QC Pet Studies graduate Casey Bechard works as a full-time dog groomer and shop manager at Off The Leash Pet Grooming in Regina, Canada. Today, she talks all about her dog grooming career resolutions for 2019.
After the celebrations and glitz of the New Year, there’s always a little voice in the back of everyone’s head saying, “What are my goals for this next year, and how can I reach them?”
Your goals can be with anything from work to your personal life to your health—whatever it might be, always go full force. This blog post is all about where this New Year might take me and the exciting things that are happening at the shop I work at!
Keep reading for my New Year’s resolutions!
Dog grooming career-shaping resolutions
This past year has been a whirlwind for my career as a dog groomer. I became a certified dog groomer earlier in the year and haven’t looked back since. This New Year is all about growing within my abilities. From learning new things, challenging myself, and just having more fun with it all!
It’s always a goal of mine to always keep learning as I know there is always something more to learn in this industry. I am always watching new grooming videos or looking up some new way to do a certain style or haircut. I love going to conferences/workshops and learning new things there as well. Everyone does something different with their grooms and seeing their own best practices in a workshop is fascinating. You can always take bits and pieces from what they show back with you!
Attending more dog grooming shows
In the coming year my team and I have decided to do another trip to SuperZoo, the largest pet grooming show in the US. I am looking forward to this trip, to learn more and to pick workshops that best fit my grooming style and my interests. They literally have workshops on everything! They have people demonstrating cuts, discussing skin problems, talking about the health of the dog, anything!
I highly recommend going to this show, even if you’re a newbie groomer or have been grooming for 10 years. It is so worth it. I am excited to be going back with more grooming experience than before and adding to my overall knowledge.
Learn more about breed styling
Another thing I would like to work on in the New Year would be to work on more breed standard dogs. I have done a good amount of breed standard cuts, but I still feel nervous doing them because I don’t do them a lot.
Just recently, I had a cocker spaniel come in, and they wanted a breed standard cut. I had never done a breed standard cut on a that breed before, so that was a challenge! I’m always looking up how to do certain cuts and styles. But when the time comes to actually use my knowledge in a groom, I panic and think I don’t know what I’m doing, but I know it’s just all in my head. So I really want to start working on that a bit more and jump at the chance to do breed standard cuts instead of shying away from them.
Growing my responsibilities as a dog grooming shop manager
Being a shop manager can be tough but rewarding. This is the first time I’ve had the opportunity to be in this type of position. I would love to learn more about the business side of a grooming salon, like how to keep clients up-to-date with new trends and making them want to come into the shop. Or even learn how to start a side pet grooming business from home. Another one would be to learn how to deal with complaints more easily. Specifically focusing on what to say and how to handle the situation when one arises.
Grooming shop plans
With working in a shop setting, you’re always around people. People to help you if you’re stuck on what to do with a dog, people to tell you that your dog’s ears look uneven. I love having that help and support from the other groomers. I know in the coming year we have some exciting ideas to improve our shop.
We, as a team, are always looking to improve our grooming skills and how we can run our shop more smoothly, as well. I know one of our biggest hopes in the coming year is to expand or find a bigger shop! With our shop team growing (groomers, employees and more dogs!) we are starting to outgrow our current location. It would be a huge plus to have more room to conduct our grooms and accommodate more doggies in the building.
We’re always looking for new and ambitious groomers or people who are willing to take a dog grooming course after they’ve been hired as well. We love being able to teach people how to groom a dog, how it can help the dog and all the styles and techniques out there. So, hopefully, with a bigger building comes new groomers!
Overall, making this New Year great in our working environment is all I can ask for. Learning lots, connecting with our clients and our co-workers, and just enjoying being a dog groomer. I can’t wait to see what’s 2019 brings!
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