Please note the Paragon School of Pet Grooming in Michigan has resumed onsite instruction, but now offers distance learning for new career groomers as well as mentoring tools for those teaching groomers, such as employers.

http://www.paragonpetschool.com

Both Paragon Distance Learning Programs, Career Edition & Salon Mentoring Edition, are the most complete and comprehensive correspondence courses developed for the pet grooming industry. It represents the culmination over 30 years of real-world experience from master stylist Melissa Verplank and her team of exceptional pet groomers and trainers. The foundation of the Paragon Distance Learning Programs is the award winning books, Notes From the Grooming Table and Theory of Five, written by Melissa Verplank. With almost 500 pages of information and diagrams, these manuals are organized in an easy-to-understand format covering all aspects of professional pet grooming in detail. Notes From the Grooming Table has become the "Bible" of the pet grooming industry. That’s why successful pet groomers and stylists use Notes From the Grooming Table combined with its sister book, Theory of Five to establish successful grooming techniques in the shortest time possible.

Distance Learning Career Program

The Distance Learning Career Program is designed to fit the needs of highly motivated and confident individuals who have access to practice pets outside of the Paragon training center. Focus is on assisting students to become comfortable with pets, equipment and techniques necessary to become competent in a professional grooming setting. Students gather valuable, self-mentoring information that will allow them to achieve their professional goals with time and practice. Students concentrate on basic pet grooming of dogs including brushing, combing, clipping nails, cleaning ears, bathing, drying techniques, clipper and scissor finishing techniques as well as proper pattern setting for various breeds. Emphasis is placed on perfecting grooming skills while concentrating on proper breed profile, increasing speed, efficiency and developing maximum grooming potential. It is a comprehensive instructional package created to help you start a career as a professional pet groomer. The training focuses on a total of six text books to give you a systematic education on pet handling, official AKC breed standard information, canine terminology and pet grooming techniques. Complementing the text books is the Paragon Pet Styling DVD Series. Ms. Verplank and the Paragon Training Team of Certified Master Groomers and contest winning stylists will clearly show you how to execute the techniques outlined in Notes From the Grooming Table using a wide variety of pets in this DVD set. Included with your programs are the Paragon Workbooks that will guide you step-by step through each level of training. This 3 part course can be completed in as little as 6 weeks or you can study at your own pace for up to 18 months for the three part course. The Paragon Pet Grooming Workbook will systematically guide you through the entire program at the pace you choose for yourself. Upon successful completion, you will have the knowledge necessary to begin grooming pets as a professional pet groomer.

Salon Mentoring Program

The Salon Mentoring Program is designed for the busy salon owner. Melissa created this program to give salon owners a comprehensive system to help train employees using the best teaching methods and tools. The program is designed to let you, the salon owner have a highly organized and logical training system to instruct your employees. This system, The Paragon Pet Styling System gives you the books, study guides and DVD’s to quickly teach, test and monitor your employees progress. More importantly it gives you a complete library of the best available information today. The mentoring program is based on all of Melissa’s knowledge and expertise from training thousands of groomers and competitive stylists.