This time of year is often a worry for groomers - will clients still have their dogs hair cut in the winter months?!
The advice that we would give to trainees here at 'The Grooming Room' is that you need to educate your clients that winter is just as important a time to keep regular grooming appointments as summer time when the weather is warmer.
As a groomer will need to tailor the haircuts that dogs are given to suit the winter months, you may find that clients are reluctant to come if they get the same short hairdo that they requested in the summer in the middle of October!! For some breeds this may mean that you use a longer clipper blade on the dogs back so that the dog stays warm, this is especially relevant to dogs that do not have a very dense coat and feel the cold in the winter months; examples of such breeds would be small terriers such as Westies, Cairns and Yorkshire terriers. Another good idea would be to perhaps find a supplier of cosy dog coats that you can have on display for sale for your clients.
With breeds such as Cocker Spaniels we have found that the wet and muddy conditions experienced this time of year mean that these poor dogs are often very wet after their daily walks and are even more prone to matting of their heavy feathers. This time of year is a good time to suggest to owners of such breeds to have the feathers taken shorter and make sure the feathers are suitably thinned out so that grooming is made easier.
Another tip is to always look after clients that visit you on a regular basis - offer them some financial incentive for being a loyal customer and they will keep coming regardless of the season!!
Monday, 19 October 2009
Wednesday, 5 August 2009
What to expect from a grooming course at The Grooming Room
Our belief is that this is a hands on profession and the way to learn to be a dog groomer and be proficient is to have practical training.
Our teaching style at The Grooming Room is to get our students actually doing the practical aspects of dog grooming right from the very first day.
Our induction day for new students consists of the guided tour of the grooming salon and teaching room, the boarding kennels, grounds, staff room and facilities available for use by students whist they are with us.
This followed by a practical demonstration by one of our instructors of a complete hairdo for one of our doggy clients to include clipping, grooming, ear and nail care, bathing, drying, scissoring - this gives students a chance to see what they will be doing on a daily basis and gives us an opportunity to explain some of the safety and handling procedures and introduce the equipment used in the grooming process.
This demonstration will fill up the morning session and then after lunch students will be given a dog to groom, trim nails, bath and dry with instruction and this will conclude day one.
Day 2 students will each be given a dog to work on and the learning really begins. We start off each day taking photos of the dogs before starting and then at the end of the day we take an 'after' photo once the haircut is complete. These photos can be kept with dairy sheets that students complete at the end of each day detailing what work was done on that particular dog and other details such as pricing and frequency of appointments. This means that students build a portfolio of the dogs they have completed on their course and this can act as a reference once they are working on their own and is also useful to show their own clients what they can expect their dogs to look like after their trim.
The instruction given to students is intensive - students will complete every aspect of the grooming process themselves. We will start by clipping or scissoring a particular area on your dog model [for example a front foot or leg] and you will then copy this on the other side of the dog, we work right the way through the dog until it is completed so you have a complete picture of how to go about grooming that particular breed. As training progresses we will encourage students to do more of the work on their own after explanation from instructors rather than demonstration. People progress at different rates; if you are a fast learner then you may well be able to complete more than 1 dog each day, if this is the case you will be provided with as many dogs as you can do to practice on! For those people who prefer a more attentive approach we are happy to allow you to take your time and will go over areas as many times as you feel you need - the teaching style is completely flexible to meet the individuals needs.
We advise a minimum of 4 weeks training - ideally 6 weeks as this gives us the opportunity to cover the most popular breeds that you are likely to meet as a dog groomer and allows time to practise the most common more than once.
If you have a particular breed of dog you want to work on - perhaps your own dog or a friends you are welcome to bring he or she as your model and there is no extra charge.
I would say our grooming courses are 95% practical - we do however allow some discussion time for subjects such as what equipment to buy, first aid, business set up information and client record taking. This is not obligatory and will be offered if students feel they would find the advice useful.
Our belief is that this is a hands on profession and the way to learn to be a dog groomer and be proficient is to have practical training.
Our teaching style at The Grooming Room is to get our students actually doing the practical aspects of dog grooming right from the very first day.
Our induction day for new students consists of the guided tour of the grooming salon and teaching room, the boarding kennels, grounds, staff room and facilities available for use by students whist they are with us.
This followed by a practical demonstration by one of our instructors of a complete hairdo for one of our doggy clients to include clipping, grooming, ear and nail care, bathing, drying, scissoring - this gives students a chance to see what they will be doing on a daily basis and gives us an opportunity to explain some of the safety and handling procedures and introduce the equipment used in the grooming process.
This demonstration will fill up the morning session and then after lunch students will be given a dog to groom, trim nails, bath and dry with instruction and this will conclude day one.
Day 2 students will each be given a dog to work on and the learning really begins. We start off each day taking photos of the dogs before starting and then at the end of the day we take an 'after' photo once the haircut is complete. These photos can be kept with dairy sheets that students complete at the end of each day detailing what work was done on that particular dog and other details such as pricing and frequency of appointments. This means that students build a portfolio of the dogs they have completed on their course and this can act as a reference once they are working on their own and is also useful to show their own clients what they can expect their dogs to look like after their trim.
The instruction given to students is intensive - students will complete every aspect of the grooming process themselves. We will start by clipping or scissoring a particular area on your dog model [for example a front foot or leg] and you will then copy this on the other side of the dog, we work right the way through the dog until it is completed so you have a complete picture of how to go about grooming that particular breed. As training progresses we will encourage students to do more of the work on their own after explanation from instructors rather than demonstration. People progress at different rates; if you are a fast learner then you may well be able to complete more than 1 dog each day, if this is the case you will be provided with as many dogs as you can do to practice on! For those people who prefer a more attentive approach we are happy to allow you to take your time and will go over areas as many times as you feel you need - the teaching style is completely flexible to meet the individuals needs.
We advise a minimum of 4 weeks training - ideally 6 weeks as this gives us the opportunity to cover the most popular breeds that you are likely to meet as a dog groomer and allows time to practise the most common more than once.
If you have a particular breed of dog you want to work on - perhaps your own dog or a friends you are welcome to bring he or she as your model and there is no extra charge.
I would say our grooming courses are 95% practical - we do however allow some discussion time for subjects such as what equipment to buy, first aid, business set up information and client record taking. This is not obligatory and will be offered if students feel they would find the advice useful.
Monday, 20 July 2009
Who can become a dog groomer?
The answer to this is quite simple - anyone can as long as they are prepared to work hard and are willing to learn new skills. We have been training people here at The Grooming Room for many years and have had students on our grooming courses from all walks of life; young and old, male and female and who have come from a huge variety of work backgrounds. We have trained teachers, administrators, people from advertising, hairdressers, bus drivers and many, many more; it is not neccesary to have experience working with animals but it is useful to be someone who can apply themselves pratically and have a fondness for our furry friends - most people who come on a grooming course have a pet dog/dogs of their own and that is usually what has given them the idea to try a career in dog grooming.
The one thing that I have found to be true is that most people do not realise what actually goes into giving a dog a haircut - they imagine super fast clippers and a quick dip in the tub and it is a surprise to them that we actually spend a great deal of time removing knots, blow drying the dogs coat and styling and scissoring the coat to finish - it is a real skill but it is so much fun to learn and gives enormous satisfaction at the end of the day when you see all your doggy customers sporting their new haircuts and the owners happy faces when they collect them.
It is hard work at times - but it is worth the effort to produce a good haircut and have reliable customers for life.
If you think you would like a career as a dog groomer it may be a good idea to join us for a taster day here at The Grooming Room - for details or to contact us you can visit our website www.thegroomingroom.co.uk
Carly Bridport
The one thing that I have found to be true is that most people do not realise what actually goes into giving a dog a haircut - they imagine super fast clippers and a quick dip in the tub and it is a surprise to them that we actually spend a great deal of time removing knots, blow drying the dogs coat and styling and scissoring the coat to finish - it is a real skill but it is so much fun to learn and gives enormous satisfaction at the end of the day when you see all your doggy customers sporting their new haircuts and the owners happy faces when they collect them.
It is hard work at times - but it is worth the effort to produce a good haircut and have reliable customers for life.
If you think you would like a career as a dog groomer it may be a good idea to join us for a taster day here at The Grooming Room - for details or to contact us you can visit our website www.thegroomingroom.co.uk
Carly Bridport
Thursday, 9 July 2009
The Grooming Room - A Potted History
Starting a new business is a huge undertaking and similarly deciding where to train for your new skill is also a big decision.
So, I felt a brief history of The Grooming Room would be a useful idea.
To introduce myself as the owner of the The Grooming Room - my name is Carly Bridport and I have been running The Grooming Room training centre and salon for the past seven years.
The Grooming Room is a relativley new name but the dog grooming training centre (formerly The Oxford Training School) has been established for over twenty years. The school was originally set up by my Mum - Stepahnie Bliss [then Jones] who has been a dog groomer since her early twenties and she has just celebrated her 60th birthady last week!
Mum was one of the first few candidates to take her City and Guilds dog grooming certificate - I took my practical exam some years later in 1995, so we both have a fair few years grooming experience to share with our students!
I took over the business solely in 2002, before this I worked as the manager and instructor of Oxford Training School and also lecturered part time in Breeds and Grooming, Animal Care and Dog Training at Abingdon and Witney College, Oxfordshire.
The Grooming Room is situated at Charney Kennels, Stanford Road, Faringdon, Oxfordshire - this is a Luxury Boarding Kennels and Cattery; services offered are boarding for dogs, cats and small animals, grooming, puppy training classes and obedience and agility training.
We also breed and show Japanese Spitz, Border Collies and Cocker Spaniels - so as you can imagine there is never a shortage of models to practice your new grooming skills on!!!
The Charney Kennels website address is: http://www.charneykennels.co.uk/
In The Grooming Room there are three members of staff myself Laura Davis and Sally Waltham who are both City and Guilds qualified - they are lovely girls and I am very lucky to have them!
We usually take 3 at most 4 students at any one time so the training is virtually 1 - 1.
Our method of teaching is almost exclusivly practical - each student has thier own dog to work on each day and if they become proficient more will be provided to work on. We aim to cover all the most popular breeds that visit grooming salons and depending on the amount of time you are able to train you will be able to work on a wider variety of breeds and re practise certain areas.
Short discussions on equipment, first aid and being self-employed are included in the course if required.
If you are interested in doing a dog grooming training course why not look at our website http://www.thegroomingroom.co.uk/dog_grooming_courses.html or give us a ring on 01367 243692 - we would be really happy to discuss dog grooming training with you.
I would like to add a note of congratulations to Donna Wardale who has just finished her 4 week grooming course and wish her all the best in her new venture.
Please see website for Donna's testimonial
Carly Bridport
So, I felt a brief history of The Grooming Room would be a useful idea.
To introduce myself as the owner of the The Grooming Room - my name is Carly Bridport and I have been running The Grooming Room training centre and salon for the past seven years.
The Grooming Room is a relativley new name but the dog grooming training centre (formerly The Oxford Training School) has been established for over twenty years. The school was originally set up by my Mum - Stepahnie Bliss [then Jones] who has been a dog groomer since her early twenties and she has just celebrated her 60th birthady last week!
Mum was one of the first few candidates to take her City and Guilds dog grooming certificate - I took my practical exam some years later in 1995, so we both have a fair few years grooming experience to share with our students!
I took over the business solely in 2002, before this I worked as the manager and instructor of Oxford Training School and also lecturered part time in Breeds and Grooming, Animal Care and Dog Training at Abingdon and Witney College, Oxfordshire.
The Grooming Room is situated at Charney Kennels, Stanford Road, Faringdon, Oxfordshire - this is a Luxury Boarding Kennels and Cattery; services offered are boarding for dogs, cats and small animals, grooming, puppy training classes and obedience and agility training.
We also breed and show Japanese Spitz, Border Collies and Cocker Spaniels - so as you can imagine there is never a shortage of models to practice your new grooming skills on!!!
The Charney Kennels website address is: http://www.charneykennels.co.uk/
In The Grooming Room there are three members of staff myself Laura Davis and Sally Waltham who are both City and Guilds qualified - they are lovely girls and I am very lucky to have them!
We usually take 3 at most 4 students at any one time so the training is virtually 1 - 1.
Our method of teaching is almost exclusivly practical - each student has thier own dog to work on each day and if they become proficient more will be provided to work on. We aim to cover all the most popular breeds that visit grooming salons and depending on the amount of time you are able to train you will be able to work on a wider variety of breeds and re practise certain areas.
Short discussions on equipment, first aid and being self-employed are included in the course if required.
If you are interested in doing a dog grooming training course why not look at our website http://www.thegroomingroom.co.uk/dog_grooming_courses.html or give us a ring on 01367 243692 - we would be really happy to discuss dog grooming training with you.
I would like to add a note of congratulations to Donna Wardale who has just finished her 4 week grooming course and wish her all the best in her new venture.
Please see website for Donna's testimonial
Carly Bridport
Wednesday, 17 June 2009
Dog Grooming Courses
Our dog grooming course aims to give you the basic knowledge, confidence and enthusiasm you will need for a career as a professional dog groomer.
Dog Grooming Training Course is offered on a week-by-week basis so you can train for one week or ten - whatever you feel you will need. For those of you who wish to run your own dog grooming business we suggest that between four and six weeks should be your minimum attendance giving you plenty of practice of dog grooming techniques and a variety of breeds to work on.
The teaching style at The Grooming Room is predominantly practical, as is the nature of the business itself. From day one you will start practical work with step-by-step instruction. Student numbers are kept low to ensure you will get all the individual attention you need.
Please visit our web site at www.thegroomingroom.co.uk for more information!! We look forward to hearing from you!!
Dog Grooming Training Course is offered on a week-by-week basis so you can train for one week or ten - whatever you feel you will need. For those of you who wish to run your own dog grooming business we suggest that between four and six weeks should be your minimum attendance giving you plenty of practice of dog grooming techniques and a variety of breeds to work on.
The teaching style at The Grooming Room is predominantly practical, as is the nature of the business itself. From day one you will start practical work with step-by-step instruction. Student numbers are kept low to ensure you will get all the individual attention you need.
Please visit our web site at www.thegroomingroom.co.uk for more information!! We look forward to hearing from you!!
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