Grooming Animals 100 Hours Certificate Course

There are 10 lessons in this course:

1. Scope and Nature of Grooming

• Introduction to grooming behaviour
• Why do humans groom animals?
• What animals are groomed?
• Generic grooming tasks
• Common tools and equipment
• Combs, brushes, rakes, blades and other equipment
• Confidently handling animals Introduction
• The industry and workplace opportunities
• Workplace skills
• Accessing the right information online

2. Animal Biology

• Skin – Epidermis & Dermis
• Claws, Nails and Spurs
• Hair
• Horns
• Hooves
• Physiological control – Homeostasis
• Thermoregulation

3. Caring for the Skin and Coat

• Animal nutrition
• General nutrition
• Micronutrition
• Water requirements
• Common skin problems in dogs and cats
• Ringworm – fungal infection
• Flea and flea control
• Ticks and tick control
• Lice and control
• Mites (mange) and control
• Treating skins problems in dogs and cats
• Common skin problems in equines
• Caring for the coat – brushing, bathing, blowdrying, dematting, clipping, trimming
• Removing burrs from fur
• Caring for cats – combing, brushing and bathing

4. Specialised Grooming Tasks

• Risks of working with animals
• Selecting a suitable grooming location
• Understanding animal psychology and behaviour
• The flight or fight response
• Environmental Influence on behaviour in zoo animals
• General considerations when handling animals
• Pre-restraint techniques
• Physical restraint
• Medical restraint – sedation
• Safely handling different animals when grooming: dogs, cats, cattle, poultry, rabbits, captive wildlife
• Handling Horses: Safe and Respectful
• Catching, releasing, leading, tying up and working around the horse
• Indicators of pain, mild fear and extreme fear
• Transporting horses

5. Handling Animals

• Risks of working with animals
• Selecting a suitable grooming location
• Understanding animal psychology and behaviour
• The flight or fight response
• Environmental Influence on behaviour in zoo animals
• General considerations when handling animals
• Pre-restraint techniques
• Physical restraint
• Medical restraint – sedation
• Safely handling different animals when grooming: dogs, cats, cattle, poultry, rabbits, captive wildlife
• Handling Horses: Safe and Respectful
• Catching, releasing, leading, tying up and working around the horse
• Indicators of pain, mild fear and extreme fear
• Transporting horses

6. Grooming Dogs

• Communication in dogs
• Use of scent
• Barking & body language
• Grooming different types of dogs
• Long Coat types
• Short coat types
• Single coat types
• Double coat types
• Smooth coat types
• Wire haired coat types
• Woolly or wavy coat types
• Corded coat types
• Bald or hairless coat types
• Brushing and bathing care
• Clipping and styling
• Grooming procedures that can go wrong
• Cutting toenails too short
• Cuts or nicks when clipping
• Overheating
• Water trapped in the ear canal
• Grooming Exotic Animals
• Grooming birds
• Handling birds
• Beaks
• Feathers
• Bathing birds
• Grooming rabbits
• Handling
• Moulting
• Transporting
• Grooming captive wildlife
• Bathing small and large mammals
• Handling large animals and exotics
• Dangerous animals
• Fear of humans
• Issues with handling animals
• Psychological effects of different handling techniques
• Grooming areas

7. Safety in Grooming Workplace

• Safety for people and staff – workplace health and safety
• First aid
• Legislation and duty of care
• Safety of animal owners and visitors to the premises
• Protective equipment
• A groomer’s personal protection
• Equipment and workplace safety
• Storage and disposal of chemicals
• Handling Tools and Machinery
• Safety with tools and equipment
• Safety audit
• Example of an audit checklist
• Safety for animals and people
• Transportation
• Safety of the animal at the salon
• Electrical safety – at home and the groomers
• Slip risk – wet surfaces
• Cat and dog allergies

8. Preparing for Showing

• What is animal showing?
• Why do people show pets?
• Showing dogs
• Training your show puppy
• Preparing for show – dogs
• Days and evening before the show
• The day of the show and in the ring
• Showing – dress to impress
• Showing poultry
• Getting started – selecting your breed and buying your birds
• Preparing birds for show
• The day before the show
• The day of the show
• Showing cattle
• Preparing cattle for show
• In the show ring on the day

9. The Business of Grooming Planning a new grooming business

• The business plan
• Financial planning
• Long term goals
• Medium term goals
• Annual financial plan
• Financial records
• Commonly used finance related terminology
• Cash flow
• Make the business a success – know your market
• Insurance and risks – risk analysis and managing risk
• Groomers insurance

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.