Tail Talk Grooming Chronicles with Hound Therapy

How A Grooming Consultant Builds A Safer, Smarter Grooming Program

• Shannon & Tanya • Episode 31

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Why Do Pet Daycares & Franchises Need A Grooming Consultant Before Expanding?

Thinking about adding grooming to your pet business but worried about cost, chaos, or culture drift? We unpack why grooming is not an add-on and how a consulting-first approach protects profit, safety, and sanity. With Shannon and Tanya from Hound Therapy, we trace the full journey from idea to execution: what owners miss, how to staff, what to buy, and how to keep the power dynamic healthy so one role never holds the whole operation hostage.

We get specific about cross-training and why your front desk should understand coat prep times, service menus, and realistic scheduling. You’ll hear how bathers, groomers, and reception support each other, sell add-ons ethically, and create consistent outcomes that clients love. We talk risk management inside the grooming room—intake assessments, drying policies, sanitation, drainage, ventilation—and why a written grooming handbook is non-negotiable. The result is a safer, calmer space that pets tolerate and teams can run without burnout.

Money matters get an honest look. We break down the pitfalls of a flat 50 percent commission off the top and explore compensation structures that align with throughput, rebook rates, safety, and client satisfaction. Then we walk through equipment essentials—tubs, high-velocity dryers, tables, clippers, blades, and coat-specific products—and how the right gear pays for itself in durability and finish quality. Even within a franchise, your grooming program can become the premium differentiator when you lead with training, protocols, and humanity over vanity.

If you’re ready to build grooming the professional way—clear pricing, clear roles, and clear safety—hit play, take notes, and send this to a fellow operator. Subscribe, leave a review to tell us what you want next, and share this with a pet pro who needs a blueprint.

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

SPEAKER_03:

Welcome to Tale Talk Grooming Chronicles with House Therapy, the podcast where we talk all things pet grooming, daycare, academy, and more. Hosted by Shannon and Tanya of House 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 fight. Let's get started.

SPEAKER_00:

Who let the dogs go? Who let the dogs go? Thinking of adding grooming to your pet business? Here's why bringing in a consultant first could save you time, money, and a whole lot of stress. Welcome back, everyone. I'm Sophia Yvette, co-host and producer, back in studio with Shannon and Tanya, professional groomers at Hound Therapy. Hi, how have you both been? We're good. Holiday shuffle for us in the pet industry. Yes, crazy times. Well, let's go ahead and talk strategy. Why should pet daycares and franchises bring in a grooming consultant before expanding?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, I uh let's start with we're not grooming is not an add-on. It is just it can't be considered that. Grimming is it's another service. And if you don't look at it, that it's gonna be a problem. It's an art, it's a science, and it's a profession that requires uh knowledge of behavior, anatomy, um, coat care, so many things. Yeah. It's not just giving a dog a bath. No. And many daycare owners underestimate um the complexity that it's not just a bath and a blow dry. Um, it's risk management, right? It's client regulate client excuse me, client regulations and precision work. Uh that's a really hard thing to find uh if you don't have uh a really good foundation of that particular type of an industry. It's not you have that same risk management when you're taking in those dogs to your your pet clients um uh for their health and wellness while they stay with you. But once they go into the grooming room, it's kind of like it's an ad, it's not an add-on service. It has to be under that same umbrella.

SPEAKER_01:

Um bridging the gap is a huge Yeah, between like, or even if it's a new person buying into a franchise or something of the sorts, if and you don't know anything about the pet industry, that's where a grooming consultant or something can help you tremendously with grooming protocols. Yes, and how to hire, how to staff that grooming uh, you know, addition or um salon in general.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, and getting a professional groomer, which is uh, you know, was something that we've talked about where we are. It's yeah, it's we we want to get out of that trade service and go step into that professionalism. So finding a professional groomer is hard to find. Um it increasing your safety protocols, knowing what they are, what they should be, having somebody come in before you have problems, uh, backage of your drainings, uh, you know, in your bathtub, uh smelly environment because a floor was left wet, not having the proper equipment, so you're not able to prep a coat properly, um, and turning out work just that you wouldn't put your name on. Um, because technically that work leaving that shop, it's it's got your name on it. Um, a well-run grooming program becomes premium factor and it sets you, it makes you different. It helps design that signature extra. You don't want to be, even though you're in uh a franchise group, you want something, you need something that is going to set you apart and make you a little bit different than literally everybody else that has the same branding as you. So we feel that that helps that, yeah, uh, giving you that extra bit of knowledge and making that into a service and and bringing them in as a team member versus and having everybody else in that team being on that same team as Griffin. We're it's you gotta work together and it's it's a delicate line.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, it sounds like very, very complicated and uh a lot that definitely goes into it. Now, what role does staff training play in a successful grooming expansion?

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, staff training's everything. Um, I mean, that's that's your bread and your butter. That's who's, you know, grooming running your grooming department. Um, that's from your reception all the way down to your bathers to your groomers.

SPEAKER_02:

Everybody has to be on the same team. Um, your groomers should be able to sell your product, your um bathers should be able to sell your product, your your receptionist should be able to bathe dogs, your um groomers should be able to be a receptionist. Um you should be able to interchange anybody because you can't book something that you haven't done. So I'm not saying that they need to be a everybody on your team needs to be a dog groomer. Um, but if you're gonna add grooming, you do need everybody to understand exactly um the amount of work and time that it takes and how to book and set your coworker up for success. And your coworker, um knowing that they're there uh to support your business, should know your business and want to sell and promote your products. So if they're not using them and being able to be in there on their slow times when they don't have grooming, um, how to build that bond with those people, how to retain um a good client relationship with a regulated, an unregulated, with a regulation franchise, where you have tons and tons of rules with an add-on of a very unregulated industry, it's it's extremely difficult. So without a consultant coming in uh and saying, hey, look, you don't have to take, it's it's exactly that. It is consulting. It is uh a professional groomer coming in and saying, look, um, these are the things that are going to help you grow. This is how many dogs you need to do. Let's look at it uh realistically. Uh in your mind, you know, you're thinking, oh, I'm gonna charge XYZ for grooming and I'm gonna make XYZ dollars because I'm paying, you know, this percentage. Well, a lot of grooming professionals will come in and they want, let me say, a lot of people coming in from the grooming trade want a 50% commission. And 50% of my business means we are partners. Um, that means you get 50% of my bills. And I'm more than happy to give you 50% of what we make. But that is our gross, right? That is not, it's after bills. Yes. These groomers want a 50% off the top before anybody has made any money. And to be able to understand how to get a proper tip, um, if it's running through a credit card processor, um, how to how to take those groomers down a notch and teach them professionalism and how to work with others is difficult. Um, how to speak that language as an owner for, hey, look, this is your job. It's it's it's a profession. You're working here, you're coming into a professionalized area. It's difficult.

SPEAKER_01:

Um It also kind of helps refrain from the groomer that kind of owns the business owner because the business owner doesn't know. Right. Then it kind of puts your groomer on a pedestal and they think that the grooming department is theirs, in which case.

SPEAKER_02:

And they want, and they can hold you hostage over. Yes. Um, so because grooming can make it can be very, very profitable. Um, but you want to make it profitable for everybody across the board. Um, everybody needs to see a gain, or you're gonna have a lot of pitting against each other. Um, the goal isn't just to add grooming, uh, it's the and the integrity that the grooming, it's doing it professionally. Yeah. Um, education is structure. Um, it's consulting, it's it's it's it's a win-win model for the pets, for the staff, and and everybody that that that's there. It's it's it's really is looking, it's kind of like a business plan, right? Yeah. You can't just add something on the tail end of it and hope it works. You've you've got to look at all of the pros and cons. And the only way to do that uh is to ask somebody that's in that profession if you're not. And there's not a lot of us. So um consulting with somebody who's got a good feedback, good rec a good reputation, um, who has got solid professionalism behind them that knows some kind of business business as well on top of the trade uh and has the style and art, it's a hard thing to find. So if you can find that person, um, the consulting is it's it really is the best way to go.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

It will save you a lot of money and time in the end.

SPEAKER_01:

And avoids trial and error.

SPEAKER_02:

And a lot of heartache. We have grooming, we have grooming products that we use, tools, um, dryers. There's a a lot of equipment that groomers have to bring to your job. So if you will provide that, if you have a good foundation and knowledge of what it is it's gonna take to add, quote, add on this profession, you need to take that plunge into providing top dryers, uh, an appropriate tub, an appropriate draining, uh, good protocols. What do we do? What do we not do? Do we do nail trims? How much do we charge? What's extra? What's added on? Safety procedures. Um, there's you have to have a specialized grooming handbook for everybody so that we know what's going on. Um, you need to provide the the clippers, the blades, and you need to provide that in a way that people aren't going to steal from you as well. So um the it's there is just so much that can make you stand out and and be a separate part and really, really shine with adding this awesome professional trade into your already um well-rounded franchise. It really does help to know the things that you have to have cost-wise, effective up front, and what it's gonna cost you on the back end if you don't have those. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Wow. Thank you both for breaking down this so clearly. Your insight is a game changer for pet businesses everywhere. We'll catch you next time.

SPEAKER_02:

Thank you.

SPEAKER_03:

That's a wrap for this episode of Tale Talk with Hound Therapy. Ready to book your pet's next groom 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 www.houndtherapy.com, serving North Texas with expert pet care. Until next time, keep those tails wagged.