How Did I Even Get Here?! Part 5

   So off to school I was. Mom and I made the 12 hour drive in my teensy tiny car. It was an uneventful drive, with the exception of one minor incident in which my mother panicked about the oncoming ambulance two blocks away and pulled some sort of action movie sequence which resulted in my car getting the sense knocked out of it by the curb. Thankfully my car had just been concussed and wasn't actually broken, so we arrived safely at my biggest brothers house.

   The next day was my first day of class and I was so incredibly excited! Unfortunately I was also so incredibly sick. Somewhere between home and school I had picked up a nasty bug. Driving to my first day of class was…interesting, and I remember praying that I wouldn't pass out. As I walked in I was greeted by Tera, the instructor I had talked to on the phone. I was told to choose a station which consisted of a grooming table, and stool, and a tall plastic organizer.

   After everyone was seated, Tera welcomed us all to Western Dog Grooming School, and proceeded to tell us her life story. And what a life she had had! I was shocked that she would tell us, complete strangers, such privet detail about herself. I soon found out that this lady was just an amazing person. She is a lady with a big heart that accepts everyone for who they are with out judgment and expects others to do the same. I was very privileged to have had her for an instructor. We then introduced ourselves, though not to the extent that Tera had, and our equipment was passed out to us. After all kinds of "house keeping", she brought in a Yellow Lab and began to demonstrate how to properly and safely give a bath, as well as how the shampoos and conditioners work.

   This whole time, though I was very interested, I was feeling steadily worse. As soon and the bathing demo was done, I ran to the bathroom and threw up. When I came out Tera looked at me and said "You don't look very good." Somehow I drove myself home, crawled into bed and slept straight until the next morning. I survived off grapes and carrots for the first month of school because for some reason, that is all my stomach would let me eat!

   So this is how my school worked. Western Dog Grooming School is situated in an actual working grooming salon, meaning that we got to work on dogs from the get go. We had two instructors as well as a helper of sorts. Tera was the main instructor, but twice a week Kat came in to teach us the show grooming side of dog grooming, usually bringing a dog to demo.

 Monday to Thursday were practical days in which we would groom dogs up to the level we had been taught, and then the instructors would finish the dogs off and the owners would pay half price for the groom.

                                    


 Friday was theory day on which we learned grooming techniques, patterns, how to read dogs, as well as memorizing every dog and their characteristics in the Canadian Kennel Clubs Terrier, Non-Sporting, Sporting, Working Dog, and Toy groups. This means that Tera would say "What terrier is 12-14" in size, can have cropped ears or un-cropped ears, and comes in salt and pepper, black and silver, or solid black.?" And we would answer, "Miniature Schnauzer". We also learned about K9 health including vaccinations, disease, allergies, oral health, parasites, first aid ect. In addition to everything we had to learn for school, some of us chose to learn extra so that we could take the tests to get certified through what was called then the Canadian Professional Groomers and is now called the Canadian Professional Pet Stylists. As you can imagine school is a blur for me. I made some friends and had a lot of fun, and by the end of three months (yes, THREE MONTHS!) I was a professional groomer, a certified Professional Pet Stylist and was heading home to start up my own business, The Unleashed Boutique!

This is almost the end of the story, but not quite. Check back for "How Did I Even Get Here?! Part 6"

 

How Did I Even Get Here?! Part 4

   The weeks turned into months and the hours of "grooming experience" were adding up. I printed off another application and as I read through the questions for the second time, I suddenly saw myself the way Scary Dane Lady saw me. Why in the world would she think I would make a good groomer? There was nothing about me, past or present, that could prove that I was serious about this. The first question on the application was "Why do you want to become a groomer?". How was I supposed to answer that in a way that exuded confidence? "I don't really know why, it just feels right  :) " Scary Dane Lady was not going to approve me for her school, no matter how many volunteer hours I had, she just didn't want me. Truthfully, I didn't really want to be her student. Something told me that her and I were not very compatible. She probably would have crushed me under her hulking personality.

   There was nothing for it but to search for a different school. Google search did not disappoint and we found another grooming school located 10 minutes away from my other brothers place. I got in touch with the instructor via e-mail and she sent me all the school info. When I read that she also required a personal interview, I decided it would be easier to explain to her by phone rather then e-mail why flying down again for another interview probably wouldn't work. I picked up the phone and dialled the number, silently praying that I wouldn't make a fool out of myself. After about 30 seconds of talking I was pleasantly surprised to find that she was a normal person! She wasn't self important or condescending. When I explained to her that I had just flown down for an interview a few months earlier and didn't think I was going to be able to make the trip again so soon, she surprised me by saying "Oh that's fine, I can just give you the interview over the phone!"As she asked me questions, I found that I could answer them with ease and confidence, and when we came to the end of the interview she said "Well great! I'm looking forward to meeting in the fall and if you have any more questions feel free to call or e-mail." WHAT?! That's it?! After all that fretting and after all that work, a few emails and a phone call and I'm in?

   Mom was a little scepticle too. She went off and called up past students too get the low down. Every single person she called raved about the school and about the instructors. So, I sent the cheque off in the mail, bought the text books, put in my notice at work and made arrangements to stay with my big brother and his family. I was off to Western Dog Grooming School!

This is not the end of the story, but it's a long story. Check back for How Did I Even Get Here?! Part 5
If you missed it here is Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

How Did I Even Get Here?! Part 2

   Here enters the most intimidating woman I have ever met in my years. She will henceforth be referred to as "Scary Dane Lady". Why is she the most intimidating woman I have ever met? Because she is 10 feet tall, built like a lumberjack and is flanked by two Great Danes.

   I arrive at the grooming school with my posse ( Mom, Dad, Sister-in-law) and there is nobody in sight. Noise is coming from behind a dutch door beside the reception desk, so I walk over and give it a timid knock. The top half opens to reveal Scary Dane Lady, an obviously active grooming salon and two very large Great Danes. Maybe I was naive to think that this would be a formal interview; that my posse would greet Scary Dane Lady and then she would ask me to step into a quieter, more privet area to conduct the interview. After all, I had made a special plane trip specifically for this interview at this woman's request. Instead she greeted me and then immediately sat back down at her grooming table where she was working on a dog. Shocked, I just stood there. I had no idea what she wanted me to do. Was I supposed to wait until she was done the dog? Did she want me to come in? But she hadn't asked me to come in! Finally she said something to the lines of "Well come on in then!" and, "Don't worry, they're friendly. Getting past the Dane's is the first test! HaHAAH!". Scary Dane Lady obviously thought that I was nervous of her dogs and that's why I hadn't come in. I wasn't scared of the Danes, I just hadn't understood that her "Hello! I'm Scary Dane Lady, nice to meet you" followed by a hasty retreat was apparently her way of inviting me to come in and make myself at home.

   So, there I was, standing awkwardly in the middle of the salon while Scary Dane Lady whittled away on the dog and her assistant dried another with a very loud drier. This is where she proceeded to tell me all about how hard grooming is.
   SDL- "Grooming is not for everyone. It's very physically hard work. Sometimes I make my students run around the block. Do you work out? Are you in a sport or something?"
    Me-"No I don't, I was in sports in school but that's about it."
 
   Awkward silence.
 
   SDL- "Grooming means that you will be handling dogs all day long. You have to know what you're doing, and you will probably get bit, scratched, peed on and pooped on." *Waits for response*
   Me- "….o..ok"

    Awkward silence.

    SDL-"Do you have any experience handling dogs?"
   Me-"Well I grew up with dogs and the dog I have now, I trained her myself, and I had never trained a dog before. I'm very comfortable around dogs."
   SDL-"So you don't have any grooming experience?"
   Me-"….no."
 
   The entire interview went on like this while Scary Dane Lady continued to groom, her assistant continued to dry with the loud drier, and the Danes wondered around like giant shadowy spectres . After a confusing 15 minutes of hearing all the cons of grooming and answering questions only to be given an "Are you serious?" look,  Scary Dane Lady said goodbye and that she'd let me know by the end of the day if she thought I was right for her school. Then she continued on with her groom and we let ourselves out.

   Everything Scary Dane Lady had said was totally correct, but the whole thing had just been so bazzar and not anything like what I had imagined. Needless to say I wasn't very surprised when I got the call letting me know that I had not been accepted into the school and that I was to get more experience and then try again.

This is not the end of the story, but it's a long story. This is just intermission. Check back for "How Did I Even Get Here?! Part 3". If you missed Part 1 you'll find it here.

How Did I Even Get Here?! Part 1

  When I first started up, people would ask what made me decide to become a groomer. Truth is, I have no clue. There was no growing love of all things grooming, no Ah-Ha! moment, not even a stray thought remotely close to it. I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life. All I knew is that I hated school and did not want to go from high school right into college or university.

  Graduating was the most exciting and terrifying thing I've done thus far. Graduating felt so final. Like the end of the world as I knew it; and I was completely ill-prepared for the new world I was being released into. Was I supposed to be independent now? Was I supposed to move out and get a job? Was I supposed to go to college? Wasn't I supposed to have everything together by now?! I remember crying when I turned 18 a few months after graduation, because at least I had been 17. Adulthood was coming on fast and the pressure was crushing me.
 
   It took some time, but I finally started to acclimate. I lived at home and got a job in retail while all the geniuses I had graduated with went on to change the world through academia. One day, in the spring of 2010, I was given a sign.  My Mom and I were running errands. As we drove by the local pet store, a large sign was positioned so driver's could easily read it. "Experienced groomer wanted". My Mother turned to me and said the 5 words that changed my life and filled me with the one thing I craved most…direction. "You'd be good at that." That's all she said, and thank God she did!  I don't remember thinking "Perfect! I will be a groomer!" I just couldn't get what my Mom had said to stop resounding inside my head. When we got home I immediately got on the computer to do some research. This completely random career was acctually something that I could envision myself doing and even enjoying!

    After doing some research I found that there were a lot of online courses, a lot of correspondence courses, but only a few schools. I'm sure there are people out there who can learn dog grooming online and stay motivated to do their work under their own steam; that person is not me. Plus, it just made sense to me to learn a hands on skill in a hands on way. There was nothing keeping me from going to school; nothing to tie me down. I found a school in the BC lower mainland that just happened to be a 5 minute drive from my brothers place. I mailed off my application and in a week or so I was asked to come in for a face to face interview. Now, I live 12 hours away by car and 2 hours away by plane from this school; but sure! I'll just pop over for an interview! However my exceptionally supportive parents decided it was a good excuse to visit my brothers and their families. So we booked the interview and hopped on the plane.

   This is not where the story ends, but it's a long story. So this is intermission. Check back for How Did I Even Get Here ?! Part 2.