Truth about working as a bather at Petsmart

[christiangirl30]

@ingramk Wow typical petsmart behaviour. They don’t even want to hire and pay bathers anyone, just use the already hired associates so they can maximize profits.

 

[bytor]

@christiangirl30 That’s working at petsmart for you. My best advice would be to go to academy through them (if you wanna advance to a groomer ofc) and immediately find a private salon that’ll take you. Left corporate abt 2 years ago now and never looked back. It was the best thing I’ve ever done

 

[christiangirl30]

@bytor Yeah I agree with you. The problem is that I only work there 2 days a week at most, and we all must have an Addon percentage of 20% before they consider. There’s already 2 other bathers who got hired before me awaiting academy. I will have to suffer through this for at least 7 more months before they see me fit for academy too.

 

[bytor]

@christiangirl30 Jesus is that how they do it now?? When I worked right after lockdown they just sent you whenever they felt like you were ready. Have you called any local salons to see if they’ll take you? It’ll be a bit more expensive bc you’ll have to buy your own stuff, but you’ll probably make more too. Good Career bathers are well sought after if that’s what you wanna do but someone may be willing to take you on as an apprentice

 

[christiangirl30]

@bytor The good thing with petsmart right now, is that they hired me fully knowing I have classes each semester, and have another job, so they are fine with me working 1-2 days/week. I’m not trying to invest a lot of time into this career path because I don’t know how I feel about all this yet. I kinda dread going there because you have to talk to the owners so much, leave 30 mins late at least because you needed more time to do everything, and then come home and clean the dog hairs off your clothes, and your own hair. It’s a lot of hassle. The other salons might require me to actually want grooming/bathing as a full time job and want to work there 3-4 days instead.

 

[bytor]

@christiangirl30 Yeah I get that! Good for you for taking time to be sure abt it instead of jumping in headfirst. It really isn’t for everyone. And I don’t think petsmart is for anyone lmao

 

[michaela71]

@christiangirl30 Ugh I worked at PetSmart for a year and they are all about quotas and sales! I hated pushing it on customers and often refused to, especially after receiving death glares and dirty looks or hesitation. If they wanted salespeople, they’d go to Best Buy. Raises in pay don’t exist (they kept pushing mine out while making excuses); they’ll bait you with the manager position (which is crap); and the customers’ attitudes are worse than any other retail store I’ve worked at (SPOILED people b-c company motto is “the customer is always right” which makes our job extremely difficult). Never will work for a big corporation pet store ever again.

 

[christiangirl30]

@michaela71 You’re so right. Petsmart also has a “look great guarantee” so customers could just throw a fit and demand additional work be done. We barely have time to adequately spend on each dog, let alone having to tailor to each customer and ask “is it to your satisfaction” like no, I literally just do whatever and clock out so that I don’t have to deal with the customer

 

[bsingeorgia]

@christiangirl30 I worked as a bather at petsmart for a while and my store managers and my coworkers were lovely but the environment was so stressful. The salon lead never trained me, other groomers had to take over to show me what to do but they were CONSTANTLY overbooked and had little time. the constant nail walk-ins that I had to take even when there were multiple dogs to do always made me stressed, especially when I was newer and took a long time to do nails. the fact that I basically had to clean everything towards the end of the shifts bc the groomers were so overbooked… it’s rough!!! I also had no prior experience and just a love for dogs, so I really feel for you and wanting to have a good environment and get good training but being failed by the corporate expectations.

 

[christiangirl30]

@bsingeorgia THISS. The first day I stepped foot into the salon I was so overwhelmed, and the salon leader was telling me to stand by a groomer and “learn” what they do because she, herself, didn’t have time to show me around since everyone was so busy. I was never taught how to work the computer (book appointments, how to answer calls, who to book under etc.) and once I answered a call regarding a walk-in nail trim, I told him he could come within the next 10-15 mins and I could do it. She then basically screamed at me asking me why I didn’t ask for his phone number on file to see if the dog has rabies because if not, we will have to turn away the dog. That didn’t cross my mind at all, but also because nobody ever told me what the hell im suppose to be doing in this situation. I also don’t have any prior experience with handling multiple dogs, or have knowledge about dogs themselves, I’m just learning along the way. So it’s hard for me to spot dry skin, lumps or anything else during hands-on pet assessment. I feel so bad when people ask me questions about their dogs hair or something and other groomers have to answer because I don’t know, and it makes me seem not legit and like I don’t know what I’m doing. Nails are also very stressful for me too, it’s harder to see the quick on black nails and some dogs keep moving around and trying to bite which makes it harder. I too hate the way they make us clean kennels, the bathtub, the drain, and vacuum everything before we leave like what? The groomers can basically use us to bath their dogs and clean their working environment so they can keep grooming dogs and making 50% commission whilst we do sooo much and get hourly $18

 

[basiloil143]

@christiangirl30 You’re getting $18!? I’m getting $16

 

[christiangirl30]

@basiloil143 whaaat I thought all bather positions were atleast 18-19? You are being SEVERELY underpaid intact $18 isn’t even enough for all the stuff we do. It sucks, bathers receive so much shit. Are you in Canada or US? Definitely discuss with them about pay increases

 

[basiloil143]

@christiangirl30 I am in US. I am also working full time hours for weeks in a row but only listed as part time and not getting any benefits. I have written out my two weeks and plan on turning it in today, but a big part of me just wants to quit on the spot. Bathers should at least get $20+ an hour. Our jobs are so hard on our bodies and we do way more dogs in a shift. I keep getting dogs squeezed in when I don’t have any time, but it’s fine because they are only paying me $16 an hour to finish 8+ dogs in an 8.5 hour shift.

 

[jenib]

@basiloil143 I'm getting $13.75 and they acted like that was a "splurge."

 

[billysurya91]

@christiangirl30 I'm so sorry about your experience, that sounds like hell.

I recently graduated from bather to stylist-in-training, but I've been with Petsmart on and off in different departments for around a decade, at different stores in different states. I think the one thing I've learned so far is that the general vibe changes a lot between stores. Like almost night and day difference. The shitty stores I've worked in were a goddamn nonstop nightmare, constant mixed messages between managers with constant corporate interference, nothing ever got done and expectations were always WAY too high for what could realistically be met. People being thrown under the bus constantly. Managers being shitty and sexist and manipulative and overly demanding.

I'm grooming in a very low volume salon right now and we happen to have a store manager who's very good at navigating corporate demands, and the difference is just... wild. It's like a completely different company. Christmas week was hell as per usual but it wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting, and I think it's solely because of the managers I have and the lower volume to manage.

The corporate interference is still godawful and we're still expected to meet plan / hit addon rates etc etc, but the difference here seems to be that the managers aren't pushing that stress onto us. We're still expected to offer addons and shit but we're not being berated and talked down to for customers refusing it. I never worked with the last manager, but everyone tells me they were a fucking nightmare about it even in such a low volume store.

Of course on the flipside there's a lot less job security in lower volume stores, and meeting commission once you're a stylist can be difficult, but it might be worth seeing if you can get a transfer. Petsmart is definitely not the best thing out there but it also doesn't have to be that awful, the people around you definitely dictate how bad it can be.

 

[thankfullness]

@christiangirl30 Your experience at PetSmart or any salon is going to depend on management. Grooming is a sales driven career, you're selling a service. That's not exclusive to PetSmart. Some locations are going to be better than others. I've worked at 2 different corporate salons and 2 different PetSmart locations. One was excellent the other was awful. I also worked at a horrible private salon that pushed the exact same things without any safety requirements whatsoever. You just got a bad location. The only way to 100% control your schedule, practices, and dogs is to work for yourself. You can just quit and look for a different salon to learn from.

 

[lotwt]

@christiangirl30 I was a bather for a year before becoming a groomer years ago at PetSmart. This was at a really busy salon too. It was all about time management. Explaining to the customers the benefits of the add ons such as conditioner, dremeling the nails, deshedding treatment. Their are tricks you can do to to minimize your time brushing but you do it during the bath. Like with double coated dogs. After bathing them in shampoo and rinsing. While still in the bathing area lather them up really good with conditioner. Let it sit for a couple minutes. Take the force dryer with the nozzle on and blow against the grain. It will blow a lot of the loose undercoat out. Then rinse really well. Technique that is really a wrist saver. I didn't mind selling the holiday add ons. I don't know if they still push the holiday collar tags but for each holiday I would clip on onto the zipper on my smock. Made it so much easier to sell it. Pair that with a bandana or ear bows and I guarantee you'll get a tip. Even if the dog was a little stinker talk excited about them when the owner picks them up. I use to do 8 bath dogs in 6 hours plus walk in nail trims and answering the phone. Speed will come with time. Maybe try asking your manager you want one less dog for a couple weeks to build up your speed. Talk to the other groomers see if they have any tips or tricks for time management for you.

 

[christiangirl30]

@lotwt Yeah I see dog groomers on TikTok share their techniques to make it go faster, but doing 9 dogs is so much labour. On top of that, my salon leader always has an attitude and just annoying af in general. Thanks for the tips

 

[jaeger7]

@christiangirl30 You should watch Grooming by Rudy on You Tube to help you learn how to dog groom

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@christiangirl30 I feel this so much. They ripping customers off DAILY. Bathers really do not get the appreciation they deserve. Walk in nails are horrendous bc I literally have to PUT UP the dog I’m drying that I still need to brush, book and check in the nails. Do the questionnare & hands on assessment, then do the walk in. They act like walk in nails take five minutes. They absolutely do not. It takes minimum 10-20 mins to do all of that and now that’s 20 minutes I’ve lost on my scheduled dog…then it’s a problem when I’m now behind bc it’s not physically possible to wash, dry, do ears nails and teeth, and brush a dog to a fine tooth finish look great guarantee in 40 minutes…

Then the way they schedule barely permits for a bathroom break, let alone a 15 minute break.

Then you need to reserve 30 mins minimum to clean kennels and vacuum and clean the bunker at the end of the day so why do they even schedule dogs the hour before closing.

I sincerely enjoy the actual job,I love being a bather. However the unreasonable expectations that are established solely for utmost maximum profit at the expense of quality service and animal and employee safety is gross.