A: A certified groomer is a groomer who has a certificate of completion. This could be a state approved course, an apprenticeship or an online course. There are actual certified groomer titles these usually have a ® in association with the title. A certified title like NCMG® is registered and can only be used with the approval of the issuing groomer association. A groomer with certification of this type has undergone testing to prove they can groom in the guidelines that asociation has set forth. Certification is not a guarantee of quality and it is recommended that pet owners ask for recommendations from friends, vets and even strangers if they see a dog they like the groom on! 

A: There is no difference between groomer and pet stylist, they are interchangeable titles. Some prefer the title stylist but when I first started in the industry the only title in common use was groomer. Then some people felt stylist sounded more posh and it became more commonly used. But every time I hear the title stylist I envision little white dogs in curlers sitting under hood dryers! It is really just personal preference on the part of the pet professional. There are also some certification titles which include the Pet Stylist designation in the title.