How to Choose a Dog Groomer

When you need to find a dog groomer to keep your pet looking its very best, a good place to start is with your regular vet. A lot of veterinarians, especially those with larger facilities or animal hospitals, also offer dog grooming. The groomers employed in facilities like these are professional dog groomers, trained in the correct methods of grooming all breeds of dogs. While keeping your dog looking its best, you’ll also feel safe knowing your pet is receiving the best care available while getting its “haircut.”

There are some important questions you should ask a prospective groomer before committing your pet to the scissors.

(1) What breed or breeds of dogs do they personally own?
(2) Did the groomer go to school to learn dog grooming or did they learn it ‘on the job?’
3) How long have they been grooming dogs?
(4) What breeds do they feel comfortable with and which breeds are they best at grooming?
(5) Do they have more than one style of grooming for different breeds?

Questions to ask the staff at the facility:

(A) What hours does the groomer work?
(B) How are dogs checked in and will they call you when it’s time to pick up your pet?
(C) How far in advance do you need to make an appointment?
(D) What is the fee for grooming and what does the fee include?
(E) What type of shampoos and conditioners are used?
(F) Is the ear hair plucked from breeds with hair in their ear canals?
(G) If your dog refuses to willfully submit to a grooming and needs to be sedated during the grooming, what safeguards does the facility have in place for sedating a dog and is there someone who will monitor your pet during the process?

The relationship you will want to develop with your dog’s groomer should be professional yet friendly. The answers you receive to these questions should help in choosing the best groomer for your pet.

How to be a Pet Groomer

Are you thinking about starting a career as a pet groomer? Pet grooming is ideal for people who love animals, but make no bones about it, a career in the pet grooming business can be difficult to get started in. But once you’ve established yourself as a qualified and experienced groomer it can be a very rewarding career and a lot of fun working with dogs of all sizes and types of coats.

To become a successful pet groomer you’ll need to enroll in a professional grooming school. These schools can be found in the yellow pages of your local directory, or for quicker searching use the internet. Professional schools provide their students with the tools, techniques and skills needed to break into the pet grooming profession.

It may surprise you to know that many people who work as dog groomers haven’t attended a professional school, but instead learned the grooming procedures and techniques by taking correspondence courses or night classes at their local college.

As a new dog groomer just starting in the business, it helps to get a job with an established grooming shop as a trainee or assistant. Working for a good dog grooming service will provide you with hands-on experience and the additional training needed to assist you in propelling your career forward in the pet grooming business.

There are many different breeds of dogs, all requiring special techniques for proper grooming. As a dog groomer you’ll have to know how to groom every breed of dog. For example, the grooming style of a Golden Retriever is very different than that of a Yorkie.

When you have been trained and are starting your career, you can ask friends and family if they will let you practice your grooming skills on their pet dogs at no cost to them. This will help you in improving your skills and your friends and family will probably be eager to give you a good reference when you’re searching for the right place in which to begin your career.

When you’re finally ready to be a pet groomer and you feel comfortable enough to proudly say so, you can choose whether you want to work in an established grooming shop, work from home, or even set up a mobile dog grooming business and travel to a client’s home.

Professional Dog Grooming

Some dog owners enjoy grooming their pets at home, while other owners don’t want to go through the hassle and work involved in keeping their dog looking its best at all times. Long haired dogs are the most difficult to groom at home and for these owners a professional dog grooming service is a good alternative.

The grooming needs of a dog vary according to factors such as the breed of the dog, the type of coat, how many layers the coat has, the hair length, and whether the dog spends more time indoors or outdoors.

Some grooming activities like brushing the hair and the cleaning the teeth and ears, can easily be done at home, while professional dog grooming services may be desired for nail trimming and haircutting.

Most dogs will need the following grooming tasks, but at different intervals, depending on how many of the factors listed above apply to your dog :

* Brushing the dog’s coat and removing any matted hair
* Teeth cleaning
* Nail trimming
* Ear cleaning
* Haircuts (necessary only for certain dog breeds that have continually growing hair)

    There are several grooming tasks that should be performed by a professional dog groomer:

* Nail Trimming. The nails of a dog are very sensitive. They have abundant nerve endings and can easily bleed if they’re cut too short. This can be a difficult and stressful task for a dog owner unless they have adequate experience in trimming a dog’s nails. The procedure also requires special tools to cut the nails and grind them smooth using a power nail grinder. Professional dog groomers are trained in the best methods of trimming and styling a dog’s nails and provide assurance that your dog’s health and well-being are the primary concern.

* Cutting a dog’s hair should always be done by a professional dog grooming service because it takes special training to know exactly how a dog’s hair should be cut.

* A professional teeth cleaning appointment should be scheduled once a year, the same as you would schedule with your own dentist. A thorough teeth cleaning can only be done by a professional dog groomer. It cannot and should not, be performed at home.

Professional dog groomers are trained in correct and painless methods of dog grooming with your dog’s safety in mind. Unfortunately, many dog owners have discovered that when they attempt to perform some dog grooming techniques at home, they end up hurting their dog.

The next time you take your dog to a professional groomer take the time to ask them for tips on how to best take care of the simple pet grooming jobs at home in between your appointments with the groomer.