The changing grooming world in pet retail

More and more, stores are adding grooming to their store concept. Do you see the retail sector as competition or is the market enlarged?

I think there is a market for everyone. For small, easy treatments, dog owners go to a pet store. Self-employed groomers are often more specialised in, for example, health, medical and breed-typical grooming, among other things. Pet parents choose a good grooming salon. 

Pet retail offers grooming as an additional service. That means an expanding grooming market. What is your vision of this regarding the development and quality of the groomers? 

In my time, in the Netherlands, you had to have a degree, otherwise you could not groom dogs at all. Nowadays there is no diploma requirement anymore. In Germany you do not have to be certified. It is different in every country. I find this very unfortunate because you work with a living being. Basic knowledge is super important and I even advocate compulsory training. I regularly follow workshops and visit shows to stay up to date on the latest developments and trends.

When it comes to grooming, you tend to think first of dogs, what about grooming for cats? 

Many cats already go to a grooming salon. There are colleagues who only work with cats. You see also more and more rabbits in the grooming salon.

What are important trends in the grooming world at the moment?

I notice in my salon that dogs are now really seen as family members. Owners think it is very important how the dog is handled. It used to be that they brought the dog and said: the dog is dirty and this has to happen. Now owners also come along for a small interim treatment. I have a little store in my salon and a lot of owners buy something extra for their dogs.

Looking ahead, what are challenges for the groomer’s world?

We need to inform and bring out more what groomers can do for the dog owners. These days, some owners see their dog as a child. By treating them like that, the dog doesn’t know how to behave like a dog and that can complicate the grooming process. That is why cooperation with good dog schools is very important, so dogs are well trained and therefore well treatable in the salon.

Furthermore, more cooperation is needed between groomer, veterinarian, dog school and retail. Each must focus on what he or she specialises in and we must refer to each other so that the dog gets what is best for him or her in the context of animal welfare. 

Marie is a professional allround dog groomer. She takes part in international championships and competitions, mostly with one of her King Poodles, and has won several prizes.