Dog grooming thrown a bone

By Kayla De Sousa

deso0082@algonquincollege.com

Kayla De Sousa photo Dog grooming will be offered at the college consisiting of over 200 hours of lecture, labs and a field placement

A new part-time program will aim at meeting the high demand for pet groomers. Students have requested a course be broadened and offered as a career option in an entire program. It will consist of over 200 hours of lectures, labs and a field placement.

Students must have either completed the grooming as a career course, as a pre-requisite or must have relevant experience in a grooming salon to be accepted into the groomer assistant program.

“Grooming education is quite expensive and a big time commitment so we want to make sure students know that’s what they want to do,” said Shannon Brownrigg, the program co-ordinator and registered vet technician.

What Brownrigg considers special about this new program is that it meshes an equal amount of lectures and hands-on experience with prepping, bathing, drying, and finishing actual pets.

“You actually put the techniques into play,” she said. “It’s the practice that makes you a good groomer.”

Students will be learning much of their skills from Lisa Day, a certified master groomer, evaluator and obedience trainer. Day was asked to teach some of the program as well as develop it and actually build it for Algonquin’s grooming future.

“Based on the feedback, we are hoping there will be a great interest among students,” she said.

Day explains that despite the recession, the pet industry continues to grow in North America because people are not willing to forfeit the care of their pet.

“The relationship of the pet has changed,” she said. “Over the years, the animal has moved up the family ladder as a priority. They are now a member of the family. This industry is showing itself to be extremely resilient and reliable.”

Day says there will be a definite emphasis on the quality of your work and the care of the pet no matter what situation or breed of dog you may be dealing with.

“The process isn’t that complicated but to be thorough takes a lot of practice,” she said. “When you’re dealing with a live animal, you need hands-on work.”

The program will finish off with a field placement of about three weeks in a grooming salon environment. This new program will give them the necessary experience to move forward within the industry.

“If they want to get into the grooming industry, this is the first step,” said Day. “When they graduate, they will be eligible to become certified so that they may advance onto other grooming options.”

Both Brownrigg and Day expect the program to be a great success.

“It’s going to be exciting,” said Brownrigg. “Dog grooming as a career has been filling up rapidly.”

“We hope students will be interested in applying,” said Day. “Every time I deliver those courses, students want more.