Dog Groomer Job Description Templates: Groomer, Bather and Trainee
A good dog groomer job description does two jobs at once. It tells a working groomer, in the first few lines, whether your salon is worth leaving her current chair for, and it puts on paper what you actually expect, which matters later if pay, duties or a physical requirement is ever questioned. Below are three complete job descriptions you can copy and edit: a groomer, a bather and a groomer trainee. After them come the parts most templates skip: how to state commission pay honestly, the states that require a pay range in the posting, where to post, screening questions, a scoring sheet for a working interview, and what to look for on a groomer resume.
This page is about the posting itself. For the bigger hiring decisions, employee or contractor, how to structure pay and how to keep people once they join, read our guide to hiring dog groomers first.
Before You Copy a Template: Three Decisions
- Employee or contractor. If you set the schedule, the prices and the way the work is done, and you supply the tubs and dryers, the groomer is almost certainly an employee, whatever the pay structure. A job description that sets hours and duties can itself be evidence of control, so do not write one and then pay the person on a 1099. If you are thinking of renting a station instead, our booth rent vs commission comparison covers that route.
- The pay structure. Commission, hourly, or hourly plus commission. Run the numbers on your own prices with the grooming commission calculator before you print a percentage.
- The physical requirements you really need. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, which covers employers with 15 or more employees, a written description prepared before you advertise or interview is considered evidence of the essential functions of the job. Write the lifting and standing requirements the job truly has, not a boilerplate "must lift 75 pounds" copied from a warehouse ad.
Dog Groomer Job Description Template
Replace everything in square brackets. Delete any line that is not true; promising a full book you do not have loses a good hire by month two.
Dog Groomer, [Salon name], [City, State]. [Full time / Part time]
Pay: [45 to 50] percent commission on the service price of every groom you complete, including add on services, with a guaranteed minimum of $[X] per hour for every hour worked. You keep 100 percent of your tips. Groomers here currently average [5 to 6] dogs a day, which at our prices works out to about $[850 to 1,020] a week before tax. [Paid time off, continuing education allowance, other benefits.]
About the job: We are a [number] table salon with an established client book and [a waitlist / steady repeat clients on 4 to 8 week schedules]. You will groom [number] dogs a day on a schedule we book for you, with a bather handling prep on busy days. We supply [hydraulic or electric tables, high velocity and stand dryers, tubs, clippers, blades and shampoos]; you are welcome to bring your own shears.
What you will do:
- Greet clients at check in, confirm the cut they want and note any health or behavior concerns.
- Clip, scissor and finish dogs to client requests and common breed patterns, including puppy cuts, teddy bear trims and short clips.
- Spot and report skin problems, lumps, parasites, ear infections and matting, and explain to the client what you found and what you did.
- Handle anxious, elderly and difficult dogs calmly and safely, and stop a groom when it is no longer safe for the dog.
- Keep your station, tools and blades clean and sanitized, and log notes on each dog so the next groom is consistent.
What you need:
- [1 or 2] or more years grooming professionally, with a portfolio of your own work.
- Confident clipper and scissor work on common salon breeds, and the speed to finish [number] dogs in a day.
- Safe handling and restraint techniques. Certification is welcome but not required.
- Reliability and a friendly manner with clients at the counter.
Physical demands: standing for most of the shift; lifting and steadying dogs onto tables and into tubs, with help or a lift for dogs over [40] pounds; repetitive hand and wrist work; wet floors and warm, humid air; loud dryers and barking all day; and the risk of bites and scratches from frightened dogs.
Schedule: [4 days a week, 8:00 to 5:00], [Saturdays on a rotation]. No evenings.
To apply: send your resume and 5 to 10 photos of your own finished grooms to [email]. Shortlisted applicants are invited to a paid working interview.
[Salon name] is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation and gender identity), national origin, age, disability, genetic information or any other status protected by law.
Dog Bather Job Description Template
The bather is the role that makes a groomer productive, and often the person who becomes your next groomer. Write it as a real job, not as "general help".
Dog Bather, [Salon name], [City, State]. [Full time / Part time]
Pay: $[X] to $[Y] per hour depending on experience, plus tips. [Raise to $[Z] after 90 days at full pace.] [Benefits.]
About the job: You will prep [8 to 12] dogs a day for our [number] groomers so they can start straight on the haircut. No grooming experience is needed; we teach our bathing and drying process from day one.
What you will do:
- Bathe dogs with the right shampoo for their coat and skin, including medicated and deshedding treatments.
- Dry with high velocity and stand dryers, safely and without leaving a dog unattended in a kennel dryer.
- Brush out and line comb coats, remove undercoat, and flag matting to the groomer before it is cut.
- Trim nails, clean ears, express glands where the salon offers it, and tidy feet and sanitary areas.
- Walk dogs to potty breaks, wash towels, clean tubs, kennels and floors, and restock supplies.
What you need: comfort with dogs of every size and temperament, the patience to work slowly with a nervous dog, reliability, and willingness to learn a set process.
Physical demands: standing and bending over tubs for most of the shift; lifting dogs into and out of tubs, with help for large dogs; working with water, wet floors and shampoo all day; loud dryers; and the risk of bites and scratches.
Schedule: [days and hours]. To apply: [email or address].
[Equal opportunity statement, as in the groomer template.]
Groomer Trainee Job Description Template
A trainee post has to be specific about the teaching, or it reads like unpaid bathing with a promise attached. Our dog grooming apprenticeship guide covers the arrangement from the trainee's side, including the red flags candidates are told to watch for; write a post that passes that test.
One newer option is worth knowing about. In January 2026 the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Apprenticeship recognized Pet Groomer as an apprenticeable occupation, so a salon can now build a formal Registered Apprenticeship program around it through its state apprenticeship office. Most trainee roles stay informal, and the template below works for both.
Groomer Trainee, [Salon name], [City, State]. Full time
Pay: $[X] per hour while training, rising to $[Y] when you complete the bathing and prep stage, and moving to [commission of [40 to 50] percent with a guaranteed hourly minimum] once you are grooming client dogs on your own. Plus tips.
About the job: We will teach you to groom. You start as a bather on paid hours and move through a written training plan with one of our senior groomers: bathing and drying, then brush outs, nails and ears, then prep clipping and sanitary trims, then feet and faces, then full grooms under supervision. Most trainees here reach full grooms in about [9 to 12] months. You get [hours] of instruction a week and regular feedback.
What you will do: all bather duties above; practice clipping and scissoring under supervision; assist groomers with difficult dogs; learn coat types, skin conditions and safe handling; and progressively take on your own grooms as you pass each stage.
What you need: no grooming experience; real comfort with dogs; reliability; and the patience to spend months on prep work before you finish dogs alone. Experience in a kennel, shelter, vet clinic or daycare helps.
Physical demands: as for the bather role, plus long periods of close, repetitive hand work as you learn clippers and shears.
Schedule: [days and hours]. To apply: tell us in a few lines why you want to groom, and send your resume to [email].
[Equal opportunity statement.]
Physical Demands: What the Federal Data Says
Applicants deserve to know what the job does to a body, and federal data supports the conditions in the templates above. The Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that in animal care work much of the work involves physical tasks and workers risk injury when caring for animals. O*NET, the Labor Department's occupation database, lists dog groomer, pet groomer and dog bather under its animal caretaker profile, where workers report:
Those figures cover the whole animal caretaker group, kennels and shelters included, so use them to support your wording, not as a claim about your shop.
How to Write the Pay Section Honestly
Pay is the first thing an experienced groomer reads, and where most posts are vaguest. "Up to $80,000!" with no rate and no dog count reads as hiding the real number. Four rules:
- Say what the commission is a percentage of. The service price before tax? Do add on services count? Retail? Commission on grooming is commonly quoted at 40 to 60 percent; see where your rate sits in the dog groomer salary guide.
- State the hourly floor. An employee on commission still has to receive at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, or your state's higher rate, for every hour worked. Most salons set their guarantee above that, and saying so is a selling point.
- Say the tips are theirs. Under federal law, employers may not keep any portion of employees' tips, managers and supervisors included.
- Give a weekly range from your own books, with the dog count it assumes, not your best groomer's best week.
Here is the math behind the example in the groomer template. Every input is an assumption; swap in your own.
Assumed: $85 average groom price, 4 days a week, 9 hours a day (36 hours), 50 percent commission, tips excluded. Weekly revenue is price times dogs per day times 4 days; the effective hourly rate is commission divided by 36. If your groomers really average 5 to 6 dogs, "about $850 to $1,020 a week before tax" is an honest line. A bather or trainee post is simpler: state the hourly range you would genuinely pay. For a benchmark, BLS reports a median of $17.08 an hour for animal care and service workers in May 2025, but local rates vary widely, so check what salons near you advertise.
Pay Range Laws for Job Postings
In a growing number of places, the pay section is not optional. Four examples, from the agencies that enforce them:
Other states and several cities have passed similar laws, and the list changes often, so check your state labor department and your city before you post. Where the job crosses into more than one rule, follow the strictest. A five person salon is under the 15 employee threshold in California and Washington, but covered in Colorado and New York State.
The Equal Opportunity Line
The EEOC is direct on this: it is illegal to publish a job advertisement that shows a preference for or discourages someone from applying because of race, color, religion, sex (including transgender status, sexual orientation and pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information. Federal law mostly reaches employers with 15 or more employees, but some state laws cover much smaller businesses, so a three table salon can still be covered. Keep the line in every template, and cut coded preferences such as "young, energetic team", which can discourage older applicants.
How to Write a Posting Groomers Actually Answer
Experienced groomers are not short of offers, and most read a posting in this order: pay, clients, equipment, dog count, schedule. Write it in that order too.
- Lead with the pay, not the mission statement.
- Say where the dogs come from. A new salon still building its book should say so and set the hourly guarantee to match.
- Name the equipment and the realistic dogs per day. A daily cap is a retention promise as much as a hiring one.
- Drop the clichés. "Rockstar" and "we are a family" tell a groomer nothing. "Four day week, no evenings, a bather on Saturdays" tells her a lot.
Where to Post Grooming Jobs
- General job boards such as Indeed and ZipRecruiter, which are where many groomer listings appear. Check current pricing, since promoted listings cost money.
- Your state job bank. State workforce agencies run job banks that cost employers nothing, and they feed the National Labor Exchange, a nonprofit partnership between the National Association of State Workforce Agencies and DirectEmployers Association.
- Grooming schools near you. Ask the career or placement office to share the bather and trainee posts with graduating students.
- Your own channels: your website, social accounts and a sign at the counter.
Our hiring guide covers referrals, trade shows and other ways to find groomers who are not job hunting.
Screening Questions
Ask these on the phone or in the application form before anyone comes in:
- How many dogs do you groom in a typical day, and what mix of sizes?
- Which breeds and trims are you most and least confident with?
- Tell us about the last time you stopped or paused a groom. What happened?
- How do you handle a client who is unhappy with a haircut?
- How do you deal with a matted coat the owner wants kept long?
- What equipment do you bring, and what pay structure and days are you looking for?
Question 3 is the one to listen hardest to. A groomer who has never stopped a groom has either been very lucky or is not reading the dogs.
The Working Interview: Pay It and Score It
Watching a candidate groom one or two dogs is the most reliable test in this trade. Two things make it fair and useful.
Pay for real work. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, "employ" includes to suffer or permit to work, and work the employer allows to be performed is work time that must be paid. If the candidate grooms a paying client's dog, treat it as paid time at the posted rate. State rules vary, so check yours before running any unpaid trial.
Score it the same way every time. A simple sheet keeps you from hiring the most charming candidate instead of the safest one:
For a bather, score handling, drying safety, brush out quality and pace. For a trainee, score handling and attitude only.
What to Look For on a Dog Groomer Resume
For owners reading resumes, and for groomers writing one, the same short list applies:
- Volume and range: dogs per day, size mix, breeds and trims done confidently, and any specialty such as hand stripping, cats or giant breeds.
- Work history with dates: salons, mobile units, retail chains or vet clinics, and how long at each. Short stints are worth asking about, not an automatic no.
- A portfolio: 5 to 10 photos of the candidate's own finished grooms, ideally before and after.
- Training and certification: school, apprenticeship or chain academy, pet first aid, and any certification with the body that issued it. Our dog grooming certification guide explains what each credential tests.
- References from a groomer or owner who watched them work.
Groomers: put the dog count and the portfolio link at the top, because owners hire on hands. If you are still building the skills, start with how to become a dog groomer.
Once They Say Yes
A second groomer means each person needs their own appointments, and pet notes have to be shared so a dog gets the same cut whoever is on the table. GroomBoard's Salon plan covers up to 5 groomers, the owner included, and its payroll view works out commission, hourly pay and tips for each pay period from the appointments, so the pay you promised is easy to check. Planning past the first hire? Our guide to scaling a grooming business covers what comes next.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Pay transparency, wage, tip and discrimination rules vary by state and city and change often. Confirm current requirements with your state labor department and an employment attorney or accountant before you post.