Tail Talk Grooming Chronicles with Hound Therapy

Grooming Academy Showcase Pt 2: The Untold Reality of Professional Pet Care

• Shannon & Tanya • Episode 23

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What is Life Like For A Groomer/ Grooming Instructor?

Ever wondered what really happens behind the scenes at a pet grooming salon? Shannon and Tanya of Hound Therapy take you on a wild, unfiltered journey through their daily reality as professional groomers and business owners serving North Texas.

The episode opens with a heart-wrenching yet ultimately uplifting emergency situation that unfolded that very morning. When Shannon stepped away for just one hour, the team faced two severely neglected poodle mixes covered in feces and matting "to the skin." What could have been a disaster became a testament to teamwork as three staff members carefully handled these elderly, at-risk dogs. The story takes a compassionate turn when they discover the owner had been hospitalized, prompting them to create a plan for ongoing support—perfectly embodying their motto "humanity over vanity."

Beyond this central story, Shannon and Tanya candidly share the physical demands and logistical challenges of their profession: "We don't eat or drink and there are no scheduled potty breaks." They discuss the constant interruptions, the chaos of managing a 3,500 square foot facility, and the delicate balance of training new groomers while maintaining quality and efficiency. Their honesty about business challenges offers valuable insights for anyone considering entrepreneurship in any field.

What shines through most clearly is their genuine passion for helping both animals and their humans, even on the most chaotic days. Their commitment to excellence is evident in their grooming academy's comprehensive training program, ensuring students receive 3-6 months of hands-on experience before working independently.

Want to see their expertise in action? Tune into their new weekly Facebook Live sessions every Wednesday from 1-2 PM, where they'll demonstrate grooming techniques and share more behind-the-scenes moments from their salon. Call 469-367-0009 or visit houndtherapy.com to schedule your pet's next appointment with these dedicated professionals who truly understand what it means to put pets first.

To learn more about Hound Therapy visit:
https://www.HoundTherapy.com
Hound Therapy
3509 E Park Blvd.
Plano, TX
469-367-0009

Speaker 1:

Welcome to Tail Talk Grooming Chronicles with Hound Therapy, the podcast where we talk all things pet grooming, daycare academy and more. Hosted by Shannon and Tanya of Hound Therapy serving pet owners across North Texas, we're here to share expert tips, hilarious pet stories and the inside scoop on keeping your furry friends happy and healthy. Our motto humanity over vanity. And don't worry, we don't bite. Let's get started. Who let the dogs out?

Speaker 2:

Who let the dogs out. It's not just shampoo and bows. Grooming is fast-paced, physical and full of surprises. Shannon and Tanya pull back the curtain on the wild, rewarding and sometimes downright chaotic life of a groomer and grooming instructor. Welcome back everyone. I'm Sofia Yvette, co-host and producer. Back in the studio with Shannon and Tanya, professional groomers at Hound Therapy. Hi ladies, how's it going today? It's good. How are you? I'm good. Now let's dive into the real life hustle. What's the insane life of a groomer and grooming instructor really like?

Speaker 3:

I would just say, yeah, it's a lot Ins sure. Um, I we've said this on one of our other podcasts before it's. You know we don't eat or drink and we have to. There's no scheduled potty breaks. You know we deal with a lot, of, a lot of different types of personalities, both for human and for dogs.

Speaker 3:

Um, today, for instance, we're going to give you a feel good story. I guess today was I had a doctor's appointment. That's bittersweet but it'll end good. So I had to leave and I I usually help and kind of oversee a lot of the harder, um, older bite of your dogs, just because I've had a little bit more experience here than than everybody else. But today I had a doctor's appointment and we have dogs that we've done before and I'm like she left us, We've got, we've got it, you can do this. And I came in and everyone just looked at the best way to describe it is just frazzled. They just looked like I've been gone for a week. It felt like it. It was at our doctor's appointment. I was there. I was gone an hour. Um, I'll let Tanya tell you what happened, I guess so.

Speaker 4:

So, after shannon abandoned us for the day she was only gone for like an hour we had two dogs come in. We, um, we actually said it a couple weeks ago that we hadn't seen these dogs in a while. Um gentleman is, you know, an older um gentleman, and he has two dogs. Well, they're both poodle mixes. He brought these dogs in and they were in pretty bad shape Um one significantly worse than the other, but still both pretty bad matting, yeah, um and feces.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, they were in bad shape. They were covered in feces. It looked like they had been kept in a kennel for a long period of time and they had severe matting to the skin. It looked like a junkyard dog is the best way to describe it with hair, or it looked like these poor things were living on the roads for a long, long time.

Speaker 4:

So I mean, our best case scenario is we do what we can we. They were saved best for the dog. We will shave them.

Speaker 3:

They looked like little bitty rats, but that is what they needed they were howling milky eyes when I come in and you know there's three people on one little tiny I maybe this big 10 pound dog, if that and I'm like happening. I mean, I've only been gone for an hour so they were able to get both of them shaved. They let him rest, I washed one. We were able to get all of the you know gook and guck out of their feet and their face. And the long and the short of this is that you know the team stepped up. They were able to work together and get done what needed to get done in a safely manner.

Speaker 4:

They were afraid of seizures, the dogs you know one of the older one had a stroke before, so I didn't want to stress him out too bad.

Speaker 3:

So we, you know we did what we could do and by the time I got here they were, you know, a little stressed out. So I went ahead and bathed one. But I called the owner and explained to him I'm like, look, you know, this is, we're going to have to like we've spent a lot of time and effort on these dogs and I've got half of my staff, um, yeah, on one dog and they're going to be on your next dog's later. So we're going to have to charge you a little bit of a handling fee. And he was fine and then told me he'd been in the hospital in and out. So, um, you know, we want to help him on the backend. I mean, we're already spending the time and the effort now. So we do have to charge him, for you know we're in business. That said, he was totally fine with it and said you know, take your time, do what you have to do. And you know we did.

Speaker 4:

And we are very good, very sweet. They're just elder, they're just older dogs. Yeah, so you just have to take your time and he knew they, yeah.

Speaker 3:

So I said if you get down this road, you know again. You know, just call us, we'll either we'll make arrangements, we'll give you a discounts on your grooming moving forward. You know, if you know you're going to be in a hospital or you're there and you can't get to the dogs, we'll try to make arrangements or see, if we were able to, to hopefully work something out for him in the long run. Because it's hard, it's really difficult when you're looking at your dog and you're like, ooh, that's sad. That's just one of the stories. That's just today. I mean, that literally happened this morning. We had another dog yesterday that had a little flip out with the water and had to call the owner and say, look, you might want to come get your dog wet. We don't want to stress them out anymore.

Speaker 3:

We've got students that are in here that are learning and you know our students we don't do discounted grooms. Our students are full-fledged screamers by the time they move up to the front. They've put in a good three to six months of learning how to handle a clipper and scissors before they're in here, which is more than I would say any big box retailer store allows anybody before they come in and groom. So our students here are very, very good, but they're slow. So for us it's like, oh gosh, we've got to deal with that. We've got to constantly be. We're on with the phones, I'll look up and I'll walk from my table to halfway to the back and somebody's like called me four times and I'm like, can I just have to pee? Can I answer it when I get back? And I'll look up and I'm like crap, I forgot to pee and it's an hour later, are?

Speaker 4:

you happy? Or you have these days too, of like it's just constant Shannon, shannon, tanya, tanya. And I'm like what?

Speaker 3:

I say almost every day. I'm like if I had a nickel for every time somebody said my name or rich.

Speaker 3:

I wonder every time somebody could say my name today I don't even want to count it out Keeping up with the changes in the trends. You know it's difficult. We've got to. We're not only working our business but we're running our business. You know we're here, we want to educate, we want to, we want to do a good job and we want to please our business. You know we're here, we want to educate, we want to, we want to do a good job and we want to please our customers.

Speaker 3:

And so pleasing everybody, it's just, it's difficult. We can't please everyone. We're, we're aware, we try, but we are aware that you know it's an impossible task. So we do the best we can best foot forward. But you know the AC goes out and you know somebody's car's broken. Somebody calls their dog is late. They're going to be here in an hour. Somebody else has a big dog. They're not going to make it because they stubbed their toe. It's just. It's always one thing after another. We're always on somebody else's time, we're always borrowed, but we absolutely love what we do and we love being able to help the people that are here, even though it was a very stressful morning for the girls. Yeah we did it.

Speaker 3:

We're fine. It really worked out really well and I think we've got like a lifelong client out of it. Not to mention, we feel like we can help the dogs and help the people. We're still figuring out regular business. Anybody who's thinking about getting into business. Business is hard. Business is not just knowing how to do your business. It's hard, so it's just yeah, we're struggling with a lot of stuff, I think the same things that most groomers deal with. We don't have a mobile, but all of those driving around getting to and from making your appointments on time, making sure that did you call. Did you call communication just between our staff here? You know we have 3,500 square foot of hey, we're constantly screaming at each other and you know we joke around and have a good time. We're going to be doing a Facebook live every Wednesdays from one to two, so tune in if you want to just watch us being silly and you can see some of the dogs.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, We'll groom some dogs. We'll explain what we're doing.

Speaker 2:

You can see, hopefully the uh, all the good dogs, hopefully they're all good but you'll get to see the ones that aren't, and we'll go into depth as we do those too. So wow well, shannon and tanya, that truly was a wild ride that you shared with us today. Thank you both for sharing the real, raw and rewarding sides of the grooming life. We'll catch you next time on Tail Talk Grooming Chronicles. Have a great day, all right, thank you.

Speaker 1:

That's a wrap for this episode of Tail Talk with Hound Therapy. Ready to book your pet's next daycare stay or grooming academy tour? Call us at 469-367-0009 that's 469-367-0009 to schedule an appointment, or visit us online at wwwhoundtherapycom. Serving north texas with expert pet care. Until next, keep those tails wagging.