Daryl Conner

organizing tips
Life

Organizing Tips for the Grooming Environment

It seems to me that the world is mostly made up of two kinds of people; those who are naturally organized, and those who are not. Sadly, I fall into the latter category, while dearly wishing to belong in the former.

helping your hands
Health

Helping Your Hands: Your Most Valuable Tool

How are your hands? Your wonderful, capable, creative hands. Is your skin rough, dry, cracked and irritated? Healthy skin is our first line of defense against bacteria, and maintaining healthy skin is important.

The Gifts of Grooming
Life

The Gifts Of Grooming

During the holiday season, I spend more time than usual thinking about things I am grateful for. One of those things is my long-time career of pet grooming.
Even though groomers deal with more poop and odiferous bodily fluids than most professionals, and beside the fact that pet grooming is not very glamorous, there are a lot of amazing things that come along with being a part of this industry.

Winning Winter Grooming Season
Business

Setting Yourself Up For A Winning Winter Grooming Season

I join you in groaning when you see an article about the winter holidays when fall is just beginning, but there is a method to my madness! November and December are traditionally a very busy time for groomers. Sometimes too busy.

The Importance of Routine
Training

The Importance Of Routine

How can I groom faster?” This is a question both newer and more seasoned groomers often ask me. My first, best answer is this; develop a routine and stick with it. You can and should create a method of doing things that makes sense to you and works well for you, but if you’d like an example, here is the routine I follow on almost every dog that I groom:

Cookies for customers
Business

Creating Loyal Customers

Finding customers can be expensive. Even though good pet groomers are in high demand in many parts of the country, most of us still expend a sizeable amount of money to help customers find us.

10 mistakes
Life

10 Mistakes Groomers Make

Everyone makes mistakes. Some are insignificant, for instance, putting a bow on a dog when the owner is someone who prefers bandanas. Some are much larger, and can affect our livelihood.

Life

Positive Images

How can you increase your grooming business, polish your reputation, delight your customers, and have a little fun all at the same time? The answer is, by taking and publishing photos of your customers’ pets. And it’s easy.

Business

Splitting Hairs

When I was a new groomer, it was common practice for customers to bring badly matted dogs in, fully expecting that we would dematt the animal. And we did. It was a routine event for groomers to invest hours removing tangles, and rarely did we charge extra. It was all in a day’s work.

Techniques

Spanish Water Dog Style

Medium sized, curly dynamos pets of this breed, with their unique grooming requirements, are becoming more frequently seen on grooming tables across the country.
Accepted by the American Kennel Club in 2015, the Spanish Water Dog is appreciated by its fanciers for its intelligence, athleticism, and ability to excel at many competitive canine activities. Historically used to gather and drive small hoof stock such as sheep and goats, they were also known to assist fishermen and can be strong swimmers.

Business

Spring Cleaning

It’s that wonderful time of year again. The days are getting longer, the hard, cold winter is behind us. It’s the time of year where generations of people have dug deep into the ritual of spring cleaning. Wiping the dust, scrubbing the grime, polishing the… EVERYTHING… to banish winter and embrace the bright days ahead. Here are some suggestions on how you can make your work space, be it a mobile unit, a portion of some other pet–based business, a home–based place, or a regulation storefront, really shine.

Techniques

Grooming The English Shepherd

You may have had this breed of dog on your table before and never known it. English Shepherds, also known as “farm collies,” “old time collies,” and “farm shepherds,” were brought to America by early British settlers. They put the dogs to work on farms and homesteads, guarding both livestock and property, as well as herding and hunting.

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