My Dog Grooming Career: 3 Common Salon Hazards

As most of you know (or will come to know), a dog grooming career isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes, obstacles are thrown your way and you have to be smart about how you deal with them. Before you start grooming in a professional setting, it’s important that you first have the knowledge necessary to spot and avoid hazards. This way, you can keep yourself, your client’s dog, and others in your salon safe.

In this blog, I discuss a few of the most common hazards you may come across in a dog grooming salon. These hazards may be relevant to dogs or people – but all the same, they’re critical to know as you begin your dog grooming career!

3 Common Salon Hazards You’ll Encounter Throughout Your Dog Grooming Career

1 – Rising Tables and Elevated Tubs

Rising tables and elevated tubs are two of the most common things used in our salon. You might be thinking: Why are they a hazard? Well, if not used properly for the type of dog you are grooming, it can put you and the dog in a potentially dangerous situation.

Rising Tables

We use rising tables for two primary purposes. Firstly, we groom our clients’ dogs on them. However, we also use rising tables to dry dogs, too. This piece of equipment is not so much an issue when grooming the dogs, but it can be when we dry them.

If the dog doesn’t like the high velocity dryer, they’ll often try to get away from it. This means they’re now attempting to get OFF the table. The problem is, rising tables have a loop that goes around the dog’s neck and is meant to keep them in place.

I’m sure you can see where the huge hazard lies: the dog can tip the table, fly off the edge, and accidentally hang themselves or break their neck.

This is where proper training makes all the difference in your dog grooming career. You need to know how to read your client’s dog. This way, you’ll be able to best determine whether you should dry them on the table or on the floor. This can prevent a potentially disastrous situation!

If it’s a big dog and/or you’re in doubt about which option to choose, I usually start drying them on the ground and see how they do. I’ll then try to move them up to the table if I see that they’re okay.

Elevated Tubs

When it comes to elevated tubs, the simple path is for your client’s dog to get in and out using the steps connected directly to the tub. But with some dogs, that’s not always the case. Some like to leap out of the tub at a moment’s notice. This could be a hazard because they’re wet, thereby causing water to fly everywhere.

You might be trying to gently help them out of the tub, but sometimes they’ll catch you off guard and want to do it their way. In other scenarios, your client’s dog may actually require help, for one reason or another (i.e. they’re scared of the water, they have limited mobility, etc.). If you feel you can’t safely remove them from the tub on your own, never hesitate to ask for help from your colleagues.

2 – Kennel Dryers

I’m not sure if a lot of salons use kennel dryers, but we use them at our salon when dogs are still damp. Throughout my dog grooming career, I’ve heard good and bad things about kennel dryers. That being said, we’ve never had an issue ourselves.

But it’s important to remember that you always need to monitor the dog while kennel dryers are being used on them. They could overheat, which is never good. Additionally, if the dryer is blowing on one area of their body for too long, the dog can easily get burned.

With equipment such as this, it’s always important to keep a watchful eye on the situation.

I’m not saying you have to sit by the kennel 24/7 just so you can watch them. Rather, it’s simply a matter of peeping in on them if you’re walking by or have a break. Even if I didn’t groom the dog myself, I’ll look out for them either way.

Pro Tip: Extra caution must be taken for certain breeds, such as with pugs, frenchies, etc. Some dog breeds come with irregular breathing patterns and/or health issues, and a kennel dryer can make them worse. I don’t usually put those breeds in a kennel with the dryer if I don’t have to.

3 – Wet Floors

Okay, this one might seem like a silly hazard to be wary of in the work place, but it’s up there on my list for a reason!

In your dog grooming career, you’ll often be working with water. You’ll regularly be bathing dogs, disinfecting surfaces and equipment, and mopping floors. These things can all make for a slippery mess, which can be a potential danger for you, your co-workers, customers, and even the dogs.

In my own dog grooming career, I’ve had times where I’ve slipped on wet floors. In fact, I’ve had to change my runners for that very reason. I’ve also heard stories about dogs hurting themselves by running on wet floors. Just hearing stories like that makes me want to be very careful about big, wet spots on the floors of my own salon.

I would hate for something to happen to one of our furry clients! After grooming bigger dogs especially, you’ll most likely find me sweeping up around the tub and table area; getting it ready and safe to use for the next person.

As you can see, there are plenty of potential hazards in a dog grooming salon – and I only covered 3 of them! You absolutely must be aware of them, and be capable of reading a situation before it becomes a problem.

Have safety check-lists and cleaning lists as well. Make sure everyone working is on the same page, so you’re not throwing anyone into a situation they have no idea how to handle. Above all else, make sure YOU’RE as prepared as possible by getting professional training at the start of your dog grooming career!

Be safe and happy grooming!

Start your dog grooming career in as little as 3-6 months by enrolling in QC Pet Studies’ Dog Grooming Course today!