<p>I should have found out about this earlier - but do you tip dog groomers? I just dropped off our puppy for his first grooming appointment. I will be picking him up at 1pm. What is the tipping protocol (and amount), if any?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I tip mine at the same rate that I tip my own hairdresser . . . well, maybe a bit less, but I do tip, and it’s expected.</p>
<p>I got this from our groomer’s facebook wall, and I’ve given a copy to my hairdresser, who thought it was very funny. In answer to your question, yes, I do tip, for many of the reasons mentioned below. And around Christmas time I give them a bonus of around $50 for the owner to dole out however she sees best fit. And for what it’s worth, I think my hairdresser actually charges $2 more than our groomer.</p>
<p>Top Ten Reasons Why It Costs More To Get Your Pet Groomed Than Your Own Hair Cut !</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Your hairdresser doesn’t wash and clean your rear end.</p></li>
<li><p>You don’t go eight weeks without washing or brushing your hair.</p></li>
<li><p>Your hairdresser doesn’t give you a sanitary trim.</p></li>
<li><p>Your hairdresser doesn’t clean your ears.</p></li>
<li><p>Your hairdresser doesn’t remove the boogies from your eyes.</p></li>
<li><p>You sit still for your hairdresser.</p></li>
<li><p>Your haircut doesn’t include a manicure or pedicure.</p></li>
<li><p>Your hairdresser only washes and cuts the hair on your head.</p></li>
<li><p>You don’t bite or scratch your hairdresser.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>and finally…</p>
<ol>
<li> The likelihood of you pooping on the hairdresser is pretty slim</li>
</ol>
<p>That sign was on the wall of this place too. Probably the comparison to hair stylists was what made me think of tipping!</p>
<p>So thanks for the feedback; I’m glad I asked.</p>
<p>I do tip and probably don’t tip enough; I give 10% or so. My dogs grooming is very expensive so I hate adding the additional tip, but I know I must. The owner of the shop usually does the actual cutting, but others in the shop do the bathing and brushing. While I usually do not tip the owner of a hair salon, in this case I do figuring the tip will be shared will all.</p>
<p>glad i read this; </p>
<p>I have never even considered this because our groomer is at the same place we board when we go on vacation?..maybe I’ll give a generous holiday gift…</p>
<p>This is a timely question because I took two of my dogs in yesterday for grooming, and the other two go next week. The two yesterday have coats that require a lot of work on the part of our groomer and average about $100 each per visit. I tip him $30 for each of them. The ones next week are a much simpler proposition and require a lot less work and time. The charges for them are about half of the others’ cost and I tip $20 for each of them. After years and years of dog ownership, I’ve seen a lot of groomers and this one who has been looking after our dogs for close to ten years now is terrific, and I’ve never seen anyone who is as good with all kinds of dogs or who does a better grooming job. He’s a gem and I admit that I tip him very well because I truly am so appreciative of the great job he does. He does all the work himself and is located at our vet’s office which is an ideal situation. At Christmas, I give him a cash bonus and take him some of our Christmas baking.</p>
<p>alwaysamom - Since you sound like a very experienced dog owner - how often do you take your dogs in? I’m sure it varies a lot with the breed, but that’s another thing I have to figure out. Our puppy is a labradoodle with a coat that wants to get matted if we don’t brush it enough.</p>
<p>Our goldendoodle goes ever 4-6 weeks; she tends to get ratty looking if I wait any longer. I use to keep her coat long, like 6 inches all over, but we now keep her in a puppy cut year round; this keeps her mat free and allows for easy upkeep.</p>
<p>calreader, our two who went in yesterday are also labradoodles! Ideally, I like them to go in every 8-10 weeks or so but that doesn’t always happen for various reasons. The other two are smaller and with less high-maintenance coats so they usually go about three times a year. I try and brush our doodles 3 or 4 times a week, sometimes more often, sometimes less. It helps a lot with the matting issue, although the lower part of their legs seem to be the worst area for matting. </p>
<p>snowball, my friends who have goldendoodles do the same as you re: frequency of grooming and type of cut. Their coats are all more curly than my girls’ and seem to require even more frequent brushing than mine. They’re lovely dogs!</p>
<p>Lots of doodles! When we got our pup at 5 months, he had a very long coat and had never been groomed. He looked like a little bear and was very cute, but it was all matted underneath. Our vet groomed him for us and cut it pretty short, and while I miss the long, wavy hair, it’s better for him to have hair we can keep in reasonably good shape. The brushing is getting easier as he gets more used to it; at first we couldn’t do much without major complaints and avoidance, but now he is pretty tolerant of everything except the face and head.</p>
<p>Jumping in here to say that the tipping thing is a hot topic among grooming salon owners! There are various ways of compensating the groomer – salary, commission, base plus commission etc. </p>
<p>Most of the salon owners in my groups say that tips are appreciated and customary, but that the groomer is not expecting the tips to comprise a substantial portion of their compensation.</p>
<p>We don’t do grooming … there are two salons in town, so I don’t have pressure to add grooming … but finding and keeping good groomers (as employees) is very difficult.</p>
<p>teriwtt - that was very funny - never saw it before. </p>
<p>We have a schnoodle - that’s a poodle/schnauzer mix. He gets groomed every 6 weeks or so and the charge is $60 - I tip $5-6 each time. After reading that list - maybe I should tip more!</p>
<p>I have two standard poodles. I groom them myself now, but I certainly tipped my groomers.</p>
<p>I can tell you from my own experience that it is hard physical labor to give you back a clean, well-groomed dog. And if your dog is happy to go to the groomers, not apprehensive, your groomer is worth a small fortune.</p>
<p>I scrub the dogs the day before I am going to groom them, and let them dry naturally overnight. That’s an hour right there, and more if they’re stained or have been playing in the mud. If I dried them with a dryer, another hour.</p>
<p>Moving along, now that I’ve got some serious practice–I’ve been grooming them myself for almost three years–it takes about an hour and a half for each dog to do nails, face, belly, feet, and the sanitary area. I’ve been working with my dogs to get them over their issues with being groomed (they’d gotten to where they trembled walking into the groomer), so it takes me a while extra. I don’t spend a lot of time on brushing, because I keep their coats VERY short. </p>
<p>If I did grooming work of the quality I expected from my groomers–it would take 4 hours/dog, minimum.</p>
<p>Thanks to all of you. I went prepared with a $20 tip, but the cost of the grooming was quite a bit more than I had expected (it will be less in the future, they said), so I think I undertipped. Next time I’ll be better prepared. He looks beautiful and feels like velvet.</p>
<p>Oh dear, I never did and it never occurred to me to do so till I read this thread.</p>
<p>We have never tipped our groomer. She’s been coming to our house for 10 years, and is very good. We’ve become friends over the years. But it’s her own successful business and she sets her own price (which is high but matches the quality). </p>
<p>We do tip service people well, but not entrepreneurs. We pay the price she wants and have remained loyal customers (who have also sent her lots of new business in the past decade).</p>
<p>I have to admit, I can’t imagine spending hundreds of dollars on dog grooming. This is one reason I’ve always had Norwegian Elkhounds. The only grooming they require is (frequent) brushing, unless you are showing them. Another nice thing is that, unlike most other (maybe all) breeds, they do not get the wet dog smell; they just smell like a wet wool sweater. That’s a good thing since they love to roll around in the snow!
[Highland</a> Elkhounds - Highland Typhoon](<a href=“http://www.highland-farm.net/norelk/ty/ty-page.shtml]Highland”>http://www.highland-farm.net/norelk/ty/ty-page.shtml)</p>