Kathy Salzberg - How to Start a Home-based Pet Grooming Business

Kathy Salzberg is a freelance writer and a National Certified Master Groomer who has been in the pet industry since she joined her late husband, David, at the Village Groomer in Walpole, Massachussetts, in 1976. Since his death in 1996, she has run the grooming salon and retail pet supply store in partnership with her daughter, Missi Salzberg, who is a well-known industry writer and speaker. Kathy is also the mother of David and Peter Salzberg and grandmother of Allison, Cara, Kaitlin, Quinn, and Dylan Salzberg and Ethan Withrow.

Born in Boston, Massachussetts, Kathy has written about grooming and pet grooming issues in such publications as Cat Fancy, Popular Dogs, Puppies USA, Dogs USA, Kittens USA, Cats USA, and Pet Age. For six years she wrote a humor column for Groom & Board magazine, for which she was twice awarded the Cardinal Crystal Achievement Award as Grooming Journalist of the Year. She has also written The Everything Small Dogs Book, to be published by Adams Media, and was a contributor to The Dog Bible, published by Bowtie Press. She lives with her beloved pets in Walpole and Eastham, Massachusetts.

Missi Salzberg is the current owner of The Village Groomer & Pet Supply and Dog Daze Day Camp. She has been involved in the professional pet grooming industry her entire life, growing up working the groom room and retail shop with her parents. Missi has been nominated for the Cardinal Crystal Achievement Award for journalism three times, winning the award in 2008 and happily losing once to her mother! Missi is an Oster Ambassador and does private consulting. She has presented programs at many of the national grooming trade shows. She emcees her home show for the New England Pet Grooming Professionals each fall. Missi has written for several industry magazines, including Grooming Business magazine.

We would like to thank the following individuals for providing guidance, inspiration, and information, gratefully acknowledging the ripple effect of their presence in our lives:

David G. Salzberg Jr. and Peter Salzberg, Kathys sons and Missis brothers; their wives, Aline and Julie Salzberg; Kathys grandchildren and Missis nieces and nephews, Allison, Cara, Kaitlin, Quinn, and Dylan, for their constant love and encouragement; Kathys partner Lee Ackerman and Missis partner Tracy Taylor, for their love and support; and our wonderful staff at the Village Groomer, for adding to our knowledge and inspiration on a daily basis.

Our friends in the pet grooming industry who so generously offered their expertise along the way: groomers Susan Viveiros, Diane Betelak, Carrie Prest, Elaine Belrose, and Toni Coppola; Intergroom Show Organizer Christine DeFilippo, mobile grooming pioneer Dina Perry, Melissa Verplank, Christina Pawlosky, and all the other colleagues who allowed us to pick their brains during the research process.

Shirlee Kalstone, Dorothy Walin, and Sam Kohl, groundbreakers of the grooming industry who paved the way for us all.

The editorial staff of the Globe Pequot Press and freelance editor Mike Urban who helped guide this third edition through the delivery process.

Four generations of four-legged customers and their devoted owners who have blessed our lives.

Are you an animal person? Does a backyard romp with your golden retriever refresh your soul? Is the sound of a cat purring your favorite lullaby? Do you find yourself telling your troubles to your poodle? Do you snuggle up to your pet in bed each night? Theres no need to feel embarrassed. You have plenty of company.

We have become a nation of pet-crazy people. US consumers are spending more on their pets today than ever before. According to the 2009/2010 National Pet Owners Survey compiled by the American Pet Products Association (APPA), 62 percent of US households own a pet, which equates to 71.4 million homes. In 1988, the first year the survey was conducted, 56 percent of US households owned a pet. In 1994, we spent $17 billion on our furry, finned, and feathered friends. In 2010, that number grew to approximately $47.7 billion. Most of us only wish we could track the same kind of growth in our investment portfolios!

We tend to put our money where our hearts are. According to a recent national survey of pet owners conducted by the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), more than half of the 1,019 pet owners responding indicated that they would want a family pet instead of another person with them if they found themselves stranded on a deserted island. Eighty percent selected companionship as the major reason for having a pet, 72 percent said that affection is their pets most endearing trait.

When it comes to pampering their furry babies, pet owners dont hold back. Seventy-nine percent give their pets holiday or birthday presents, 21 percent reveal that they sometimes dress their dogs, while 33 percent talk to their pets on the phone or through the answering machine. Sixty-two percent often sign letters or cards from themselves and their pets. Fifty-five percent consider themselves to be their pets mom or dad. Why not? By now, we all know that pets are part of the family.

Pets are good for our health, helping us to relax and offering their love unconditionally. Forty percent of owners say having a dog motivates them to exercise on a regular basis. Pet owners make fewer visits to the doctor than their pet-less counterparts. The simple act of petting an animal lowers blood pressure and stress levels, and pets increase the survival rate of people with heart problems. When it comes to our emotional health, pets make great therapists, too. In fact, dogs are becoming increasingly popular in therapy work, used in hospitals and nursing homes to lift the spirits and awaken the communication skills of the elderly and ill.

Such survey results always make interesting reading, but they dont surprise us in the least. After our familys four decades in the pet-grooming field, we know firsthand how precious pets can be to their people. Were aware that pet owners dropping off their furry babies for a day of beauty at the groomers can be every bit as anxiety-ridden as parents leaving their human offspring at the day care center. We have even heard it remarked that a child is a good dog substitute! We know that statement sounds outrageous and may even ruffle some feathers, but thats the thing about pet ownership: It makes us lighthearted. It gives us permission to be silly. It charges up our capacity for play.

Since we embarked on our journey in this business, the pet grooming industry has truly come of age. When David left the teaching profession to become a groomer, we heard a lot of jokes about going to the dogs or playing with the pooches as opposed to having a real job. Until his death in 1996, we enjoyed running a successful small business, gaining the friendship of countless four-legged friends and their human owners. We were rather unlikely entrepreneurs, flower children of the sixties who became respected burghers in the small-town business community and savoring many unexpected rewards in the process. With daughter Missi now at the helm, we have come full circle.