Certification, education

Question
Hi Doreen,
Can you tell me do you have to go to a dog grooming school per se or is it at all a good idea to do a home study course with lots of materials, dvds, etc. I ask because I am trying to find a way to become a groomer without giving up my day job to go to school. The home-school people say you can learn a lot with their materials and volunteer while you are learning to work on the dogs of people you know as well as perhaps vet offices, shelters, etc.
Would you share your opinion with me on the best way to go here.
Thank you so much.
nh

Answer
Nancy,
 I'm sure that the home study program is a good one but I wouldn't recommend it. Pet grooming is not something you can learn from a book. Not to say that you won't learn anything helpful from them but it's very difficult to learn such things as holding techniques for the clippers or the shears from a book.
 My suggestion to you is one of a couple. If you can ..
try switching to a night job, or find night classes even.
If that isn't possible then there is another solution.
 Ask around to the different groomers in your area and see
if any of them would be willing to do an internship with you. This way it benefits everyone. You offer to work for free in exchange for learning how to groom. And you work for the groomer two or three days a week. This is the best way to learn as far as I am concerned. I did an internship for a year and it was the best learning experience I ever had.
  If you decide to go this route make sure you investigate the groomer that you plan on working for. Not to bad mouth my fellow groomers but some of them aren't so nice. You don't want to learn bad habits right from the start. If you feel at all uncomfortable with whomever is teaching you leave immediately. You don't want to get a reputation of being an abuser of animals.Because you work with someone like that people will assume you are the same even if you're not, so be careful in your choice of teachers.
  Usually shelters will take what ever help they can get but on this they like to have people that already know how to groom and have been doing so for quite some time. Not to say they will turn you down that's just been my experience in the past with them. A vet's office probably won't let you for insurance purposes.
  I hope I have been of some help to you and good luck with you endeavors in grooming. This is a very rewarding and fulfilling career.
God Bless !
Doreen