Choosing the Right Dog Grooming Course for You
Online dog grooming classes can prepare you for a career as a groomer. Animal Behavior College’s program combines a comprehensive online dog grooming curriculum with real world experience. Our students get a strong foundation in grooming and graduate with confidence in their new skills.
The first nine stages of the curriculum are done online, then the 10th stage sends you out into the world for an externship. Every student gets paired up with a professional groomer to get first-hand experience.
Under the supervision of a local mentor, you’ll get a minimum of 150 hours to practice what you learned. The externship lets you see what a real groomer does on a daily basis and with your mentor there to guide you, you may get to practice scissoring, trimming, and bathing dogs.
By the time you leave the externship you (based on your personal abilities), will be able to do a full groom on your own. The externship lets you enter the grooming profession with experience and confidence.
Dog Groomer Career Earning Potential
*Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Salary.com, Zippia & Indeed.com 2024. Hourly rates may vary in your area.
Inside the ABC Dog Grooming School: What You’ll Learn
The course includes a 900+ page digital curriculum and instructional videos designed by professional groomers. Our course material is interesting and keeps your attention. Once you finish the program and earn your certification, you’re ready to start your career. We even provide our students with a 30+ piece professional grooming toolkit to help get you started.
If you need help, you’ll have a personal program manager team to step in. Our students love having individual help and give their program managers high marks.
Even after you’ve been certified as a groomer and leave ABC, you’ll always have access to updated curriculum for easy referral. Our alumni benefits also include a private job board, posting on our dog groomer directory, discounts on pet insurance, free business-building templates and forms, and more.
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Dog Grooming Course Outline: Stage-by-Stage Breakdown
Stage 1 – INTRODUCTION TO PET GROOMING – 21 Days
In order to become a certified pet groomer, you need to start with the basics. As such, this stage introduces you to the world of pet grooming; its history, its current status and its future. In addition, before you actually begin working on dogs, you need to be knowledgeable about breed groups and specific breeds. You also need to know what breed standards are and how they can affect how a breed is typically groomed, such as when a dog competes in conformation events.
Stage 2 – CANINE HEALTH – 21 Days
As an aspiring groomer, you must think beyond the quality of the groom you give. Because from start to finish of every grooming session there are standards and practices that help keep every pet who visits the facility safe from disease. This stage details these practices, which include making sure pets meet vaccination requirements; thorough check-in exams; parasite control; and dedicated and effective cleaning and disinfection at every stage of the grooming process. It develops your understanding of how vaccines work and educates you about the diseases, conditions and parasites that are most dangerous to dogs. And it teaches you how to visually assess a dog from head to tail to identify the presence of potential
Stage 3 – SAFETY – 14 Days
This stage teaches you how to reduce your risk of getting hurt at work. It educates you about procedures for keeping pets safe in the grooming facility. It also tells you what to do if a person or a pet does get injured within the grooming space. This stage also teaches you how to read a dog’s body language so you can anticipate how different dogs might react to different parts of the grooming process. Detailed instructions on how to approach and work with dogs of varied temperaments will guide you in creating safe and effective interactions.
Stage 4 – PET GROOMER’S TOOLKIT – 21 Days
This stage introduces you to the tools, equipment and products of your new trade and their specific functions. These include brushes, combs and rakes; shampoos and conditioners; clippers, trimmers and shears; grooming tables, bathing tubs and dryers; and much more. As part of this program, ABC provides you with a Groomer’s Toolkit that includes an assortment of essential grooming tools and products.
Stage 5 – CAT GROOMING – 21 Days
Grooming cats has some similarities to grooming dogs, however, depending on the breed and individual feline, it can be more difficult and time-consuming. Because of this, many groomers do not add cats to their repertoire. In this stage, you will learn about the evolution of cats, feline communication and how to brush, bathe, dry and trim cats safely and effectively.
Stage 6 – BATHING, BRUSHING AND DRYING – 28 Days
Stage 6 of our dog grooming course contains valuable information on how to properly bathe, brush and dry dogs based upon their coat type. Not all dogs have the same type of coat, so it’s important you learn about the different techniques and procedures for grooming dogs, depending on their coat.
Stage 7 – CLIPPER USE & SCISSOR CONTROL TECHNIQUES – 21 Days Two of the most common tools you’ll use in your career as a professional groomer are dog grooming clippers and shears—both of which you learn how to utilize and master in this stage. Clipper instruction includes how to properly hold dog clippers, how to complete a basic shave down as well as clipping patterns and ideas for desensitizing a puppy or dog new to grooming.
Scissoring instruction consists of how to choose the right shear and how to hold your shears as well as basic scissoring skills and finishing techniques through the use of hand-scissoring.
Stage 8 – BREED PROFILES AND MIXED-BREED STYLING – 35 Days
This stage focuses on different body styles of dogs. Once you’re knowledgeable with the different styles of cuts for a dog’s head, stomach, legs, tail, etc., you’ll learn how to incorporate them for specific breed cuts. You’ll be educated on how to complete grooming cuts for some of the most common dog breeds, including the Poodle, Shih-Tzu, Yorkshire Terrier and Schnauzer.
Stage 9 – BUILDING A PET GROOMING CAREER – 21 Days
This dog grooming stage explores the business side of the pet grooming industry. Many graduates opt to work for a pre-existing grooming facility; some, when ready, will start their own mobile or home-based business, or decide to open a brick-and-mortar salon. This stage provides you with the information to start you off in the right direction no matter which path you choose.
Additionally, this stage will provide you with the skills and information needed to work as an employee in the pet grooming industry, including resume writing, job searching skills and interviewing techniques. Please note that no school can guarantee employment after graduation.
Stage 10 – EXTERNSHIP – 150 Hours On Site
Upon reaching stage 10, you’ll be given the opportunity to reinforce your studies by practicing what you’ve learned. We believe that a hands-on component will help you develop your skills, get a better understanding of the career, and enter the profession with confidence. To that end we pair each student with a local mentor grooming facility.
The externship consists of a minimum of 150 hours of unpaid work experience, which includes dog grooming basics while assisting a professional groomer with his or her four-legged clients.
You’ll observe the inner workings of a grooming salon and their day-to-day routines. You’ll also assist the groomers based on the mentor facility’s assessment of your grooming abilities. In order to successfully complete this hands-on training portion of the program, you must perform a full groom under your mentor’s instruction.
Pet CPR and First Aid Certification
Being able to react calmly and safely in the event of an emergency is important when you work with animals. Animal Behavior College’s Pet First Aid and CPR Certification will give you the knowledge needed to respond safely and effectively to medical emergencies like choking, heat stroke, bleeding injuries, and poisonous bites from insects and snakes.
You’ll also learn how to artificially keep a pet’s heart and lungs working until you can seek veterinary help along with many other vital life-saving skills. By learning what can happen and how to respond appropriately, you may prevent many pet emergencies from ever happening and thereby help ensure the safety of not only your own pets, but also any pets in your care.
Stage 11 – GRADUATION – 14 Days
Once you have completed stages 1-10 (course work and externship) you’ll be given the Final Exam. First, you’ll be encouraged to review all of the material from the previous stages to prepare for the final. This review time is allotted for you to re-read and study the various concepts that were taught. The Final Exam is designed to test your overall knowledge of skills required to become a dog groomer and will cover all areas of the curriculum.
Why Choose ABC’s Online Dog Grooming School?
Learn Dog Grooming from the Comfort of Home
When you choose to enroll in ABC’s Grooming Instruction Program, you can keep your present job while completing your grooming training. The online portion of our dog grooming course brings the classroom to your living room, which means no added expenses will be incurred for housing at a distant dog groomer school and no time will be wasted with commuting back and forth to campus every day.
Flexible Dog Grooming Course Schedule
Our program provides you the opportunity to learn while you maintain your current job or school schedule. With this flexibility, the normal completion time is 52 weeks.
Get Support from Our Program Manager Team Throughout the Course
Although the first portion of the dog groomer program is done in the privacy of your own home, you won’t be alone. ABC’s Program Manager team will be available to you upon enrollment where they will give you the contact information for future interactions. They will be there to support, counsel, answer your questions and grade your exams as you journey through the program. Enroll in our dog grooming course today by calling 800-795-3294.
Short-Term Options for Your Dog Grooming Course
ABC offers Short Term Programs to those individuals interested in continuing their education. Although you may sign up for any of the Short Term Programs upon enrollment, you will only be granted access once you have successfully completed stage 3. This is done to ensure you have the knowledge necessary to maximize your learning experience. Check out our available Short Term Programs here and increase the skills you can offer to your clients!
