How are corporate groomers doing 15+ dogs a day?

[welcometothejungle89]

Hello! I work in corporate and average 8-12 dogs (with mixed in baths, my limit on haircuts is 8). I physically cannot do more and I’ve tried. There isn’t enough time for me to do more. As y’all know, corporate groomers don’t get bathers, so we bathe and groom our own dogs. We also have to check in clients, answer phone calls, and pitch in to clean entire salon before closing.

Yet when I look at a few other stores on the books, I’ve seen groomers do 15 dogs. One girl used to average 18-20 dogs; she was the talk of the salon because it was impressive but also mind boggling. She did work 10-12 hours a day, but I can’t even fathom how that’s possible regardless. I’ve managed to work my way to 8-12 while maintaining quality, but cannot go past that and 12 is really pushing it for me.

In your experience, how do y’all manage this?????

 

[israelp]

@welcometothejungle89 I work at petco and we am average of about 6 dogs per groomer at the salon I work at and everyone works 8 hr shifts, there’s some days where we do more but it’s not often. Honestly doing 10+ dogs every day is just too much to maintain a long term career, the money might be nice at first but that’s a very good way to get burnt out fast.

 

[welcometothejungle89]

@israelp I definitely agree with you! I work 3 days at 10hr shifts and I push myself to do as much as I can because of personal circumstances on top of being a college student. I wouldn’t do more than 12, and if it isn’t busy, I’m okay with 8! But for the reasons you mentioned, I can’t imagine doing more than that. It feels impossible haha

 

[israelp]

@welcometothejungle89 Yeah I could definitely see myself doing 8 dogs if I only worked three 10 hr shifts but I don’t think I could do 12, that’s just way too much, I’d throw my back out lol

 

[3dee4u]

@israelp Yep pretty much how I shot my grooming career in the foot. I have so many bodily injuries now that it’s a struggle to do 3-4 dogs.

 

[thedovesear]

@israelp Yeah I knew a groomer who would do 10+ a day and she threw her back out at the age of 24!! And again when she was 26! Im all set lol.

 

[chryssa1791]

@israelp Unfortunately the money only seems nice when you haven't worked at a decent private salon. Most salons are charging significantly more for grooms, making the commission difference negligible, and the added bonus of having someone else do reception and bathing means you're able to do at least 2 more dogs a day at a higher price. Usually private makes more money even if you do less dogs, but it's definitely easier to do more dogs when You've got a bather.

 

[p1saint]

@welcometothejungle89 I hate to say this and I'm sure that there are truly some groomers that can do 15+ dogs well, but the quality of their grooms are probably not that great. Also probably not the safest. But pet parents probably wouldn't notice or care because Petco prices are some of the cheapest out there.

 

[welcometothejungle89]

@p1saint Yes that’s a really good point! That is something my other coworkers and I have spoken of - they gotta be cutting corners. Speaking of prices, it’s amazing how many customers berate us and complain about pricing when we are very cheap in comparison to other salons

 

[p1saint]

@welcometothejungle89 Sooo cheap. Just add packages to every dog you can. My salon had an agreement with all the groomers that we wouldn't do doodle haircuts longer than a 4 or 7 without conditioner being added on. Things like that can help you make more money without adding more dogs to your day. It also helps at check in always saying the groom starts at x price- but depending on what's needed maybe more for new clients.

 

[welcometothejungle89]

@p1saint I love that agreement!!!! So many of our doodle customers are cheap and only get basic but want long guards. And of course, people don’t maintain their doodles generally (at least in my location) so that is a fantastic arrangement! I ought to tell my manager if we can do something similar. We have been getting better at adding extra scissor skus for larger breeds and time consuming dogs. If we didn’t, for example, a basic large doodle is $104 (some take like 1 1/2-2 hrs of of cutting and scissor work ffs).

 

[p1saint]

@welcometothejungle89 Yep just try to get everyone on the same page, and it trains customers just to accept the price, because no matter who grooms the dog at your salon it's going to be the same price. And in the end it's better for the dog anyways. Charge for what y'all deserve, not what the pet parents think the price should be!

 

[3dee4u]

@welcometothejungle89 They’re probably kennel drying a lot of dogs, or have an assembly line system. That’s honestly the only feasible way they could do that many. Unless the dogs look like shit.

 

[knr80]

@p1saint This is so true.

My partner’s aunt works at a boarding facility in South Carolina and when she asked me how many dogs I groom a day, laughed and replied with “I groom about 30 a day on average”… I asked to see pictures and they were all one length everywhere, no longer than maybe a 4, basic grooms.

When I showed her my grooms, she said “it’s no wonder your only doing 10 on average, you actually do real haircuts”.

I haven’t known someone to do 20+ “real haircuts” in one shift, but I’ve known a few working in boarding facilities or at vets offices who do a “simple strip, wash and go”.

 

[tippymoondawg]

@knr80

“I groom about 30 a day on average”… I asked to see pictures and they were all one length everywhere, no longer than maybe a 4, basic grooms.

One of the weird things I love to watch on youtube is sheep shearing. It takes a professional about 5 minutes to shear a sheep. They flip them onto their butt and just go at it.

Of course there's no bathing, blow drying or special trimming. It's the same length all over. The goal is to get all the wool off the sheep and it doesn't really matter if there's ridges or scraggly bits.

To do 30 dogs, I'm basically imagining a sheep shearing process but with bathing, drying, nails, tidy up feet & scraggly hairs - then tie a bandana or put in a bow.

 

[oceanwaves]

@knr80 Yup that's called a strip shop.

 

[3dee4u]

@p1saint Everyone I’ve ever seen that can do that many dogs a day isn’t a great groomer. I’m sure there are good ones out there but after over a decade in the industry I haven’t seen it.

 

[p1saint]

@3dee4u Yep. I just can't imagine they even get the dog clean at that rate. Not to mention the wear on your equipment constantly cutting dirty hair.

 

[infinityandbeyond]

@p1saint I dunno about you but we charge what we are worth for each groom, my average groom is $80 for a small I charge $120 for medium doodles and $150 for large doodles. We are competitive with other salons in the area.

 

[chaz1268]

@welcometothejungle89 That’s a recipe for burnout. If you plan to do this job short term to save some money and then move on, sure it’s fine I guess. However I give it just a few years before your body starts to protest doing 8-12 dogs a day; even less time for someone doing 15+.