November is the month of Thankfulness and AGA is thankful for many things. As the leaves start falling, a setting feeling of giving thanks to those around you is a natural feeling. AGA is thankful for their clients, students and staff. This month we are also thankful to the Men of AGA. Pet styling is dominated by women, so the fact that AGA is becoming a school that is consistently enrolling men into the pet profession makes us very thankful! When most pet parents are asked, only a handful of their former or current groomers are men. This is because, 64% of Pet groomers are women, which is above average for the pet industry as a whole, stated from the Student Scholarship.org research page on the Pet Industry. We thought it would be fun and interesting to hear some of the reasons why our Men AGA students made Pet Styling as a career choice and how the experience is going for them.
Austin Sanchez
Austin loves Labradors. LOVES them. He currently has two of his own. Being a student at AGA has been easy for him. “Instantly I knew he was smart, he had the right answers for my questions on the first day of classes”. Instructor Kat Marchant. Austin learns quickly and is very good at bathing any size pet. He bathed his pets at home for years. Austin’s favorite dog to bath is a labrador, no surprise but also, “Sometimes a Poodle, they just stand so nicely for everything!”
He also did very well learning how to complete proper sanitary clips on long coated breeds, “ It was easy for me to use the clippers because I always cut my dad’s hair.”
Like every student at AGA there is always something equally as hard to learn as the easier things. For Austin, its scissoring, which is not uncommon for new grooming students of any age, gender or background. Scissor is an art and like any good artist, Austin has a plan for mastering this skill, “Practice, I practice scissor motions while I watch T.V, Practice makes perfect.” We asked Austin how he would get his best (guy) friend to give AGA a try, “I would say if your want to do something where your can earn money for your pockets and do something productive just try it!”
We are so proud of how far Austin has come and we expect so much more as he moves on in his pet styling education!
Michael Miera
Michael likes dogs. He really likes bathing them but not because it is easy, because the repetition is good for him. “Bathing dogs becomes easy because your can do the same thing the same way, so it works for people who love structure.” Michael prefers to do small to medium dogs for now. “I have not yet mastered how to handle large dogs.” We asked Michael how he plans to learn this large dog handling skill. He commented that he, “will learn why unruly dogs are that way, is something bothering them, are they scared?” The most difficult thing Michael has been working on is his ability to cut nails. This is another difficult thing for beginning pet styling students. Every dog has anywhere from 16-24 nails, that’s a lot of pressure.
Michael has a plan though- “Your have to just go for it, Take your time and do not second guess yourself. My biggest fear is cutting too short, but you have to realize the dog wants his foot back!” Michael’s very favorite dog to groom is a Maltese.
We also asked Michael how he would get his best guy friend to come to AGA for a day and his answer was priceless as well as perfect, “If your love dogs you should try AGA. Just try this out, you might like it!”
David Callison
David is your ruff and tumble kind of guy. Tattooed, tall and kind, David has been a breath of fresh air in AGA. David is the closest to graduation of all the male students at AGA and he has done phenomenally well. David thinks the easiest thing to accomplish was his bathing skills. The hardest thing for David to learn surprised us. “ The Hardest thing was learning how to hold the dog for proper grooming, It was so important because your only have one of two outcomes. The way your hold them either makes them comfortable which is what you want or it makes them stressed. Learning how to hold on any particular dog takes some practice.”
David agrees with Austin that Standard Poodle are his favorite to groom, “because they just stand there like a statue and you can really concentrate on learning”. Although David loves grooming the Standard his favorite breed is the Pomeranian. “I love them because they smile and all of them just want to be your friend!” David will be graduating shortly and has already been working at a grooming salon. He embodies what we strive for AGA graduates to be. Proud of their accomplishments, humility, caring love for animals and desire continual education that pushes us all forward. We asked David how he would get his best guy friend to accompany him to AGA on day and he said, “You know what man? It’s a good time, it’s a break from the norm and it’s so damn fun.” We agree David!
Robert Helsel
Robert Started his new career last month at AGA. He is smack in the middle of his training. For Robert being part of AGA was something he was very interested in. Robert has his own rescue golden retriever and for years he has been bathing and grooming him at home. That monthly chore turned into something new and exciting for Robert. He is currently enrolled in our Advanced Professional Pet stylist course and well on his way to making a big impact on the pet styling world. The easiest thing for Robert to learn was bathing. He was a natural, after all he had been bathing his own double coated, large breed dog, so giving him some advice and tweaking his methods a little resulted in a very easy task. The most difficult thing for Robert is scissoring. “To use the shears is the hardest thing to master. How to hold them, the angels to use them. For me it’s a confidence thing, I get nervous and stressed in sensitive areas like the feet, paws and eyes. I am afraid of hurting the dog. So I just practice and keep working on it. I may or may not be practicing on my dog!”
Roberts favorite dogs to groom are Maltese and Maltipoo. “I’ve been doing a lot of these and I like the way they look when they are done. I did one last week and when i finished the head looked so cool and fit so well on the dog and I was like, I did this?” We are quite excited to see where Robert is when his training is complete and when we asked him how he would get male friend of his to come into AGA with him for a day he stated, “Just come with me, and don’t worry about the stereotypes, if you’re like dogs then why not?”
Think your have what it takes to hang with these guys? Then come into American Grooming Academy and see what Professional Pet Styling is all about! We have great payment plans that do not start until after your graduate, flexible schedules and Advanced Curriculum to give your the strongest ability to succeed in the pet industry field!