Are there professional dog grooming courses?

hayley m: Dog Grooming courses?
I want to get qualified in dog grooming so i can eventually work self employed in this career i need to work full time while i train, is there any where that dies intensive courses and are open university courses worth doing as i would have no practical experience?

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Answer by Shelly
I am a groomer and teach ride alongs. People come with me on my route while I groom and learn it. They pay tuition but the problem is you want to work FULL TIME? So when would you learn to groom? There's no university that offers courses. You can go online and buy DVDs that will show you how or enter a school ... there are at least two in every city. PetsMart teaches, but they want you full time and to go to their school. I work at a shop on Saturday that will allow one or two people to come in and do a dog or two until they get confident for a fee. Maybe you could find a shop that will allow you to come in once a week. You gotta learn to bathe first ... maybe find a saturday job as a bather/helper. You are right ... it IS a great business.

Answer by borderbethie
You need to do a search on the computer for dog grooming schools in your state. There are some schools that do offer lodging just like a college if you can afford it. Most universities do not give dog grooming courses. Sometimes community colleges may have some classes (not extensive courses) in grooming. Colleges usually aren't set up for the type of work areas needed to hold classes (bathing area, grooming tables etc)I did design, write and teach a dog grooming course (190 hours) for my local community college. The course was held in my grooming shop. There were classes on breeds, patterns, diseases, equipment, business set up and more as well as hands on grooming.

You could also look into grooming businesses that may do apprenticeships. Be careful with these, many apprenticeships make you work in exchange for the training. An apprenticeship should have a written contract that states how many hours a week you will have to work and how many hours you will be trained (taught). All hours should be logged to make sure they are even. You don't want to wind up working for no pay AND no training. The other problem with apprenticeships is the student doesn't get the informational training that a grooming course can cover.

Petsmart and Petco do this but neither covers good technical study. They hire you as a bather then you have to be sent to their "academy". About 2 weeks of study then they start you actually grooming customers dogs. You have to do 100 dogs before you are actually hired as a groomer. You have to buy your equipment for the class. You do get paid since you are still working as a bather but it can take a long time to get 100 grooms done. Also if you do not groom well, are late, don't follow directions etc you can get dropped from the class. I use to manage a Petsmart and did not like the type of school they taught. If there were not enough dogs for each student they were shared. Not a way to teach grooming. Also not enough book knowledge was taught. They just pushed groomers through. If you do complete the course you have to work for the business for 2 years and you have to sign a no compete clause ( you can't work for another groomer or start a business with in a certain distance from their business). If you quit before the 2 years you have to pay them for the school.

A good school will give at least 2 levels of grooming courses. A basic that just teaches basic cuts (1-3) and a few basic classes on breeds, skin and coat problems etc. The advanced course will cover everything. You can also learn a lot by reading good information on the web-anything about dogs and grooming, The Groomers Lounge is a good site.

One note-there is no state that licenses or certifies groomers. Groomers are certified by a school or a grooming association.

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