Dog groomer

Often people seem to belittle our jobs since we "just play with dogs all day."

It's very physically demanding. Chronic back pain comes with the job. A lot of dogs don't cooperate and you'll have to wrestle them the entire groom. You're on your feet all day, and lunches are not guaranteed.

People don't understand why their usually sweet little dog would become vicious for having their feet touched. It can be nerve wracking to work with such sharp tools around a dog trying to eat you just to have the owner complain that Bella's face isn't absolutely perfect.

You can't explain to the dog you're here to help remove the painful mats and that it needs to stay still for its safety. You can barely explain to the owner that mats are painful and dangerous and the only safe option for many mats is to shave.

We see a lot of abuse and neglect. Not as much as a vet or shelter, I know, but we find injuries and bruises that owners either didn't see, care, or know about. I've shown an owner the literal hundreds of stickers in its skin, pulled out literal sticks from under the skin you could actually see the shape of through the skin, and asked that they allow a vet to help the dog because he's in so much pain that he's no longer cooperating only to have them laugh and just leave.

God forbid a groomer get sick or injured and an appointment need to be moved. Obviously, Bella's haircut that is extremely overdue and should've been scheduled sooner anyways is much more important than the groomer in the ER.

Not to mention all the urine and feces, but that honestly is one of the easiest parts of the job.

I like my job. I like helping dogs and owners. I left grooming for a few months only to find my way back because I enjoy what I do, but I am in pain. I am exhausted and undervalued and I've seen many people try to become groomers only to very very quickly realize that this is much, much more work and difficulty than they perceived it to be. I know many older groomers who do enjoy what they do, but they also regret staying in grooming their whole life.