All about the groomer profession

Groomer services are very popular among pet owners. This is due to the fact that most decorative breeds need regular haircuts, brushing their teeth, caring for their hair and nails. In this regard, interest in the profession of groomer is steadily growing. Many people would like to master this difficult, but at the same time interesting and creative craft.

The term "groomer" is a derivative of the word "grooming", denoting actions aimed at cleaning the coat of the body of the animal by bathing or washing. In the modern world, they call a groomer a person caring for the hair and skin of an animal. Skillful work of such a specialist is especially important when preparing a pet for exhibitions, as well as when caring for problem hair, requiring regular and painstaking combing or trimming.

The formation of the groomer profession took place in Britain, where the content of poodles, a breed that requires regular haircuts, became fashionable. This contributed to the active discovery of canine circulators and an increase in the number of specialists. Later, owners of other breeds began to apply for hygiene procedures for their pets, and after some time, owners of cats.

Today, you can use the services of a groomer in a beauty salon or come to a specialist at home. At the request of the client, salon workers themselves go to him, however, due to the large dimensions of professional equipment (tables, restraints), this can be difficult.In addition, shearing an animal requires a special room and compliance with special sanitary standards, which is rather problematic to provide in an ordinary living room.

Some professional groomers can handle all kinds of animals and are able to carry out all the procedures on their own. However, you can rarely meet a specialist with a wide profile, and most masters specialize in one kind of service.

Today, there are several types of grooming, each of which requires special skills and pursues certain goals.

• Classic grooming called a hygienic haircut of the animal with the removal of hair around the eyes, ears and paws.
• Stripping called the removal of wool with a sharp knife, while maintaining the general structure of the coat and plucking old hair.
• Rolling is one of the varieties of stripping and is a regular artificial molting of the animal.
• Flatfork they call a pet's haircut with the formation of sections of wool of different lengths.
• Clipper called the uniform short grooming of cats and dogs.
• Trimming It is a popular hygienic procedure and consists in plucking wool to thin it.
• Creative They call a number of measures for dyeing wool, braiding, tying bows and other similar procedures.

The growing interest in the profession of groomer is due to a number of indisputable advantages of this difficult, but an interesting craft.

• Regular communication with pets gives a powerful charge of positive energy, which in the most positive way affects the mental health of a person.
• Opportunity to develop your own business with minimal starting capital, no need to rent a production room and quick payback of equipment purchased for work, the groomer profession is very popular in youth circles.
• With a responsible attitude to work and a desire to comprehend new techniques and methods, experience is accumulating fast enough, which allows the master to acquire a constant clientele and be confident in the future.
• A serious business approach and attention to each client guarantee a good income. Even at the beginning of their career, specialists without experience are able to earn up to 20,000 rubles a month.
• Most groomers work as individual entrepreneurs and accept customers at home. This allows them to set a flexible schedule and work part-time.
• Professional masters often become Groom course managers receiving additional income to the main income.

However, along with a lot of obvious advantages, the profession still has minuses. So, contrary to the common belief that the work of a dog and cat hairdresser is simple and tireless, the profession of a groomer is very difficult and in terms of injury is immediately after such professions as a policeman and an employee of the rescue service. The master spends most of the working day in the company of animals, often having no idea about the rules of behavior and struggling to protest against cutting or washing.

In addition, many owners between visits to the hairdresser do not even bother with minimal care for the pet’s hair, not to mention its claws, teeth and eyes. Often even owners of exhibition animals sin that bring their wards on the eve of performances with dirty and knocked down wool.

Another problem faced by groomers is diseases of their four-legged clients with various infections, many of which are easily transmitted to humans and require long-term treatment. So, groomers more often than others suffer from trichophytosis and helminthiosis, pick up skin diseases and are subject to flea attacks. After a flea customer, the groomer is forced to carry out a general disinfection of the room using fairly aggressive means, which also does not add to the health professional.

The back gets a big load. The master has to spend hours in unnatural poses in order to cut off inaccessible places on the animal’s body, as well as to bathe him in the bath while being in an uncomfortable position for some time. Here you can add the bloody corns from scissors that arise when working with too overgrown animals, when you have to win literally every hair from the warlocks.

Work categorically does not suit allergy sufferers, since during the haircut, the air in the room is filled with puffs of wool, which can cause an asthma attack or other manifestations of an allergic nature. However, the most significant disadvantage of the profession, many masters call inappropriate behavior of some owners. There are frequent cases of dissatisfaction with a pet's haircut, even if it was brought in an absolutely neglected form, and the groomer was forced to literally pull out wool from a solid cone for several hours in a row.

There are frequent cases of refusal to pay for a service, and sometimes even to take a dog home. Not a very pleasant moment is the likelihood of accidental injury to the animal during the procedures. In this regard, the master should always have a first-aid kit on hand and be ready to stop the bleeding, treat the wound and communicate with the owners of the animal.

A professional groomer is not only cutting animals. The master must be able to trim the hair and comb out the tangles, brush his teeth and cut his claws, cut off the excess hair between the pads of the paws and color the claws and coat of the animal at the request of the owner. In addition, the responsibilities of the groomer include bathing the pet, comprehensive care for the eyes and ears, as well as cutting patterns, braiding and styling.

However, the latest trends in dog and cat fashion present more serious requirements for groomers. So, today the procedures of wrapping, ozone therapy, massage, aromatherapy and rubbing creams are very popular. No less in demand drawing tattoos and coloring of animal hair in different colors.

As for the technical side of the issue, the groomer must be well versed in the types of wool and know which tool is suitable for this or that kind. It should also keep the equipment clean, regularly disinfect scissors, combs and other devices, know the proportions of the dilution of chemicals and monitor the cleanliness and sterility of the room. To do this, the groomer must equip his office in accordance with sanitary standards, equip good ventilation and remove any soft objects from the room.

Disinfection of the table, mopping, window sills and other hard surfaces should be carried out after each client. In addition, the groomer must be registered as an individual entrepreneur or self-employed person.

Despite its popularity and relevance, the profession of a groomer is not suitable for everyone.Therefore, before deciding on the choice of a specialty, you should find out what qualities and skills a groomer-professional should have, and really assess your abilities.

The most important and indispensable quality of the future groomer is love for animals. Pets are very keenly aware of the absence of this state of mind, and therefore are reluctant to make contact with such a person. In addition to love, the master should have a good knowledge of zoopsychology and the behavioral characteristics of each breed. This will help to avoid misunderstandings when working with four-legged clients and eliminate injuries.

Besides, The groomer should be patient, stress-resistant, positive and sociable. The latter quality is especially important, since any animal has a master, and the continuation of further cooperation will depend on personal relationships with it. Also groomer obliged to be neat and pedantic, have a good eye, have an excellent taste and have a sense of proportion.

A good specialist must constantly improve his skills, attend exhibitions and seminars, carefully monitor fashion trends, and also monitor technological changes, the appearance on the market of new tools and skin and hair care products. An important professional quality, oddly enough, is some composure and the ability to do their job well in any conditions.

This is due to the fact that Groomers are often invited to final preparation of the animal immediately before the exhibition, when the master has to do his job literally in the field and with a constantly distracted and spinning animal. Experienced groomer must have some knowledge in veterinary medicinein order to promptly indicate to the owners any deviations in the pet’s health, especially regarding skin, eye and ear diseases, the beginning of which, due to a lack of experience, may not be noticed by the owners.

The first specialized education in the specialty of groomer does not currently exist, and numerous training centers are involved in the training of specialists in this profile. Initial skills can be obtained by getting a student in the salon, as well as attending master classes by professional groomers. Further growth depends on the desire and ability of the student and involves passing specialized courses and obtaining the appropriate document on additional education.

This point is especially important for those who plan to get a job in a salon, since in the absence of a diploma you can be refused. The best option would be to obtain a veterinary education with subsequent groomer specialization in the training center. Such masters are valued especially highly and do not experience problems with employment. Dog training is also welcome and greatly simplifies the mastery of the groomer profession.

The duration of the courses varies depending on the specialization and is 95-100 academic hours. After completing the training, the student receives the qualification of a universal hairdresser and can begin independent activity. There are also shorter courses, more reminiscent of training, the duration of which does not exceed 50 hours. Graduates of express courses receive a narrower specialization, for example, a dog hairdresser.

The salary of a groomer depends on work experience, reputation, the size of the locality, the list of services and the location of the activity. For example, a specialist working at home, living in a metropolis and having a regular customer base, is able to earn over 60,000 rubles a month.The salary of a novice master in the salon will be about 15-20 thousand rubles. Domestic craftsmen living in small towns and providing a diverse range of services receive about 30-35 thousand rubles a month, and rural specialists - 18-20 thousand.

However, it should be noted that these figures are quite subjective and cannot be considered as final wages. The groomer’s income depends on many third-party factors, such as seasonality, frequency of exhibitions and solvency of the population.

As you can see, becoming a groomer is not very difficult, numerous courses and trainings will certainly help in this, it is much more difficult in the conditions of high competition to start your own business from scratch and become a good specialist. Most experienced masters recommend starting their journey in the hairdressing field in budget beauty salons. Customers in such establishments are not too picky and often bring pets for hygienic haircuts and ear cleaning, rather than preparing for exhibitions.

The absence of nervousness and the calm nature of the work make it possible to get a hand in and gain invaluable experience, after which it will be possible to try your hand at a more prestigious salon or as a home-based master. During his work in the salon, a beginner groomer masters various techniques of performing cosmetic procedures, studies the features of working with a tool and tries to build up a minimum client base, if possible, so that at the first stage of independent activity there will not be significant material difficulties.

If you decide to work independently, The groomer must register with the tax authorities and become familiar with the documentation procedure. Then you should purchase the necessary equipment and tools, prepare the premises, place an advertisement in the “Services” section and wait for the call, and then the visit of your first shaggy customers.