I have decided that a career involving dogs would be ideal for me because I love dogs. Making a dogs life better by helping getting rid of dead hair and clipping their nails sounds like a good deal to me. Some breeds have fur that, if allowed to grow without attention, can become matted and even painful for the dog. I met once an Afghan Hound named Bono whose fur was in such a terrible condition, that the fur formed a thick cover of matted fur that probably pulled and pinched his skin in painful ways. I heard that his old owner had never brushed him and it really showed. After Bono’s dead and matted fur was removed I understood that he turned into a more confident dog.
I can imagine that I don’t want to ever see such a case appear in the grooming salon I will be working in the future. Not because I don’t want to trim a dog whose fur is in such disgusting condition but because it is infuriating to see their owners treat their dogs like that. This is especially true for people who buy or adopt breeds that need daily brushing and bathing regularly. Yes, an Afghan Hound is a gorgeous dog, but have you seen the amount of fur it has? Even I, who is just now stepping into the world of grooming, know that a dogs coat won’t magically stay gorgeous and look up to breed standards.
The idea of grooming a dog sounds fun but I will certainly have to obtain a lot of confidence for this career path. Mostly because groomers do not only make dogs look fabulous, they also clip their nails. Nail clipping is a scary procedure for me. I’ve owned rabbits and they also need their nails clipped or they grow into horrible lengths and can break, causing bleeding or in a worst case scenario be completely torn off. I’ll probably get over that by actually working with dogs and just taking it slowly so my mind is at ease during the procedure.
To anyone who doesn’t know: Clipping a dog’s nail too short you can damage the nerve inside the nail. It will bleed a lot and it is very painful to the dog. So if you clip your dog’s nails yourself, please be careful!
Hair trimming scares me a bit too. What if I cut the dog’s skin? What if I burn a dog’s skin with the hairdryer? I know it is stupid to worry so before I have even begun training. But these are valid thoughts at least. If I do something wrong the dog can be traumatized and reminded of the pain and unpleasantries during his or her every visit to the groomer. But again, it’s something I will probably get over if I work with dogs.
While grooming might not be the final career path for me regarding dogs, it’s still a start and it gives me an opportunity to work with dogs. I can also help shelter dogs by making them pretty so superficial adopters will fall in love with them instead of ignoring perfectly lovely dogs that just are dying to get a new home.
Right now I’m just looking through the sheer amount of brushes dog groomers use and scratch my head confusedly. Let’s hope I can learn this dog groomer language!
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