Hello! I wanted to update since ive last posted and also share my experience with Petsmart grooming academy. These are the two dogs i did today, Tucker the Havanese and Hugo the Bouvier des Flandres! Im very proud of my progress in the last two weeks, and after having the unfortunate experience of injuring a dog it’s turned me into a better, safer groomer. Im now always 100% mindful of blocking anywhere i can, my scissor work is clean because im steady and purposeful with everything, and im always in control of whatever body part im working on. If ill say anything nice about Petsmart its that they do a great job at teaching safety. Ive been extremely lucky to have the experience ive had, with such an excellent instructor and salon lead. I’ve heard so many horror stories (trust me I still have my own) but all in all im happy where im at right now. My end goal is a private salon and i have many good ones in my area, but for now i will keep improving my skills! Thank you all so much for the advice; im now scheduling time out of my day to regulate myself and take care of my needs, which in turn makes the dogs much calmer and less stressed, they are energy matchers!

Hello, first i want to start off by saying how grateful i am to have found this community, it has already made me feel so much better just reading through some of these posts. ive been a bather for a corporate salon for 6 months, and im now 3 weeks into my grooming academy and just today i cut my first dog with shears on a paw pad and i feel like the worst person alive. I can’t stop beating myself up and ruminating about what I could’ve done differently, and it’s eating away at me and i don’t know how ill be able to bounce back in time for tomorrow. It happened towards the end of the groom, the dog was getting very wiggly and i was trying to hurry because we were running out of time, and on top of it all i was very out of it because i had just upped my meds and had been dissociating all day, which should’ve been my sign to stop and ask for help. I already have plans to go over trimming paws again with my academy instructor, and they have been nothing but supportive which makes things easier. If anyone has advice on how to help myself through this and gain confidence back it would be greatly appreciated, but just being able to vent to like minded people is already a huge help.