Maybe you already groom and want the health side behind it, or you are starting from scratch. This diploma was built for both. Coats and skin, breeds, behaviour, safe handling, and the business of grooming.
You need nothing behind you to begin. Canine biology, coat and skin, breeds and grooming technique all start from the beginning here.
Already on the tools? This is the half most groomers pick up slowly. Nutrition, health disorders, breed differences and why a dog behaves the way it does on the table.
The business of grooming has its own topic. Plenty of groomers end up mobile or in their own salon, and that is a different set of problems from cutting hair.
People keep spending on their dogs, and grooming is one of the jobs that cannot be done from a screen. The work is easy to picture: reading the coat before you start, keeping a nervous dog settled on the table, and handing it back to an owner who is pleased.
For groomers already working, the theory that backs up moving up a rung.
Your own place or your own book of clients, with the business topic behind it.
Grooming that comes to the dog, which suits handling skills and a settled manner.
Keeping a salon running: bookings, standards, safety and the flow of the day.
Roles where these skills are useful, not promised outcomes. Every role is different, and some need more study or experience. Senior, supervisor and owner titles come after time on the tools, not straight out of a course, and animal welfare inspection runs through its own accredited training.
Here is what stands out in this course.
Two certificates, not one. Canine biology, nutrition, health disorders, breeds, breeding and behaviour sit underneath the grooming work.
Handling animals during grooming, and grooming safety, each get their own topic. It is the difference between a calm dog and a bitten hand.
Grooming other types of animals is covered too, along with the other tasks a salon gets asked for.
Certificate of Achievement · The Career Academy
Awarded by the college when you finish the diploma.
Your certificate comes with a SEEK Pass link. Put it on SEEK, where employers look.
Yours from the day you enrol, with CV help and interview prep.
Send an enquiry and a course advisor gets back to you with the course guide and straight answers on whether it fits.
Start anytime. Pay on a flexible weekly plan, or pay upfront in one payment.
Work through the two certificates online at your own pace, with unlimited tutor support by phone and email in business hours.
Complete the diploma and receive your Certificate of Achievement, plus a SEEK Pass link you can share on SEEK.
None needed. You do not need salon work or animal study behind you. The diploma opens with dog care basics and canine biology, then builds into the grooming itself.
The payment plan is $29 a week, with no deposit and no credit check. You can pay weekly, fortnightly or monthly, or pay upfront in one payment. Enquire for the full options.
You can learn most of it. Coats and skin, breeds, health, handling, safety, technique and the business side are all knowledge, and that is what this diploma gives you. What a screen cannot give you is scissor and clipper time, which comes from practice on real dogs, in a salon or on your own. What the course does is mean you arrive already knowing the part most groomers spend years picking up between appointments.
Around 200 hours at your own pace, with 12 months of access. That leaves plenty of room to study around a job.
Yes. The business of grooming is its own topic in the second certificate, which matters because a lot of groomers end up mobile or working for themselves.
The course is online and self paced. There are no fixed class times. You fit it around work and family, then pick it back up when things settle down.
There are none, ever. You are assessed on what you understand, with tutor support behind you.
It is accredited by ICOES and the CPD Standards Office, which is accreditation for professional development. It is not NZQA accredited, so it is not a national qualification. That is a different thing. For grooming work it is no barrier: salons hire on whether you can handle a dog and finish a coat well.
Yes. There is a 10-day money back guarantee. If it is not right, you get your money back.
This course is delivered by The Career Academy, an online course provider in New Zealand.
The college has been running for over 15 years and works with more than 25,000 students a year. Courses are online and self paced, with unlimited tutor support by phone and email in business hours. Career coaching opens as soon as you enrol, including CV help and a LinkedIn profile review.
Picture the dog that came in matted and frightened going home neat, calm, and looking like somebody loves it.