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OT Dog Grooming

Ninji's picture

I have three dogs that need groomed on a regular basis.

For years, I took them to the local Pet Smart but when we moved into our new home, an old friend of DH's told him that her mother grooms dogs. We have taken all three of them to her once and our Yorkie a second time.

I had DH contact her last week to get my middle dog cut. She said she was out of town but would be back over the weekend. We still haven't heard from her.

So, I'm thinking about the pro and cons of both places

Pet Smart
Pros -
Always available within a few days and they call me to set appointment.
They brush their teeth
I always know exactly what the cost will be

Cons
Always a different person
They take a long time
Its farther from our new house

New lady
Pros
She is really close
I like supporting small business
She walks them

Cons
Hard to get ahold of her
She is flakey when we do contact her
I never really know what the cost will be. She told me one price and then forget and seemed upset about the amount that I reminded her she told me ($35 per dog and I did give her a $5 per dog tip because I felt bad that she seemed upset)
She boards dogs too and last time I was there she said one of them might have Parvo.

I've tried to find a mobile dog groomer but the two in my area get bad reviews. I can't groom them myself. I've tried.

So, fellow steptalkers what do you do for dog grooming?

Comments

Acratopotes's picture

I groom self..... sorry the kind of dogs I use to have I had to do it self lol.... groomers would've been eaten alive.

It starts from pup days, brushing teeth weekly, with a special god tooth brush and toothpaste... one loved it so much she wanted a daily brush and copied us in the mornings...

bathing - since pup days and allowing them to play with the garden hose... when they needed it... I never had long haired dogs, only short hair.... cause I knew we did not have groomers in town.

Nail clippings, never done it - cause they walk their nails off in the yard, only did it when they where very small pups with those sharp little nails...

brushing - daily even if they had short hair, only because they loved it so much and it was the only way to get them to stop playing and jumping me over...

The vet only saw me once a year when I went to buy the needed injections for them, even that I did myself lol... vet was to scared of the lot.

walking them - trained since puppies to walk next to me, listen and only move when I move... after I only had 2 left out of the 6, I simply played with them in the back yard, they where way to old by then to go for walks, and chasing balls for 20min was more then enough for them

EDIT TO ADD: I would go with reliable instead of cheap.... nothing ever were to expensive for my pooches..

Ninji's picture

That's how I felt too but my DH was saying that he's known her pretty much is whole life and blah blah blah.

Aniki-Moderator's picture

Ninji, why can't you schedule the same groomer at PetSmart? My sister always made an appointment with the same one without any problems.

Ninji's picture

I didn't know that was an option until now. I just called an made an appointment. Either the place I went to goes through employees quickly or they just set me up with whomever was available.

Aniki-Moderator's picture

They may have just set you up with whoever was available. My sister used the same PetSmart groomer for almost 6 years (until her furbaby passed).

robin333's picture

I love our mobile groomer. It's pricey but so convenient and I get the same groomer. She's the only one that my beast dog will allow to trim his nails.

MoominMama's picture

Our dog is an unusual breed and has long hair. He's difficult to keep from matting so he goes for a bath and complete hair do every 6-8 weeks. In between that I give him a good brush through once a week. I would never get this breed again though, too much upkeep. The good brush through takes almost 2 hours.

https://www.pets4homes.co.uk/pet-advice/the-schapendoes-the-lovely-dutch...

Stepped in what momma's picture

After my pups came home with cuts I started grooming them myself. I spent the same amount I'd spend for both pups on grooming supplies and got started. I watched some youtube videos and we had a few funny patches at the beginning but I know they aren't cut and they certainly aren't mistreated. I give them calming pills and they almost sleep through the whole grooming.