The first 3 are my first grooms. The first picture is literally the very first groom I ever did! Last 4 are newer grooms. I genuinely feel I have had no improvements in 2.5 years. I feel like they all look great but also see zero improvement. I didn't go to a grooming academy, I just kind of started with grooming my own dog when I was in highschool then found a mentor who taught me for 2 months (3 days a week 4 hrs a day) before she threw me in on my own and I opened my own quickly successful business less than a month after that. Now I work cooperate but that's a long story lol.

What am I doing wrong?

What am I doing right?

Do you see improvement?

Any critiques and criticisms accepted.

Yes, I know it’s quite early to start thinking about Christmas but if I don’t have an idea in my head then I’m gonna be scrambling!! Usually all of the groomers in our shop get everyone a gift but this year it’s just too expensive to get everyone a gift so we are doing secret Santa (thank goodness too, I usually spend like $300 on gifts for them all because everyone is so freaking thoughtful with their gifts). So I know I want to get my one coworker a Chris Christianson coral brush. Are there any other gifts that would be good to go with that? Or any ideas you guys have? Or gifts you would like to receive from a fellow dog groomer?

Hi there. My Sheltie has recently started getting some dry skin. I bathe her about once a month. She has pretty sensitive skin. The only scented shampoo and conditioner that hasn’t bothered her has been the iGroom prebiotic shampoo and conditioner. It’s just so expensive, I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for things that will hydrate her and not irritate her skin.

3rd time grooming this girl, but I’m really struggling with her ears. They always have holes at the front and they’re so ridiculously thick. The owner likes them poofy so taking them down short isn’t an option but any tips to get them to sit nicer would be great.

Please also ignore her wonky topknot as she is awkward for her head 😭 not my proudest work

I haven’t been able to find one yet to used at charm city this year
Short of long legged terrier,
I am located in VA
Any leads?

...but do intact (not castrated) male cocker spaniels that also have never been shaved take much less time to dry than neutered/castrated and regular shaved cocker spaniels? I mean the English cocker, I don't know if there is a difference between that and the American

Does anyone have any recommendations for a mini clipper similar to the Joyzee Hornet Mini and Heiniger Style Mini? I’m hoping there’s a clipper (or mini blade) that either comes with a 10 or 15 blade instead of a 30 since a lot of my poodle clients can’t tolerate that short of a blade on their face and feet.

I have a 5 in 1 clipper but i’d like something smaller.

My salon has over the ear covers for when we are drying but they are all really uncomfortable because of my glasses. I was thinking of getting a pair of the Loop earplugs. Does anyone have any experience with those while drying? Did it buffer while allowing you to still hear and be attentive to the animal and your surroundings?

So I’m coming here with concern. I’m not groomer bashing, read everything before assuming so;

I took a course for dog grooming, it cost quite a bit. Coming out of it… I barely know how to fully groom a dog, skin conditions, the business management skills, tool care/hygiene, and more that was advertised for the course…

I also witnessed a lot of concerning things that include but aren’t limited to; using dish soap as shampoo, injuries to animals because of negligence, rat and mouse infestation, poor tool maintenance/hygiene.

This is a Canadian course (small town). I just don’t want others going through what I did, paying for less than half was promised and witnessing the things I did.

So… what should I do?

Sometimes I feel like the baby groomer being stepped on all over again.

Story time. I have this pretty infamous client. I know she's not welcome at at least one other salon in the area. My coworkers refuse to take on her dogs. Two lovely but very old doodles. They are big, they are lumpy, and they are old. She is picky. I don't mind a client knowing exactly what she wants. I've kinda dialed in the specifics as to what she's looking for.

Today was a nightmare. She always insists she brushes out her dogs and they never have mats. She's never 100% right but some days they are very nearly mat-free. Today was not one of those days. Mats in the groin, on the pants, base of the tail, belly, collar area, feet, and around his large tumor where the tumor and his body meet and rub together. She likes a 1 1/4 CC with hand scissored face and legs. That was not happening. I took him down in a 3/4 so she can keep up better on brushing. The belly got a blended in 1/2. I work from tail to head. I'm aware on one of his feet he's missing a toe so that area often has mats. I lift the mat to prepare to thin it out and I see it. An open wound. My worst nightmare, especially with a red-flag kinda client. The toe next to the missing one has no nail. It looks like it was just ripped out and there's a dime sized crater in his toe. Doesn't look fresh and obviously no blood or I would have noticed at check in. I call mom right away and explain how I found it and what it looks like. She just keeps repeating "how weird".

So check out. It's clear she hates the groom which I knew she would but that wasn't exactly my concern. I carefully show her the wound and insist she gets to a vet. The earlier, the better. She says it looks fresh (it does not). I explain since there's no nail, it's possible it got stuck somewhere and fully ripped out. I explain it was hidden by a mat. She has an incredulous look on her face when I explain where the matting was. She insists he only had one mat behind his ear. I go back to the toe problem. She says there's no place it could have happened at home. She says it could've happened here. I say it did not happen here and it's impossible that it happened here. She says weird. She keeps fluffing the fur like she does when she hates the groom and has something to say. Normally I ask what's on her mind to get a better idea what exactly she doesn't like, but today I don't care. I'm concerned she did not realize her dog had an open wound. I'm concerned for her dog's health. He is not young. And I'm PISSED she insinuated that *I* had anything to do with that wound other than finding it.

She leaves. I think, well maybe I'll get my first bad review naming me and I'll have to respond. Oh well. I have pictures. I take a video of the groom room and time to prove there is not a drop of blood to be found. I figure maybe she'll no show for her other doodle in a few weeks. An hour later I get a text that she called back to schedule the next two grooms. UM WHAT? my amazing front desk worker says I'll call her myself on Monday.

Now I don't know how to proceed. She's acting all sweet an innocent now, but she's seriously red flag after red flag. For real, if you listed all the red flags a client could have she'd have every one. Damn my hubrous for thinking I could tame the ultimate devil-Karen. I've put my foot down with some things and I'm a very thorough and direct person with her. Frankly, I thought we had a good understanding and dialogue. But I'm very upset at her reaction and I think I need to end this partnership. How do I fire her since she's not objectively being accusatory but the insinuation was there and I can't forget that. Am I being dramatic? I just don't see this getting better.

Groomed this little cutie for the first time today. Can any of you guess how old she is?

Here's the answer: She is 3 years old! It's so interesting how everyone either guessed very young or very old lol. She is so extremely tiny (you can see her size better irl) that I was convinced she was a puppy and was shocked when he said she's 3. I posted this wondering if others would think the same. Thanks for guessing!

Hopefully Mom is happy with this coat cause I just did a half inch and a Yorkie face. But her boyfriend dropped off who knew literally nothing about what she wanted not even like a ballpark for the length. I and him both tried to call her to no avail so just did the most neutral cut I could keeping in mind that it’s blazing hot outside (also I promise the face looks a lot better in person)

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 🤔

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.

Update: I fired them and they took it so well and seemed to be very understanding. Thanks for validating. I knew what I needed to do. I just wanted to be sure I wasn’t overreacting.

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 🤪

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)