I Owe, I Owe, Its Off To Work I Go

[tngirl]

Hope you guys enjoy your day while I am at work slaving away!!! :mad: lol. I would say that I have an easy day today at work....but when working with animals I have learned not to actually believe that. Never fails that when you think "hey, this is an easy groom" the dog is an idiot and it takes you twice as long to get it done....lol

Once again, I am not complaining.....I am truly thankful that I have a job!!! :D

[Angel Lips]

have fun, and hope its a easy day for you.

[kelly12569]

After we moved, I still drive 45 minutes each way to go back to the same groomer. We have 5 cocker spaniels and I REALLY need to start cutting them myself but only one of them will let me. Although the other 4 dont give our groomer any grief :rolleyes: I guess its just me...lol

She makes a killing off of us though. I just had Molly in there and that was $35 plus I left her a $5 tip and the week before that I had 3 others in there and she got $120.00 from me that day :eek: And she was booked full of dogs that day! Sure wish I had the skill and patience to do what you do!

sorry to ramble and get OT...

Hope the poochies go easy on ya today :)

[tngirl]

We don't get the full amount that we charge. We charge $46 for a cocker (extra if it is too matted) and we only get 60%. The rest the clinic gets for overhead and so they can make a bit of money too. Most shops the groomer only gets 50%. People always comment on how much we charge to groom their pet...but you have to remember...these pets have teeth and claws and some of them can try the patience of a saint. oh yeah, we lie to the owners too.... :D "ahhh, she is such a sweet dog!" ...lmao!

Also, our equipment is very expensive and we have to furnish all of that ourself, plus pay for the upkeep. It cost me $5 for each blade or scissor that I have sharpened. A decent pair of scissors can run from $60 - $200 or more depending on the length and brand/quality. Lord forgive if a pair hits the floor, hopefully the repair guy can fix them...usually they can't be fixed because the jar of hitting the floor totally messes them up. One day I had just gotten my stuff back from the blade guy and a dog knocked a pair of scissors off my table...knocked them clean out of whack!

Grooming is hard work!! And I am getting too old to work this hard....lol...but hey...the money is good so I keep on trudging along... :D For the most part I love what I do, it is hard to believe that I actually love animals. On days when the dogs are being especially trying....I can be heard walking around, "I hate dogs!", but I really don't mean... :) I always get stuck with the "special needs" dogs and the senior dogs. Like the schnauzer with the nuerosis....while he is boarding or in for grooming....you have to keep his collar and leash in view at ALL times or the dog goes whacko....go figure..lol

[stresseater]

This would be a dream job for me. Do you go to a school to learn how or is it trial and eror. Just curious :)

[tngirl]

I started off working at Petco (boy what a nightmare job) and that is where I learned. There are a few grooming shops out there that are willing to train you, but you start at the bottom being a bather...you can't groom a dog until you know how to do a great job bathing (and it ain't as simple as you may thing...lol).

I went to a 3 week training course in Nashville with the company. Didn't really learn much there. I paid 3 wks for a hotel and learned how to bath and shave a dog (I already knew both, but had to start the program from the beginning). I then went back to my store where the grooming manager was to teach me the "patterns" and such.

There are grooming schools around but if you find one they are normally VERY expensive. The hardest part is having to buy all of this equipment in the beginning when you are not making any money. I went through my training making $6 an hour. With a regular grooming school, you don't get paid. I am hoping to start my own shop in the near future and I thought about having classes to teach people to groom their own dog or maybe even just a grooming school.

There are some "grooming" schools (that is what they call themselves anyway) that will teach you grooming by sending you a bunch of books and expect you to learn that way....never even touching a dog....lol. I recently met a girl that was doing just that....she actually thought she was learning to groom.

Hmmm, maybe I should go ahead and start that grooming school....lol. I have an extra bedroom....lol. I can charge to teach you and charge you room and board....sounds like a plan to me!!! :D