Starting a career as a dog groomer can be fun and exciting! But if you’re not careful, it can also be on the pricey side. Thankfully, there are plenty of budget-friendly ways to start your career – without sacrificing the quality of your dog grooming training or tools!

Your Dog Grooming Training

If you want to become a dog groomer, you’ll need to find a training program that will help you get there. There are in-class dog grooming training programs, and there are online ones, too. The online dog grooming schools are usually much more affordable, and offer the same quality of education in the end. You just have to find the right school!

Most schools will allow you to pay your tuition in installments. This can be a great way to work your dog grooming training into a fixed budget. Look for a school with easy monthly payments on tuition.

But be careful! You’ll want to make sure there are no hidden fees that might unknowingly make your tuition much more expensive than the advertised price! You also want to avoid any school that forces you to pay a monthly/annual fee in order to keep your certification “valid”.  These are 100% scams, meant only to steal your money.

We’ve discussed this many times before: when it comes to choosing an online dog grooming school, research is important!

Your Dog Grooming Tools

Any good dog groomer training program will require you to physically work on dogs as part of your studies. After all, how else are you supposed to learn?

You’ll also (hopefully) want to practice your skills on your own time as much as you can. This means that you’ll need grooming tools. I’m not going to lie – some grooming tools can be expensive. But the thing is, when it comes to this, you don’t want to skimp on quality just to save a few bucks.

Lucky for you, there are tricks to getting top quality grooming tools without paying through the nose!

  • When looking at your dog grooming training options, look for a program that supplies you with a grooming kit as part of your tuition. A good school should provide you with clippers, scissors, brushes, and combs.
  • Shop for gently used items. Kijiji and Facebook Marketplace can be goldmines for dog groomers in training! Many people purchase grooming equipment to work on their own dogs, only to realize it’s above their skill-set. These people usually end up hiring a groomer anyway, which means that lots of these tools are brand new, and can be bought at a huge discount!
  • Know where it’s okay to cut corners. You never want to sacrifice quality when it comes to shears or clippers. But at the end of the day, a slicker brush is a slicker brush, whether you buy it at the dollar store or at a high-end pet boutique.
  • Use self-wash grooming stations. Many pet stores have them, and most are free! You can bring your furry friend to one of these stations for a bath/brush and use the store’s tools and supplies. Bonus: you don’t have to deal with a wet dog in your own bathroom!

Starting your Career

If you’re on a tight budget, you might not be able to start an at-home grooming business right away… and that’s okay! Working as a groomer at an established salon can also be a great way to improve your skills, while being paid to do so. Plus, you won’t have to deal with any startup costs!

Some grooming salons will be happy to hire you, even while you’re in the process of completing your dog grooming training. If you’re able to work as a brusher/bather at a grooming salon while you complete your training, that’s a fantastic way to get extra cash AND practice your skills on the job.

It’s a win-win!

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