08/12/2026
It’s a long read, it’s not my words but I share these concerns as I get older. Preparing your pups for grooming benefits more than just your dog. 💜
A Message From Someone Who's Been In This Industry for 49 Years
I just came through a major two-surgeon, eight-hour surgery to repair years of cumulative damage to my body — followed by a second procedure a few days later to close everything up. Recovery will be long, and it will permanently change the way I work going forward.
This isn't my first rodeo. I had surgery in 2015 with less-than-desirable outcomes that created long-term complications I've carried ever since.
And here's what I need you to hear: I used proper lifting techniques. I invested in top-quality equipment — electric tables, ergonomic tools, everything recommended. I did the "right" things. It still wasn't enough.
A significant part of the damage traces back to years of lifting and wrestling oversized and difficult dogs when I was younger. The physical toll is cumulative and silent. You don't fully understand what it costs you until much later — sometimes decades later.
The Landscape Has Changed Dramatically — And Our Bodies Are Paying For It
After 49 years in this profession, I want to put something in perspective that I don't think we talk about enough.
Years ago, when we saw large breeds — Great Pyrenees, Collies, heavy double-coated dogs — it was typically once a year for a seasonal shave-down. Maybe twice. Those dogs were physically demanding, yes, but the exposure was limited.
Now we have doodles. And those doodles come back every four to six weeks.
Do the math: that's roughly ten times the number of large-dog appointments pushing on our bodies compared to a generation ago. Ten times the lifting. Ten times the wrestling. Ten times the strain on your spine, your shoulders, your core — week after week, year after year. The grooming industry has quietly absorbed an enormous physical load shift, and most of us didn't even notice it happening until the damage was already done.
It's Not Just the Giants
We also need to talk about something that doesn't get nearly enough attention: small and medium dogs with serious behavior issues.
The scratches that leave scars. The mild bites. The constant unpredictable movement that keeps your entire body tense and reactive for hours. This is not just a physical toll — it is mentally and emotionally exhausting in ways that compound over time just like any physical injury does.
Groomers absorb this quietly because the dog is small, as if size somehow makes it acceptable. It doesn't. A ten-pound dog that fights, scratches, and thrashes for an hour causes real damage — to your hands, your focus, your nervous system, and your love for this work.
We owe it to ourselves to name this clearly: behavior-challenged dogs at any size are an occupational hazard, and our profession needs to treat them as such.
And There's Another Piece of This We're Not Talking About
Our industry is overwhelmingly made up of women — many of them young, many of them in their childbearing years. Pregnancy and childbirth naturally affect core muscle strength and stability. That's not a criticism; it's biology. But when those same women return to grooming — lifting, restraining, bending, repositioning large dogs repeatedly throughout the day — they are asking already-compromised core muscles to carry a load they were never designed to sustain at that level.
Weak or healing core muscles plus the repeated physical demands of grooming large and difficult dogs is not a good scenario. It's a blueprint for the exact kind of cumulative, hard-to-reverse injuries I am living right now.
What I Know After 49 Years
I am watching injuries increase and careers get shorter. I see talented, experienced groomers leaving this profession not by choice, but because their bodies gave out before their passion did. That trend is accelerating, and it should alarm every one of us.
We do not owe our clients our health in exchange for grooming their dog. That was never part of the job description.
If I could go back and talk to my younger self, I would say this: Limit yourself to only a few well-behaved large dogs if you take them at all. The difficult ones — at any size — are never worth it.
Set your size limits early. Set your behavior limits early. And hold them — not because you're being difficult, but because you are building a career that your body and mind can sustain.
Protect your body early. You only get one.
This industry needs you in it for the long haul. Make decisions now that honor that.
