The Price to Groom Your Dog

Posted on Mar 10 in Small Dog Groomingby Jeff K.Print

Lead Groomer Lisa and Boss Bailey after grooming. (Boss is not the dog referred to in this article.)

I was working the front desk at Kelsey’s Dog House a while back when a customer came in to pick up her dog after the dog had been groomed. She was on her cell phone with a friend and said into the phone, “I’m here at my dog’s grooming salon to pick him up. I’ve got to pay for him. Can I call you back in a few minutes?” There was a pause as she listened to the reply. Then she said, “Yeah, his haircut costs more than mine.” I glanced at the customer register and saw that I was about to ask her to pay $52.00 for the work we had done on her dog. As I waited for her to finish her phone call, I thought about my own haircut and what it cost: $18.00. It became apparent her phone call was not ending anytime soon, so I had some time to reminisce about my last visit to the barber. I thought about everything that happened and didn’t happen.

In the 15 minutes it took to get my hair trimmed, here are all the things that did not happen:

I did not come in with my hair tangled, matted and dirty. I had washed and brushed my hair only a few hours earlier, as I do every day.

While my barber worked, I did not attempt to bite him; claw him; wriggle out of reach; or duck my head each time he tried to approach. I did not try to jump out of the chair at every opportunity.

My barber did not trim the hair on my arms, legs, hands, feet, torso or nether regions.

He also did not have to trim and file my nails.

He did not have to pluck hair out of my ear, nor did he have to clean the wax from my ear canals.

My barber did not have to express my . . . I won’t go there.

While getting a rinse at the sink, I did not attempt to flee the area, nor did I shake the water out of my hair so it soaked the barber. He did not have to work with medicated shampoos, whiteners, or flea dip. He also did not have to scrub residue and stains on my face.

He did not have to blow-dry my hair using two different types of dryers. Nor did he have to use a de-tangling spray, de-matting rakes, or hair straightening techniques as he dried my hair. In fact, I left his shop with my hair still wet.

He did not have to carry me from work station to work station. I walked willingly from place to place.

It can take anywhere from 1 hour to more than 3 hours to turn your dog into a well-groomed masterpiece. Many dogs cooperate nicely with their groomer, but some do not. A well-executed, thoughtful dog grooming covers every external inch of your dog’s body and some internal parts as well. That is why a dog grooming may cost more than an average haircut. Come to think of it, what does your hair stylist charge for a style cut, or highlighting, or a perm; and, did you try to bite your stylist at your last appointment?

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2 Comments

• Heidi - Casper's mom says:

  March 24, 2009 at 2:35 am

  Ah, this is such a great article. So true, so true.

  I wonder if you had a nice, small sign / display somewhere where everyone would see it on every visit, that highlighted all of the service details that happen when our pets come in for a visit – if that wouldn’t help educate clients so everyone could see that the service is a great value! (you may have this already – and I missed it!)

  I’ve tried to groom Casper myself, and – well, he ends up looking like a rat gnawed around on his fur. Not only that, but he hates being bathed, so I don’t have to deal with all of that drama!

  Thank you all for doing such great work.
  

  -Heidi
• Jeff K. says:

  March 24, 2009 at 3:21 pm

  Hi Heidi:

  Thank you for your comment. Great idea! We will run it up the flagpole. For those of you reading this comment, Heidi has a fun website called Doodle Approval. Check it out if you have decision to make and you need a wise and gentle push in one direction or the other.

  Jeff

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