Speed Grooming

Ever since I started working in the dog grooming industry, it's been all about the speed. Get the dog in, get it out, get the next one in and done, fast fast fast, in and out. Sometimes it felt like a factory line.

I've never been a fast groomer. I never really had the opportunity to build my speed. I was always too slow, so someone else had to finish the groom and I couldn't build the speed because I wasn't doing enough dogs.

When I opened my salon, for every new dog that came through my door, I blocked out three hours for them whether it was a yorkie in for a bath, or a massive matted cockapoo. It takes time to learn how long the dogs are going to take, and to get to know them with regards to what they tolerate etc. On top of that, I want some time in the salon to be fun for them and not be all about the grooming.

One day last week, I had a really bad day. For some reason, I put a lot of pressure on myself to get the dogs done faster (Even though no one is pressurising me?? It's literally just me being an arse to myself) So I felt under pressure for no reason, leading to panic grooming. This ultimately made the groom slower, I fell behind, and this obviously lead to more panic and back around we went.

I went home, I cried, I smoked a cigarette (I've been off them for months!) and was just a big moany gurn for a few days.

Today, I went into the salon. It's my day off, but I booked one dog in because I am closed on Saturday. I decided right, no rush. Let's nail the prep and nail the groom. I took 2 hours and 45 minutes with Susu the Cockapoo and she is the best groom I've ever done. It helped that she's a superstar to groom with a beautiful coat, but let's pretend it was all on me.

Maybe in a few years, I'll be able to do cockapoos and the like in no time at all while still maintaining the quality, but for now, I'm happy to be known as the slow groomer.

When dogs (particularly new dogs) come into my salon, I spend about 10 to 15 minutes playing and getting to know them. I like them to have this time at the end as well, so there's half an hour gone already. The dog might be in my salon for a while, but it's not sitting in a crate or standing on the table for three hours. It's in having the craic with my three. Also, on rare occasions, I like to have lunch, and it's better timewise to have lunch in the middle of a groom and giving the dog a break, instead of blocking out time for it.

So, if you're looking for a groomer where the dog is in and out in a hour, I'm not the groomer for you. And that's okay! There are plenty of fast groomers that will groom to a high standard, and I know plenty I can recommend if that's what you are looking for. But for me personally, to get that good quality groom everyone is looking for, I need that little bit of extra time and that's okay too.

My salon is a holistic style salon, providing a calm and relaxed environment for your dog and I just can't achieve that if I'm being a stress head about speed grooming.

Until next week

Leigh-Ann