Choosing a groomer

[Saeleofu]

Anyone have any suggestions on how to find a good groomer? Logan's shedding like crazy at the moment and ordinarily I'd just take him to work and bathe him and use the force air dryer on him. But I have pretty much NO time to do that (work 7-12, school 1-2 and 4-6, and the dogsitting dogs need fet at 7, and there is a 30-45 minute commute from the house to work/school/anywhere civilized), and he badly needs blown out.

The dogs I'm watching go to the groomer every month. But I'm not thrilled with her - they're supposed to get a full-service groom, and the dogs come back with nails not clipped, ears not flushed (and this ear infections are common), and the fluffy dogs still have mats on their bellies.

I also am very leery of taking my dog to a groomer to begin with. I want NO furminators, no cage dryers, no shaving, and no free-range dogs in the grooming parlor while they're not being groomed. Basically, I want my dog safe and his coat not ruined.

I just have no idea where to even start. All he needs is a bath and a blow out, really, and I wish I had time for it, but by the time I DO have time I'll be buried under a pile of hair. Brushing alone is not even close to enough to control it this time of year.

[Kat09Tails]

Honestly if a blow out is all you really want I'd just use a Petco/Petsmart and pay the bathing rate on a slow day.

[Fran101]

I usually start with Yelp, they are great for reviews! We found our lady through yelp as a dog walker actually and found out she does grooming, which is awesome

She picks them up early (around 8) and they get a long walk/romp in the park, she grooms them, takes them on a short walk to go to the bathroom and then brings them home!
Her mobile grooming thing is right by the park, which is great!

Petco also has a great "bathe yourself" thing, I think it's like $15 and you use all their stuff (fancy bath, blowdryer etc..)

[Saeleofu]

Honestly if a blow out is all you really want I'd just use a Petco/Petsmart and pay the bathing rate on a slow day.

I've considered this. Petsmart says they cage-dry, but I wonder if I asked specifically to NOT cage-dry him (and instead blow dry) if they'd actually honor it. I mean safety aside, cage drying does NOTHING to help with shedding. I haven't checked Petco yetm because they're WAY far away from home and work compared to Petsmart (there is a Petsamrt a couple blocks from my parents' house).

She picks them up early (around 8) and they get a long walk/romp in the park, she grooms them, takes them on a short walk to go to the bathroom and then brings them home!
Her mobile grooming thing is right by the park, which is great!

See I wouldn't want that. I don't want some random person walking my dog, and possibly teaching him bad habits, or undoing his training, or whatever (I know, I said I'm picky! lol). I also don't want him riding with a stranger.

Petco also has a great "bathe yourself" thing, I think it's like $15 and you use all their stuff (fancy bath, blowdryer etc..)

Ours here don't - we do have self-serve bathing places, but they're expensive, and I still have to spend the time grooming him. If I had the time to do it, I could do it free at work. I took Logan to one of the self-serve places a couple days before we went to Tulsa and it cost me $30 to bathe and dry him myself, and he wasn't even fully dry (I just decided I had spent enough lol). The only nice part was I didn't have to clean up



What do you guys think of this place? I haven't visited there yet but know of people who have had grooming there and they've been pretty happy. The owner did rush a dead st. poo to us that died during grooming, but it was a seizure and just a freak think (I've had two dogs die from seizures that came out of nowhere while I've done weekend kennels, so I know it's just a crazy thing that happens and it sucks). But they did RUSH the dog over, did CPR on the way, and notified the owner immediately, and overall handled it VERY well and very professionally. I think they even ended up paying for private cremation for the dog. Anyway, it's like a block from where I work, and being private I think they'd be more willing to honor special requests than one of the big-box places (but again, I really have NO idea)
Link: http://www.royalheirspetspa.com/

[Saeleofu]

I just checked out Yelp. It comes up with 3 reuslts for groomers in my city, and one review, and it's a crappy review

[JacksonsMom]

I will never use anything but a mobile groomer again.

Around here, we have a lot of them. Some are pricey but I manged to find one that is a really good deal and does a SUPER job. Well I use two actually. I have one mobile groomer who I use the most and another is for "backup" sort of if the other is not available, etc.

No nooses, no dryers, no cages, done in my own driveway in under an hour and I only pay $10 more than what I was paying to drop him off somewhere for 4-5 hours.

I'd look up mobile groomers.

[Tankstar]

You can try calling around. And see if they do "express" type of grooms. We do them at my work, they are more expensive. but essentialy what we do is. A full groom (baths, nails, ears, brush out and blow dry and then if the dog is clip what ever clip they want) But the dog is being done start to finish. So no cage drying at all, no cages at all, we call about 30mins before the dog is done, so the owner can be in the waiting room ready to take the dog as soon as its done.

Originally Posted by JacksonsMom

No nooses, no dryers, no cages, done in my own driveway in under an hour and I only pay $10 more than what I was paying to drop him off somewhere for 4-5 hours.

I'd look up mobile groomers.

How does she finish a groom in under a hour with no dryer? No noose? sounds scary to me. I have seen many dogs try to jump off tables, and only thing stoping them is the noose restraint.

[skKi]

Originally Posted by Tankstar

How does she finish a groom in under a hour with no dryer? No noose? sounds scary to me. I have seen many dogs try to jump off tables, and only thing stoping them is the noose restraint.

Ditto, most dogs I know do not enjoy getting groomed and many will do what they can to get off that table. I'd be too nervous to not use a noose. Maybe she's talking Jackson specifially doesn't need a noose or dryer, because I'd like to see them give Zero a groom without blow drying him for 2 hours straight.

[Saeleofu]

Originally Posted by Tankstar

You can try calling around. And see if they do "express" type of grooms. We do them at my work, they are more expensive. but essentialy what we do is. A full groom (baths, nails, ears, brush out and blow dry and then if the dog is clip what ever clip they want) But the dog is being done start to finish. So no cage drying at all, no cages at all, we call about 30mins before the dog is done, so the owner can be in the waiting room ready to take the dog as soon as its done.

I don't mind a cage (actually if the dog has to be there and not be handled at any time, I definitely prefer a cage to free-roam "daycare" style). But that WOULD ensure there are no cage dryers.

Tomorrow I'm going to call around, since I actually have a day off (sort of...).



I don't know about the "no noose" thing (I'd use a restraint with my dogs if I had my own grooming table) and the "no dryers" is pointless for what I want -my primary reason for getting him groomed is needing that force air drying, otherwise the bath isn't going to do a bit of good for shedding.

[*blackrose]

I wouldn't knock off Petsmart. Yes, they do use cage dryers...but that shouldn't be the only thing they are using. A friend of mine is a bather at Petsmart and she treats all of her dogs like the business they are - if a client requests that the dog be blown and brushed out to get out the dead undercoat, she is going to brush and blow dry the dog and get out as much undercoat as she can. I think the only time she uses a cage dryer is like the only time I use a cage dryer - in conjunction with the force blow dryer if the dog is an idiot and can't be dried all the way (but only AFTER the coat has been blown out) and/or on smooth coated dogs.

Some vet clinics offer grooming, too (where I work at, for example), so those would be other places to check out.