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Lauren Meyers, groomer and owner of Wet Nose Style, is has been fully booked up four months out — for a year now — and she’s not alone.
Meyers started grooming in 2017 after becoming involved with dogs through her work as a founding board member of Compassion Without Borders, an organization that provides a brighter future to animals in need on both sides of the US-Mexico border.
She started grooming in Sonoma at Wet Nose Pet Grooming, and now works out of a home studio, specializing in special needs and older dogs.
She grooms a handful of doodles, and doodle mixes, that are often referred to as “designer dogs.” She’d noticed an uptick in doodles around Sonoma since the pandemic. These dogs, and all dogs that have hair instead of fur, need to be groomed every six to eight weeks in order to prevent matting, which can be uncomfortable for the dog and painful to remove or brush out.
According to Meyers, it can cost anywhere from $85 to $160 per grooming session for doodles in Sonoma, depending on the size, condition of coat and temperament of the dog.
A doodle is defined as a dog that is part purebred poodle, and part something else. Popular doodle breeds include golden doodles (poodle and golden retriever), Labradoodles, (Labrador retriever and poodle), sheepadoodle (sheepdog and poodle) and dozens of other combination.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals released a new date set in 2022 that revealed “…close to one in five households acquired a cat or dog since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, which would account for approximately 23 million American households based on the 2019 U.S. Census.” Doodles, it seemed were an especially popular pandemic pet.
Debra Harris, owner for My Pet Pal Grooming in Sonoma is fully book until January. While other groomers have pointed to a surplus of pets for their scheduling issues, Harris looks to the shortage of groomers.
“Groomers cannot afford to live in Sonoma Valley, and new groomers don’t make enough to open their own commercial space,” Harris said. “We’re all in the throws of being short on staff.”
She pointed to Aberglen Pet Resort’s recent closure following wind damage, and other groomers who have moved away without anyone to fill the gap.
“Sonoma doesn’t have a PetCo or a Pet Smart that usually pick up a lot of slack in the grooming industry,” Harris said.
Unlike some of the other groomers in town, Harris didn’t start booking up months in advance until August, when she lost two of her groomers, taking her operation from five people down to three.
She knows of other groomers searching for help in their operations, but there’s nobody to with the skill set these shops require.
“I think it’s just a flat out — there’s no up and coming groomers,” Harris said.
While it might seem like a dream to be fully-booked, Harris feels the stress of a short staff, and the pain of turning loyal customers away for lack of availability.
She’s had people call to make an appointment who have been coming to her for their grooming needs for over 25 years, and through multiple generations of pets.
“It’s really tough to answer the phone because people are surprised we’re booked,” Harris said.
According to Groomsoft, one of the leading pet grooming software programs in the industry, both groomer shortages and pet surpluses are plaguing communities across the country.
“The increase in pet ownership is also driving the demand for pet grooming services. However, for years pet grooming businesses have been struggling to build and maintain highly-skilled pet grooming staff, and this shortage just got worse. The lack of pet groomers is creating huge backlogs for pet grooming salons, and these businesses are struggling to cope with the growing demand for their services,” Groomsoft stated in a blog post from January.
Harris’ suggestion for people who don’t know how to get into a steady routine with their groomers, is to take the first available appointment and get into a rotating schedule where the owner books out for every six to eight weeks within the groomer’s rotation.
Diana Barr grooms dogs from her garage, and her operation has remained fully booked since it started six-and-a-half years ago.
“It’s been like this pretty much from the get-go,” Barr said.
Her business runs differently from most of the others in town, and she selectively serves dogs only in her local area.
There are only a handful of groomers in Sonoma Valley, and just 22 that come up for the county in a Google search.
Many dog owners, especially doodle owners, call the groomers frantic to get their dog a haircut before it gets out of hand. Meyers is attempting to give those desperate callers another option; do it yourself.
On Tuesday, Nov. 15, Meyers will be hosting “Groom Your Doodle,” a workshop geared toward anyone who owns a dog with hair.
“I view grooming as a craft that you can pursue and perfect and learn,” Meyers said.
During the workshop, she will teach what she likes to call “the bread and butter groom,” which can be applied to any doodle, or any dog with hair, of any size, to keep it clean and healthy.
She will go over must have versus nice to have materials, how to turn any table into a grooming table and the full grooming process from bath to trim.
The workshop will be held at the Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club, and 100% of the proceeds from the class will benefit the service club.
Meyers will demonstrate the tutorial on a doodle, but participants cannot bring their dogs to practice on during the seminar, both for safety and education.
“You can do it better if you know in your mind what you’re shooting for,” Meyers said.
Contact the reporter Rebecca Wolff at rebecca.wolff@sonomanews.com.
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