I've become absolutely sick of my weds/thurs weekend for the past two years and my boss went back on the promise to change them to fri/sat.

There's nobody to hang out with or invite to do something, everybody is at work. It's too hot to do anything outside so I just sit in my A/C cooled apartment and play videogames by myself every weekend. I'm pretty introverted but it's making me a little stir crazy.

Are weekends in the middle of the week common for dog grooming? What do you do to take advantage of your weekend?

I am SO tired of people calling a DOG grooming salon to ask if we groom chickens, ducks, donkeys, etc. I can understand when we get calls asking if we do cat grooming, but why would you ever think we could groom cows? Parrots? BABY GATOR NAIL TRIMS??? Those aren't even legal!

And then they try to make it MY problem when I tell them that I don't know what vet would groom a ferret (also illegal in my state btw)

If you don't know how to take care of a horses hoof, maybe don't get a horse? If you don't know a vet that will help you with your animal, then you're probably not ready to have that animal

And also WHY would your turtle need to be groomed??

Yes I have been asked about all of these, most while working at a corporate salon

Hi, so ive been grooming a little over a year and love doing scissor cuts. I've recently done some outline trims, and most people were very happy. However, one pet parent, who asked me to take as much as i could off their little double-coated dog, seemed a bit underwhelmed with how short she ended up. I don't really like taking more that half the lengtg off of double coated dogs, and maybe i should have been more transparent about that, but i thought it waa a pretty good haircut nonetheless. I know that on smaller dogs an inch of hair on the underline seems quite a bit longer than it does on big dogs, but i feel like that still constitutes it being a tight outline.

Should i go tighter than that 1 inch for TIGHT outlines?

Also sorry for the mess on my table in those last two, i didnt think i'd be posting those ones.

Well we went to a salon where the lady does one dog at a time and it was amazing. he was so chilled and not once did she raise her voice or even seem impatient ( I was in the waiting room) , said he was lovely and so good for a puppy, it only took a little over a hour and not the 4 hours of before. So we have found our forever groomer and we could not be happier.

Thank you to everyone who helped us in the last post linked

https://www.reddit.com/r/doggrooming/comments/1u2zf8k/help_and_advice_on_groomer_coming_to_you_or_salon/

Hey guys, so I work for a mobile grooming business and we use K9 dryers like most people do; however, the owner and other groomers don’t take care of them, and we often have issues with motors burning out, which causes a lot of difficulty for my day while we wait for my boss to get them serviced.

I’m considering just investing in my own dryer to use so that I can make sure it’s taken care of properly for peace of mind. They are quite expensive though, but I noticed that the mini version is significantly less expensive. Has anyone used these before? If so, are they anywhere near as powerful as the regular ones? Or at least able to handle a thick double coated dog without it taking all day.

Hello everybody, I am a baby groomer and I wanna invest into some new tools. Sooo, what’s everyone’s favorite tool they have and where did you guys purchase them?

I don’t really mind corded/cordless. I just want it to be very light. I have a tiny Kenshii clipper for detail work (I love that little thing) but I need something that will take standard blades.

The ones I’ve used before are the Andis' Excel 5-speed corded clipper in burgundy, which is marked as being only 12.8 ounces. I feel this is a good weight. Is this clipper a good investment, or should I get something different?

I had a handmedown Andis Pulse ZR II for a while before it stopped working, this one was definitely much too heavy for me at 16.3 ounces, and I don’t know if it was because it was old and breaking, but it vibrated so hard my fingers would tingle and go numb.

I’m planning on between 2 - 4 dogs per day, over 3 or 4 days a week (I’m leaving a very busy corporate environment and I really need to slow down)

I hate the hustler mentality I have. I’m so stressed about work and then it slows down and I’m stressed about not having work😅😵‍💫

I have mixed emotions. I have a severe leg cramp that makes me so glad that I don’t have work but I also just like working. Know what I mean? I should probably do my own dogs since I have the time🙂‍↕️

Hope everyone’s week is good.

(usa, TN) I'm honestly just curious if it's even possible to get insured as a housecall groomer? (Both for myself and for animals under my care). I've been grooming for 18ys this fall so I'm confident in that side of things but this part has my brain spinning in circles....

I did make a previous post about it, but I think I'm my over explaining ADHD style I used bad words and I'm not sure if that got locked/removed.

Pic of my own salty boy for algorithm tax.

Hi all, thanks in advance.

I am a fairly new baby groomer, though I have a zoology degree with a focus in canine behavior and years of experience handling dogs. So I feel that I have a very good foundation for working with dogs.

I don’t do full haircuts yet, just a glorified bather who has their own clients and makes commission. I’m working on my outline trims and have an artistic eye so I expect once my scissor and clipper skills improve I’ll have a knack for the natural proportions.

But due to my bathing status and to my location (SW USA, where a lot of people have outside or farm dogs) a lot of my clients are folks whose pups have never been groomed before, or at least not regularly. I get tons of huskies, heelers, collies, pyrenees, chows, shepherds, shelter mixes, etc. A lot of them are very nervous and flighty especially in our high-volume cage free salon environment. I will say out of all the cage free setups I’ve seen ours is definitely very well managed and the dogs do truly enjoy it, but it’s also chaos all the time 😝

I have read The Other End Of The Leash and know a lot about how my body language and tone/handling conveys information to dogs even when we don’t intend it. I always take it very slow with my nervous babies, talk to them, tell them everything I’m doing, give them tons of love and praise and when I do need to correct a behavior I am firm but kind. Slow, firm, gentle massaging touch always. Lots of treats if they can have them. Always being positive even when frustrated, giving dogs breaks and taking them myself when needed. Overall reminding myself every day that this is a terrifying experience for a dog who has no idea what they’re doing, and trying to make it the absolute best I can!

I am very proud to say that every single one of my clients who has come in scared has been strutting their stuff and so happy, attached to me by the end. The pictured pup jumped at every touch yesterday, wouldn’t let anyone but me touch him/pick him up (he didn’t want it but we came to an understanding!) wanted to fight for bath, dryer, and nails. But he was so sweet and treat motivated and by the end he was bouncing around the salon, taking pets from others, even jumped up on my table by himself to hang out!

I really enjoy working with these nervous dogs and helping them to realize grooming isn’t a scary experience, or it doesn’t have to be. If anyone has further suggestions from their experience I would love to hear them. I am always looking to learn and improve so I can be the best I can for the babies that are entrusted in my care.

We have a Caucasian shepherd and I'm looking for an affordable (sub 50€) trimmer to clean up around the byproduct area.

The coat is very dense around the hind legs.

thank you!

This 16 week old cavachon came in for a puppy groom and owner wanted face tidied up. Didn't get to do the body as I felt the pup had had enough by then and the owner didn't mind. I feel like the dog was way cuter before and the face wasn't neat after, which I struggle with. The dog was hyperactive and moving a lot. I actually like how I do bodies but always feel like I take the face down to much trying to tidy everything up. Advice and tips please. I have included some pics of some of my grooms I was happy with

EDIT: Ok so I'm pretty sure the brand was "raphil", but I'm struggling with finding anywhere that sells it...
I had this pair of shears I actually got for "free" for helping out a company that was expanding into selling shears, they were partnered with the salon I worked at, and they asked to borrow some of us to help work their booth at an expo. Instead of getting paid, we got to choose a pair of shears to keep.
This was 10 years ago, probably. I didn't realize how much I'd grow to love those shears Q.Q I also don't remember the brand or even the business that was selling the shears!
But they went missing at work about a month or so ago. I'm not 100% what happened, if a customer was using self-bathing and wandered in to my area (sliding glass door between the two rooms with no lock) while I was at lunch or in the bathroom, grabbed the pair thinking they were free to use and accidentally took them (I really don't want to think someone purposefully STOLE them), or if someone decided to borrow them and lost them (I've had problems w/ my nail trimmers and quik stop going missing before), and yes I DO have a lockbox, but it's open while I'm at work, and 99% of the time it's just me in grooming anyways.

My point being, I'm not really sure what I want to get. I've had gators in the past that I wasn't a huge fan of. They just felt really heavy to me.
The old ones were so nice. Lightweight, swivel on the thumb, two holes on the other side. (They were also the prettiest blue. Who knows, maybe someone here will recognize the description and be able to tell me what the brand is lol)
I want something similar so I can get back to quicker scissoring ASAP (guys I kid you not, today I gave two big aussies a tight haircut using my dinky little curves and a pair of chunkers to blend some bits. I was miserable!)
If I had the money, I'd be checking out Shark Fin (My beloved chunkers </3 Need to be re-sharpened because the sharpener my work hired lowkey kinda made them worse Q.Q) but I do not...

Hello! I am considering moving to the Portland area as I have family closer there. I am currently in Phoenix and own a little salon. Can anyone tell me the vibe out there for grooming?
- is there a large industry there? i feel like everywhere is desperate for dog groomers right now but not sure if Portland is over saturated?
- is the pay similar? Right now I charge $75/hour for grooming. So a Shitzu like $75, a standard poodle $150+
- no clue on how the customers are. i mean right now I deal with anyone from farmers to snobby rich people and everyone in between is that similar there?
- anyone who has opened a salon out there how difficult was it? I had really no trouble here and after half a year was booked and busy with referrals.

Any other advice? Thanks!

Ok so I'm a little heated because this just happened and I'm pissed off so please excuse everything that might be wrong with this.

I got to a private school in Chicago, I'm trying my best to be a good student but all they do is yell over there. I paid $6000 out of pocket just to be suspended for being "cocky" even though I don't talk to anyone there. They aren't even telling me the date. They said they will send it in the mail. I said they have to tell me the date but they assistently refused. That's not been my only problem with them. I've had instructors yell at me and call me ableist slurs there. Honestly I'm tired and I just want my money back. I've had to cut hours from work, I got fired from work because of this. I always see them abusing the dogs, they have a groomer there who punches the dogs. They are always screaming and yelling at each other over there. And then they threatened to call the police all because I just wanted to know the date and why they actually don't want me to be there. They were telling me how I would be a good groomer someday and stuff.. honestly I don't know if I should do something legally or not. I'm so tired of being mistreated with all I want to do is learn. Can someone tell me if I'm wrong? And if there's something I can do?

I've been wondering about this lately.

Most of us would probably agree that performance comes first. If a clipper can't do the job well, nothing else really matters.

But once a tool meets your performance standards, do things like its design, color, shape, or overall look start to influence your decision?

Or are you the type who would happily use the ugliest clipper in the world if it performs better than everything else?

I'm curious where everyone falls on that spectrum, and whether your opinion has changed over the years.

I’m a semi new corp groomer (2 years). We have a 1 dog a month limit on bringing in personal pets. I have 3 long hair dogs I like to keep short. One dog is around 70 lbs. My back can’t take any more of these make shift ghetto grooming set ups I have to work with and I want to buy a grooming table. Ideally around $300 or less. Adjustable so I don’t have to bend and can hold heavier dogs. Maybe one with stairs or one that goes low enough for them to jump on and I don’t have to lift. All the reviews on Amazon are mostly just home groomers who dont wear their bodies out doing this everyday. Any recommendations?

I live in australia and i have been grooming for 3 years now, i have worked at corporate and currently work at a privately owned business. I currently live in a rental house in a suburban area and want to know how many of you have managed to set up your own grooming salon regardless of not owning your home? I’m wondering how it would work properly, do i need to speak with the landlord, my local council? I’ve tried to research but have read too many different things. I have made posts in here before about wanting to give up grooming, but i think what i really want is the autonomy to do this on my own terms, where i get to choose the volume, behaviour and size of dogs to suit myself and my abilities. I have considered mobile but cannot afford to buy a trailer and a new car to tow it, the only other option i have is house call grooming. I am however concerned about being in people’s homes on my own and would prefer to do it at my house somehow, but i am still open to the idea if anyone has success stories! Any information at all would be incredibly helpful! Thank you so much

I'm interested at applying to petsense as a Groom tech in training because I would like to get into dog grooming. However it seems they expect you to "provide you own tools (clippers, blades, shears) or be willing to purchase required tools".

I'd really appreciate it if anyone could give me an estimate of how much my tools will cost as well as suggestions on what to get specifically.

little man is a non stop mover and shaker but gosh darn it if he isn’t the handsomest lil pup

Hello, I have a husky/malamute with VERY long black and white fur and a german shep with med/long brown fur (I'd post pics to show their coats but I think it's against the rules). Last trip to a groomer I was not pleased (especially for the cost) and think it's time to take the job into my own hands.

I am looking at a grooming table, and a high velocity dryer, and I think I have plenty of brushes and combs, but what I am struggling with is finding an appropriate shampoo/conditioner that would be best for my dogs' fur. Hus/mal tends to get mats particularly in her tail where the fur is probably 16-20" long so I am hoping to find something that detangles and conditions.

My searches seem to just lead me to advertisements but I'd really like to get the "tried and true" recommendations, thank you!

hi :) i graduated paragon level 1 & 2 but my job may offer me to do level 3 and i was just wondering if anyone who has done it would be able to tell me which breeds they’ll have me doing cuts for?! i just have to wonder if it’s worth it for my area or if i’ll struggle. we dont get a lot of purebred dogs and definitely don’t get standard cuts on many dogs. thanks!!