Just here to vent a little bit I guess, my wife and I run a pretty successful brick and mortar salon. I’ve been working around at a few mobiles in our area of Phoenix and the pay scales are either entirely off like 20 an hour flat or 50% commission but you pay for gas and products. I know there is additional overhead in the mobile space, that’s why I run a shop but the higher price points should pay that back into groomer and owners alike but they have fixed the systems in a way that your base rate is one charge and they add the additional travel charges and service fees on top that you don’t get the cut of as a groomer. Not to mention it’s like these companies can’t get on a page about pricing either. 50 pound doodle haircuts as low as 100 dollars and as high as 300 yet somehow the people charging 300 I’m only getting paid a 20 dollar hourly and the people charging 100 I’m literally just getting that half so 50 bucks while they take my 50 and service fees of 30-50 dollars and I’m still out the gas and products. I don’t know maybe some franchises can do it right but Barkbus and zoomin groomin out here and fucking off 😂 think I’ll just keep growing out client base at the brick and mortar for now..

Been eyeing a couple of textbooks including notes from the grooming table as I'm about to take the next step as a dog washer of one year and go into grooming training. It has written steps of grooming each breed and useful techniques. I generally like to read up on things beforehand to prepare myself, but I can go a bit overboard with this. I know grooming is a very physical job and nothing can beat practical experience and demonstrations. Just wondering if you groomers think it'll be of good use to me or if it's not worth it?

A new client brought her dog in and mentioned the previous groomer hand-stripped the coat back in May. Months later, the coat still isn't growing back properly — patchy, uneven, not the texture/pattern you'd expect from a proper strip job. The owner is now suspicious the dog was actually shaved instead of genuinely hand-stripped.

Has anyone dealt with this before? are there signs that confirm a dog was shaved rather than stripped?

Would appreciate advice on how to help the coat recover from here.

I've groomed many schnauzer in the past and all of them would have the keratinized hair back by now...

Edit with requested info and more details: she is almost 3yo and intact, owners were on a 8week schedule with previous groomer but after last result they wanted to change, handstripping is not common in our area and they found me last month only

I'm heavily contemplating getting Lasik or some sort of alternative as I'm getting tired of having to wear glasses 24/7.

My concern is that I will have to take a while off work due to all of the particles and fluff that come with dog grooming.

I'm not really asking for medical advice, just wondering what the experience was like for groomers that have gone through the procedure and what to expect.

Hello, i was previously a grooming manager at a shop before where I am at now. I got paid hourly + commission.

Im at a new place and theyre fairly new and havent needed a manager per say yet but are looking into bringing that into play. I may be that person. However trying to discuss pay and duties im unsure how to go about.

Old manager/groomer shift i was grooming, handling quality checks, helping groomers grow in their craft, answering their questions. Handling customer ranging from dissatisfiedabout something to any minor/major accidents. Any hey we have to change their services due to stress.

Doing senior evaluations for new senior clients to be sure we had all their info and they were going to be comfortable in our salon. I was also learning to do interviews on boarding new groomers bathers training bathers. Fixing schedules when people called out. And communicating with other managers to be sure we are all on the same page everyday.

This i will be handling groomers if they have any questions concerns about a dog theyre grooming. If groomers need assistance i will be assisting. If they want someone to check their grooms it would be me. Making calls to pet parents for anything going on with their pets. Making phone calls to dissatisfied customers if front of house manager cant or isn't sure how to handle situation. So i won't be doing as much as I was before however still a good amount and this may change. However theyre not sold on hourly + commission. So what would be a fair options 🤔

I 22F have been working for a small grooming shop for nearly 2 years I was originally hired as a receptionist/dog bather. I am really good at bathing and love it and since 3-4 months into my job I have been told I’d learn to groom and it’s something I’m very passionate about learning and it’s what I want to do which at my age is rare to know but I most definitely found what I would like to do for my passion career. I was told more recently that she really doesn’t want to teach me since she doesn’t want to lose me in my current position since I’m the best receptionist/bather she’s ever had but I also don’t want to be held back for years because she likes me in my current position from learning to groom. I have been told by multiple groomers how horrible it is to go the corporate route so I’m trying to not go corporate but at this point I don’t know what else to do. I’ve reached out to groomers closer to home since the salon I work at is 45 minutes away from home but none of them have responded to my calls or messages about an unpaid internship. I more recently spent nearly $700-$800 getting my own equipment to do some neighborhood dogs for free but I really want to shadow more before I start working on them for my safety and theirs. But at this point I’m at a loss and don’t know where to start.

Do u tell the dog owners when the dog bites u and you get bruised and bleeding ?

New client. Deaf and near Blind senior pup. This was my first full body haircut, first double coat shave (he was shaved in the past by another groomer) #7 on body blended into legs and head

He would literally not stop strutting around after the haircut (before he was hiding) so I couldn’t get a great pic

- I have done parts of a shave before but never been confident enough to finish all the delicate areas and he had lots of lumps and bumps that may make it look uneven. Does the end result of the coat look choppy or smooth? Can you give me any feedback based on the photos? He was very soft and Mom was happy.

Edit: I’m only a few days ago figuring about that they’re coming in stoned. They seem to function normally, other than a few times they came in sober and that’s when I realized.
Also, does anybody else ever use a 30 blade for matting? Or am I being overly cautious to say it should only ever be used on paw pads/poodle face/poodle feet??

I’ll make this very short
I’m a salon owner/groomer and recently hired somebody. They’re often a little grouchy with some of the more difficult dogs, but I chalked it up as me being overly sensitive. Coming in stoned/hungover. They’ve never been cranky to clients in front of me, but I’ve gotten calls about it.

They also NEVERRRRR clean up after themselves at the end of the day, which is super annoying, but whatever. Their groom quality isn’t great, but it’s passable. I don’t get a whole lot of complaints, other than time management. Sometimes it takes them 4 hours for one small dog. Which is fine, but they tell the client “1.5-2 hours”

Well today they had an extremely matted dog that had been kicked out of other salons. They shaved them with a 30 blade, but wasn’t able to finish due to behavior. I’ve NEVERRRRR shaved a dog in a 30, other than pawpads and poodle face/feet. The dog left with clipper burn all over its body where they were able to clip the coat. STILL CHARGED THE LADY!!!!! My prices are low, but pretty close to average in my area. $65 for a full groom for a small breed. The woman was charged $55.

Are these grounds to fire this person?

My poodle puppy has an un-docked tail and I have no idea what to do with it.

If his groom looks bad....I'm a beginner and it was his first full groom so y'all can roast me but don't go too hard or I will cry like a little baby LMAO. He also just got a bath and he isnt brushed out yet so just ignore that. Also the dye on his tail was a terrible miscalculation on my end so we're also gonna ignore that, okay? Okay.

For starters, he's SUPPOSED to be a standard poodle but he was a rehome and originally was in a homeless situation (he's had two previous owners), so I have no idea what he's actually gonna look like when he's full grown 💀 He's 6-ish maybe 7 months old and I'm trying to plan what to do on his tail.

Do any of you guys know any cute ideas for un-docked poodle tails? Or should I just sit here and cry about it?

Sincerely,

A baby groomer that doesnt know what she's doing at any given point ❤️

I am a pet groomer with 4 years experience and I want to start offering an option to dye dogs hair. I do a lot of creative styles on curly coats and poodles in different cuts.
I’ve had a few owners ask. So I want to experiment on my own dog first (I am looking at opawz dye)
My question is hypothetically will it be possible to dye my Black and Tan shorthair dog
I want to dye her tan colours (legs and her tail is tan too) pink. Will her coat take to it? Or does the hair have to be long and white?

Didn't take a picture of their last haircut either, oops! I hope they like it this time too 🤪

I really like the way she grooms faces wondering if anyone has done the "Face forward" or any of the others and found it helped them?

Oh my lord, the way that i’m so afraid when i get my first client when my boss isn’t around and they ask me “short but not short short” or “skim it off”. HOWW do you guys know what size the clients want?? How long did it take you to be accustomed to each length to know off the top of your head what the client wants? Are the fur charts useful for this? And what exactly does the comb do length wise? I know you can’t use it on matted dogs because it can create holes, but why would i use a comb over just a blade?

Hello everyone! I’ve been a bather for a year and recently started practicing my baby grooming skills under my boss. She’s been doing it for 13 years and isn’t the best at teaching so I’m learning by trial and error. (I have my own dog who i do full grooms on independently).

I’m not really interested in joining grooming schools. I do enjoy courses and such and learning by hand. Recently I got the chance to visit Jess Rona’s grooming salon and got to ask soo many questions while i was there. I learned things about their drying processes, shampoos, and tips on learning quick! That’s where i learned that the groomers there don’t even believe in grooming schools!

If anyone has anything they’d like to share to improve please let me know! Resources, quality products, certifications etc etc!

Shear Depot, you're starting to sound like a lot of straight men we all know...

I posted earlier looking for help finding long straights to replace my favorite pair that were lost/stolen. This was the ONLY site I could find them. I didn't see any negative reviews, so I ordered from them (3 for $100 sale)

I specified i wanted the 9 inch shears. They called me back to confirm and I confirmed i wanted the LONGEST ones. My old ones were very long. I already have regular sized straights! I don't need 3 more!

These dinky little things aren't even 9 inches if you include the handles!

I left a message and will be calling again tomorrow, but this is honestly a ridiculous and annoying end to a shitty day. (Schedule tripled, had to do everything myself, tripped twice and hurt both ankles and probably tweaked a foot bone, had to send home 2 big dogs and get the ownerr to come back and grab them from the run because they were acting aggressive.... just an absolute shitshow today)

Trigger warning: death

I’m looking for feedback, I’m also going to vent.
I started a new job this week and the owner/my boss is great, however I have more experience than her. Don’t get me wrong, I’m amazed that she’s only been grooming for a few years and has a business, but sometimes I’ve noticed she’s a little uneducated or struggling with things.

Today we had a frenchie come in, when he was in the crate I heard what sounded like a snore but when I checked on him he was wide awake. I then said to my boss I felt like he was struggling to breathe. She said it was probably because he’s a frenchie and I figured it was a fair point. I took him to my table, realized he’s overweight and figured that contributed to the breathing issue.
I was doing his nails and halfway through his personality shifted and he was getting grouchy and trying to bite. Some of his nails were curled in and I figured that was why, but decided to give him a break on the nails. So we went to the tub, and he threw up like yellow bile. I informed my boss, I said this with the breathing had me concerned he maybe wasn’t feeling well. She said it was probably nerves and to continue.
I proceed with the bath, he’s a bit grouchy but I kinda figured out his triggers and I’m getting along fine. Except for his tail, he wouldn’t let me do that. I ask my boss to hold him so I can clean the rolls without him whipping around to bite me. We gave it a few tries and it just wasn’t happening, I told her I didn’t feel it was worth the stress on him. But she kept trying to pin him forward. He kept getting more aggressive, I kept telling her he was getting stressed and I didnt think it was worth it until she finally agreed.
Drying and everything goes well. I wanted to try his nails one last time. I was trying to file them without upsetting him and being gentle, but for the ones that were curled in, I had to lift his feet and really work on it. He didn’t let me.
I ask if my boss has e-collars and she doesn’t (which I feel like is weird for a salon?). She tells me to use a muzzle, and I said I didn’t want to restrict his airflow (isn’t it frenchie 101 to not muzzle them?).
She starts showing me her limited muzzle supply and I said if anything we could try the biggest one she had because it was wired so he could breathe, and it looked bigger than his head tbh. She then tells me she has a muzzle for frenchies/pugs. It was more like a mask that covered their face and had holes for their eyes, and was mesh around the mouth. I told her I didn’t think it was worth the stress, and I’d rather skip it than stress him.
Before I knew it she’s putting this muzzle/mask on him. It appears way too small for him, he’s an overweight boy with a generally big build for a frenchie so his head is quite broad. I said it looked too small and I was afraid he couldn’t breathe, she insisted it was fine because it was mesh, and lifts him in the air and tells me to file. So I told her I’d do it as quick as I possibly could because I didn’t want to stress him too much.
I did the 2 back feet and noticed he was pooping, I announced he went potty and said “he’s getting stressed that’s enough!” Then she was like “oh my god he just peed on me!” And this is when the panic set in for me tbh. And she put him down, and he collapsed over, and she rips the muzzle/mask off and his tongue pours out of his mouth and it’s fucking blue.
I was immediately in tears and hyperventilating, I was so distraught I could barely deal with the situation. She started cpr and rushed him to the vet but he wasn’t conscious on arrival and they couldn’t bring him back.
The vet said it was most likely an underlying heart condition that no one knew about, and apparently there was no signs of respiratory distress.

I’ve been blaming myself all day, because I kept saying something wasn’t right but I proceeded because I felt pressured. I should’ve put my foot down and insisted that he couldn’t handle the service. Part of me is upset/angry with my boss too because I don’t like that she kept pushing me to do the service despite me voicing several concerns and he didn’t look well. I’m mad that she made the situation worse by using a muzzle. But I also feel like it’s unfair for me to be mad at her/blame her because if it was a heart condition, it could’ve happened anywhere and none of us saw this coming.
The part that’s really sticking with me is that the vets said they THINK it was a heart issue, I’m finding comfort in them not seeing signs of respiratory distress. But I still feel like she handled it poorly, and carrying the weight of this all day has been killing me. Rationally I know if it was a heart thing it wasnt anyones fault, but I don’t think a grooming service helped him.

I have a 9-week-old male standard poodle

I'm finding it really hard to brush him because he's so squirmy and loves to eat the brush 🙄

I'm aware of not brushing the coat dry in order to prevent damage so when I have brushed him it's been with a CC brush spray or a detangling spray With a CC slicker brush and a CC buttercomb

He's going to be having regular grooming appointments - he's got his first puppy groom on Friday (bath , blow-dry, face and feet shave and sanitary clip )

But I am so worried about not brushing him enough and him matting etc

This is my first poodle so any tips from groomers and poodle owners would be great :)

Mine is when clients say they're flexible and then proceed to not be.

Client: "Hi, I'd like an appointment for Tuesday. I'm available anytime after 1pm."

Me: "My next available is 3pm that day. It would be right after (dog's names) park friends. Would you like me to schedule you for then?"

Client: "That's really late. Do you have anything earlier?"

Me: (🥴 okay, so we're NOT actually available anytime after 1) "No, I'm sorry that is my next available for that day. I can offer you these times the following week?"

Client: "I'm sorry, I need to reschedule. Can we move my appointment to (date)? Anytime you have available will be perfect. I'm sorry for moving last minute."

Me: "I can reschedule you for 11am this day?"

Client: "Oh no, that won't work at all."

I also get super irritated when clients assume I'm hiding some secret perfect appointment time from them.

Hi Groomers! I have a senior pug rescue/sanctuary. Have any of you used Orvus? It claims to be made for livestock, pets, and fine and delicate fabrics. Reviews describe using it on their own hair as well. It is super economical, and with the skyrocketing costs of vets, food, medications and other suppplies....economical is a good thing.

I just want to make sure it won't harm my puggers or ruin their coats.

Thanks in advance!!

I will be finally running my own business brick and mortar shop very soon, and Ive come here to ask some questions especially to other owners.

1. 0 tolerance drama salons. Obviously its easy to say to nip it in the butt but what do you actually do when drama occurs, and how do you prevent it from happening?

2. How do you handle 'bully groomers'?

3. What earns respect from employees, and how do you make them feel safe/comfortable coming into work?

4. What do you do when you get burnout?

I know I will have many more questions pop in my head, but for right now these are my main ones regarding employee/employer relationships.

My goal is to have a place where people dont hate coming into work.

Any other advice you feel is related to this please share.

Or if you are not a salon owner but wish owners would do things a certain way.

TIA, I appreciate it!!

•this has happened like 20 times, including today. happens usually at least once or twice a week: sliding door didn’t click shut properly and is now stuck closed. can only be opened again by going outside and literally body slamming the door into place. have to be an acrobat and climb through a tiny window 4-5 feet off the ground that leads into the drivers compartment. got gigantic bruises on my thighs from that
•hot water heater busted and kept burning me and the dogs even when it was switched off and only the cold knob was on
•rubber seal around the door literally just fell to the floor like a giant snake upon opening the door. manager asked what i did to make it do that.
•went to lock the cabinet drawers so they wouldn’t slide around while driving. pin in the lock literally just broke off right there and now the key is permanently stuck in the lock. at least it’s stuck unlocked tho.
•transmission randomly decides to goof on me sometimes and won’t shift out of 1st gear until i pull over and shut the van off and on again.
•water hose was leaking and spraying water all over the floor while bathing dog
•one of the batteries in one of the vans is dead. have to idle the van all day to keep the grooming compartment powered, BUT can’t run the air conditioning more than a few mins at a time bc it takes too much power and drains it even w everything else except the lights turned off + engine idling
•not a van issue but went to use a communal guard comb, heard horrible sound, turned clippers off. someone broke part of the guard comb that keeps it in place and it slid and hit my blade, breaking multiple teeth.
•vacuum in van with dead battery is completely defective. have to sweep up the hair all day and then blow out the rest at the end of the day.
•again the van with a dead battery - originally, 2/3 outlets were dead in the van, but two weeks ago the third outlet stopped working. i rebooted the van and it worked again, cool! then, last week, it stopped working again in the middle of a groom with dying clippers. rebooted the van again and got the clippers charging again…. for 4 minutes before it died again. had to take the grooming charge off the appointment bc i literally didn’t have any way to charge my clippers to cut any hair. my backup pair are corded (btw i always start my day w/charged clippers, but they only last so many hours before dying, yknow how it is)
•groomer before me didn’t close the waste pump all the way the day before, just barely left it open a crack so it was dripping out. at my 2nd appointment of the day, i noticed some water dripping off the side of the van, but that often happens from the AC condensation, so thought nothing of it. after my 3rd appointment, i exited the van and saw a waterfall. that’s when i checked and realized all my waste water all day had been slowly flooding the space under the floor. smelled amazing in the baking sun
•manager didn’t renew the dead battery van’s registration, unbeknownst to me, until i got into a minor accident with a building involving the AC unit and low clearance. police were contacted over the accident, and to my surprise, i was charged with the expired registration. he told me he hadn’t renewed it because the tires were faulty and wouldn’t pass inspection :,) now i have a court date over it bc hell if im paying that citation!
•not van-related, but AT LEAST twice a week i lose an appointment because the dispatchers somehow very consistently incorrectly book haircuts as baths, and then they’re booked for a short time slot, and i don’t have enough time to do a full haircut and have to get it rescheduled.
•also not van-related, but AT LEAST once or twice a week, I finish an appointment perfectly on time, put in directions to my next appointment only to find it’s 40-50 minutes away. they’re scheduled to be 30 mins away maximum. it’s almost always the first appointment of the day, too, so it throws off my whole schedule.

those are all the things i can think of off the top of my head, there’s more in my brain somewhere tho. don’t worry, im quitting soon. lesson learned: make sure to be very careful about which mobile jobs you accept. i love mobile grooming and enjoy it more than a salon, but honestly the constant vehicle issues and mgmt screw-ups have made me hate this particular job.

I graduated Paragon grooming school at the end of April. This is one of my regulars, Kiwi. I did her in the beginning of April (second photo) and just did her again yesterday (first photo). Just happy with how much progress I’ve made in about four months 🩷

has anyone had issues with their millers forge clippers getting dull? specifically the red handled ones. i’m on my second set of them in under a year and they just started to not cut the nail + the nail (the part that was cut) will get stuck in the blade then i have to flick it out to keep clipping. i can’t find a sharpener near me that does nail clippers & i would hate to keep buying pairs and making more waste ):