Learn to Groom Pets

Course code: BAG106 | Nominal Duration: 100 hours

Grooming involves cutting fur, trimming nails/claws, bathing animals, skin care and more. In themselves, these jobs may not be exceptionally complex or require a lot of expensive equipment, but groomers also need to be able to control the animals they work on, and they need to be able to do a quality job at a reasonable speed. 

The most successful groomers are self employed. They tend to charge per job, so if they can do a good job faster, they earn more money. If animals are difficult to control, that can slow down the job as much as anything, so knowing the animals you work with, and being able to control them can be as important as anything.

Why Study this?

Opportunities are endless if you have the passion and persistence to succeed with pets whatever you aspire to achieve! 

• You could start your own business selling your services to pet owners,
• You could save money by grooming your own pets,
• You could secure employment working for an established business. 

Study animal grooming to learn:

• grooming techniques and the equipment used by groomers.
• handling animals, and how to safely restrain them.
• about caring for animals skin and coats.
• about grooming different animals - from dogs to more exotic pets and animals.
• what is involved with showing animals.
• how to approach setting up a business.
  
  

What's Covered in this Course?

There are 10 lessons in this course.

This course covers: 

Lesson 1. Scope and Nature of Grooming

• Introduction to grooming behaviour
• Why do humans groom animals?
• What animals are groomed?
• Generic grooming tasks
• Common tools and equipment
• Combs, brushes, rakes, blades and other equipment
• Confidently handling animals Introduction
• The industry and workplace opportunities
• Workplace skills
• Accessing the right information online

Lesson 2. Animal Biology

• Skin – Epidermis & Dermis
• Claws, Nails and Spurs
• Hair
• Horns
• Hooves
• Physiological control – Homeostasis
• Thermoregulation

Lesson 3. Caring for the Skin and Coat

• Animal nutrition
• General nutrition
• Micronutrition
• Water requirements
• Common skin problems in dogs and cats
• Ringworm – fungal infection
• Flea and flea control
• Ticks and tick control
• Lice and control
• Mites (mange) and control
• Treating skins problems in dogs and cats
• Common skin problems in equines
• Caring for the coat – brushing, bathing, blowdrying, dematting, clipping, trimming
• Removing burrs from fur.
• Caring for cats – combing, brushing and bathing

Lesson 4. Specialised Grooming Tasks

• Risks of working with animals.
• Selecting a suitable grooming location.
• Understanding animal psychology and behaviour.
• The flight or fight response.
• Environmental Influence on behaviour in zoo animals.
• General considerations when handling animals.
• Pre-restraint techniques.
• Physical restraint.
• Medical restraint – sedation.
• Safely handling different animals when grooming: dogs, cats, cattle, poultry, rabbits, captive wildlife.
• Handling Horses: Safe and Respectful.
• Catching, releasing, leading, tying up and working around the horse.
• Indicators of pain, mild fear and extreme fear.
• Transporting horses.

Lesson 5. Handling Animals

• Risks of working with animals
• Selecting a suitable grooming location
• Understanding animal psychology and behaviour
• The flight or fight response
• Environmental Influence on behaviour in zoo animals
• General considerations when handling animals
• Pre-restraint techniques
• Physical restraint
• Medical restraint – sedation
• Safely handling different animals when grooming: dogs, cats, cattle, poultry, rabbits, captive wildlife
• Handling Horses: Safe and Respectful
• Catching, releasing, leading, tying up and working around the horse
• Indicators of pain, mild fear and extreme fear
• Transporting horse

Lesson 6. Grooming Dogs

• Communication in dogs
• Use of scent
• Barking & body language
• Grooming different types of dogs
• Long Coat types
• Short coat types
• Single coat type
• Double coat types
• Smooth coat types
• Wire haired coat types
• Woolly or wavy coat types
• Corded coat types
• Bald or hairless coat types
• Brushing and bathing care
• Clipping and styling
• Grooming procedures that can go wrong
• Cutting toenails too short
• Cuts or nicks when clipping
• Overheating
• Water trapped in the ear canal

Lesson 7. Grooming Exotic Animals

• Grooming birds
• Handling birds
• Beaks
• Feathers
• Bathing birds
• Grooming rabbits
• Handling
• Moulting
• Transporting
• Grooming captive wildlife
• Bathing small and large mammals
• Handling large animals and exotics
• Dangerous animals
• Fear of humans
• Issues with handling animals
• Psychological effects of different handling techniques
• Grooming areas

Lesson 8. Safety in a Grooming Workplace

• Safety for people and staff – workplace health and safety
• First aid
• Legislation and duty of care
• Safety of animal owners and visitors to the premises
• Protective equipment
• A groomer’s personal protection
• Equipment and workplace safety
• Storage and disposal of chemicals
• Handling Tools and Machinery
• Safety with tools and equipment
• Safety audit
• Example of an audit checklist
• Safety for animals and people
• Transportation
• Safety of the animal at the salon
• Electrical safety – at home and the groomers
• Slip risk – wet surfaces
• Cat and dog allergies

Lesson 9. Preparing for Showing

• What is animal showing?
• Why do people show pets?
• Showing dogs
• Training your show puppy
• Preparing for show – dogs
• Days and evening before the show
• The day of the show and in the ring
• Showing – dress to impress
• Showing poultry
• Getting started – selecting your breed and buying your birds
• Preparing birds for show
• The day before the show
• The day of the show
• Showing cattle
• Preparing cattle for show
• In the show ring on the day

Lesson 10. The Business of Grooming Planning a new grooming business

• The business plan
• Financial planning
• Long term goals
• Medium term goals
• Annual financial plan
• Financial records
• Commonly used finance related terminology
• Cash flow
• Make the business a success – know your market
• Insurance and risks – risk analysis and managing risk
• Groomers insurance

What you will learn in this course!

• the scope of grooming animals, including the animals that are commonly groomed, the situations in which they are groomed,
• equipment that is used and the tasks carried out by a groomer.
• external anatomical structures and physiological processes of animals which are relevant to grooming.
• how to manage the coats of different types of animals.
• tasks used in grooming animals that are supplementary to grooming the coat.
• a range of techniques used to control a variety of different types of animals during grooming.
• grooming techniques used for different types of dogs.
• a range of techniques used to groom a variety of different types of animals other than dogs.
• protocols for safety of both animals and groomers, when grooming different types of animals
• how to groom dogs, cats, horses and a variety of other animals for a show.
• how to establish or improve a grooming business to be more successful.

Learn from Animal Experts and Educators Who Care As Much As You Do 

We have a team of experts who work as content writers. Popular courses that have many graduates undergo regular reviews and updates in line with our quality management controls. Our staff work hard updating learning materials, developing new supporting materials (such as ebooks, videos) and providing individualised support, one on one to our students. 

These teachers and course developers have studied animal sciences at college or university, kept and cared for their own pets,  and worked in pet, veterinary and animal industries. They bring real life knowledge and experience to our students.

We know the competition to enrol students into courses today is fierce. We've been educating people since 1979! And we know some courses are simply structured around ticking the boxes on a checklist and the student gaining a piece of paper. If that's what motivates you then that's okay, however that type of course will not serve you well. Pet Courses Online is 100% focused on authentic, long-term learning in people who care about animals and want to make a difference.

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