Beating the Butterflies Eight ways to overcome anxiety and channel nervous energy to perform your best By: Melissa Verplank Whether you are looking to certify, enter a grooming competition or other highly visible display, the seasoned pros seem to have total control over their situation: calm, cool, and collected in their thoughts. Looks, however, can be deceiving. Beneath the surface of total control, even the most seasoned, show-savvy competitors get butterflies in their stomachs. They experience the same sort of show jitters and performance anxiety that plagues those who compete at lower levels. But seasoned stylists eventually learn to use... Continue reading

Making Room for New Customers! By: Melissa Verplank Recently, I was giving one of my most popular lectures at a large tradeshow. It’s about client management through retention rate, rebooking and referrals. In the lecture, I talk about grooming businesses are about selling a relationship. It’s about trust. It’s about education. It’s about creating repeat business. Who will survive and thrive regardless of what kind of economic factors are put upon our grooming businesses? Towards the end of the session, an audience member made a profound statement. Something I had never thought of let alone, touched on. The tip she... Continue reading

Education Is Everything By Melissa Verplank We have a motto within my companies when it comes to learning. Education is everything. It is at the very core of everything we do. Why? I see learning as never ending. It does not matter what stage you are in your career. Or what stage you are in your life. Continued learning offers positive opportunities around every turn. I was never a great student in school. Traditional academics did not excite me. But once I got into dog grooming, now that was a different story. I became passionate about learning. About growing my... Continue reading

By: Melissa Verplank With the Holiday rush just behind us, it may be a perfect time to fuel a prosperous 2020 and create a dream with a deadline! A recent study divided people who made New Year’s resolutions into two groups. Those who made New Year’s resolutions and wrote it down. Those who made a New Year’s resolution but neglected to write it down. You know what? The results were amazing. For the group that did not write down their New Year’s resolution, only 4% of them kept their resolution. However, for the people that wrote down the resolution, a... Continue reading

8 Ways to Make More Money Grooming By: Melissa Verplank Are you looking for ways to boost your income? Come on – who ISN’T?? What if I told you there’s a way to do it without doing more dogs? In order to grow your business and/or your bank account, it’s important you work smarter - not harder. Up until about 12 years ago, I never thought about offering extra services as a upsell. Sure, I always charged extra if there was excessive dematting or shedding. Specialized treatments for fleas or eliminating nasty odors (like skunk!) always cost more. Or if... Continue reading

10 Tips to Help You Stay Calm Over a Bustling Holiday Season I know it seems like we are barely out of summer, but busy salons are already thinking about the holiday rush. Halloween. Thanksgiving. Hanukkah. Christmas. New Years. Are you? This is the prefect time to bolster your year-end earnings while providing a warm, caring experience for your clients and their pets. The holidays can be magical, busy, fiscally rewarding and wonderful. But they can be stressful, demanding and exhausting too. Let’s not forget the most important part of the holidays. To spend time with your family and friends.... Continue reading

If you are a professional groomer, we believe this is the most important lesson you can learn. Combined with effective pet handling, understanding canine anatomy is the FOUNDATION of all good grooming. If you don’t know how the pet is put together – or in some cases – SHOULD be put together, you simply won’t provide the best grooming you can. You will not earn the trust and cooperation of pets entrusted to you if you go pulling their legs in directions they are not meant to go or if you are moving a pet in an un-natural way. So,... Continue reading

Did you know – whoever is asking the questions controls a conversation? It’s true. When you are asking a question, it forces the other person to pay attention to you. If you merely talk, the listener’s mind can wander to other matters. But the minute you say, “Let me ask you this…” the listener must pay attention because a response will be required. It is an automatic reflex. On average, a person can speak at about 250 words a minute while a person who is listening can think at about 1200 words a minute. So, if you are doing all... Continue reading

It's Shedding Season! This is the time of year the shedding breeds come in. They come in all sizes, but the big ones can be the most challenging. They’re often the ones that haven’t been groomed in FOREVER. You know the ones – Goldens…arctic-type breeds … Saint Bernards. They have coat that totally trashes your salon – and maybe even you. Working on these large furry dogs is one of my favorite things to do in a grooming salon. Call me crazy – but I just love the transformation in this type of job. Over the years, the process rarely... Continue reading

When asked, most groomers will say the only way to make more money is to “do more dogs”. While this could be true, it could mean longer days and more exhaustion. There are easier ways to give yourself a raise in this new year. The Right Tools for the Job Guard combs are one of the easiest ways to speed up your grooming while reducing hand stress. Consistency and the ability to customize the haircut just by switching out guard combs gives you plenty of options to please any pet parent. “Chunkers” are oversized thinning shears or blending shears with... Continue reading

When it comes to choosing clippers, there is no one "best" product that will meet the needs of every groomer. Each groomer has a different client base, a different style of working, and different needs. With so many choices available, even the most experienced groomers have questions about clippers and trimmers—especially if they've been using the same ones for years and are looking for a new model that will provide better results. Get informed! Go to our Clipper Guide on PetEdge.com and find some great information about clippers, usage, terms, and usage, to help you make informed decisions about your... Continue reading

October is Adopt-A-Shelter-Dog Month, and while there are 3-4 million shelter dogs curled up in cages, waiting against the diminishing hope of being rescued from euthanasia, heed this advice: don’t adopt a shelter dog this month. Yes, that’s right: I’m recommending that you do not adopt a pet during Adopt-A-Shelter-Dog Month, for there’s more than one way to support shelter dogs. While it’s great that a commemorative month is in place to raise awareness of dogs in shelters, some would-be parents don’t always consider whether the time is right for pet adoption. Meanwhile, groomers are usually the last people that... Continue reading

Caring for a senior pet is a difficult task that should not be taken lightly, but as pet parents, it’s our duty to do everything we can to make our four-legged friends’ twilight years as happy and comfortable as possible. Continue reading

For years, Katie Heikkila had devised a plan to bring ordinary, New England pet groomers together with a competition to celebrate their everyday work. Her vision was both simple in concept and radical in its goal of drawing everyday groomers into an endeavor perceived to be as glamorous as it was highly competitive. The culture of grooming competitions is a difficult one to enter. It’s a world that can be intimidating to some. It’s a huge commitment in time, money, and coat upkeep to enter the competition arena, and it can be difficult for many stylists to find owners with... Continue reading

October is Adopt-A-Shelter-Dog Month, and while there are 3-4 million shelter dogs curled up in cages, waiting against the diminishing hope of being rescued from euthanasia, heed this advice: don’t adopt a shelter dog this month. Yes, that’s right: I’m recommending that you do not adopt a pet during Adopt-A-Shelter-Dog Month, for there’s more than one way to support shelter dogs. While it’s great that a commemorative month is in place to raise awareness of dogs in shelters, some would-be parents don’t always consider whether the time is right for pet adoption. Meanwhile, groomers are usually the last people that... Continue reading

You know the sound—the dreaded buzzing of a mosquito flying around in search of an unsuspecting victim. As much as spring and summertime represent the welcome end to a dreary winter, they also bring with them a seemingly endless variety of blood-sucking pests to feed on human and animal hosts. As unpleasant and irritating as insects are, they also pose a very real threat to pets and pet parents alike. Many fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes can carry and are known to transmit dangerous diseases to anything they bite—diseases like Lyme disease, dengue fever, malaria, and the fast-spreading Zika virus. Zika... Continue reading

Friends, colleagues, and valued customers...it is with great excitement that we announce that 2016 marks our 60th anniversary! Over the last 60 years, we've established ourselves as the #1 trusted source for pet care professionals, but we know that we never would have reached this impressive milestone without your continued loyalty and support, and for that, we thank you! A young Loeb Katz Loeb Katz started PetEdge as New England Serum Company in 1956. Initially, Loeb's sold serums out of the back of his Chevy pickup truck to fellow dairy farmers in the Topsfield, Massachusetts area. Before long, New England... Continue reading

It’s been a busy year or two for professional groomer Anne Francis—she made GroomTeam USA, has been competing on a regular basis, and even got married! Never one to shy away from pushing the envelope, Anne has enjoyed a long career that has seen her gain a reputation as a mixed-breed specialist with a penchant for perfecting new and innovative styles. Anne recently came by our office for a photo shoot, and we sat down with her to chat about her influences, her career, and some of the incredible experiences she’s had along the way. PetEdge: What initially drew you... Continue reading

There’s something special about Halloween—it’s the one day a year you get to dress up as anything you like and go around begging for candy. But as fun as Halloween is for people, it can be stressful or even dangerous for pets. So before you carve up the pumpkins or grab the perfect costume, check out this list we put together to help you safely and happily enjoy the spookiest of holidays with your four-legged friends. 1. Watch what they eat. As fun as it is to go around the neighborhood asking for candy on Halloween night, it’s important to... Continue reading

Believe it or not, the holidays are right around the corner, and you know what that means—rising demand for holiday grooming services. While the increased revenue that comes with this busy time of year is definitely a positive, a negative byproduct of the holiday season can be added stress. Whether you’re just starting out, or you’re a seasoned veteran groomer, no one is immune from feeling the added pressure this season can bring—here are some important things to keep in mind for the holidays! One important thing to remember this holiday season is that you are not a superhero, so... Continue reading

We all know that clippers and blades are the workhorses of a successful grooming operation, but what would you do if you came in to work one day and found that your most important tools had fallen into disrepair? Don’t let it get to that point—proper clipper and blade maintenance is absolutely essential to maintaining the effectiveness and productivity of the groomers in your salon. To find out exactly what you should be doing for your clippers to keep them in optimum shape, consult both the manufacturer and your trusted clipper-repair technician. Instructions on how to replace parts or perform... Continue reading

Summer is still in full swing—time for barbecue, beaches, and, unfortunately, thunderstorms. Those of us with pets sensitive to thunder are always on the lookout for a way to ease their discomfort. As pet care professionals, groomers are often asked for solutions and remedies for this sort of anxiety, which begs the question—how can we help without overstepping the boundaries into practicing veterinary medicine without a license? Some dogs are made uncomfortable to the point of panic. Those dogs will benefit most by a recommendation to see a behaviorist or veterinarian, but dogs with a lesser degree of reactivity may... Continue reading

Summer’s just about arrived everywhere in the US by now, and some places (like the eastern part of Washington State and northern Idaho) are experiencing unseasonal and potentially dangerous heat indexes. Temperatures in the triple digits are hard enough to handle for humans not used to it—what about their pets? Heatstroke and heat exhaustion can be serious issues for pets, both at home and at the groomer’s. Knowing the signs and symptoms and how to treat these dangerous conditions can save lives. June 13 was Canine Heatstroke Awareness day, and some of the best writers in the pet industry contributed... Continue reading

There's a lot to like about spring and summer—the days are longer, the grass is greener, the sun is brighter. For many, summertime is synonymous with vacations, cookouts, and trips to the beach with family and friends. However, with the nicer weather comes something far more ominous...the yearly influx of dangerous, disease-carrying insects. While many of these pests may not be active during the cold winter months in areas that experience a hard freeze, it doesn't take long for them to start wreaking havoc again. In fact, in many parts of North America, ticks can be active as early as... Continue reading

In the United States, GroomTeam USA sets the standard by which one’s professional dog grooming chops are measured. With a roster that includes many of the nation’s top groomers, members of GroomTeam USA are pioneers in the industry. However, while the trail may have been blazed by the likes of Cheryl Purcell, Jodi Murphy, and the late, great Liz Paul, a new crop of young, hyper-skilled groomers is emerging—the most recognizable of whom is Mackensie Murphy. If her name sounds familiar, it’s probably because she comes from famous stock—Mackensie’s mother is world-renowned groomer, competitor, educator, speaker, contest judge, and fellow... Continue reading