Groom Expo in Hershey: Continuing to Learn, Grow & Groom Better

For Ears, Nails and Puppy Dog Tails, grooming isn’t just about giving your dog a great haircut. It’s about continuing to learn how to provide better care, improve grooming techniques, and make every appointment as comfortable as possible for your pet. That’s why Groom Expo in Hershey, PA, is one of the highlights of the year.

Groom Expo is the world’s largest grooming show, bringing professional groomers and pet-care professionals together in Hershey, Pennsylvania, for education, competitions, networking, and the latest products and equipment

For our owner, Hannah Hutchinson, attending Groom Expo is an opportunity to learn from other professionals, discover new techniques, and return home energized and inspired to do even better for the dogs in our care.

What Is Groom Expo?

Groom Expo is an annual professional grooming event held in Hershey, PA. It brings together groomers from across the country and around the world for several days of classes, demonstrations, competitions, exhibits, and industry events.

The event includes a large trade show featuring more than 120 exhibitors, allowing professional groomers to see new grooming tools, products, and equipment. 

Groom Expo also offers an extensive educational program. The 2026 event features 87 seminars and 124 hours of education covering topics ranging from grooming techniques and skin and coat care to equipment, safety, business management, and client communication.

Why Groom Expo Matters to Our Grooming Team

Our owner considers Groom Expo her favorite time of year—and for good reason.

“I learn so many things and can’t wait to put into practice what I learned.”

She typically takes approximately 15 to 20 hours of educational classes during the event. The goal isn’t simply to learn how to create a better haircut. Groom Expo provides opportunities to learn about bathing, skin care, coat care, handling dogs, grooming equipment, and ways to make the grooming experience more enjoyable for pets.

That education directly supports the personalized mobile dog grooming experience we provide throughout Ephrata, Denver, and Northern Lancaster County.

Learning More Than Just Haircuts

A professional groomer’s education involves much more than knowing how to trim a coat. Groom Expo’s classes cover a wide range of subjects that can help groomers better care for the dogs they work with.

Topics may include:

• Skin and coat care
• Bathing and drying techniques
• Breed-specific grooming
• Grooming tools and equipment
• Handling and working with difficult dogs
• Pet first aid and CPR
• Safe grooming practices
• Customer service and communication
• Business and financial management
• Cat grooming
• Creative grooming techniques

The current Groom Expo schedule, for example, includes classes on skin assessment, bathing and grooming tools, coat types, equipment maintenance, grooming safety, client education and customer service.

Grooming Competitions Inspire Better Work

Groom Expo isn’t all classrooms and trade-show booths. Professional grooming competitions are another major part of the event.

Groomers compete in categories ranging from breed-specific grooming and salon freestyle to creative styling and clipper competitions. The World Cup Grooming Games brings together groomers at different skill levels to demonstrate their abilities.

Watching talented groomers compete provides inspiration and an opportunity to see advanced techniques in action. Even when you’re not competing yourself, there’s always something new to learn.

Bringing Groom Expo Home to Your Dog

For us, the most important part of attending Groom Expo happens after the event is over.

The goal is to bring new knowledge back to our mobile grooming salon and put it to work for our clients. Whether that’s improving a bathing technique, learning more about skin and coat care, refining a grooming technique or finding ways to help a nervous dog feel more comfortable, continuing education can make a difference.

We believe that great grooming means continuing to improve—not simply doing the same thing the same way year after year.

That’s one reason Ears Nails and Puppy Dog Tails is committed to ongoing education and professional development. When you schedule mobile dog grooming in Ephrata, Denver, or Northern Lancaster County, you’re choosing a groomer who is passionate about learning and providing the best possible experience for your dog.

Professional Learning for Better Mobile Dog Grooming

Groom Expo is an exciting weekend for professional groomers, but the benefits extend well beyond Hershey. Every new technique, product, safety practice and grooming insight we bring home can help us provide better care to the dogs we groom.

For us, that’s what makes Groom Expo so valuable. It revitalizes and energizes us, gives us new ideas to put into practice and reminds us why we love what we do.

And ultimately, everything we learn comes back to one goal: helping your dog look great, feel comfortable, and enjoy a better grooming experience—right at your doorstep.