Prep work before a dog grooming is essential to ensuring that you can safely and effectively style their hair. If a pup comes to your dog grooming salon with matted fur, you might not be able to safely cut or style their hair until those mats are addressed and handled properly. Moreover, there is a lot of important prep work that needs to be done before you start your dog grooming services.
Ok, so you’re a professional dog groomer. Perhaps you have years of experience under your hands in your grooming salon for dogs or perhaps you’ve only recently started your journey into the world of dog grooming. Regardless, one thing is for certain: there are several types of clients that come into your shop on a weekly basis, and each type requires a little bit of differentiation when it comes to their needs. After all, some dogs love to sit in front of the door while others don’t even want to look at you as they’re being taken to the back. So why does this matter? Well, it makes sense for sure because having results that are tailored specifically to fit each type of customer can only make your life easier.
What is Prep Work?
Prep work is the time for you to set up your styling stations, organise all your tools and accessories, and do some other things that might not be familiar to you yet. For example, in your shop, make sure to bring along a soft toothbrush so that you can brush any loose fur from the ears and eyes. Because when you’re actually styling a dog’s hair, touching its skin with a brush can be very painful for them.
Dog grooming and styling is never a walk in the park. You have to be prepared for the experience, and that includes being well-prepared with the tools you’ll use and the grooming supplies you’ll need before you even get started! Prep work determines how well your dog will be turned out when you finish styling them.
Benefits of Doing a Prep Work
When you’re grooming a dog, it’s usually in the back of your mind that there’s so much more to do than simply remove dead, matted, or tangled fur. Your dog might look like he has just been to the groomer, but what if you didn’t pay attention? Do you know all the necessary steps to take care of the mats and tangles that come along with a certain breed? If you didn’t, then you should. Having these skills prepped for when clients show up means that you can better assist them instead of offering suggestions on how their dogs could possibly get rid of their mats.
Logically, you may think styling the dog’s healthy hair is more important than grooming the mats. After all, it is just the long-term health of your dog’s precious coat that will be at stake once the matting is removed. However, if any pup has been neglected in the past and his fur is full of unsightly mats, then there’s no way you can anticipate how much it will hurt when he sees you working on his locks! You must take extra measures to ensure that the dog has no reason to feel any stress or anxiety during his grooming session.
How can you do Prep Work?
For most dog grooming salons, there is a lot of prep work that needs to be done before the clipping or styling even begins. In fact, some groomers might say that the arrival of your dog to the shop is 80% of what makes for an excellent experience for customers. The other 20% can be thought of as the prep work portion of the grooming process.
Prep work before styling includes grooming, bathing, and nail trimming. At times you may need to offer the dog a specific bath, or maybe they have an ear mite infestation that needs to be addressed. When you are washing the pet it’s important to take their temperature and check their pulse thoroughly before giving them a bath. A high temperature could mean infection in their paw pads or even broken bones.
The Importance of Prep Work Before Styling the Dog
Makes Work Easier
In reality, you’ll often need to perform certain tasks before any clipping or styling gets done. Some dogs may have mats in their fur. Others may have dirty paws or extremely long nails. At the start of every groom, it’s important for you to first assess the dog and see what needs to be taken care of before you break out the clippers. Making things harder for yourself can have an impact on your business. Take, for instance, the time it takes to do prep work before grooming a dog. Most groomers aspire to work in an efficient and timely manner. But why put more time into preparing a dog for styling? Why not just give it a quick brushing, or bathe them?
Saves Time
Why make things harder for yourself when you don’t have to? For instance, all groomers aspire to work in an efficient and timely manner. Now, I know what you’re already thinking: but isn’t prep work time-consuming? So, wouldn’t it be better to just start grooming your dog early on and save yourself the hassle of rushing? But wait, the thing is, it would actually prove a lot more time-consuming to struggle to clip a dog with matted, dirty fur. You’d very quickly need to do some hefty backtracking to get the job done properly.
Removes Extra Burden
Prep work is so important for the grooming industry, that it even has its own acronym: PWP. This stands for “Pre-Work Preparation” and refers to the stages of grooming that must be taken care of beforehand in order for a groom to go smoothly. This can even include things like bathing, brushing, and nail clipping as well as detangling mats from the dog’s coat! If you want to avoid any extra work later on during your dog’s grooming process then prep work is essential for your success.
Client Satisfaction
The clients come to you with initial priorities which consider the health and safety of their dogs. They’re visiting your salon because they want you to take good care of their dogs. They’ll also appreciate knowing that you’ve done your homework and preparation is Key. This trust comes from a combination of your reputable dog grooming training and qualifications as well as your performance. You’ll need to prove to clients that you’ll treat their dogs with consideration and high-quality expertise. The more prep work you do for each client-dog match, the better your results will be. Not to mention, you’ll be better able to guarantee the dog’s overall well-being. These are key elements to being a successful groomer and maintaining a positive reputation with your clientele.
Conclusion
Having a smooth coat and a beautiful, glossy coat is the best reward for a grooming technician. A great-looking dog will always have higher demand when it comes to being adopted out. Finding one that needs some work (whether from ticks, mites, or other diseases) can be challenging. But most importantly, your dog needs to be able to follow through with their commands without pulling on the leash or something else unexpected when you call them. That’s where grooming comes in handy for those special dogs that get really excited about attention and treats.
Dog grooming is a task that requires much attention and care and you should be completely wise before taking your dog to any random spa or salon. Make sure the place you are visiting has all the essential things required to give your dog a good treatment. Well, if you live in California then you can visit Cats and Dogs in bubbles, a dog grooming salon in Los Angeles. They provide professional pet grooming services to cats, dogs, and rabbits. Their services include bathing, nail and hair trimming, etc. So, get your pet to visit them now so they are healthy and fine.