Full-time jobs, family responsibilities, and unexpected events pull us in a million directions. If you have your sights set on a dog grooming career, it can seem downright impossible to make time to train and practice.
Here’s a secret – you can actually become a groomer online! It shouldn’t come as a surprise that so many dog grooming schools have started offering online courses. After all, we’re all busy, and need a convenient and effective way to learn.
So what are the benefits of taking a dog grooming course online? Stick with us as we run through 6 perks of sharpening your dog grooming skills (and scissors) from home!
1. Gain confidence
We’re starting off our list with a point that we know caught your attention! After all, who wants to be insecure and unsure? Especially when pursuing a career that you’ve been dreaming about for years?
One highlight of enrolling in an online dog grooming course is how prepared you’ll be for your career. Dog grooming classes will not only teach you how to properly bathe and brush dogs, they’ll also equip you with tools to handle emergency situations, work with untrained dogs, check animals for health issues, and keep your furry clients calm in the salon.
In the case of an online course, you’ll receive personalized feedback from your tutors on each of your assignments. This means you can refine your techniques and knowledge every step of the way. Not only will you be a certified dog groomer at the end of your course, you’ll also have confidence in the fact that you can respond professionally to any situation. You’ll be much more likely to enjoy your career and put your clients at ease!
2. Learn on your own time
We know how discouraging it can be to feel like you don’t have any time for a course. Because of your full-time job and other commitments, it can seem impossible to make time to pursue the career you really want.
But with online dog grooming courses, you actually can work around a busy schedule!
The majority of students who enroll in courses online actually keep their full-time jobs. That’s the beauty of learning from home and on your own schedule! Online courses, by nature, are very flexible. As a student, you can create your own schedule and not have to worry about attending class at a fixed time, or handing in assignments by a certain deadline. You can go at your own pace, review your notes and feedback as many times as you need, and eliminate the stress you’d have to deal with rushing to in-person classes.
Plus, most dog grooming schools offer an extended timeframe so you can mould your course to your current lifestyle. For example, QC gives you a full three years to complete your grooming course, which brings us to our next perk…
3. Set your own timeline
Just because you’re given a number of years to complete your dog grooming course doesn’t mean you can’t finish it sooner! If you’re keen to get your dog grooming certification and start your career quickly, simply create a schedule for yourself that will allow you to do so. And it’s totally doable – the average student in an online grooming course finishes their studies within 6 months to a year, which means that they can start their career much sooner than the three years that’s actually given to them to complete the course.
Online dog grooming courses are very career-forward, as students can graduate sooner and start their careers faster. No deadlines on your grooming assignments and full access to your course materials means that you can fly through the course at your own speed. Depending on your priorities and how much time you can devote to studying each week, you could very well start marketing your services sooner than you think!
4. Save money
It can be extremely disheartening to try and juggle your priorities as well as new career training. Figuring out how to pay for your course is another cause for discouragement, as it can be very tricky to find room in a tight budget for tuition. Believe it or not, enrolling in a dog grooming course online will actually allow you to save money – these courses generally cost less than in-class courses, due to the fact that online schools often don’t have a physical campus which allows them to keep costs low.
If you’re holding down a full-time job while trying to obtain your dog grooming certification, this will be music to your ears! An added bonus? Online schools offer a number of different payment plans that make it even easier to become a dog groomer.
5. Have time to practice
When it comes to making the most of your dog groomer training, it all comes down to practice. Practice your skills every chance you get – whether it’s brushing, trimming, or bathing, you need to understand the ins and outs of every action you perform as a groomer. You also need to understand different breeds, as you’ll eventually be spending your days facing a number of situations and working on a variety of dogs.
Online dog grooming courses are so flexible that you’ll have time to not only complete your assignments, but also attempt them more than once. In fact, we recommend not submitting your first assignment attempts, and instead grooming a number of dogs and becoming confident, comfortable, and competent in the process.
Without any assignment deadlines, and plenty of time to complete your course, you can really cultivate your grooming skills and practice more. This is a massive perk of taking a dog grooming course online!
6. Get access to discounts and materials
In order to find the best dog grooming course for your own interests and career goals, you’ll need to do some research. As you go about looking for the right one, we strongly recommend choosing a school that offers resources to its students in the form of discounts, starter kits, reference guides, and of course, a student support system.
Starting a new career is not easy, so many schools have included amazing starter kits with their courses which include clippers, scissors, and grooming tools such as combs and brushes. As essential as these items are for students beginning their dog grooming career, it can be expensive to build and maintain these supplies, so it’s important to find a school that offers discounts. These will be incredibly helpful to you throughout your career – you’ll always need grooming supplies, and know you’ll get them for a fraction of the price!
Take the time to research what different dog grooming schools have to offer, and be sure you’re making the right choice for YOUR career.