Dog Grooming Training Course Reviews
What Our Students Have to Say…
Joanna B.
09:44 12 Oct 25
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Professional, responsive, and a genuine pleasure to deal with. Communication was excellent throughout — highly recommend
Professional, responsive, and a genuine pleasure to deal with. Communication was excellent throughout — highly recommend
Michelle M.
17:51 05 Jul 25
Best grooming academy
I recently completed a level 3 diploma at the paw pads dog grooming academy in Cheshire. Al and his team have been fantastic from the start of my journey to me opening my own business. The hands on training was first class, so much support and practical advice. There is ongoing support from the tutors after completion so you never feel alone. I travelled from Scotland to do the course as the price was the most competitive with the best time scale. I have no regrets and would recommend this diploma to anyone looking for a new career.
I recently completed a level 3 diploma at the paw pads dog grooming academy in Cheshire. Al and his team have been fantastic from the start of my journey to me opening my own business. The hands on training was first class, so much support and practical advice. There is ongoing support from the tutors after completion so you never feel alone. I travelled from Scotland to do the course as the price was the most competitive with the best time scale. I have no regrets and would recommend this diploma to anyone looking for a new career.
sonny G.
16:10 28 May 25
Very friendly and well priced service.
Nicola S.
17:38 16 Apr 25
Absolutely amazing service from start to finish. I brought my brothers dog Kiki (from Norfolk) in for a full groom. Kiki was in a matted mess and had to have her locks shaved off for her own wellbeing. The care that was given ro Kiki was above and beyond and I will be bringing her back up to Cheshire for her regular grooms in future. Kiki looks like a completely different dog and is back to her happy energetic self causing mayhem. Thank you so much to the groomer who looked after Kiki today. See you soon ❤️ 🐾
Nicolette G.
08:42 18 Mar 25
I had a fantastic experience at The Paw Pad Dog Grooming Academy. From the start, Al and the whole team made me feel welcome. Al is super supportive, always happy to answer questions, and even helped me find a place to stay since I was coming from out of town.
One of the best parts of the course is that it’s in a real working salon, so I was hands-on grooming dogs from day one. They have a great way of easing you into the process step by step, so everything makes sense and builds your confidence. The instructors are fantastic—there’s always someone available to help, but they also give you space to work on your own, which I really appreciated.
I had the opportunity to groom many different dogs with all kinds of coats and personalities, which was great real-world experience. The focus here is on practical pet grooming, so you leave feeling fully prepared to start on your own. On top of that, the whole team is so kind and encouraging—I genuinely loved going to class every day.
If you're considering attending from out of town, it's worth mentioning the area was great for a longer stay—plenty of restaurants, shops, and easy weekend trips to nearby cities.
Highly recommended!
One of the best parts of the course is that it’s in a real working salon, so I was hands-on grooming dogs from day one. They have a great way of easing you into the process step by step, so everything makes sense and builds your confidence. The instructors are fantastic—there’s always someone available to help, but they also give you space to work on your own, which I really appreciated.
I had the opportunity to groom many different dogs with all kinds of coats and personalities, which was great real-world experience. The focus here is on practical pet grooming, so you leave feeling fully prepared to start on your own. On top of that, the whole team is so kind and encouraging—I genuinely loved going to class every day.
If you're considering attending from out of town, it's worth mentioning the area was great for a longer stay—plenty of restaurants, shops, and easy weekend trips to nearby cities.
Highly recommended!
Nicole M.
23:18 20 Dec 24
I have just completed the level 3 dog grooming diploma at The Paw Pad, I have had an amazing 1-1 experience with kind, friendly and experienced tutors. I felt comfortable and confident when handling the dogs in the salon knowing that I had full support by the staff. The owner Al was also able to provide amazing tips and tricks from a business perspective which has set me on the right path to becoming an Independent dog groomer. You are all amazing and thank you for all your help!
If you are thinking about completing a dog grooming course, I highly recommend The Paw Pad team.
If you are thinking about completing a dog grooming course, I highly recommend The Paw Pad team.
Teri-Louise F.
12:49 09 Nov 23
DO NOT GIVE THESE PEOPLE YOUR DOGS!!! I’d give this place less of a rating if permitted! I signed up to the 15 day intensive course hoping I would be able to consume as much knowledge as possible but instead I lasted a week and demanded my money back. All I witnessed was abuse to peoples dogs. I documented everything with names and times. If you have a brown cocker poo named Archie, I would take legal action, one of the “tutors” threw him off the table because he peed…probably out of sheer fright from being wrestled with and having been shouted at constantly, he was picked off the table and thrown, he hit the floor, not landing on his feet but with a thud and on his side smacking his hip, he then ran and cowered under the table, I told the owner of the establishment but nothing was done. Penny a golden retriever was highly anxious of being there and wouldn’t settle, she was tackled to the floor by the owner, all her legs were spread out to each side of her panting and gasping for air, this was an attempt to “calm her down”, asked for some assistance with Eric a little cute scared elderly Bichon as he didn’t like the bath, he then was roughly shoved from side to side by a “tutor” to be “shown who’s boss” hitting the back of the metal tub. Freddie a cute little Bichon was actually really well behaved but wouldn’t stay still whilst I asked to be shown to cut around his feet so whilst the “tutor” had her scissors and comb in her hand, with a closed fist she hit him in the side and said “enough, keep still” After continuously witnessing such things some parts of my grooms were not being done because I refused to ask for help to then watch their method of grooming whilst being “taught”. Dogs yelping because care wasn’t taken with combs and brushes, matts and knots not being coaxed out softly or even cut out if too severe, instead the tool being yanked through. Another small bichon who was not my dog to groom, but I over heard one of the “tutors” say….”I’m gonna shave her bold out of spite to teach the owners to brush their dog a bit more often” I know if a dog is severely matted then the kindest thing to be done is to shave them but students shouldn’t be hearing these types of nasty comments, it’s already rubbed off on two students there, one in particular. She seems to have taken the rough, yanking, shoving, shouting in a dogs face approach to get her grooms done and as quick as she can. I told the owner of paw pad everything that has been going on and told him he should have cameras so he can monitor all of this and take action where necessary but I soon realised it fell on deaf ears when he told me “sometimes you have to do what you have to to get a groom done, even if that means making a dog bleed sometimes” I will become a dog groomer one day, a nice calm, compassionate groomer where owners can trust me with their pets in my care but I knew I wasn’t going to become one attending “training” at the Paw Pad. Not a crate in site to give dogs some space or the feeling of safety which is a basic requirement of the animal welfare act, instead they are all tied in a room together by hooks on the floor, if there’s no room left they are shoved outside in the courtyard whatever the weather, sometimes this could be up to an hour whilst the lunch break period is happening. No water or pee breaks are ever offered to the dogs. They don’t even have ear cleaning solution, you’re made to use baby wipes to carry out an ear clean because it’s “cheaper” . I write this review with 100% honesty and with the welfare of your dogs that you trust these people to upkeep. I can only imagine the response they are going to write back accusing me of being a “terrible student” a mean person to the dogs and being made to leave. Whether you believe it to be true or not, there are plenty of dog groomers in that area, so rather than taking the chance, do not book them in at the paw pad!!!
Amy S.
18:52 07 Nov 23
Honestly - we wouldn’t want to trust anyone else with our springer spaniel! Every team member goes above and beyond, whether for a groom or day care services. We feel lucky to have such a caring team of experts in the area who are just really lovely humans!
Rebecca O.
16:57 06 Nov 23
Great experience at the Paw Pad. Great team who were really supportive, they covered a great range of details, very hands on experience, different breed cuts, safety, hygiene and business support. Definitely recommend.
Sonia S.
13:42 05 Nov 23
Amazing training …all hands on. Great team of people training us. Giving the best of care to clients’ fur babies. Thank you so much
Karen G.
12:05 05 Nov 23
Fabulous business with friendly and caring staff. Having trained there I can vouch for the professionalism and excellent service received by every customer.
Jo M.
11:54 05 Nov 23
I completed my level 3 diploma here at the Paw Pad Grooming School. I would highly recommend anybody wishing to change their career to dog grooming to enrol here, the 'team' are fab-u-less!
Just to add, the safety of the dogs during our training was definitely the biggest priority, this is probably the most important lesson that I walked away with.
Just to add, the safety of the dogs during our training was definitely the biggest priority, this is probably the most important lesson that I walked away with.
Rebecca D.
11:51 05 Nov 23
I recently completed my level 3 dog grooming course and the team were fantastic. The trainers and owner were extremely welcoming and made me feel comfortable from the beginning. The level of training provided was excellent and the support is still there when you finish the course. On day 1 you are given health and safety briefing for your own safety and the dogs, this is carried on throughout the course as health and safety for all parties is their main priority. They are all amazing at what they do and their love for the dogs is unreal ♥️ I would highly recommend a course or a dog groom here.
Gemma W.
16:01 03 Nov 23
Do your research before leaving your dogs with any ‘qualified groomers’ awful what happened to trip and for the groomers to take no accountability and lie is disgusting, specially when people are trusting you with their dogs! Likely hood you left the dog unsupervised on the table and trip fell, your excuse makes no sense and blaming the owners is awful. Own up to your mistake, awful- avoid this isn’t the first bad story I’ve read about this groomers
“ We're glad that Trips is recovering well and won't need further treatment.”
A trip to the vets and treatment should’nt of been needed in the first if you did your jobs correctly you should be ashamed, trying to blame the owners who are obviously hurt and upset that they trusted you to take care of there pup, maybe more training is required for you and your staff as trainee direct to tutor doesn’t seem to working.
“ We're glad that Trips is recovering well and won't need further treatment.”
A trip to the vets and treatment should’nt of been needed in the first if you did your jobs correctly you should be ashamed, trying to blame the owners who are obviously hurt and upset that they trusted you to take care of there pup, maybe more training is required for you and your staff as trainee direct to tutor doesn’t seem to working.
Steven H.
15:36 03 Nov 23
Absolutely disgusting what these people have done to my friend's dog (trips), he is super well natured spaniel also very loving dog, the owners (alistar) would not take responsibility for the bloodshot eyes, my friend took (trips) to the vets, the vet informed him that it was/could have happened by strangulation!!! Would you take your pet to be strangled and pay for your dog to be treated this way? I most certainly wouldn’t.
UPDATE. Due to the owner being unaware that he can not speak to a vet regarding the condition of the dog as first he must speak to the owner to obtain permission. Would you allow the person who did this to your animal permission!!
UPDATE. Due to the owner being unaware that he can not speak to a vet regarding the condition of the dog as first he must speak to the owner to obtain permission. Would you allow the person who did this to your animal permission!!
Deanna M.
09:56 05 May 22
I did my L3 Dog Grooming course at the Paw Pad in December 2021. Since then I have been able to start up my own dog grooming business. The environment was comfortable and welcoming and there was not a moment where I felt disappointed or nervous. All the teachers were wonderful and I have remained in contact with some of them. Being 18 at the time I was initially worried that my age would not be taken seriously however, my experience was amazing. They were always up to offer me challenges and Allen even picked me up from my hotel a few times to drive me to the academy when my taxi didn't turn up. I would 100% recommend the paw pad - They do not discriminate on experience, they are patient, passionate and wonderful teachers. I hope I can see them all again soon 🙂