Dog Grooming Success Stories

Laura Abrams : Furry Tails Dog Grooming Salon

Kaye fodden : K's K9 Kutz

After working in an office environment for over 30 years, I decided I needed a change.  I became interested in dog grooming after my own dog was groomed by a local dog groomer, realising it wasn’t the best cut, started to look into dog grooming courses.  I choose Anrich because I was impressed by their training methods, the set up and the environment.  You were hands on from day 2 and every day for 5 weeks, I worked on a variety of breeds all with different styles.  In addition, Anrich taught me how to set up my own business, build a web site, advertise, clean and maintain my equipment, first aid on a dog and general health checks to look out for whilst grooming the dog.  This course gave me the knowledge and confidence I needed to start my own business, the girls are always there at the end of the phone, to help and advice even when I had finished my course. 

Even though I am a single parent and had left the security of a full time job to have a complete career change, I can honestly say it was the best decision, because now I am self-employed with my own little set up in the back garden which enables me to dictate when and how many hours a day I want to work, giving me freedom to walk my own dogs daily and be at home for my children. 

If you have an interest in dogs and dog grooming, then take the plunge, because once you have a client base and word gets around, your reputation will grow too.  It really was the best move for me. 

Ray Forsaw : ParknBark Dog Grooming Salon

After being a farmer all my life I decided that it was time for a change and a new challenge and my passion for dogs led me to follow the path to become a professional dog groomer.  At home I have 4 dogs of my own Tippi a border collie, Teddy a border collie and 2 elderly West Highland Terriors Sidney and Lucy. 

I enrolled on the professional dog grooming course at Anrich and it was the best thing I have ever done. After graduating I set up a mobile dog grooming business ParknBark 2 years ago and I am delighted to say my new career has really taken off . I am fully booked and very busy.  I am doing something I really enjoy which is working with dogs, meeting people and their pets and I have the freedom of working for myself with the hours to suit me.  Going mobile with my trailer was the ideal set up for me and I love being out and about. Besides  going to the customers at home I regularly visit local caravan parks in the area  and have built up good client bases there.  I believe I have found a niche in the market for grooming the bigger breeds such as Newfoundlands ,German shepherds, Old english sheepdogs  as well as all the other breeds and no 2 days are ever the same.

It is all thanks to tutors and  the great course at Anrich. Whilst training I groomed a wide variety of dogs and we were grooming every day, it was very hands on.  The tutors and the support and guidance was  great. The set up at Anrich not only covers the grooming side it also covered advertising and setting up your own business as well as animal health care and first aid. As I had been a farmer all my life this was a huge change for me but I received loads of help and advice about advertising and setting up a website and my own business and I have never looked back. 

Here I am pictured below with one of my customers  Crufts champion the beautiful  'Zefathers What It Takes '  otherwise known as Bella who I groomed in preparation for her first showing at Crufts and she went on to scoop 3 top awards in  three categories this year. Best puppy bitch, best puppy in breed  and Reserve Champion Bitch.

Linzi Mellett : The Pet Parlour

Prior to becoming a dog groomer three years ago, I had worked as a cabin crew member for twenty sevenyears. I had been thinking of a career change for a few years, and had looked into various training courses/occupational paths with the focus on working for myself.

I absolutely love animals, particularly dogs – I had always had a family pet growing up, and am the proud owner of Syd, an adorable little maltipoo. The grooming salon where I used to take Syd was always booked up six weeks in advance, so I knew that good groomers were in demand.

When the opportunity arose for me to use an outbuiding at my parents home in Blackrod, I jumped at the chance to renovate it into a grooming salon, and began to research dog grooming courses. I looked at a few and opted for the five week course that Anrich ran. I am so glad that I did! This hand on, practical course is absolutely fantastic. From the word go you are allowed to practice bathing, preparing, clippering, nail trimming etc. At first I thought ‘I am not going to be able to do this’. This was a huge change for me! Operating a pair of clippers on a moving object was slightly scary and I was a little apprehensive. But within a matter of days I started to feel confident and relaxed. The tutors Yvette and Adele were very supportive. They were with you every step of the way, guiding you through the steps with their knowledge and expertise. I found the five week duration of the course to be just right with the adequate amount of theory and practical content. The advertising and marketing training given by James was extremely beneficial. We all came away from this training day with a wealth of knowledge on building a website and social media advertising ie designing a business facebook page.
 

One of the things I took away from the course was that dog grooming isn’t all about grooming!..... a large part of it is about dog handling, and learning that what works for one dog might not work for another. You have to be very patient and keep your cool when trying to groom a dog who doesn’t necessarily want to be groomed! I named Yvette ‘The Dog whisperer’ because she was the best dog handler I have ever come across!!

So with all this knowledge I had acquired and the training I had accomplished at Anrich, I was ready to start off on my own. I had my premises up and running for when I finished the course (purchasing my equipment during my course with the advice/recommendations given from the tutors).  I advertised on my Pet Parlour Facebook Page for models, offering free grooms for the duration of one month. Then for the next several months, after every groom, with the permission of the dogs owner, I would post a photograph and a little write up about my four legged customers that day. From here my business took off! And within nine months I had built up a customer base of just short of 200 dogs!.... and had to close my books to any new customers. I found that my customers liked the one to one, personal service I was giving and did not want to go anywhere else.

If I can give you the perks and downsides to dog grooming, starting with the downsides! Dog grooming can be challenging sometimes and is physically hard work….. you are stood on your feet all day!

The Perks…. It is really rewarding. I still get a tear in my eye seeing a delighted owners face when they pick up their sprucely groomed pooch! I have built up a wonderful relationship with my dogs owners who I know trust me implicitly.

If you choose to work for yourself, I think anyone who has been their own boss will tell you its perks. You can take time off when you want – I’ll never have to work over xmas or new year again!

So my advice to anyone thinking about becoming a dog groomer is - from one dog lover to another, we all know how much we adore our pets, so with this awareness and the excellent training provided from Anrich, along with your personal commitment, hard work and a passion to succeed, you can be as successful as I have been. Once you have a client base and word gets around, your reputation will grow and you’ll be set up for life!