Silly question...

[AdoreMyDogs]

Hi everyone. I have two questions for those of you who have taken your dogs to groomers at any point. I took my moms little shih tzu to the groomers for his first haircut the day before Thanksgiving, the price was $30. Now, first of all, is that a good price? I did check around and found some places were far more expensive and didn't seem to find any place cheaper...but it might be just where I live is more expensive. Also, (this is such a silly question that I am almost embarressed to ask) is it customary to tip the groomer like I tip my hair stylist? I hope not because I didn't tip. Let me know if you could :) Thanks :)

[Logan]

Leslie, I must admit that when I had Kaycee, my Cocker Spaniel, I had to get her groomed. The price usually ranged from $30 to $35, and I had no idea about tipping!! Now I know that it is the "norm" to tip the groomer, just like your hairdresser. And I am such a tightwad that I hate to do that too!!

Hopefully some of the grooming experts will have some good advice for you on this.

Logan

[Pam]

Leslie and Logan we just talked about this topic over on Jackie's board. The going rate for a standard poodle around here is $45-$50 which includes nail clipping and plucking the hair out of the ears. Since Bella is on the small size she was $45. I did give the girl an extra $5 last time and was wondering if that was appropriate, especially since she goes again tomorrow! Jackie had mentioned that 10% was an acceptable tip so I feel better. I sort of thought a tip was necessary since I tip my hairdresser and this is like Bella's hairdresser! :D

[aly]

Pam - Reece is going to the groomer tomorrow too!! Do he and Bella have a date we don't know about?? :D

Leslie - I think a dog as small as Ritz should be closer in the $25 range, but I guess $30 isn't too bad. One groomer here charges $32 for Reece, Petsmart charges around $26, and this WONDERFUL place I go to now is just $20 and it is the cleanest, nicest place of all. The woman who owns it also does poodle rescue, and going into this place is doggy heaven. She has beautiful portraits of poodles all over the wall, and large fish tanks. She also has pens up front with her rescues available for adoption. And there's always some loose dogs running around (she is very careful who she lets run around together).

Opps, got off topic. At places like Petsmart I don't tip, but since I loooooooooooooove my groomer so much, I've been tipping her LARGE amounts. I think I tip her also because she does rescue.

[shais_mom]

Now Keep in mind, I live in a very small town. But when I took Shai to the groomer's to get her nails done it was 3 dollars and she got offended when I tried to tip her!! Other times she would accept it. She charges $15 and I think $10 if you bathe your dog yourself and just want to use her facilities.
She has recently started training standard poodles for seeing eye dogs.

[Pam]

Gee Aly I would love to start taking Bella to Texas to be groomed!! It might add a little to the over-all expense though! LOL! Your groomer sounds wonderful and the whole experience must just be a little bit of heaven!! Wish Bella and Reece were going together today. That's one trip I would really enjoy!

[purrley]

I have a good friend that's a groomer. She owns her own business and her prices vary depending on the size of the animal - how matted the fur is, if she needs to do a flea dip, trim nails, etc. Her bottom line price is $30.00 though.

[3-greys-and-a-mutt]

When we used to take our cocker to a small neihborhood groomer, it used to cost $22.
When we used to take Pup for a full groom, It cost $22 at SuperPetz. Now we groom her at home, but sometimes we take her in for her nail trims (she has all-black nails and she's squirmy, so it's hard to do) and those cost $5, which seems way too much for a job that takes 2 minutes!!!

We invested in a set of $35 clippers for Pup, and have definately saved about $75 in haircuts since then! She loves getting cuts, and makes it very easy for us to do!

[sammi]

We pay about $15 to have Buddy Boy bathed, brushed and nails clipped. If I go to the vet the nail clipping is free (even if thats all they do - if they have the time). Again this is also a small rural area.

[kobieeli]

Eli's groomer breeds and shows Aussies and is the best friend of the breeder we got Eli from, so we get the "family rate" for his grooming ($25). Normally for Aussies she charges $40, but that includes all bathing and clipping plus nail trimming, ear flap cleaning, and drying him. We tip her pretty generously because we know all her money goes back into her own gorgeous Aussies... :D

[ November 29, 2001: Message edited by: kobieeli ]

[jackiesdaisy1935]

Daisy is very hard to do, because she does not like to have any part of her body touched, her feet, her face etc. etc. We did find this woman from Russia named Nina who does her, she has lots of patience and has done her since she was a baby, in fact she calls Daisy her baby, she works at Petsmart and we pay 30.00 plus 10% tip, at Christmas we usually give her 10.00 or 15.00.
Don usually does Perry unless he get tired of it for a while and we have another groomer who does him and they charge 30.00 to, it seems to be the going price here.
Jackie

[RachelJ]

Our groomer charges $39.00 each for Hannah and Tucker. I never used to tip but I do now. Figured anyone who was willing to deal with Hannah deserved it. $4.00 for each dog. Neither one of my dogs are very cooperative when it comes to grooming (at least not with me), but I think they do better with the groomer. She owns the business and runs it out of her house and it is a nice set up. She is the only one who works with them and I think she does a beautiful job on both my dogs.

[tatsxxx11]

I work at a boarding kennel that also does grooming. Baths are 20.00 for all breeds and include brush out and drying; and complimentary scarf, of course! Grooming prices vary; sometimes the condition (especially of smaller breeds) is unbelievably deplorable! Matted to the point of having to be shaved! But, in general, grooms run from 25.00 to 35.00 dollars, standard poodles being the most time consuming and costly. It does include nail clipping and ear cleaning and hair removal. Certain breeds requiring "stripping" rather than clipping are priced on a case by case basis. Just nails alone is 5.00. I live in a reasonably cosmopolitan area, and occasionally very good, "regular" clients do tip the groomer; perhaps 5.00. But most do not. But almost all clienst are very kind over the holidays, bringing us all kinds of treats and goodies. :) I think the price you were quoted is entirely reasonable. And don't feel badly about not tipping!

[ November 29, 2001: Message edited by: tatsxxx11 ]

[ November 29, 2001: Message edited by: tatsxxx11 ]

[Daisy's Mom]

Daisy doesn't go to a groomer so I really don't have anything to add... But Rachel I just wanted to say that your new signature picture is beautiful! I thought it was a professional picture of two "model dogs" until I looked closer and saw our own lovely Hannah and Copper! Beautiful!

[Logan]

Got a little added insight on this topic this morning, Leslie. I went by a new groomer, which is much closer to my house, to investigate on the cost of having Honey and Lilly bathed, etc. (so I can take their picture for my Christmas cards :D ) Anyway, I was very impressed. It's called The Shaggy Dog, and was very clean, quiet, etc. She gave me a tour. They had spacious runs for the dogs while they are there. She said she would charge between $25-$30 per Golden Retriever and that included bathing, drying, combing, clipping nails, shaving around paw pads (that's never been done :eek: ), cleaning ears, and one more that I forgot to mention to Pam in an earlier email, expressing the anal glands! My last groomer charged I think $20, but everything was extra over and above the bath and drying.

So, Honey and Lilly are scheduled for next Wednesday morning at 8. We'll see how it goes. I simply can't bathe them at home in the wintertime. I don't have a good setup, besides, it will be worth it with all they are going to do! :)

[Barbiro]

Logan,

I wish they would charge that here in Miami. A medium size dog can easily run a tab of $65-85 just for bathing and basic grooming. I bought the clippers and I groom them myself, although my flat-coated retriever is really difficult to shave (she's petrified of the sound of the electric shaver). I would gladly pay $25 or $30 to have someone else do it, but $65-85 was just too much.