I am about to start up my own business around Sept time and I want to know.....
a) should I pay a small fortune and go to a grooming collegue
or
b) take a course at a grooming salon
I have been advised that in either case it should be BDGA awarded is this good advice? I have also been told that obtaining an NQV from a collegue doesn't mean anything towards getting a City & Guilds qualification.... could some one give me their views so I can get hopefully an objective point of view.

I must admit i payed a small fortune to attend a college, but not only was it a college but a working salon too.
I had to stay away from home for a months only coming home at weekends but it was well worth it.
All the staff were qualified with years of experiance.
Lots of places are people that have not been in the business two minutes or nottaken an exam and rake in a fortune while training others so be careful where you go.
I was glad that i went to the best place i could find, even though it was not as cheap as i would have liked . i still found it to be cheaper than alot of places.
I paid £400 per month plus £300 accomadation per month.
But i now have a up and running business with all the knowledge of not just how to groom but of the council, fire dept , business sense and tax etc.
Please be careful who you go to and try and get recomendations from people that have been there before you part with your money.
Lots of luck

Deary

I am a Dog Groomer, and I would suggest that rather than paying a fortune for the privelige of washing dogs, you contact a grooming parlour that needs someone and volunteer your services in exchange for tuition. Most groomers I know are unqualified, but have spent years at it, either showing a coated breed or otherwise. If I come up against a breed I am unfamiliar with, I contact a breeder to see if they will let me go round for the day to learn. Most are really helpful, and no-one can teach you how to do that breed as well as someone who has bred and scissored it for 20 odd years. Qualifications are pointless as long as you have the basics of safety and infection control to mind, as all most pet owners want is a short back and sides, and most of my time grooming is spent dealing with poop-encrusted backsides. All the best. If you do go for training, another friend speaks very highly of Bellmead Kennels who apparently do residential courses -I could be wrong, Im only repeating a recommendation!!!

Hi , unfortunatly Bell mead no longer do the grooming courses, they are strictly Battersea kennels now, I had heard that as from june/ july time (cant remember if it is this year or next --scatty by name scatty by nature ) the city & guilds grooming cert, will no longer exist !!
I'm not sure if the NVQ one is all it is to be cracked up to be :(
For someone looking to go into grooming it is very hard to know what to do for the best.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do
scatty

Brecon, you can put an advert in the paper and start tomorrow, but there are plenty of "sheep shearers" out there, but they tend to come and go.
But if you invest in good training, if possible at a place that is personally recommended, and learn to trim to the breed standard, you'll have people travelling miles for their dogs to look like the breed that they bought, rather than a shaved sausage with four matchsticks for legs!!