Grooming Courses

[B-Q]

i posted in another forums but forgot this one is probably where i shouldve put it.

i am looking to do a grooming course 2009. thought i'd start research now. can anyone give me a hand on a good one?

[Guest kitakins]

whatever you do, dont go to tafe.

[B-Q]

not a good course?

[witheverythingiam]

whatever you do, dont go to tafe.

Which TAFE course are you referring to Kitakins? the ACE (night classes) one, or Cert IV Companion Animal Services?

-WithEverythingIAm

[shmoo]

the best experience you can get grooming is to work at a salon. watch who you work for thou because alot of groomers who one salons are not very good.

where abouts do you live busterlove?

[B-Q]

on the cunshine coast. up in the hinterland of the coloundra shire atm but looknig at moving to the noosa or maroochy shire in the next few weeks. i'll be close to the coast so hopefully close to some decent salons

[Just Midol]

DO NOT move to the Maroochy shire. Not a dog friendly shire.

[BC]

As Shmoo said, the best experience you can get is at a grooming salon.

I know of a salon in Melbourne that runs courses for a week (costs a bit) but it is very hands on from day 1 and you dont just learn the basics, but all specific breed clips etc, as dogs are constantly coming in all day every day. You also learn how to look after all of your equipment and learn dog handling skills for all different temperaments.

You will need to do some reasearch though, and find a salon with a good reputaion and see if they can offer some sort of training for you.

[Guest kitakins]

whatever you do, dont go to tafe.

Which TAFE course are you referring to Kitakins? the ACE (night classes) one, or Cert IV Companion Animal Services?

-WithEverythingIAm

night classes

[B-Q]

DO NOT move to the Maroochy shire. Not a dog friendly shire.

i was readin up on the dog laws and i heard their not relaly dog friendly. but mainly just tough laws and stuff. what is it that makes them so not dog friendly?

we've already decided probably noosa because it just seems nicer

[Dogsfevr]

I guess the firs question would be what are you hoping to learn from the course & are you wanting to become a groomer or just do your own dogs.

This can also assist in help

[shmoo]

I ask because I will be leaving my salon in October and she is looking for a replacement. She will be willing to train the right person from bathing to grooming.

eta: the salon is in Manly.

Edited May 12, 2007 by shmoo

[witheverythingiam]

whatever you do, dont go to tafe.

Which TAFE course are you referring to Kitakins? the ACE (night classes) one, or Cert IV Companion Animal Services?

-WithEverythingIAm

night classes

Well you get what you pay for. No wonder you don't recommend the TAFE courses. Perhaps you should give Cert IV CAS a go then? Here's a link to Box Hill TAFE's

Cert IV Companion Animal Services (Pet Grooming)

Of course most states would have their own local TAFE offering in capital city.

-WithEverythingIAm

[B-Q]

I guess the firs question would be what are you hoping to learn from the course & are you wanting to become a groomer or just do your own dogs.

This can also assist in help

i'd be looking at grooming as a career. i'm willing to put in the effort because i know it pays to be good at what you do. i've seen my mum do that. she does really well in her field. she is really well respected because she's good at what she does. so its not like i just think it would be fun to shave dogs all day. lol

but my auntie did it for a long time to. and i loved wathing her. i'd sweep the floor for her and stuff.

and i'm not really hugley interested in owning dogs that have huge grooming requirements, poodles, schnauzers. or like anything for show. so yeah, it would be a career move.

[Guest kitakins]

whatever you do, dont go to tafe.

Which TAFE course are you referring to Kitakins? the ACE (night classes) one, or Cert IV Companion Animal Services?

-WithEverythingIAm

night classes

Well you get what you pay for. No wonder you don't recommend the TAFE courses. Perhaps you should give Cert IV CAS a go then? Here's a link to Box Hill TAFE's

Cert IV Companion Animal Services (Pet Grooming)

Of course most states would have their own local TAFE offering in capital city.

-WithEverythingIAm

yeah, you do get what you pay for. but i at least expected a teacher with basic grooming knowledge. the day she brought in her own dog for a demonstration i was horrified. a muddy, matted dog with a flea infestation companion animal services is a no go. ive applied for that a couple of times before and i dont come anywhere near the minimum entry score id prefer to work one on one with a groomer anyways. more hands on, more attention. ;)

[ShesaLikeableBiBear]

Shmoo, the OP has stated that she lives on the Sunshine Coast, near Caloundra ;)

Busterlove apart from what Witheverythingiam has posted for you, i.e. Box Hill TAFE . the only other course here is held at Nambour TAFE and is for people wanting to groom their own dogs.

If your aunty did it for a long time, can she not give you some background skills?.

[B-Q]

she lives in NSW and i don't see her very often. plus, she's having a bit of a mid life crisis i think atm. so i dunno.

i think i'll look for a good salon sounds promising. lol

[charmbug]

Does anyone know how the correspondence courses work?

I've seen a few different ones advertised and don't understand how they teach via correspondence or online???

I realize there is probably a dvd, but that still would be hard to learn how to groom properly. In all other aspects I love online courses because of the convenience. I would love to hear from anyone who has studied a canine course this way?

Some of the salon courses are thousands of dollars for a few weeks so it seems to be a hard entry point. There does appear to be more courses available in NSW than Qld so perhaps if you don't find a vacancy at a salon, you could save up and shout yourself a holoiday while you train? It would be great if the RSPCA and other shelters ran less expensive courses in grooming, this could be a way of subsidising funding and getting all their dogs groomed and luring in more volunteers (assuming they need more?).

[BC]

I would steer clear of any grooming courses by correspondence. The reason being dog grooming is more about dog handling skills etc. Anyone can clip hair off a dog, but learning how to handle the dogs, the scissoring skills, the correct shapes, the areas of the dog that can be cut easily, all needs to be hands on. It looks easy watching, and listening to what people say, but when it comes down to actually doing it, it can be hard yakka.

Some dogs are aggressive, some wiggle all the time, some are scared, such as puppies for the first time, some always try to lie down. If every dog would stand up, nice and still and let you clip their legs, feet and face without moving, it would be easy peasy, but this is not ususally the case. (mind you, some dogs are brilliant and do just stand there)

Cheers

[charmbug]

I would steer clear of any grooming courses by correspondence. The reason being dog grooming is more about dog handling skills etc. Anyone can clip hair off a dog, but learning how to handle the dogs, the scissoring skills, the correct shapes, the areas of the dog that can be cut easily, all needs to be hands on. It looks easy watching, and listening to what people say, but when it comes down to actually doing it, it can be hard yakka.

Some dogs are aggressive, some wiggle all the time, some are scared, such as puppies for the first time, some always try to lie down. If every dog would stand up, nice and still and let you clip their legs, feet and face without moving, it would be easy peasy, but this is not ususally the case. (mind you, some dogs are brilliant and do just stand there)

Cheers

You're right BC Lover, I've only ever clipped my own dogs and they included one perfect stand still Lhasa, one gets bored easy and wants to play or lie down schnauzer and one mutt who is pretty good until you get to the face then she whips it all over the place, clippers, scissors, combs - anything. I couldn't imagine learning how to handle those or a dog that goes a bit mental and tries to bite over a video. Mind you, I do enjoy watching the ones on youtube - there is a good one on there showing how hard it is even for a professional to handle a Lhasa Apso that goes ballistic and tries to eat the groomers hands. Perhaps those correspondence courses expect you to undertake some work experience as well, although if you are going to arrange your own work experience, then you may as well learn there as well and wouldn't need the correspondence course.