Why I Became a Pet Groomer

For years I hated leaving my best friend Foxie at home to go off all day to a job I had absolutely NO passion for.  I had longed for a meaningful career with animals… so I left corporate America and signed up for grooming school!  The ride was an hour each way, and of course I decided to go through the winter!  What was I thinking?!  Was everyone right?  Am I CRAZY?

Well there were 13 of us in our class, by the end of the first week we had our first drop out!  I realized that many people were thinking this was going to be an “easy” job – boy were they ever wrong!  I LOVED every minute of school; I couldn’t wait to get up in the morning and get to school!  I was the only person in the whole school who didn’t mind grooming “Devil” a very frisky Siberian Husky, who lived up to his name and just HATED to get wet!  Yes, he shook every 2 seconds, but I didn’t mind, in fact I just laughed (as I still do today) they all thought I was crazy and I thought to myself “what are you all doing here?”  Guess who groomed Devil EVERYTIME he came in?  Well, it’s been 10 years now, and out of our huge class besides me there’s only one other person still grooming that I know of.

I went to grooming school because I wanted to work with animals and open my own salon…now 10 years later I have since sold my salon and realized I love grooming, not owning my own business!  After selling my business, I took a job as a grooming manager and still love every minute of it!

Besides the other students thinking I was crazy for wanting to groom Devil, there were 2 other times people thought I was crazy.  The first was when I announced to everyone that I was going to school to become a groomer and open my own business.  Some were nice enough to say it behind my back, but you know how that always gets back to you…then there were the ones that “truly loved me” and “only had my best interests at heart” telling me “I’d never make any money doing that – how could I open that kind of a business?  There’s no need for it!”

The second time the people that “cared” about me said I was crazy was when I announced I was selling my business in the middle of a recession!  I actually had to laugh at all of them!  I hadn’t even finalized the sale yet and already had 3 job offers from various pet facilities who “heard through the grapevine” I was selling and going to be a free agent!   I was planning on taking a month off and relaxing - well that never happened!  I guess I proved them all wrong!  Some of them have been out of work for a year or more – who’s crazy?

I am a groomer because I have such a passion for animals (dogs especially).  I have an insight to my animal clients that sometimes their own person doesn’t have.  I know if they are not feeling well, I have found many lumps and saved many lives and for that I am so grateful!  I have had so many dogs come in as biters and eventually we come to an understanding!  One of the best feelings is when a customer says “Max dragged me to the door to get in here”!  I am an artist with so many different canvas’ everyday!

Besides being an artist, I am also a teacher to my groomers as well as many of my clients!  These people trust me to take care of their beloved pet and that makes me feel VERY special!  I pace myself and try not to overdo it too much, so that I will be able to do this job that I love for as long as I can!  If people think I’m crazy – then so be it!  We all know better; don’t we?!!

Dawn Giovannucci

Copyright 2004