150 hours of grooming school is not enough to be a groomer

[juidog]

I want people to know that I made a big mistake and I only have myself to blame. I'm ashamed and embarassed. PLEASE do your research and be aware before spending alot of money as I did. It was too late when I realized it. 150 HOURS of schooling is NOT ENOUGH to be a GROOMER.

Hopefully with the contacts I made on this site I can begin to move forward. I want to especially thank Marilyn (aka Bubblesaway) for all her support, direction and kindness. Her knowledge and contacts within this profession have shown me that there are real groomers who take they're jobs seriously and not just take people's money. I also want to thank Shirley who I met through Bubblesaway who was kind enough to take me under her wing.

Thanks for listening.

[Jacksmom052709]

Please tell me why 150 hours of grooming school is not enough? I am considering taking classes via the internet and would definitely not get 150 hours of schooling. Thanks!

[4Sibes]

Stick w/ it! This site has been the source of more than 1 answered prayer and support!
(Not to mention the friends gained along the way!)

[Admin]

Yes indeed. SOME schools have cut back hours because they get BATTERED by students that they cannot afford more. I cannot tell you how many career seekers have told me that same thing, I can only do this many hours, make a course that way, or I won't go!

OMG.

What can I say? Since 1997 our career pages at PG.com have always advised the same as Melissa Verplank and other that 600 hours or thereabouts is appropriate and if you cannot do that, well 300 can be acceptable.

So it's good to hear your voice to add to ours to find a way to do at least 300 and get all the more you can.

Further, even 600 hours be realistic and know that you need plenty more experience and what a wonder it is today to have this board and its members, and the amazing number of DVDs mentioned at www.petgroomerads.com/books.htm. It wasn't long ago that the number was DVDs or videos was drastically less.

[puppy love]

I just figured up how many hours I attended grooming school and it was approx 640 hours. That was a combination of classwork & watching videos and hands on training and grooming. After I graduated I was fairly comfortable starting out, everyone is nervous to start with, but I felt prepared & ready.

Juidog, what type of schooling did you take? Was it a school where you actually got hands on training and practice grooming dogs?

[juidog]

Jacksmom, I sent you a message. Go work for someone for free as I did for a couple of weeks. You will see the work it takes to be a groomer. From bathing,blowdrying and grooming a dog who doesn't want any part of it. Its hard work . You must have a lot of patients because some dogs are scare, old or were mistreated at some point. Whichever the case they deserve a loving touch just like a baby does so it can be very stressful but also very rewarding. Just let them know you care.

[juidog]

to puppylove:

It was a hands on school,basically I did the same dogs every other week. It wasn't reality of grooming.

[LexPauline]

I'm glad everything worked out for you

No, that is hardly enough to become a qualified bather IMO. Hours? it took me years upon years to be able to groom without someone going over my dogs and I believe this is how it should be. Now if you are only in it for the money and could careless what the finished result is then I suppose 150 hours could do(maybe), but I am assuming most of these people being mislead feel quite the opposite. It's a real shame. I have interviewed sooo many Grooming school 'graduates' and not even one was able to groom by their self. Most had no clue and didn't even have the basics like brushing bathing and drying down. One insisted that she MUST wash every dog head to toe with Johnson and Johnson baby shampoo! I explained to her politely that she was misinformed. She cried and exclaimed to me how important it was because her "teacher" was the BEST and told her there was to be no exception or she would have her graduation certificate revoked. What ****. She cried even more when I wouldn't allow her to do a demo dog. Apparently most of these schools are run by people who are not qualified to groom yet alone teach. The last season of GHI had a Grooming school TEACHER who had absolutely NO clue how to groom! This is yet another issue in desperate need of regulation.

[Mollyclizbe]

I think you should stay with it.
Find a shop where you can get more training,
and not waste your money.
Trust me, there are people out there who will help you.

[odette]

we had so called grooming school here for a long time, the only good thing to come out of it, for me, anyway is i met a wonderful person who is now a friend. no groomer would hire from this school,because the retraining was to hard, this lady comes in from the school and had never seen a dog grooomed! any way she came in and watched and boy did she learn! 2 groomers to watch, never had used a hv, stand dryer,....the school is history, and I personaly after aloong time feel like i know nothing some days. hang in there, you at least know it is not enough, and will make a good ,if not great groomer.

[Jedd]

I've already come to the conclusion that I need some serious training myself. So after the first of the year I may be lucky enough to have a woman who is a former Nash graduate, former Groom Team USA member and a master certified groomer mentor me. If she is unable to, then I will probably apply to Nash myself. Either way, if I intend on making this my career, I've got to do it right. My goal is to be considered one of the best groomers in the area. This may take awhile but I won't be satisfied with anything less. (or at least I'll be mauled to death trying

[MydogMissy]

There are a lot of fine schools that provide a solid foundation. Don't lump them all together.

[juidog]

To Mydogmissy:
My intention is not to lump all schools together or to offend anyone. I was just sharing my experience. I do believe in my heart after 150 hours I can't go out and be a respectable groomer. If anything that came out of this is that I'm proud of myself for recognizing it. I would be doing the profession and the dogs an injustice.

[puppy love]

I guess I was one of the lucky ones, the school I attended was taught by 3 CMG's and when we got to the hands on part of the training, each day we had to do a different breed or style, start to finish with the instructors giving advice and observing. When we were finished, they inspected our grooms with a fine tooth comb and we had to correct any faults. We got a variety of often matted yorkies, shih tzus and malteses to brush out to full coat or put into cute clips, OAY shavedowns, shaggy mutts in need of a makeover, bath & brushes, and breed specific clips.

For our finals we had to do 4 breeds, their choice and their style. I got a poodle, a schnauzer, a full coated cocker, and a bichon. Since I went straight into mobile business for myself after school was finished I am really grateful that they were as thorough as they were or I would not have been prepared.

Dont give up Juidog, find a good shop that you can work at and and learn the areas that were not covered in your school. You have too much invested in it now to not go all the way.

[Yorkie_Gal]

My two cents.........for what it's worth.

I learned via online.............excellent source for the technical, but I had to have the confidence to work on the dogs all by myself, kinda going at it blindly(that was my "hands on") The ONLY reason I opted for the online training was because life's circumstanced didn't afford me to "go to" school, and because of a brain injury I suffered in a car accident, I was afraid I wouldn't stick with it and fail(which at that time wouldn've been devastating to me). I also was lucky enough to find a groomer of 30 plus years to work with once a week, and mentor me. I now have a decent clientel, and have people whom drive quite a distance so I can groom their dogs............BUT, I believe I've done this the hard way!!!! If I could turn back time, I would find away to go to school. My journey to where I am now has been long and damn hard!!!! I have many books, many videos, and have read SO many posts on this board to get tricks of the trade. I wish you luck, and if grooming is what you want, if it's a passion, it'll work out for you!!!!! This board is an invaluable source for sure!!!!! Do what you can to succeed, you won't regret it!!!!

Vicki