Jdcollins

Id like to ask about grooming schools. I have 2 spoos and although I am already grooming them myself and dont really plan on becoming a "groomer" I am thinking about taking a course. I have found a couple of physical schools in my area and a few virtual schools online... any thoughts, comments, suggestions? Know of any good ones? Or ones to steer clear of? I have a table and all the equipment and have considered maybe taking on friend's and/or neighborhood dogs just for experience but figured I shouldnt unless I have some type of training. Also I would love to attend a grooming seminar just for poodles. Does anybody know of a good one?

Thanks!
Jennie

outwest

All that would be great. My groomer learned on the job like many of them. I wish they had certifications like people do.

Aidan

They do have certifications you can get as a groomer..however, they don't really make one groomer better than another.

I would stay away from grooming schools. I looked into them when I was first wanting to learn..they are overpriced and just seem to teach the same basic pattern for several breeds. It's true that many breeds share similar patterns but they seem to teach cookie-cutter styles. A good groom should be based on the dogs anatomy and not some cookie cutter explanation in a book.

If you find the right grooming shop to take you on and train you..i think you will have much better luck (and more experience). Many groomers will hire people on as bathers and will sometimes train you when they have free time. That's how I learned. I started out at Petco but soon realized nobody there could teach me anything except how to mistreat dogs..so I found one of the better grooming salons in the area and worked my ass off there as a bather and stayed late while the owner of the shop would teach me things. It was hard work but I learned a lot. I can't think of any grooming school that would have taught me the things I learned working in the shop. I will always be grateful to them for taking me on.

Indiana

Yeah I did what you did, Aidan, got a job with a groomer and learned on the job for minimum wage plus tips. Although I didn't have my standard poodles at the time (just got them last summer) so I learned how to groom my family's Bedlington, and a whoooooooole lot of cock-a-poos! And peke-a-poos, doodles and a few Llasos, Shih Tzus, one Great Pyrenees and one Old English Sheep Dog, ha,ha. But it was still good training. A groomer here offers certification training but it costs $6,000 including the clippers and blades; another groomer has just started offering non-official grooming training for less money, just sort of passing on her knowledge for a nominal fee. Anyway, Jdcollins, I think taking grooming training is a great idea! I may do it also. Why not, we'll be grooming our dogs for many, many years; the more skills the better.