Start Your Educational Plan

Begin your educational plan by considering these questions. After studying this chapter you should be able to form specific answers.

• Which educational format is right for you? School, home study, apprenticeship or training program?
• Does your educational plan support your overall career path in grooming?
• Are you willing or able to travel out of your residential area to attend school?
• If you attend a grooming school, how many school hours do you plan to take?
• If you plan to be self-employed where is your small business management training?

Let’s start with some general guidelines:

• Grooming school curriculums vary greatly; never assume you will get the same grooming education and experience regardless of what school you attend.
• Most U.S. states require vocational schools to meet regulations to operate in their respective states, but state governments do not closely evaluate the effectiveness of curricula. Instead they collect information about the owners, instructors and proposed operation for reasonability and then monitor the institutions for complaints. Take your time when choosing a school! Selecting a school based simply on the factor that it is the closest one to you can be detrimental in the long run. Study their backgrounds, course offerings, facilities and talk with successful graduates.
• Home study is a viable entry-level method to enter the pet grooming industry. There are career seekers living in states without one school and unable to travel. Home study is a great solution for them. In fact, taking home study courses while still a career seeker is a good way to ensure you want to become a groomer. Similar to the state of affairs with schools, home study programs are not all the same. Solid home study programs provide ample opportunity for communication with them while taking courses, and often afterwards. Study the programs carefully before you purchase one. Unlike a school you will have to find pets to practice your hands-on grooming exercises. Recognize the fact that you will still want continuing education after completing home study, and graduates of grooming schools need to maintain that recognition as well.
• School programs are usually based on hours. The rule of thumb is to take as many hours of training as possible. Everyone should experience some classroom time but it’s the hands-on experience that should interest you greatly. Not all hands-on training is the same. Consider these questions. Do you have to share pets consistently with other students? Are a wide variety of breeds and mixed breeds available? How much supervision and reinforcement is provided? More questions are provided ahead in this chapter.

Your education is not done once you complete a vocational school program, home study program or even an apprenticeship. You can expect to expand and refine your skills for several years. Yes, years.

Consider how many breeds and mixed breed variations you will groom, and the differences in many of them, how could you expect to "master" pet grooming quickly. You cannot.

Your initial education should prepare you for employment but never adopt the attitude that continuing education won't be a part of your working life. It will if you are to live up truly to the term "professional" pet groomer. Fortunately the sources for continuing education are substantial today including at home study with books and DVDs by acclaimed groomers, as well as seminars and workshops by associations and trade show producers.

When you create your educational plan divide it into 2 phases. Your initial phase is prior employment or self-employment, and the second phase is continuing education plans for several years thereafter. During your time in the grooming industry you will meet groomers that acquire continuing education, and others that don't. Putting it bluntly, the level of their continuing education will show in their work.

Click the Next bone to learn how to select a school.