FAQ

The enrollment process is all done online, including application and payment. Please call us for details if you have questions or require any assistance.

You are allowed up to four months to complete each level but many students complete a level much quicker.

There are a number of ways you can enter the profession. The only person that can determine what is the best option for you – is YOU! Just remember – speed and the quality of the training program will play a big role in the amount of time it takes to learn and how proficient you will be. Here is a list of typical training options:

• Self taught
• Apprentices
• Employer-based/superstores
• Home study programs
• Hands-on training programs

Your earning capacity can vary based on your location, available breeds, your skill level, grooming quality, and how many dogs you are able to groom each day. The more you work to improve your grooming, customer service, and self-marketing skills the more potential earning power you will have. Successful professional stylists never stop learning. Those who embrace education in their careers will ultimately earn more.

The best way to know is go be a “fly on the wall” at a shop, a salon, or a school. At Paragon, we always encourage prospective students to come in and tour the facility. We also invite them to spend a few hours observing or even spend the entire day. Many pet lovers actually get their feet wet by finding part time jobs in entry level jobs in pet care facilities. It might be a pet store, a kennel, a vet clinic, or a grooming shop. This is a great way to see if you enjoy working with the pets and have what it takes to take your job experience to a higher level.

Experience isn’t necessary, but it does help. Soaking up as much information as you can before starting your program is a great way to get yourself in a learning mindset.

Part of learning to be a groomer is understanding pet behavior and proper handling skills. Your enthusiasm and compassion for animals, combined with the skills and techniques you will learn at Paragon, will provide the building blocks of your grooming career.

The great thing about our industry is its diversity. Working with pets requires compassionate people who are enthusiastic about education. Your age, experience, and background matter less than your willingness to learn and improve your skills.

Jobs are on the rise. The greatest challenge most salons face is finding good help. Paragon graduates are highly sought after for the level of skill and professionalism they learn during their program. We regularly receive requests for graduates for positions across the United States.

Whether you are seeking a job locally or across the country, we can help you find the work home that’s perfect for you.

You can get your start in a professional grooming career in just 5 weeks. You will learn about canine anatomy and behavior so you can develop safe pet handling skills. You will study and practice breed knowledge to learn grooming skills and techniques. Everything is systematically designed to help reinforce proper understanding for working professionally with pets.

Education shouldn’t end at graduation. Dedicate yourself to a lifetime of learning to become the best you can be.

One of the biggest misconceptions people have when they enter into this industry is ‘they get to play with puppies all day’. Although you do get to work with puppies all day, it’s generally not playing and at times it’s not fun – it can be dirty and physically demanding.

You need to think about what your physical limitations are. You’ll be lifting and hoisting pets that weigh anywhere from 2 pounds 102 pounds or sometimes even more. For some people, the repetitive motion that goes along with clipping and scissoring can pose problems on hands and shoulders. We are just now starting to see the effects of the dryers with long-term use on our hearing if we have not used protective hearing aids. This is a job that requires you to stand for long hours on your feet. And the dog hair – that will get everywhere and sometimes even acts like slivers penetrating your skin. There are lots of things out on the market that can help minimize the physical attributes of the job like hydraulic and electric cables, brushes, clippers and shears that are lightweight ergonomically designed for your hand, high velocity dryers and footwear, protective goggles and ear protection plus clothing that is designed to be comfortable while giving you the support necessary for long hours of standing protecting your skin.

Unfortunately, not all pets enjoy the grooming process although most of them are pretty agreeable. Anybody that works with animals knows that part of the job is you will be scratched, peed on, pooped on and bit at.

You definitely need to have patience combined with physical strength and endurance to be able to groom pets – and not everybody is cut out to do it no matter how deeply rooted their desire is to work with is pets on a professional level.

The national average states that three-quarters of all households have pets. So to get a real basic idea of how any pets are in your area, do a quick search of the demographics of your area and multiply that by .75. On a national average, cats outnumber dogs by a whisker but more households own a dog.

The American Veterinary Medical Association website has a pet ownership calculator built right into its pages. Simply type in the population of your community and submit the number and it will give you the breakdown of the number of Pet-Owning Households that have dogs, cats, birds, and horses as well as the number of pets in each category. Simply go to www.avma.org and click on the reference link. Once you get the reference area click on the pet ownership calculator and fill in your information.