How many grooms per day...

I was just wondering what everyone can do in the run of a day... 8 hours, check ins and outs, start to finish grooming I can do 4 dogs.. which can leave me with some time inbetween depending on if I get the dog done early. I've been grooming on my own for 6 months and was in school for four before that. I'm scheduling my dogs 2 hours a part, if I have a large double coat that I've never seen before I usually alot 3 hours just incase, toy poodles & yorkies I can usually do in an hour or an hour and 1/2. Most dogs take me two hours, from a kennel clip on a Shih to a bath and tidy on a sheltie, obviously depending on the condtition. I can do a lab in an hour, beagle in 1/2 to 3/4 of an hour. I do wet shaves if need be, don't do preshaves unless necessary and I don't have a bathing system. Right now I'm booked up 2 1/2 weeks in advance, I'm getting calls everyday... and I seriously have at least 10 new clients next week. I'm terrified of spring when it really picks up! Does anyone have an suggestions to speed me up, or am I going at an okay pace? Should I invest in that bathing system(which I can't really afford at all) or hire a bather to help me out?

I don't want to keep turning away new clients because I can't get them an appointment sooner, and I don't want to fill up all my appointments with newbies when I have regular clients that I value.

Any help would be very much appreciated!! =)

my thought is gain quality before speed, that will come. but you also will never gain speed if you never feel the preasure. i think u r at an ok amount of dogs for a newbie.
one thing you could try is over lapping your appointments.
say one in at 9:00 , 9:30 and 10:00
this will allow you 30 minutes between each pet for bathing , high volocitying and rough in, if you do any. and give you 3 1/2 hours to groom them before the afternoon appointments come in, at around 12:30, 1:00 and 1:30
maybe try just booking 2 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon this way to start.
i think the key to doing the maximum ammount of dogs is fitting the right dogs in at the right time, which isn;t always easy when you don;t know the dogs!
one of the speakers at a canada grooms seminar said the average groomer does about 6 dogs a day
she recommened 1 bath and brush (natural), 1 utility and 1 scissor in the am and then repeat that in the afternoon. this way you won;t have too many difficult thing going on at once.
the key to speed i think is organisation and doing things in the same routine so you aren't checking things over and over again. having your tools in a set spot and always putting them back. and find ways to get the customer on their way! i believe in having a personal touch with clients, but some of them never want to leave and that is a real time killer.
i finally broke down and got a bating beauty (after lotsof recommendations!) and i don't regret it at all. i would say you are better to invest in that before a bather. you have to take in concideration that you will be putting more preasure on yourself to complete more grooms to cover the cost of the bather, and also to keep the bather busy enough!
just my thoughts.
it takes lots of time to get speed, and get is safely. don;t rush it too much or you will be having accidents, and that is a real time killer!
becky

I thought about overlapping appointments before but I was quite sure how to go about it. I took over a grooming client list and they're all from the previous owner and they came to her because she didn't cage dry and spend the entire time on their dog only... so thats what I've been following. People just really don't want to leave their dogs with me for more than an hour or two, a lot of them are from out of town(1/2 hr - 1 hour away) and wait for their dog before going home.

I must say, I've only had one minor skin scrape in an armpit since I started grooming... knock on wood. I'm pokey but I'm very careful!

I do think that I should be making my own appointments.. It's something I wanted to do from the begining but I find the phone a huge nusance(my clients like to talk) so my business partner does scheduling for me. I could probably do more in one day if I scheduled it correctly, I'm a lot faster now than when I started and I could probably handle it.

I heard about the 'putting tools back in the same spot' trick and it really does work. I have everything I need right next to me, and doubles of common things like brushes, combs, nail clippers, blades, etc. Now if I could just get rid of all power cords I could do 10 a day, easy

thanks for the tips!

a friend of mine would to one dog at a time too, she eventually got so busy she had to over lap, but she just did it during the last 1/2 hour of the previous appointment. for example if she had a shih tzu in at 9:00 and it was to be done at 10;30, then she would have another dog in at 10:00. i can't work this way as i feel like there is too much preasure to put on myself in a short time, but she loved it that way as she didn;t have a pile of dogs the shop!
you would be suprised to how many people will adjust to change if they have to! if you are happy with the way appointments are going, keep it, but if not make some changes, or try it with the new ones to see if you like it????
just a suggestion.
grooming is hard in the beginning, it will get easier!
becky

Hi Elizabeth, I definitely understand your situation. I work on my own from home. This will be my third year in business and I still can only do 4 dogs a day at most. I was older when I started grooming, so maybe I would be faster if I were younger. I actually don't want to do more than that anyway, my hands couldn't take it. At Christmas I was doing up to 4 dogs a day and my hands were so sore. Part of my service is only having one dog at a time in the shop - for those dogs who are nervous around other dogs. Of course, I will take two together from one family. I can understand that over-lapping appointments could work better, as I always get the two together done faster than if they both came in separately. My problem is that I like to have the shop clean before my next appointment, hair vaccumed up, tub cleaned, tools and table sterlized, so I always have my next appointment come in a half hour after the previous one leaves. Fortunately, I'm not really busy right now, so I can spread the appointments out, but I agree, spring is coming and all the shave-downs will be coming in.

Hi Elizabeth,

I just wanted to let you know that I recently made my own 'Bathing Beauty' and I absolutely LOVE it! It was SO easy to make & I'm saving so much time & shampoo on my large & double-coated breeds. It cost me about $200 to make. I could have done it for less but I opted for a more expensive pump. I can tell you how to make it if you're interested!

I feel comfortable grooming 5 dogs a day including answering the phone and dealing with clients, however, because my shop has become a lot more busy lately, i am only doing 3. I need to answer the phone and let dogs in and out. With 5 groomers it can get hectic. My groomers like to do about 5 -6 dogs a day. It makes there job a lot easier if i can handle the majority of the clients.

thanks for all the comments!

Bringing one dog in at 9 and one at 9:30 work..but during the last 1/2 hour, I'm not sure about that. By the time I'm done bathing and HVing I could stick the dog in an xpen with a box fan and get the other one started. I'll have to try it sometime. Probably soon since I'm so busy right now!

Simply Dogs, I would LOVE to hear about how to make a bathing beauty on my own if you don't mind sharing... Some others might want to know too!

Sure!

First, I bought a Sump Pump from Home Depot (1/4HP), I paid about $130 for it, but you can get them for less. You'll need some kind of hose, shower hose or garden hose etc, with threaded fittings at each end. Choose whichever spray nozzle you like, I suggest something with an adjustable spray.
Last of all you'll need a foot switch so that you're not handling the electrical cord with wet hands. Lee Valley has a foot switch for about $35-40.

I'll take some pictures of my unit tomorrow & post them.

I have pictures of my bathing system, how do I post them?
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How to post a picture.
Scroll down and click on "Post a Reply", don't use the quick reply box.
Now click on the box above that says host an image
It will take you to the hosting website (Servimg)
Use the browse key to find you picture from your files
Click host it
When it is done loading scroll down and right click on the BBcode and click copy
Go back to your reply and right click again and paste.
Voila, it should be there.
Sounds really complicated but once you do it a couple of times it gets easier.

Thanks! Here they are:




This is the foot switch from Lee Valley:


It was really easy to do. Let me know if you have any questions.

so you just squirt your shampoos and such in the water in the tub, right? Ive never used a bathing system or seen one used before so I'm not 100% on it. Can I still use my tub normally if I want to? My tub is built level, does that matter? I've heard of people who have their tubs tilted towards the drain a bit. How loud is it? The foot switch just switches it on and off? Do you dilute your shampoos before using them with this? It's probably quite a powerful spray, how can you be sure not to get any in ears, eyes and nose?

haha, so many questions. I think I really need to see one used in person! Thanks so much for your tips, I'll definately be messaging you with questions when I decide to do it!

I normally do 8-10 dogs a day. Some days I have done up to 14. They all have to be there by 9 am, and I am usually done between 3-5pm depending on the day. Yup, I am pretty fast now, an expert at knowing how to save time everywhere I can. BUT, I've also been grooming for 10 years. A year into my career I was doing 4 dogs a day.

you can groom 8-10 dogs a day, start to finish with check ins and outs?? if that's the case then come to nova scotia and show me how to do it! =)