Most pet lovers already know of the dangers that Halloween brings to our pets. Eating chocolate and the colorful wrappers can be extremely harmful to pets, even causing death. There is an ingredient in chocolate called theobromine which causes heart palpitations. A dog that has ingested chocolate can die when its heart beats irregularly during exercise. Another ingredient in candy is the artificial sweetener xylitol. Ingesting even a small amount of this substance can cause a drop in blood sugar, which will result in seizures.

Two-leggeds never cease to amaze me.  In the past 48 hours I have had a woman berate one of my staff for  emptying her bichon’s anal glands without permission, and another customer upset because we gave her golden retriever a flea bath.  By the way, the golden had fleas, and the bichon frise had the dire need for this service, if you catch my drift.I understand that people are stressed about money, and  I totally get that there may be some service providers in this world that are looking for ways to boost the bottom line; however, dealing with fleas and anal glan

Last week, we had a beautiful red poodle come to the shop for grooming.  On the larger side of mini, Lily is a deep, rich red and has an incredible coat.  She is a sweet, mild-mannered girl and it was her third visit to our salon.  On her first visit, she was very matted.  She was at that 10-12 month point when she was shedding puppy coat and we gave her a short haircut.  I believe it was a 4f strip, round face, full muzzle.  She looked adorable, even that short.Second visit, which was well past the time frame we suggested to the owner, she was quite ma

We had six new dogs come in today.  As usual, I asked each of them how they heard about The Village Groomer & Pet Supply.  Not one of them came through an advertisement or the phone book.  Not even one of them came through our website.  Every single one of them came from a referral, either by an existing customer or another pet care professional in the community.  And so it goes.  My deepest belief in the importance of networking rings true.  I spend a lot of time talking to the vet techs, dropping in on the veterinarians, doing little favors f

      Hey all.  Bad Dog here to blog some thoughts on easy summer sales for your grooming shop.  As many of you know, I believe retailing is an incredible opportunity for the grooming salon.  Our clients love us and trust us and listen when we suggest a product.  Too often, however, the professional groomer offers up a suggestion and then sends the customer down the road to the full line pet store, essentially handing the dough right over to the competition.  Whether or not you carry a full line of pet products or a small offering of impu

At this year's Intergroom (held April 16-18 in Secaucus, N.J.) Grooming Business had the pleasure of meeting veteran groomer Nikki Rickett, the owner of Custom Clips Grooming in De Peyster, N.Y., established in 1994.

Greetings from the Blogosphere, my friends.  Missi Salzberg here to bring you the first edition of Bad Dog Bloggin,' my blog here at groomingbusiness.com.  A few times a month, I will be sitting down to talk about issues, ideas, and stories from the grooming and professional pet care world.  These blogs will be based on whatever is going on in my head, in my shop, in the industry, or in the world and will be a mix of amusing, insightful and informative.  Hopefully, it will bring a new idea for your business, a new way of looking at an old issue, or at the very le

Grooming Business Magazine recently attended the Westminster Show Dogs dinner, where we got a chance to meet Beth Collins, this year’s winner of Annual Show Dog Groomer of the Year Cardinal Crystal Grooming Achievement Award. Grooming Business: Can you tell us a little about your grooming background/your history in the industry?Beth Collins: I started my career in pet grooming in the early 80's, the same way that most people do.

A recent study done by Insurance.com has named the most dangerous drivers according to their profession, and dog groomers have come in at number six! The study’s findings were based on the number of accident claims people declared when receiving a quote from Insurance.com. This study begs the question: Why are so many dog groomers getting into accidents?One reason might be the tight schedules that mobile groomers try to keep.

Welcome to the new GroomingBusiness.com, a comprehensive online business resource for grooming salon owners/operators and pet stylists. Admittedly, the first incarnation of our website, which was introduced in early 2007 (to coincide with the launch of Grooming Business magazine), was a bit rough around the edges--it was little more than a text-based site that simply housed each issue's editorial content.