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De-stress Your Dog Grooming Salon

© Jill Florio

Those of us who are groomers are aware of what a stressful job grooming can be. Dogs can be barking, the phone can be ringing, people are walking in to ask about prices and schedules...and all the while the clock is ticking on the pets you are supposed to finish by the grooming deadline.

While you can't control everything in the salon (no matter how much you try!) you can budget a bit of your time and effort to making the stress less of an issue. Here are some ideas to engage your senses.

1. The Phone - try to have a ring that doesn't set your teeth on edge, and a message that assures people you will get back to them quickly. While you don't exactly want to answer the phone when you have your hands full of soapy wet dog, or even dog pee, your client doesn't understand when you don't answer the phone. They assume the worst - that you are unprofessional. Make sure your message assures them you ARE around and that you WILL be in touch within the half hour - about as long as clients are willing to wait.

2. Soft Music - If you are like me, you don't like that soft rock/muzak/easy listening stuff that reminds you of growing old. But grunge, alternative or even retro oldies won't impress the customers. What to play?

Good music to groom by includes interesting but not boring ideas like Spanish Classical Guitar; Piano Concertos by Mozart or Bach; crooner music from the 1920s-40 (think about the soundtrack to "When Harry Met Sally"); the soundtrack to movies like Gladiator, Star Wars, The Fifth Element, or whatever movies you dig; some of the milder, more relaxing salsa sounds; Italian Opera (La Boheme is great); or ethnic tunes from many countries - like Australian Maori music, US Native American, Greek classics or other World Beat sounds. Be creative. I recommend checking out the world-wide musical selections on Amazon.com.

3. Scents - It's up to you whether to use candles, aromatherapy, sage smudges, incense or potpourri...but find something you enjoy that makes you feel calm and at ease.

4. Stay hydrated and fed. If you aren't cranky, you will be better able to put on your smiley face for customers, even if you have just been bit, pooped on, and are running three dogs late!

Note - if you are calmer, your doggie clients will certainly pick up on that and be better behaved as well. The nice music and soothing scents won't just help YOUR well-being, but will also create a soothing stage for their "spa day out" as well.

The copyright of the article De-stress Your Dog Grooming Salon in Dog Grooming is owned by Jill Florio. Permission to republish De-stress Your Dog Grooming Salon in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.