New, relocated pet parents cause surge in demand for dog grooming

When a dog leaves Amy Wickman’s grooming business, it has been trimmed, pedicured, bathed, styled again, fluffed and pampered.

It also has been loved.

Because Wickman and others who become groomers wouldn’t do it if they didn’t enjoy being around the animals who may come in their studios doubtful but leave immaculately coifed, prancing down the sidewalk.

“You get to play with dogs all days,” said Wickman, who operates her business out of her Brandon home. “Just getting to play with the puppies is excitement for me. They look good and smell good, and hopefully I’ve shown them grooming is not a negative.”

As the number of pet owners has increased, the demand for dog groomers and boarding services also has grown. During the early months of the pandemic, as people found themselves staying at home, pet adoptions increased, at least anecdotally.

According to records from the Sioux Falls Police Department, the number of dog licenses issued has dropped sharply. In 2018, 4,905 licenses were issued, with 4,740 in 2019 and only 3,252 in 2020. One reason for that, a spokesperson said, is that as the pandemic began, fewer people visited their veterinarians’ offices, where dog licenses can be purchased.

Businesses that offer grooming services have noticed the difference.

“Two years ago, we were booked out a day; now, it’s a week,” said Trevor Gunlicks, manager at Precious Pets Grooming Salon & Doggie Daycare. “We’ve been around for 30 years and have never seen the volume of dogs coming in to get serviced.”

Hannah Bobeldyke started a grooming salon at her home near Sioux Falls in November. The waiting period some dog owners are experiencing in finding available slots is caused both by an increase in pets and what should be only a temporary reduction in the numbers of groomers, she said.

“One I know just retired,” Bobeldyke said. “One had a wrist surgery because a lot of groomers develop carpal tunnel (syndrome). Another was in the hospital with COVID.”

Precious Pets has six full-time groomers on staff. They have asked first-time or transfer clients how they came to need a dog groomer.

“What we’re finding is a lot of dogs did find homes in the pandemic, with July or August 2020 seeing a severe uptick, hundreds and hundreds of dogs entering into the grooming program or day care,” Gunlicks said. “And a lot of them (pet owners) are moving here from California or Minnesota.”

Bobeldyke owns and operates Diamonds in the Ruff Grooming. While she grew up helping her parents groom their toy poodles, her original plan was to become a veterinary technician. As a student at Northeast Community College in Norfolk, Nebraska, Bobeldyke took on a part-time job at Pampered Paws in Norfolk because it fit in with her class schedule.

“I learned on the job in kind of an apprentice program,” Bobeldyke said. “I started as a bather for a little while; then I started helping grooming dogs. I learned as I went.”

Many groomers rely on hands-on experience because no programs exist in the immediate area. Southeast Technical College offers a vet-tech program, but no one there remembers a time when dog-grooming classes were offered, a spokesperson said. Some two-week training programs are offered in Omaha or the Twin Cities, Gunlicks said, but most groomers learn from those with experience. Unlike some states, South Dakota does not require a groomer’s license.

Bobeldyke worked as a groomer at PetSmart, which offers training for its staff, before deciding she wanted to be an independent business. She knows that dog owners take pride in their pet’s appearance.

“More often than not, they care more about their dogs than they do about their own hair,” she said. “They’d sooner spend time and money on their dogs than themselves.”

Wickman agrees.

“For a while there, I did in-home day care, and my grooming was a second job,” she said. “I had a harder time getting people to pay me for their children than I did for their dogs.”

Wickman keeps her prices as low as possible, she said, and she also grooms animals for the dog-rescue volunteer groups Sioux Falls Canine Rescue and Dakota Dachshund Rescue, charging only for her costs in water and electricity.

“Or shampoo,” she said. “I’m more than happy to be paid in shampoo.”

In the bathroom where Wickman converts her family’s tub into a spa for dogs, plastic cases hold nearly two dozen bottles of shampoo, designed to meet every need that a dog’s coat and skin might have. She begins with a wash especially designed for a dog’s face, massaging it in gently while avoiding the eyes.

First, however, Wickman has put the dog on a waist-high table in her basement office. With swift strokes, she begins trimming the dog’s feathery legs or curly coat. As a foster dog curls up in a corner, other dogs in various stages of grooming wait — some for their turn at the clippers, others while a floor fan dries their coats.

With steady-handed efficiency, Wickman clips the dog’s nails, first the left side and then reversing it to pick up the paws on the right.

Dog grooming can tax the body, she said.

“It’s a tough job physically,” Wickman said. “There are days when my shoulder, elbow, hand and wrist just ache. I try to stagger my clientele for the day — a big old brush-out then several smaller dogs so I can stand for a little while. Too many big doodles in a day and my hand feels like it’s vibrating from holding the clippers too long.”

Added Bobeldyke: “A lot of dogs are pretty big, and if they don’t want to do something, you can’t tell them to do it. They know you can’t move them easily. It’s hard on the back.”

It also can tug at the heart. Groomers develop relationships with the animals they see regularly.

“I had a couple of 16-year-old dogs that passed recently, and it’s sad,” Wickman said. “You never know when’s the last time you’ll get to groom that dog. It’s sad to lose the ones you’ve been with for a while.”

Wickman grooms eight to 10 dogs a day, depending on the animals’ sizes. Larger dogs obviously take longer.

Do-it-yourself dog grooming can be disastrous, Gunlicks said.

“From a grooming perspective, you never want to do a dog at home if you care what it looks like,” Gunlicks said. “A goldendoodle, you’ll actually probably mess up their hairstyle. It’s important getting a good job done, especially in their younger years.”

Gunlicks took over management of his family business last year. His mother, Sarah, is intensely involved in dog training, and Precious Pets’ two owners also are classically trained in show-dog training techniques.

Wickman started at a veterinary clinic. She was working as a technician in 2003 when the clinic’s groomer decided to retire. She spent hours and hours watching how that groomer worked, she said. Wickman started working from her home in Rock Valley, Iowa, in 2008. In 2019, she moved to Brandon.

It will cost several thousand dollars to start an independent business, Wickman and Bobeldyke said. A professional bathing tub can cost $5,000, depending on how large or elaborate it is. Scissors will cost from $60 to several hundred, and the blades on razors must be sharpened often. Shampoo can cost $40 to $60 a gallon.

“You can only sharpen each blade two or three times before they’re at the end of their life,” Bobeldyke said. “Some places come to you; some you have to ship them off to. You need to clean all your equipment constantly.”

Precious Pets grooms 35 dogs a day, six days a week, Gunlicks said. It offers dog boarding and day care services, both of which also have seen a greater demand.

In addition, the business meets another service where the requests are outstripping the providers: cat grooming. Precious Pets has one groomer on staff who works with cats.

“Only two or three locations offer cat grooming,” Gunlicks said. “It’s a different experience, that’s for sure.”

Wickman describes dog grooming as “hot,” “sweaty” and “hard work.” She said this while calming a quizzical dog, murmuring a steady stream of compliments to it as she wielded her shears.

“It’s very, very rewarding,” she said. “People message me: ‘You should see my dog. She’s been prancing around, and she thinks she’s beautiful.’ Even just the dog itself is happier for being groomed — even if they didn’t like it at the time.”