Some salons will let you do an apprenticeship where you might bathe and dry the dogs and do reception duties. There are also lots of continuing education seminars around the country where you can keep up to date on the field. I enjoy working with all the different dogs and their individual personalities. And you get instant gratification when the owners come for their dogs and see how wonderful they look. Some dogs are sick and cranky, and you have to clean up after accidents that happen throughout the day.
Backaches are frequent, and sometimes customers can be extremely demanding.
Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Sept. 6, 2000. All rights reserved. Produced by Journal Interactive .