Professional or Hobby Groomer: What's the difference?

What is a Professional Groomer?

How I define a professional groomer is one that grooms for a living.  Do professional groomers love their job? Yes!  

Professional groomers have families to feed, roofs to keep over their heads and blades to sharpen.  While they love dogs, their customers and their job they have bills to pay. When looking at a dog to groom they take into account how much time and work this dog will require.  Will this client rebook on the schedule this style needs to be maintained?  Is this pet matted, will I be able to de-matt this pet in a timely manner that the customer is willing to pay me for my time and expertise?  Will grooming this giant breed dog allow me to hold my infant son without pain?  Is this worth it?  These questions asked are similar to other professions such as plumbers, mechanics and labor contractors.  Make the customer happy, protect your reputation and ensure what you are promising is what you’ll deliver.  Professional groomers need to be aware of all these things in order to keep a steady paycheck. They don’t just ‘groom for the money’, but at the end of the day if they do not groom dogs there won’t be food on the table. 

 Professional groomers who cannot make a livable wage are miserable. They make poor financial choices and eventually burn out.  Professional groomers who are not making ends meet or do not live within their means tend to take on too many dogs a day, take on that once a year giant breed dog, leaving them to feel trapped and exhausted. 

What is a Hobby Groomer?

A hobby groomer is someone who grooms for the fun of it.  Do hobby groomers make money? Yes!  

As a rule of thumb, hobby groomers do not worry about how much they charge since they plan on being paid for their time, but they would just as easily do this job for free.  They make it a point to tell clients, “I don’t do this for the money,” as a badge of honor.  Hobby groomers may or may not invest in the best tools, formal or continuing education.   Often their focus is on one breed or a certain coat type.  They often have a very artistic mentality where they don’t care if they spend hours de-matting or scissoring the dog for any additional charge because they see it as what needs to be done in order to create their piece of “art.”  A common example of a hobby groomer is a breeder or show handler.  They breed their dogs and would like their puppies to have a certain ‘look’, perhaps they feel most groomers cannot replicate the job they do.  They may groom their dogs to breed standard and love to watch others of the same breed shine in what the breed is meant to look like.  They may groom out of their home in their spare time because it is simply something they enjoy doing, the extra pocket money is lovely.  A hobby groomer often charges below market value because they do not groom for a living; they groom for the joy.  There is nothing wrong with this mentality as long as they are not presenting themselves as a professional, they are blissfully a hobbyist.