Hello there

Does anyone know of any decent dog grooming courses in Cheshire or Derbyshire or nearby pls?  Just looking into them, looks like the one where you get the city n guilds qualifications are about £2000 , are they worth it ? 
Just fancy doing it as a sideliine/hobby

Thanks

I guess the courses are expensive because it crams in a lot and doesn't presuppose any prior experience--added to which this is a valuable qualification if you pklan to earn a living from it. I did just a single day with my own dog about three years ago with Zoe Duffy at Look North (a bit out of your area, they are in West Yorkshire), which was £70 and only intended to give me the start of what I need to do for my own dog--it was an amazing day and really showed me how much there is to it. I show two of my dogs and groom them myself, but it's been a very long haul to learn from experience. I don;'t know how much experience you have, but I'd say that if you are planning to do this even for pin money you owe it to the dogs you'll be working on to learn as much as you can--it's very easy to make a mistake, you shouldn't do this without insurance and you can learn a lot from your fellow students as much as from your tutor. Good luck, maybe 2012 will be the year you go for your dream! :-)

http://www.prettypawsgrooming.co.uk/ http://www.prettypawsgrooming.co.uk/index.php?option=staticpage&page_id=17

Hi, I did the city in guilds introductory and level 2 and it cost me half that but it's down south! If I was doing it again I'd probably pay for breed specific one or one tuition as really I did the course to be able to groom my own dogs and save hassle and expense (£60 every 6 weeks) but at the end of level two I was as the course states just qualified to be a grooming assistant (mainly dematting washing and drying), I didn't want to do level three due to time commitments. It was great fun, I met lovely people and enjoyed every week. Anyhow Alison at pretty paws (saw the link on this page) is an excellent groomer- her Bichons always look fabulous so that's DEFINITELY worth looking at if it's in your direction.

Writtle College in Essex offer 1 day courses in grooming your own dog & techniques.  They also do all the City & guilds if you decide you want to take it further/

Thanks all!

Bit surprised how much a grooming course costs with the city n guilds qualification. Look North looks great but its £3895! for that couse

IVe seen a few that sound comprehensive but only offer a diploma at the end rather than the city & guilds, wondering how important that is, may do one of those first

Paddington Bear, I know it's expensive, but Look North really is that good (does that include a bed and board rate?). I guess you have to weigh it up against your earning potential. Having said that, I will be saving up till I'm 85 at this rate :-)