NDGAA membership worth it

hekimmy8

New member
I was just wondering if any of y’all are ndgaa members and if it’s worth the $95. Website says discounts available and trying to see if they are any good. Just learned about akc canine college and am interested in that but don’t know if I’d save a lot as a member or if it’s basically the same to pay out of pocket.

For reference I am a corporate groomer with 5+3 years experience (long break to be a sahm for a while). I am interested in furthering my education and have been to a few conventions to do the seminars and absolutely loved it.
 
@hekimmy8 Really just depends on what you value. If you get NDGAA certified it'd give you a step up above other groomers in your area, so you could potentially negotiate a higher raise or higher pricing situation. However, you're only going to paid for your experience if the clientele exists for it.

Where I live, we have a handful of NDGAA certified groomers and they've kind of cornered that market. Most of my clients couldn't care either way, and even more clients in my city will just go to the cheapest/soonest available groomer that they can find.
 
@livelifeliving33 I don’t know if I’ll stay in corporate forever and figure some of it would be helpful if I went private. At least safety and cpr type stuff, which I can do as individual certificates without going the whole master groomer route.
 
@hekimmy8 Yes, and right now new members of NDGAA get 50% off of the AKC S.A.F.E. course, so you could also get your certification for AKC S.A.F.E. and become an NDGAA member!

I would say that it is worth it as both look great for potential clients and if you are interested in becoming a NCMG this is a great first step on that path.
 
@hekimmy8 Honestly clients do not care. I have master groomers and international ones in my town. I’m certified but they care about how you treat their pets and grooming skill. It’s great to learn breed standards but the everyday pet groomer rarely sees that.

You can still learn breed standards without that certification and do research on your own.
 
@lilpeoplez Yeah, I figure most pet owners won’t care/know difference, but didn’t know if it might help if I decide to go private one day (work in a private shop, not own my own, that seems daunting).
 
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