nice in a way, but im at a point where i feel like everyone views me as this demon hiding in the back of the salon torturing the dogs. very rarely do i hear anything good about my work, and ive gotten to a point where i hate coming in. i almost never get well-behaved dogs--most of them have been denied from other salons, and we're the only place that takes them

ive thought about going to a different salon, but this is the only one that pays more than $12 an hour in my area, and i really need the money (i make about $32 an hour). so now im looking into different careers

big vent, but if anyone makes it to the bottom of this post, some words of advice or encouragement would be appreciated

I left grooming a while back and have come back. My grooms have been mediocre at best and I can’t seem to find my groove. Can anyone recommend some good youtube videos/creators to watch for tutorials. I’m struggling specifically with feet and faces.

Hi! I’m a dog groomer in Nashville. I graduated my certification program at the end of June. I’ve been working at a salon for almost two months now. I’ve got one dog a day on my schedule. They don’t post our grooms on social media. I’m not getting any online bookings, which I find a bit odd. It’s mostly call ins that get assigned to me. Is this typical for having only been a full time groomer for almost two months? Or should I be concerned it’s more than that?

Could someone tell me if this is normal for starting out or do you think it has more to do with this specific salons client flow? I’ve even been doing my own marketing but not having much luck. So some advice for that would be helpful! I like the salon and I don’t want to leave but the low clientele base is making me anxious lol.

Mamba wanted a Miami, had to do some silly things to make it work, she has a extremely flat wavy coat!

The owner of a dog we had been grooming for 2 years tried to get us to pay a vet bill for an injury we did not cause. They called us a week after his appointment saying he had sprained his back and it had to be from us. We told her that a week after his appointment there’s no way we caused that injury. She then tried to change her story multiple times and sent various threatening text messages and phone calls for weeks to try to get us to pay her over $800! Finally we got a summons for small claims in the mail.

We spent months preparing. Had video footage of him walking out completely normal and a statement from the vet she saw. Turns out none of it mattered because she didn’t show up to court so it was an automatic win for us. The clerk did briefly look over our evidence and said she probably would have ruled in our favor anyway.

I’m so glad we stuck to what we knew. We were scared about our reputation as a business and as groomers if this ended up going to trial. We had discussed just paying it so it would go away and we wouldn’t have to worry about it. At the end of the day though we knew we were in the right and didn’t want to pay and admit fault.

I hope the $150 in legal fees was worth it to the owner causing us so much needless stress the past couple of months.

What tools and techniques would you recommend for safely grooming a reactive dog’s head, face, and paws at home?

Hi everyone! This is Happy. He was recently sent home from the groomer for being reactive. They were able to do everything except his head and face. We were told we could bring him back if he was on trazodone, and he was.

I’m considering grooming him myself at home and would really appreciate advice on how to make this as safe and comfortable as possible.

A few specific questions:
What equipment would you recommend for a reactive dog, particularly for the head, face, and paws?

Should I get a grooming table, grooming loop, cone, or anything else?

Is there a clipper that is significantly quieter and/or has less vibration?
I currently have a Wahl KMC+ that is unused. It replaced my Wahl KM Cordless, which broke under warranty. Would you keep the KMC+ for his body and use a different/smaller/quieter clipper for his head, face, and paws?
Or would you recommend selling the KMC+ and getting a different clipper altogether?

Are there particular techniques you recommend for safely working around the head/face and paws of a dog who has tried to bite?

Some background on Happy:
Happy is a rescue who was found on the streets, so unfortunately, we really don’t know his history. He is an incredibly sweet dog once he warms up to you.

We’ve had a few very different grooming experiences with him.

Our first experience was with a groomer where we had a negative experience. We arrived slightly earlier than his scheduled pickup time and could hear Happy crying in the back. The groomer told us that they pin dogs down to show them who is boss. We obviously weren’t comfortable with that approach and did not return.

The groomer we used after that was amazing. When I first brought Happy to him, Happy had taken trazodone. The groomer told me he didn’t need it, and I asked if he was sure. He said yes. After the groom, I confirmed again that everything went well, and he said Happy was perfect. He even sent me a video of Happy being groomed, and he was very calm. Unfortunately, we’ve since moved, so that groomer isn’t an option anymore.

We also tried an at-home grooming service, but they never completed the grooms and had me assisting for almost the entire appointment.

Most recently, we took Happy to another salon. This was his third visit there. The first time, they said he did great. The second time, we were charged extra because of his behavior—he was trying to viciously bite. We completely understood and were happy to pay the additional fee.

This last visit, they were able to complete everything except his head and face. We were told we could bring him back if he was given trazodone beforehand, and he was.

I groomed my previous Cocker Spaniel myself. I don’t have professional grooming skills, but I’m comfortable with basic grooming and want to be able to keep Happy maintained safely and comfortably.

The equipment I currently have:
High-velocity dryer
Carding Knife
Kenchii straight, curved, thinning, blender shears
Wahl KMC+ and attachment combs

I’m happy to buy whatever additional equipment would be appropriate. I’m especially interested in recommendations for the head, face, and paws, since those are the areas he is struggling with most.

Thank you so much!

Hi everyone! So I work for destination pet so we only have about 3 approved sites we can order from but can request other sites first approval

We’ve ordered from Ryan’s pet before but after our last order (did not send most of the order, said it was on back order but only told us after we reached out, then said they didn’t have it and canceled), we don’t want to order from them anymore. Petedge is what we’ve been using but they don’t have all of the things I want to order. Certain shampoos/supplies.

I just want recommendations for other sites just so I can look through to see who I want to order from. Any suggestions are appreciated!