e face a tug-of-war every day we do our jobs as pet groomers. There are daily pressures on us to do our jobs “efficiently”—which usually means someone, or something, pushes us to do it as quickly as possible. But the stark reality is that we are not like most other people in most other jobs. We work on live animals; living beings that inject much unpredictability into our workday.

What is sometimes worse is that we are working with water, electricity, elevated surfaces, and loud, powerful and sometimes sharp equipment and tools that can be challenging to use and clean, not to mention can be very dangerous. Still, we have chosen to do this for a living because, as groomers, we truly care about the animals we groom. Why else would we work so physically hard at a job that can too often be a difficult, even dangerous one?

Add to that the pressures that are on us to work more quickly, and we must ask ourselves, how do we balance what must always be the top priority of safety for the pets we groom and for ourselves?

The challenges and solutions we face fall into two categories, depending on how we work: either we are self-employed and/or we are the boss or manager ourselves, or we work for someone else.

If you are self-employed or are the boss, you are the one responsible for prioritizing safe practices above all else. Bosses need training and expertise on all the ways that pet groomers need to protect the safety of their clients and of themselves. Make sure you take classes in all aspects of safety. Get CPR and First Aid certified. Learn about cleaning and disinfection. Take animal handling and training classes. Make sure you have fire and other safety protocols in place for your grooming facility. Re-arrange the day in whatever way is necessary to make sure that you do not feel under pressure to rush through the complicated job that is grooming a live animal safely.

We must also make sure all of the other tasks associated with the groom are accomplished as well: cleaning and disinfecting, client communication, record-keeping, equipment maintenance, laundry, and whatever else must be done to keep the business going. Take time to write a detailed list of everything that needs to be done in the day to do your job properly. I know this will take time, but it is time well spent. Putting it in writing really helps. And if you don’t have a Policy & Procedure Manual for your business, this will help you write one, making safety the priority.

Additionally, make sure you have optimized the shop layout, visibility, obstructions, escape routes, smoke alarms, good electrical, plumbing, HVAC and other infrastructure, fire extinguishers, lighting, flooring, all grooming equipment, tables, tubs, etc. Everything must work well and safely for the grooming experience.

Once you have a comprehensive document that lays out the big picture, you can start planning out your day, your week, and your month in a way that ensures important things happen and less important things that you don’t have time for are set aside. Make sure that you include all financial considerations. Do you need to raise your prices and take fewer dogs to ensure your business runs safely?

Working alone can perhaps be the greatest pressure against safety. Alone we will take chances that we might not be allowed to take in a teamwork situation. Make sure you do not try to lift a dog that is too heavy. Make sure that you have every aspect of the groom laid out in a way that you can safely accomplish it working alone. Do not accept grooming a dog that you cannot safely handle alone.

If we work for someone else, they may not even be aware of the pressures we face in the actual day-to-day of our jobs that can lead to compromised safety practices. It is up to us to communicate the issues effectively with the person supervising us. Be specific. Describe the challenges. Place the wellbeing of the dog as your top priority. Show also that safety is essential not only to you and the dogs, but also to the success of the business. Communicate what you need to be able to do your job safely. Again, if the business needs to raise its prices and take fewer dogs, then they must do so, because the alternative is unacceptable.

Once these issues are brought to light, one of two things will happen: the person in charge of the groomers will make changes to the schedule, the load, the facility, the equipment, the expectations, what kind of help and support staff you have, etc., or they will not make any changes to help you be able to do your job more safely. And if that is the case, you have a choice: to stay in that job and risk the unthinkable (i.e., hurting a beloved animal or getting injured yourself), or you can leave that job. In this post-pandemic era of a measurable boom in our industry, you will very likely be able to find another one, perhaps an even better one. Or, you can go into business for yourself so that you are the one responsible for making safety the priority.

A still common practice of compensation in our industry, commission-based pay for groomers is an old one and dates back to the days I still personally remember early in my career; days of very little infrastructure at all in the grooming industry. Most groomers worked out of their homes or other people’s homes or businesses, and most worked for cash under the table and on a commission basis. It was “piece work” where each dog was seen as its own job.

While the industry has improved dramatically in so many ways in the more than four decades I have been involved, and while salaried and hourly-wage grooming is now becoming the new normal, commission still persists as a practice in our industry. It has its pros and cons, but one concern I have is that it can take away from the larger view about the totality of the work we have to do in order to be safe: getting to know the dog, cleaning and disinfecting, careful handling of the dog, taking time to talk to the client, record-keeping, self-care, equipment maintenance, etc.

Many times I have seen groomers rush through their work because they reported to me that they were working on commission, so other priorities got ignored. Extra care around safety is often the first thing sacrificed under that kind of pressure. It doesn’t always happen that way, and it is possible to create a workplace that completely embodies a focus on safety and wellbeing of the staff and the dogs while being on commission, but a piece-work focus can sometimes interfere with building a bigger picture for the safety of all concerned.

Following the trend of most of the working world and the current direction the grooming industry is growing, putting all groomers on an hourly or salaried wage can be transformative. I was reluctant at first to change this practice in my own business, but once I made the switch to hourly and salaried, I became a believer. I saw more willingness from staff members to help each other. I saw better cleaning practices. I saw more emphasis on creating a positive, even fun experience for the dogs. I saw more information-sharing and a true team form where we all had a sense of ownership over all the dogs in our shop’s care.

When the focus is taken off the “piece work,” then all the extra steps like cleaning and safe handling practices are just part of the job. Commission, whether you like the practice or not, puts an undeniable pressure on the groomer to work faster than safety concerns might dictate. If groomers choose to continue the commission practice, at least consider raising your fees and reducing your load so that you can still earn a good wage while building in the time that is required to be incredibly careful at every step of the groom.

I have not ever used daily quotas or worked anywhere that did, but I have heard of this practice from other groomers. The challenge is that because of the widely variable sizes, behaviors and times needed for each different groom, a fixed “you must groom six dogs a day” quota could create pressure that, again, works against a safe and sustainable work environment. I can groom six yorkies a day, no problem, but most of our clients are doodles in the 75-pound range and up, so six of those in a day is not happening—at least not safely. Scheduling a full-time grooming business is an art form unto itself, which is why the daily quota method of running a business typically does not work well.

Good business management and employee supervision includes creating a sense of rapport between management and staff where there are shared values: everyone works hard, has a well-understood sense of expectations, and where safety and the wellbeing of all concerned is valued above all other things.

That client that “has to have her dog done in an hour” because she “has other urgent matters to attend to” can be a significant pressure on us that works against safety. When you explain to the client that you need time to do the job safely, make sure you emphasize the safety of their pet as your main concern and top priority. After you gently refuse to meet their deadline, take a few minutes to explain and educate. Don’t confuse good customer service (trying to please your client) with surrendering your expert judgment on what a timeline is for the groom that will allow it to be completed safely and allows for unforeseen issues with a live animal that could slow things down.

There are so many ways in our line of work that something can go wrong; where there could be injury or harm, or worse. While I am pretty sure there are no published studies on this, my well-travelled 45 years in the diverse adult working world leads me to conclude that we groomers are on the high end of risky jobs—not only for injuring ourselves, but also the pets we work on.

We should take that “view from above” on a regular basis to really examine the big picture, especially in safe practices. Set yourself a schedule and stick to it. Bring in an outsider that can put a fresh set of eyes on your situation to give you advice. There are many older, willing-to-mentor groomers around that are happy to come in and help you take a new look into your grooming practices to see what can be done to make it work better—and safer.