What’s it really like being a dog groomer? The good and the bad

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daleviewrd

New member
Hi all! I tried searching to see if there’s a thread, and didn’t find anything. I’d love to hear your experience as a dog groomer, and how you feel choosing it as a career. Thank you in advance!

Background:

I am thinking of making a career change from a strategic marketer (graphic design/social/web) to dog groomer. This will come with a pay cut, but I figured once I work myself up to 50% commission, it’ll be fine (I make 60k a year, if anyone wants to share how the pay is. I also don’t have and won’t have kids, and bills are luckily very manageable).

I am looking for a career where I’m on my feet and has a go-go-go, work with my hands, busy energy. AKA, I miss my time a few years back as a barista but need something a little more realistic pay-wise. I also miss working in a friendlier, non-office environment that does not demand a lot of thought and stress outside of the 9-5. TBH my career choice has made me very unhappy, so I’m looking for something that will add more joy back into my life too. I’ve noticed the jobs that did do that for me were ones i’m more physically active in, and provided service to others.

Finally, I love dogs (duh!). Got two little loves of my life myself, and grew up around many (at one point we had 7 in our house at once!). I also have heard that you need to be able to be appropriately assertive with some pups as a groomer, which I am comfy with (have to be with one of my guys, who loves causing some mischief haha).

If you read that background, thank you! It’s scary making a career change, so I’m trying to get as much insight as possible.
 
@daleviewrd Once you get the hang of it and start your own salon the money can be quite good

You'll never be bored

I love making the the dogs look good and people's reactions

I've never worked at a corporate salon so taking vacation or time off is super easy

I love getting good dogs who give kisses and want to play after

However

You need absolute patience, not every dog is good. Some I've done are straight up dangerous. I've never been seriously hurt but others have.

The burn out is real

Clients can be super weird

You will want to punch a few people when they bring you their neglected dog.

Some days suck. You get behind and feel rushed or you get a big hairy dog and you just feel like you're going collapse from exhaustion as soon as you get home
 
@daleviewrd Hey there

Here's my story:
I studied graphic design which then, the idea of looking for a job in that industry freaked me out because it was that weird period of time where employers were asking graphic designers to know how to do everything (graphic design web and print, coding, social medias, video editing, ect) while the program at uni and in private schools was still very old school.
I worked in sales, then moved to Australia (originally from europe) where I discovered that people here treat their dogs like their children (people taking their dogs to the park two to three times a day, the existence of doggy day care, dog grooming being like a spa experience, dog cafes, ect ect).

Seeing how dogs are a lot more valued than in my birth country made me realize that there are a lot more dog related jobs than just vet and trainer and I kept that burried in my mind for a bit while I was working as a nanny.

Got burned out from nannying and actively looked for a job in dog grooming.

Started in a private salon as a dog bather 2 days a week, and few months later started a training in a corporate salon 3 days a week. Learned in 6 months and now have been a full time dog groomer since 6 months.

So I'm still kinda new in the industry.

Here's my pros :
1)I do not get sick of seeing dogs everyday. I love them so much, it makes my heart full of joy.
2)There is a creative aspect to it which fulfill my need for creativity. It's like sculpting.

Here's my cons :
1) I don't know how things are in the USA, but in Australia the industry is not regulated, and so I lack training in dog handling and I sometimes can not finish a groom because of the dog's behavior that I can not control. I'm lucky with the boss and the team I have and we all help each others or finish each other's grooms if we struggle with a dog. But still, it sucks and I wish I could be better on that.
2) There's a shortage of groomers and I know it's not just Australia. We do get a lot of dogs and even if I work for a salon that tries not to overbook, it's a job than I find can easily lead to overstimulation. And in comparison I worked at Disneyland paris which was intense as hell, yet it wasn't as triggering hahaha.
3) I can tell that I'll end up doing a burn out. Not now, but I can sense it. It is hard mentally and physically, but I think I have figured out what aspects can potentially lead me to burn out. Then I'll have to prepare myself in order to avoid this from happening.
4) It's an industry that attracts lots of weirdos. Which result in some horrible salons, horrible boss, horrible colleagues. It's also an industry mainly ruled by women and my god, women can be horrible towards each others hahaha. There's some good places, and good people, but it is so easy to end up in horrible salons. You need to recognize the red flags and protect yourself.
 
@acecomando101 In the US it's usually not regulated, but I believe it goes by state. That said, I live in a state that loves regulation and there is zero in regards to grooming salons and doggy daycares.
 
@acecomando101 Can confirm that the industry still expects graphic designers to do everything haha! Thank you so much for sharing. I hadn’t thought of the overstimulating aspect, and didn’t know it attracted weirdos. If I do make the switch, I’ll make sure to vet all the places I’m considering.
 
@barnabasp Oh in my context I use weirdos in a negative aspect. Before finding my actual salon, I had a trial in one where absolutely each person working there had a weird vibe to them, things were not right. There's also a strange competition from some other groomers which make the vibe in the industry, and I'm speaking for my area, very very bizarre.
Bur if you stick to do your own thing and be a good team player when working in a salon it's fine. It's not too hard to ignore them hahaha.

But I have to admit there are also a lot of "good weirdos" but I don't call them weirdos. I call them eccentric and cool.
 
@daleviewrd All of the above comments are true I wanted to add.

Some days are super hard mentally.

I work at a shop, but I am saving to own my own shop in the future so I can fire and talk back to clients when I want.

The clients can be incredibly rude and entitled. I've gotten comments about how "you just like hurting dogs" or "you shaved it because you didn't want to put in the work", "Make sure you do a good job", "Get the nails as short as possible". We get talked down to in a way that male dominant trades don't. You wouldn't tell your mechanic to make sure he did a good job.

Some clients get super unreasonable and just want to scream and threaten you over little things. It can be and feel quite unsafe, and we are expected to bend and scrape for these people with a smile even as they scream at us over a stray hair.

We are a working class salon near a wealthy area and the number of folks who drive luxury cars, wear designer clothes, expensive jewelry, and bags who bring in neglected dogs and will tell us they can't afford grooming is all too often.

I would say 1/6 of the clients we come across see their dog's as accessories or status symbols and not living breathing spirits that deserve a bit of respect.
The lack of humanity in some of these pet owners can be quite jarring.

We have had people who will spend 5k on a dog only to put it down with the slightest health or behavior problem. Often because they spent all their money on say a French Bulldog without taking into account that their might be health related costs. We have clients who want hours of painful dematting and when I refuse tell me I'm lazy and cruel. They care more about the dog looking pretty than they do about its wellbeing.

I had a client with a matted dog who insisted the dog stay long and was adamant that she didn't and wouldn't brush the dog at home because she didn't want to hurt it while demanding I dematte the dog. I tried running a comb through the hair so she could feel how bad it was and she refused and then yelled at my boss for 20 minutes about how I was lazy and a horrible person while I dematted her ducking dog at her and my bosses insistence.

I had a lady want me to trim her dogs nails all the way back to almost the paw as she hated long nails. I explained the quicks and that I couldn't do it, that it would hurt/harm the dog. I spent nearly 10 minutes telling her she should talk to her vet and I couldn't and wouldn't do what she asked.

I have days where it's back to back matted shave downs with a 10 because the dogs only come in 2x a year, with nails growing into the Paw pads. I take pictures and plead with the pet parents to come in more often and get accused of trying to scam folks and only caring about money.

More often than not, folks don't listen to us when we tell them they should take their pet to the vet. I've only had 1 client who actually followed my advice in the last 2 years, and it was a super serious issue

We have dogs that have serious infections for years come to our shop, puss oozing, rotting flesh, huge tumors and they won't see a vet or will lie and say they saw a vet and the vet said it was fine... ma'am there is blood and green rotting ooze coming from your dog's ears. There is no way a vet said it was fine.

The lack of humanity in some of these pet owners can be quite jarring. I was pretty blindsided by it having grown up respecting animals.

By and far the human element is the worst part of the job and the one I didn't fully consider going in.
 
@timur First off, I want to say how sorry I am. That made me so mad reading it, I can only imagine what it’s like experiencing it first hand. Thank you for sharing your experience and good luck starting your own shop!
 
@daleviewrd I really like the dogs. I didn't know what I was getting myself into in respect to what I posted, so it was quite jarring in the beginning. I wish someone had warned me. I still would 100% do it again. I love grooming, but it takes time to grow a thick skin and not interernalize it when you are starting out.

Some days, my coworkers and I just get hit harder by it than others and have to have a good cry.
 
@daleviewrd I'm fairly new to grooming and in the UK so pay won't match up to US

Pros:

it's my favourite job I've ever had, the dogs are great (mostly) it's a fun job, there lots of different aspects so it doesn't get boring and personally my colleges are awesome. It's also nice not to be customer facing 100% of the time. There's always lots to learn and it doesn't get boring.

Cons:

I worked in hospitality then retail for the past 17 years so I'm used to being busy and on my feet but grooming is a new level of active that my body isn't ready for ATM. I've started doing regular yoga and thinking about adding strength training to help with this. I ache a lot and am exhausted at the end of the day.
It's loud and overstimulating, I've just bought myself some loop earplugs to help with that and ear defenders for when the dryers are on or we get a howling dog. I'm hoping that solves that problem.
When a neglected dog comes in its so upsetting especially when the owners don't seem to care. But it's good to be able to help those poor doggos.
 
@daleviewrd I also did studying for graphic design but couldn't complete schooling due to multiple health issues.

I'm still learning grooming but from what I can tell is 1) this job is murder on your body. Its extremely rough and I was only working part time and still ended up with costochondritis in less than a month.

2)if you can physically and mentally handle it, you'll have pretty decent job security. AI and automation isn't going to touch the dog grooming industry any time soon. There's almost always a shortage of groomers because there's also a very high turnover rate.

3) if fast paced is what you're looking for, this is the job for you. Every day is different. Every dog is different. Hell, even a singular dog can be difficult from appointment to appointment.

You've been in the graphic design business for a while so no need to warn you about clients and how many often have unrealistic expectations.
 
@daleviewrd I was in banking in my 20's and HATED it. Was unemployed for like 6 months and my grandma calls one day and ask if she paid for it would I like to be a dog groomer( I've always LOVED dogs) and I said sure why not. I only worked in private salons/boarding facility for the first 3 years then said F*ck this. That's when I moved to my home town and started my own salon out of my home since there were no groomers within 15 miles of my town. I'm now the main grooming salon in town and make my own schedule. I love my customers and have had a lot of them for 10 years, the down side is when those customers pass on. It's like losing family. I'm turning 40 and my body HURTS, my phone never stops ringing between nonstop text messages or FB messages from customers. What? It's Sunday at 6:25am....Sally stupid want to know how much I charge for a moose-a-doodle groom. 98% of my customers are great because I've weeded out the ones I don't want to deal with. The money is good but sometimes taking a break seems better. All in all I wouldn't change my job for anything.
 
@daleviewrd I started grooming in my mid 30s after getting my Master's degree and not being able to find a job with it and having something of a breakdown in the job I was in at the time knowing I needed to make a change. It's been the career I've stuck with the longest (almost 5 years now) and I have no plans to change. I love working with dogs (animals in general, I also trained horses for a stint) and getting to know the clients. It suits my ADHD need to be moving and tactile.

The flip side is that it's really hard on the body and you have to do things to mitigate the strain (stretches, massage, chiropractor). Clients can be super unreasonable and you're going to have complaints no matter what sometimes. I work for a corporate salon and put up with the stupid corporate rules because I need the benefits (healthcare (US) and 401k, along with paid time off and sick time). With private salons you have more freedom with rules usually but you are at the mercy of the owner of the shop. As someone else said the animal industry and grooming attracts weirdos, so sometimes you wind up with some difficult coworkers.

I love what I do and plan to do it as long as my body holds up for it, but there's no denying that it's a challenging job. I knew what I was in for as I had worked in pet retail for 10 or so years on and off and have friends that are groomers. As long as you go in understanding that it can be difficult and not just playing with puppies all day (as some people think), you can definitely make the switch.
 
@barnabasp I also have ADHD and grooming is hands down the best job I’ve ever had. Similar to you, it is the longest I’ve kept a job with no plans of leaving it behind. I could never stick with any jobs in the past! I have my struggles and it can be hard at times, but overall it feels like a perfect fit for the way my brain functions.
 
@daleviewrd You're making 60k a year and you think that you'll be able to do that grooming? You won't. Not for a long time.

We don't get paid like that at all.

You also have to be very physically fit or else you will live in daily pain.

Don't do it. Get a hobby instead.
 
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