This month marks one year of being a groomer! 🥹🐾 Just wanted to share a few of my recent grooms. I still have so much to learn, but I’m proud of how far I’ve come and excited to keep improving. Grooming definitely has its challenging days, but seeing everything come together is so rewarding—especially when I start a groom thinking, “How on earth am I going to get this done?” and somehow pull it off

Hello, I’m about 2 months into training so I’m v new to grooming and need some advice! I can really see myself doing dog grooming, I love dogs and I do in general really enjoy it. But every dog I’ve had to groom has been insanely fidgety or scared. They hate the dryer and are trying to bite at it, they’re shaking so much the table is wobbling, pulling their feet away when I’m brushing/drying/trimming their legs and it’s making me feel really stressed out and like I’m abusing them for a few hours😂 I look around at other people in my class and everyone’s dog is standing still 🫩 is it me? Have I just been ‘unlucky’ with my first lot of dogs? Any tips or advice I’d appreciate thank youuu

I know it’s good experience because 90% of dogs probably don’t want to be put in the bath and be groomed but i feel like I’m not learning anything and just doing what I can 😂

Finally made my move out of the corporate world of dog grooming and I’m struggling with feeling like the dogs I’m washing are getting really cleaned. We use dilution bottles at this new salon, and I don’t think we technically use them correctly? I’m not sure. I thought the idea of diluted shampoos was to apply the diluted shampoo directly to dry coat, but they wet the coat and then add the shampoo, does that make any difference?

Anyways, anyone have tips on how to more properly use diluted bottles of shampoo to clean dogs? I’m using like a bottle and a half for bigger dogs and one or less for small dogs and I’m definitely struggling with the adjustment. I rinse, apply shampoo, scrub, rinse a little bit just to get more moisture in the coat, then apply a little extra shampoo and rinse it all off then prep.

To be fair, my shears are pretty dull so that could be part of why I’m feeling like my baths suck, but I’m at a total loss lol. Sharpener comes next week tho

I’ve been grooming for 2 years. I caused more injuries while working in a salon due to the nerves of being watched, being on a schedule created by someone else, and just regular anxiety. Now I groom by myself 1:1 working for myself in a shed. I went a good while with no injuries besides a quik, which imo doesn’t count, despite it obviously being something to avoid as much as possible.

Lately I’ve had several minor injuries happen and it makes me feel so horrible. I worry about losing the client, that the dog won’t trust me anymore, and of course that I caused them pain.

I don’t rush. Sometimes a client rushes me, but most of the time I overestimate the time needed by 30 mins give or take. I’m an anxious person though, so sometimes I’m tense.

How often do you cause injuries? I feel like a bad groomer for how often the little ones happen. When I say the little ones I mean a cut that doesn’t bleed much and stops before the owner picks up. Ones that you question if you should even tell the owner.. (is that just me?). Not because I want to be untruthful, but because I’m scared to lose them. I fear people will just think I was rushing or didn’t care enough.

TLDR; How often do you cause minor (or any) injuries?

I’m looking for recommendations on a quality tub and good velocity dryer within Canada or that can be shipped to Canada.

After a recent move I have enough space in my house to start grooming from home. I was grooming a few years ago and absolutely fell in love with it and am very eager to get back to it.

Hey folks! I am just getting back into the grooming game after a while doing other jobs. I have always used Skout's Honor gallons - having great experiences with long lasting scent, good effects even on sensitive skin, effective cleansing, leaving coats soft, all that jazz.

Now that I'm back, I see that Skout's Honor no longer sells gallons at ALL, which is infuriating, but nothing I can change. I see all different kinds of product recs on here, but is there anyone else that used Skout's Honor that has a decent alternative they like? I'm hoping for similar experiences, since Skout's Honor felt like a fantastic every-dog, every-day shampoo and conditioner, rather than having 15 different shampoos for different coats and purposes.

I am hoping there is someone else out there who also used this stuff who found something else they can compare it to - otherwise I'm back on the journey of finding a shampoo that meets all my standards. Again. ):

just wanted to share my submission for our salons pumpkin contest this year! i know the words are a little hard to read, oopsies lol👻

I saw this question awhile ago online and the answers were hilarious. Let’s try it again!

hi! at my salon we use glass contraptions with barbicide in them (like a 1:10 barbicide to water ratio) to clean our guard combs and whatever else we can fit in there that’s metal or hard plastic like combs etc at the end of the day. idk how effective it is at sanitizing things but alas. after putting my guard combs in particular in there for a couple of weeks i’ve noticed that there’s this annoying residue in between the teeth (tines? idk what they’re called). it’s normally tinted greenish from the barbicide but this time it was more white because the dog i was working on was bright white and i guess the hair mixed in or something idk. but my former supervisor told me if i put the guard combs in boiling water it would get rid of the residue so i tried that and it literally warped all of them rendering them unusable so i had to get a new set and it didn’t even effectively clean them really at all. long story short how can i get rid of this annoying nonsense without ruining the guard combs besides sitting there with q tips for a hundred years? thanks in advance.

I’m a very new baby groomer and my boss is wanting me to talk/handle clients soon and while that’s no problem, I’m a little paranoid because I’m afraid I won’t say the right things or handle something correctly. I’ve not dealt with a lot of customer service in any job that I’ve had and I’m coming to Reddit in hopes for some advice on what to say or do in certain scenarios that I’m about to list below so I can be mentally and fully prepared 😂 because I also know not all clients are easy to deal with.

scenarios on what to say/do:

- if the clients dog is super matted but they don’t want it to be shaved

- if the haircut is wrong and not what the asked for

- if an accident happens that causes an injury from something super minor to something severe

- if the dog’s behavior is too much to be groomed

Really just any advice and help on dealing with clients in general will be super appreciated. Thank you! 😁

I work at a locally-owned salon that almost certainly pays better and has a better work environment than most others in the area, but we are struggling to make contact with groomers and bathers that might be interested in working here through places like Indeed.

We have the most success when groomers at other shops do get hired here and bring most of their coworkers with them (since we pay/treat better). I have been tempted to loiter outside a chain or other salon and discreetly pass out business cards, but I know that is bad business practice and possibly illegal??

If you were working at a salon and open to the idea of working elsewhere, how could we reach out to you in a professional capacity? Where do all the groomers look for job postings?

I know this has been asked before but the posts ive found are from years ago and I wanted to see if people had different answers in 2026. What is your favorite slicker brush for fluff drying? What am I looking for that makes a brush good for fluff drying? I've seen there are flexible slicker brushes are these good for fluff drying? I'm a baby groomer and i'm finally getting to move to a proper salon and I am so excited but trying to get some more equipment together! TIA

when i still had my salon (Purewag, Sammamish/Redmond WA, sold it a while back) the reviews that stuck with me werent really the ones about the cut looking perfect

it was the ones where people said their dog used to freak out at groomers and then somehow came back calm. like actually relaxed. that felt like a bigger win than a fluffy finish tbh

curious if other groomers feel the same. is that your favorite kind of feedback too or do you care more about the aesthetic stuff

I recently decided that, after 20 years, it’s time to step out of grooming and I have a ton of almost new tools I’d like to sell. Does anyone have any recommendations as to where to advertise them? I live in a pretty rural part of Montana USA, so local isn’t really an option. Thanks!

Hi I need some advice!
I’m currently in level 2 paragon. It’s been frustrating and awful the whole way through and I continuously get behind with the pressure of my boss demoting my pay.
The sourcing of my own dogs to practice on has been terrible. Between me and the groomer, he has to make his money but I do too.
My mentor seems to not be as available as they made it seem when I initially started with level 1. Other than family and friends how are we finding dogs? I’ve dropped coupons off everywhere, random stores nearby, dog parks, etc. I even applied to a few volunteer grooming positions at local shelters and still nothing.
I’m starting to not have faith that I will get through, even when I have photos to submit- they don’t pass. Which would be not as stressful if I had dogs coming in.

Please help

I have a Bichon Frise who is my love, and I want to buy some brushes that help me goom him. He is 9 months old.

I am from Argentina, and I want to import them from Amazon USA, which has better options than in my country. However, not all of the products are shipped to Argentina.

I have identified these options:

https://www.amazon.com/Doodle-Brush-Slicker-Dogs-Goldendoodle/dp/B0CVQDKP8K/

https://www.amazon.com/Slicker-Brush-Massage-Grooming-Stainless/dp/B0B2NC69PN/

Which either work? For the second option, I see Flat or Curved, and then Small, Medium, Big. Which option is best? Any better types? Thanks!!!!

Hello,

I am a new groomer trainee at a corporate salon. I have been dealing with some salon mean girls as of late. Ex. Dropping stuff on purpose, making me pick up after them, stealing dogs from my schedule, gaining up on me, switching up on me out of nowhere, the list goes on. I’ve been testing them a little bit lately by asking them questions to see if they will give me the wrong answer, and more than half the time they do. I don’t understand why people have to be such big bully’s at this grown of age. What is your guy’s advice on dealing with mean salon bully’s? I can’t just quit because I have a contract that I have to work for them at least a year. And I don’t want to quit either because I love this career and I love animals.

*EDIT*

I just got let go. I’m going to try and be as vague as possible without revealing too much. So starting out at this salon, everyone seemed very welcoming and warm at the start, but it almost seemed too good to be true. The mentor that I was assigned became very quick to snap and just overall rude whenever I asked questions. She was also very short with the dogs. I understand that animals can test your patience but this was beyond that. She would yell, swear, and sometimes even slap them. I brought it to the attention to one of the managers, and everything went downhill from there. I switched mentored twice before I got let go.

Today I got let go because “my training style requires more hands on training and they can’t offer that.” Is what the reason was, but I call BS. From the fake niceness to the backstabbing, to animal mistreatment, the list goes on. I’m honestly glad I’m out of there. Again I can’t go two much into detail, but just know that it was a shitshow. Honestly, this has ruined any opportunity of me wanting to become a groomer. I love dogs and other animals, but I can’t stand to see them getting mistreated, both by clients and other groomers.

I’m doing this foster girl and her brother today. Wondering if y’all have any ideas for how I can make her face look cute? She’s got pretty awful hair to work with, something between a Yorkie and a Shih Tzu. I was thinking maybe I could give her those cute shaved ears? If it helps, I’m doing either a 5 or 7 on her body, haven’t decided yet but I’m leaning towards the 5. Let me know your thoughts!! Thank you :)

I get a lot of doodles and other mixes with very straight hair on the muzzle and for me it’s the hardest to do. The owners always want a “teddy bear face” and I don’t know how to make it look blended and nice. I feel like it always looks choppy. I think it’s 1000% harder than a nice poofy muzzle! Any tips/links to good videos? Thanks!

I hear so many stories of groomers with chronic wrist/hand conditions like arthritis or carpal tunnel from grooming. What ways can I be proactive to prevent this? I am an artist and don't want to destroy my hands doing this job

Also any back or core strengthening exercises at the gym that can help as well?

If the independent build is at the same level of quality why would you pay the premium that way n tails and hanvey have?

ive had a LOT of bad experiences so far at the current chain im at (chuck and dons). i figured it would be like petsmart and it is in a lot of ways but my manager is just evil. this man is demonic.

ive been doing 5-6 consistently just fine, and with the corpo high volume scheduling you'd think 3-4 hours is to be expected, at least w my experience w petsmart. but my manager sits me down today and says i can't tell clients 3-4 anymore, just 2-3. keep in mind, he wants me at 7-9 dogs eventually. so i tell him i'm confused as to what the goals are for me. cos the more dogs i have, the longer it will take for each dog since i am working on multiple at the same time!

he says that a competent groomer will have no problem completing this many dogs with these scheduling parameters. and that is when i tell him i am not the groomer for this company then and put in my two weeks.

i hate drifting between salons but it seems like they all go to shit eventually. alas, i'm back on indeed. 🫩