Monday, April 26, 2004
The First Idea, Part III (Reality Sets In)
As I've said, I thought housecall grooming was an excellent place to start. But Valerie shared her wisdom and opened my eyes to common sense problems that I hadn't considered. I'm going to paste most of her email here for the edification of anyone else thinking about jumping in this way.
"OK I think as a good starting point, you should come see the shop, and maybe work with me for a couple days to decide if this is really what you want to do. I hate to be discouraging, but there's some problems with your plans that I wouldn't be fair if I didn't bring up discussion about. I require a certain level of commitment before starting this! LOL
First would be your choice of wanting to do housecall grooming. I have done it, years ago. It is probably the most difficult way to groom pets. First, let me tell you, many pets do not like being groomed, no matter how well you treat them. They are afraid of the bath, afraid of the blower, and often have had bad experiences with their nails being trimmed too short, or matting being brushed out, and it just leaves many with bad feelings about grooming. In housecall grooming, you are in THEIR territory. This makes you the intruder, and many will be worse behaved at home than they would be away from it. You would also have to deal with Mommy cooing to them while you work, and often this makes it next to impossible to groom them as they are being rewarded for bad behavior. You also will have to physically carry MUCH equipment with you everywhere. Minimum would be a table, grooming arm, dryer and hand tools. You will also not be able to have the best equipment to work with as some of it, like a hydraulic table or a LIPS system, is not portable.
Second is your age. While there is nothing wrong with learning to groom at 40 or even 50 it is HARD physical work. I strongly recommend considering working in a shop environment especially as you are not 20 anymore! LOL Please don't take offense at this, it is a simple fact that many groomers get out of grooming due to back, shoulder or other physical injuries due to the nature of our work. Bending over a home tub to bathe even ONE dog I can't even do anymore at all. SO from my experience, I would really think you need to consider working in either your own shop or with others when you are done learning.
Third problem. Once you leave my instruction, you will know basic grooming skills. There is SO much to learn in grooming, you would really benefit from working for an extended period of time with other groomers. Working alone, you have no one to help hold an ornery pet, no one to help wrestle a big guy into a tub he doesn't want to go in, and no one to ask about the correct lines on a Wheaten Terrier (or any other not so common breed) as none ever came in the shop while you were there. I feel I was in training for the first 10 years I groomed! Now I intend to have my apprentice better educated than I was, but there is still only so much you can learn in a year's time.
Aside from that.. part time is doable. Flexibility is one thing this job offers to a huge degree. You will need to buy your basic tools to work with. But you will need to decide which tools (with some help from me & possibly your groomer friends and the list) you need to buy to begin with. Basic tools will include:
* Clippers (brand of your choice, but I recommend Laube's)
* Blades.. one of each of these sizes: 10, 9, 5F, 4F, 3F and two 7F blades
* Scissors, both straight and curved, recommend you start with 81/2"
* Nail clippers
* Slicker brush and comb
* I Coat King or similar tool for dematting
* hemostats for ear plucking
* grooming noose
* All breed grooming guide, Notes From The Grooming Table
* AKC Complete Dog Book, which will tell you the standards for their recognized breeds
I can provide all consumables, like shampoos, conditioners, finishing sprays, ear powders. I do have a grooming table and arm you could use at my shop, but eventually you will need to buy your own. The extra one I have is adjustable leg, but not THAT adjustable and you may find you have too much back pain to use it and need a hydraulic one with ultimate adjust ability for the dogs height you would be working on.
Now, a lot of her warnings I knew about. But I wasn't applying my knowledge of dogs to the notion of being a housecall groomer. My older Dalmatian, Cassidy, is a case in point supporting Valerie's first problem. Cass is a real pain in the ass when it comes to getting her nails trimmed. When I do it, she carries on like I'm doing a quadruple amputation without anesthetic. Howling, crying, wiggling... you name it. Not like I've ever quicked her, either - her nails are white and it's easy to miss the bloodsupply. So I take her to the vet, pay them for it, and it's snipsnip and done. She just does not carry on for other people the way she does when I do it. I know that dogs act differently in their turf than in someone else's, too. But I just hadn't considered that when I had the idea in my head.
The equipment was another matter. I envisioned myself with a folding card-table kind of thing, and a toolbox with grooming equipment. Easy to pack, easy to transport. Right? That's because I had never actually been into a grooming shop, and had no idea of the equipment that's available to make the job quicker, easier, safer, and more thorough. Maybe housecall grooming isn't the right thing for me, after all?
"OK I think as a good starting point, you should come see the shop, and maybe work with me for a couple days to decide if this is really what you want to do. I hate to be discouraging, but there's some problems with your plans that I wouldn't be fair if I didn't bring up discussion about. I require a certain level of commitment before starting this! LOL
First would be your choice of wanting to do housecall grooming. I have done it, years ago. It is probably the most difficult way to groom pets. First, let me tell you, many pets do not like being groomed, no matter how well you treat them. They are afraid of the bath, afraid of the blower, and often have had bad experiences with their nails being trimmed too short, or matting being brushed out, and it just leaves many with bad feelings about grooming. In housecall grooming, you are in THEIR territory. This makes you the intruder, and many will be worse behaved at home than they would be away from it. You would also have to deal with Mommy cooing to them while you work, and often this makes it next to impossible to groom them as they are being rewarded for bad behavior. You also will have to physically carry MUCH equipment with you everywhere. Minimum would be a table, grooming arm, dryer and hand tools. You will also not be able to have the best equipment to work with as some of it, like a hydraulic table or a LIPS system, is not portable.
Second is your age. While there is nothing wrong with learning to groom at 40 or even 50 it is HARD physical work. I strongly recommend considering working in a shop environment especially as you are not 20 anymore! LOL Please don't take offense at this, it is a simple fact that many groomers get out of grooming due to back, shoulder or other physical injuries due to the nature of our work. Bending over a home tub to bathe even ONE dog I can't even do anymore at all. SO from my experience, I would really think you need to consider working in either your own shop or with others when you are done learning.
Third problem. Once you leave my instruction, you will know basic grooming skills. There is SO much to learn in grooming, you would really benefit from working for an extended period of time with other groomers. Working alone, you have no one to help hold an ornery pet, no one to help wrestle a big guy into a tub he doesn't want to go in, and no one to ask about the correct lines on a Wheaten Terrier (or any other not so common breed) as none ever came in the shop while you were there. I feel I was in training for the first 10 years I groomed! Now I intend to have my apprentice better educated than I was, but there is still only so much you can learn in a year's time.
Aside from that.. part time is doable. Flexibility is one thing this job offers to a huge degree. You will need to buy your basic tools to work with. But you will need to decide which tools (with some help from me & possibly your groomer friends and the list) you need to buy to begin with. Basic tools will include:
* Clippers (brand of your choice, but I recommend Laube's)
* Blades.. one of each of these sizes: 10, 9, 5F, 4F, 3F and two 7F blades
* Scissors, both straight and curved, recommend you start with 81/2"
* Nail clippers
* Slicker brush and comb
* I Coat King or similar tool for dematting
* hemostats for ear plucking
* grooming noose
* All breed grooming guide, Notes From The Grooming Table
* AKC Complete Dog Book, which will tell you the standards for their recognized breeds
I can provide all consumables, like shampoos, conditioners, finishing sprays, ear powders. I do have a grooming table and arm you could use at my shop, but eventually you will need to buy your own. The extra one I have is adjustable leg, but not THAT adjustable and you may find you have too much back pain to use it and need a hydraulic one with ultimate adjust ability for the dogs height you would be working on.
Now, a lot of her warnings I knew about. But I wasn't applying my knowledge of dogs to the notion of being a housecall groomer. My older Dalmatian, Cassidy, is a case in point supporting Valerie's first problem. Cass is a real pain in the ass when it comes to getting her nails trimmed. When I do it, she carries on like I'm doing a quadruple amputation without anesthetic. Howling, crying, wiggling... you name it. Not like I've ever quicked her, either - her nails are white and it's easy to miss the bloodsupply. So I take her to the vet, pay them for it, and it's snipsnip and done. She just does not carry on for other people the way she does when I do it. I know that dogs act differently in their turf than in someone else's, too. But I just hadn't considered that when I had the idea in my head.
The equipment was another matter. I envisioned myself with a folding card-table kind of thing, and a toolbox with grooming equipment. Easy to pack, easy to transport. Right? That's because I had never actually been into a grooming shop, and had no idea of the equipment that's available to make the job quicker, easier, safer, and more thorough. Maybe housecall grooming isn't the right thing for me, after all?
