Woulfsoul has hit a great many good points about grooming. Allow me to add.............listening to constant barking, picking poop off of butts, expressing anal glands, eye goop so thick there is diaper rash on the skin under the eye, dogs who are (for no better term) neglected for a full year and THEN brough to the groomers with 5 pound mats hanging from them and reeking of urine, bending, lifting, struggling with uncooperative animals, brushing dogs who have not only been neglected for months but don't like it being done, sometimes for hours non-stop without a break, customers who can't seem to WAIT for the dog to be finished, loud dryers, HOT air that even air conditioners cannot get rid of, flying hair (was that mentioned?), biting, dogs digging to get out of the crates because they were not taught how to stay peacefully in a cage, dogs literally throwing their heads violently from side to side while you need to clip the hair off their face and then the owner complaining about why it doesn't look 100% perfect, very few (if any) shops will give any type of benefits, I barely get a lunch minute, if I take longer I would be bombarded with phone calls from impatient customers wanting their pet back, I go home totally EXHAUSTED both physically and mentally only to have to go back and do it again tomorrow.

~WHEW~

That felt good. But I an being 100% honest. You need to love dogs, you must be willing to work hard, quickly, effectively and with little reward, and except for the fact that good groomers are very hard to find and your job will probably be very secure there really are not a lot of perks.


The best things I can see about my job (besides the fact that I am good at what I do and that in itself is rewarding) are.......you don't spend a lot on work clothes, you can dress very comfortably, many times you have the ability to select your own hours, if you'd like a short day most of the time you can just schedule less clients and get out early, you can talk, joke and do silly things because most of the time the people clients are not in the shop (and the dogs won't tell on you) , I get to work with many cats (as I do the majority of them), and I enjoy that very much.

I do recommend starting as a bather (many shops will train you for this) and see if you really like doing it. Good luck.