Working at PetSmart as a Groomer: Jobs, Training and What It's Like

PetSmart runs grooming salons in its stores, and its careers pages describe the frontline salon roles — bather and stylist — with lead roles above them.

The entry role is the Pet Bather, posted as "Professional Bather."

It is paid hourly, never below local minimum wage, and requires completing PetSmart's "Splash" training and safety certification program.

Bathers perform bath and brush services plus standalone services such as nail trims, teeth brushing and sanitary services.

They also handle check-in, check-out and reservations, sell merchandise, and keep the whole store clean.

Cats are part of the bather job now too: bathers hired on or after March 2, 2026 are required to provide standalone grooming services for cats, while bathers hired earlier can opt in to cat training.

The groomer role is posted as Pet Stylist (Dog and/or Cat Groomer).

Stylists perform the full menu of bath, brush and grooming services, plus nail trims, teeth brushing and sanitary services.

The stylist job also reaches the front desk.

The posting lists greeting pet parents, handling reservations, making appointment reminder calls, maintaining client records, running check-in and check-out, rebooking clients, and selling merchandise and services.

Growth roles beyond stylist are named on the careers page: Salon Experience Lead, District Salon Trainer and Experience Leader.

The lead role is posted as "Pet Groomer & Salon Trainer."

The Salon Experience Lead still performs the full grooming menu while training bathers and new stylists through the certification process.

The posting requires 2+ years of grooming experience and full-time availability, and the role has no direct reports.

Where this setup fits in the wider trade — independent salons, mobile vans, other chains — is covered in the dog groomer career guide.

Entry runs through either the bather role or a direct groomer hire if you already groom.

The Pet Groomer posting lists the qualifying routes: prior grooming experience; or 6 months in the Stylist in Training job with successful completion of PetSmart's Salon Academy training and safety certification; or passing the salon technical evaluation.

The internal route is the one the careers page sketches out.

Bathers bathe over 125 dogs before moving on to the paid Grooming Academy, and the Salon Experience Lead posting says the lead identifies internal candidates to attend academy training — the academy pipeline is fed from inside the salon.

Two posting requirements apply across the grooming roles.

Applicants must be over 18, except in Montana or where state or local law requires otherwise — that is PetSmart's own hiring policy, not a legal minimum for grooming.

The same postings describe the physical side of hiring: frequently lifting or moving up to 50 pounds, occasionally team-lifting more than 100 pounds, in a wet environment with abundant pet hair where noise is moderate but can be high at times.

PetSmart's salon careers page lays the path out step by step: Bather, paid Grooming Academy, Pet Stylist in Training, then Professional Pet Stylist.

The academy is a 4-week, 160-hour program taught by District Academy Trainers.

At graduation, you receive a toolkit PetSmart values at over $500.

Training does not stop at the academy door.

Pet Stylists in Training groom 200 dogs of all shapes and sizes to hone their styling skills before they earn the professional stylist title.

Cat grooming has its own track: PetSmart says stylists can be trained in cat grooming in-house through a 3-day academy, and are given cat-specific grooming and safety equipment.

One chapter of this program's history matters to anyone signing an employer training agreement.

On July 29, 2025, the Colorado Attorney General sued PetSmart in Denver District Court under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act.

The suit alleged PetSmart advertised its Grooming Academy as "FREE" and "PAID" while trainees signed training repayment agreements.

Per the allegations, the terms required trainees to stay at least two years or repay $5,500 — or $5,000 if they declined the toolkit.

Per the attorney general's announcement, the obligation applied whether the employee left voluntarily or involuntarily, and it was not prorated: the allegation was that someone leaving after 11 months owed the full amount, and someone leaving after 23 months still owed half.

On November 13, 2025, the same office announced a proposed settlement, subject to court acceptance.

PetSmart would stop deceptive advertising and stop offering training repayment agreements that violate Colorado law, halt collection attempts, notify Grooming Academy completers that they are free of those obligations, and pay $225,000 to the attorney general's office.

Keep the scope in view: that is one state's enforcement action, built on allegations that were settled, and PetSmart's own careers pages state no repayment term.

Confirm any current training terms in writing with the employer before you sign anything.

The documented workload splits between the grooming table and the front desk.

Stylists run check-in and check-out, make reminder calls, maintain client records, rebook clients and sell alongside the grooming menu itself.

The postings describe the conditions around that work: a wet environment with abundant pet hair, noise that is moderate but can be high at times, frequent lifting of up to 50 pounds, and occasional team lifts of more than 100 pounds.

What the postings and careers pages we read do not state is a standard weekly schedule or a pace of appointments for stylists.

Neither figure appears in the pages we read, so ask about them in the interview: how the salon books its day, how appointment slots run, and what shifts look like at that store.

The clearest hours signal on record is at the lead level: the Salon Experience Lead posting requires full-time availability.

PetSmart's careers page says stylists earn a guaranteed hourly wage and up to 55% commission, plus paid time off, health benefits, discounts on merchandise and 35% off grooming tools.

The Pet Groomer posting's fine print explains the mechanics.

Pay is the greater of the base pay rate or "groom pay" — a designated percentage of the associate's grooming sales, set by job code.

It can vary by pay period, and the posting is explicit that it is never less than local minimum wage.

Read "up to 55%" for what it is: the ceiling PetSmart states for its own plan, not a typical rate.

Groom pay rises and falls with grooming sales, which the posting itself acknowledges by saying pay can vary by pay period.

How that structure compares with hourly-only salons, booth rent and per-dog plans is the broader pay question — how much a dog groomer can make covers the trade-wide picture.

PetSmart's own postings and the public enforcement record are enough to weigh the setup honestly.

On the plus side:

• Paid training with a written ladder. The academy is paid, runs 4 weeks and 160 hours, and ends with a toolkit worth over $500. The bather-to-stylist path is published step by step.
• A wage floor. Groom pay is never less than local minimum wage, and the careers page calls the stylist wage a guaranteed hourly one.
• Benefits on the careers page. Paid time off, health benefits, merchandise discounts and 35% off grooming tools.
• Growth roles and cats. Salon Experience Lead, District Salon Trainer and Experience Leader are named as growth roles, and cat-grooming training is available in-house through a 3-day academy.

The trade-offs:

• The job is bigger than grooming. Reminder calls, records, check-in and check-out, rebooking and selling are written into the stylist posting.
• It is physical. Up to 50 pounds frequently, team lifts past 100 pounds, a wet environment, abundant pet hair and noise that can run high.
• Pay has a stated ceiling and it moves. "Up to 55%" is a maximum, and groom pay varies by pay period.
• The training-repayment history is real. Colorado's attorney general made allegations about academy repayment agreements and then announced a proposed settlement — reason enough to read any agreement slowly before signing.

For someone with no grooming hours yet, the route PetSmart documents is concrete: get hired as a bather, bathe over 125 dogs, train 4 weeks and 160 hours in a paid academy, practice on 200 dogs, then style on your own.

PetSmart calls the academy paid, and graduates receive a toolkit worth over $500; ask in writing whether any repayment term comes with either.

The requirements are staged rather than front-loaded.

The stylist posting's internal route asks for 6 months in the Stylist in Training job plus the in-house academy certification — prior experience elsewhere is one alternative route, not a condition of the internal one.

Whether it is the right start depends on what you want from it.

If you want a paid academy, a defined ladder, a wage floor and benefits, PetSmart's own pages describe all four, though they state no repayment terms, so confirm those before you sign.

If you want a job that is grooming only, or you are weighing employer training against private school, compare what each route costs, what you are paid during training, and what award or title you finish with.

The hiring rule matters for teens, too: PetSmart's own Pet Groomer and Pet Bather postings require applicants to be over 18, except in Montana or where state or local law requires otherwise.

Outside those exceptions, under-18 job seekers will need to look beyond PetSmart's grooming postings for a first job.

When you are ready to look, browse dog groomer jobs and compare what salons near you ask for against PetSmart's list above.

Career information, not legal advice. The Colorado allegations and proposed settlement, the postings and the careers-page terms described here stood as of 2025 and October 2026, and they can change. For questions about your own training agreement or pay, confirm with your state attorney general's office, your state labor agency or the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division — and ask the employer for current terms in writing.