September Newsletter
Summer is drawing to a close, and most of us are ready to say goodbye to these hot days and hello to crisp autumn air.
We will be closed from 9/7-9/15. The entire team is heading to Hershey Pennsylvania for the country's largest grooming expo.
Our commitment to continuing education is one of our core values here at Underdogs. While we are always learning via podcasts, books and online courses, Hershey offers days of hands-on seminars on a variety of topics, taught by the leading experts in our field. There are grooming competitions where we get to see the best of the best showcase their skills. We’re also looking forward to the huge trade show that gives us the opportunity to explore new products and speak directly with their manufacturers and creators.
Make sure you're following us on social media to come along with us on our road trip, see what classes we are taking, our shopping hauls, and learn a little about what the grooming industry is like in the bigger picture. We promise to also show some very cute dogs!
We are going to try very hard to keep up with calls and texts while we are there, but we do ask for your patience as these are very busy days!
Here's a look at the website for more information and the class schedule.
https://www.groomexpo.com/schedule
Since we all have different interests and specialties, we will all be attending different classes, then sharing what we learned with each other, and with you!
Education or Experience?
When choosing a pet groomer, many people are looking for someone with experience. It's no secret that Samantha has tons of that. She started her career back in the 1900s, and that IS impressive. It's actually not easy to find groomers who stay in the industry beyond their first 5 years. Many of us come into the job with dreams of giving beautiful makeovers to dogs that are joyously willing participants and snuggling with cute little puppies.
The reality is much different in most cases. Most groomers are only paid in commissions on completed grooms. Therefore, if they want the bills paid, get as many grooms done as fast as possible. This creates chaotic environments, the groomers are stressed and overworked, the dogs are also stressed and overstimulated and if the groom can't be completed, the groomer loses money. This leads to maybe cutting corners, maybe pushing a dog beyond their comfort levels, dogs and people get hurt, tools get broken, no one wins.
Of course groomers burn out!
Dog grooming is a completely unregulated industry; there is no governing body that we answer to. Anyone can pick up clippers and be a dog groomer. No state board, no health department involvement, no one is doing inspections, certifying us or the places we operate. Many groomers never receive a formal education, some are apprenticed, some are even self taught having learned from Youtube! And here's the funny part: they might actually be really good groomers who have more knowledge than groomers who went to a trade school program 30 years ago.
The industry has evolved. The products and tools we use have changed. There's been so many scientific advancements into the study of animals, how their minds work, their skin and coat, their behavior and the factors that can affect all of this that to simply ignore it all in favor of what we were taught back then by someone who probably learned it way before that is willfully negligent. Even the animals themselves have evolved! Doodles didn't even really enter mainstream dog ownership until the 1990s, and now they're probably about 75% of the dogs we groom. Perhaps you have even seen Bunny, a dog on tiktok who has entire conversations with her owner using talking buttons. The ways we interact with our dogs has changed so much within the last few decades. In the 90s it wasn't considered unusual or cruel to have a dog that spent their entire lives at the end of a chain in the backyard, and let's not even get into what “training” looked like!
So sure, you certainly learn a lot from experience, but if a person has only spent that time doing what they've always done, what they're learning is limited to only what happens on their own table.
We display our certificates proudly because they were choices we made, money and time that we spent in an effort to become masters of our craft, far above the bare minimum. We sought out that education, made the investments out of our own pockets and did the work to ensure that we are providing a safe and pleasant experience, using modern tools and techniques to actually make your dog that joyously willing participant in their care.
We know there are groomers around who will get the job done for less money, and in the current state of the economy we are all watching our dollars. So it's important to us that you know that we aren't more expensive just to support Sam’s plant habit. We appreciate your loyalty and love that you share our values, our priorities and trust us to be your dogs’ trusted cooperative care providers.
Your money goes right back into the community when you come to us. Unlike large corporations, we pay local, state and federal taxes. We pay our groomers a living wage outside of commission, so they never have to worry about stopping a groom if it is becoming unsafe or uncomfortable. We not only pay for, but require continuing education so that we see what that looks like before it's too late. We only use products that disclose their full ingredient list but we take the time to learn what those ingredients do. Most importantly, we are granted the luxury of time to work with your dog, meeting them wherever they are. We can accommodate seniors or dogs who have needs that can't be met in assembly line grooming, and to actually snuggle those cute little puppies, not just because they are cute, but because we know that they're in a very important stage of development that will shape how they view grooming for their entire lives, which we want to be around for.
So thank you for sticking with us. We love this community and it’s an honor to serve you, we don’t take it lightly, even if we are a little goofy sometimes.
And speaking of goofiness: Here is everyone’s favorite monthly feature:
Employee of The Month!
Before we get too far into his bio, we want you to know that we have been advised by our legal team not to make incriminating statements regarding Archie’s alleged use of Dark Magic to make a boy who will remain anonymous no longer able to walk. Here is the video that caused a lot of online discourse regarding whether or not the boy even wanted to be able to walk, and there were some criticisms regarding our choice to deny him his gnome bacon in the hopes of deterring future misuse of his powers.
Many people made some great points, and we do not want Archie to be denied his nutrients regardless of his age, which we are still unclear of as he claims to be 3 years old, but sources say he may be closer to 45 years old. This is actually irrelevant, as we have changed our policies going forward and will be using an approach that more closely aligns with our values. No one should be denied their basic needs, regardless of their age, and no matter what they may or may not have allegedly used their powers to do. Allegedly.
Whatever the case may be, or the method he used to make it happen, he quickly made this our most popular video yet and we are so grateful to have him as part of the Underdogs team. We look forward to working with him and his sister Maple in the future, and are optimistic that their powers will be used for good going forward.
And rest assured that no gnome will ever go without their bacon around here again.