Frequently Asked Questions

This depends on your dog as well as your own preferences. 

Higher maintenance dogs such as doodles and poodles  should be brought in every 4-8 week. Frequent brushing at home is highly recommended. Any Breed can also be scheduled for a bath & tidy between full grooms. 

In general most breeds benefit from being bathed and brushed out every 12 weeks to maintain healthy skin & coat.

The amount of time between nail trims depends on how quickly your dog's nails grow and how quickly they are worn down. The average dog should have his nails clipped every three to four weeks, but it should be done as often as needed to keep the nail from touching the ground when your dog is standing. I usually know when my dogs nails need trimming when I hear them clicking on the wooden floors. 

 We really rather not! A dog with a double coat, like a Husky or a German Shepherd, will get hot during the summer months, but that doesn’t mean they should be shaved. A double coat free of knots or mats is far more effective at keeping them cool under the right conditions. Shaving will not only destroy your dog’s beautiful double coat, but also harm their ability to regulate their body temperature, and even put them at risk for sunburn. In other words, it’ll make them suffer from the heat even more! Instead, we recommend keeping their coats well groomed and free of any mats, walking them during the cooler hours, always providing them with shade and water, and even equipping them with cooling products. If, however, your double- coated breed has been shaved in the past or you feel that this is the best option for your situation, we will be happy to accommodate your request. It should also be noted that shaving your dog’s coat will have no impact on how much or how often they will shed! 

We provide one to one grooming services so we do not crate or cage dogs at any stage during their groom. 

We may put your dog in a spacious kennel at the end of their groom if there is an aggressive or nervous dog coming in for their appointment after yours. 

Mainly we allow your dog to stay in the salon until pickup. 

We ask that your dog is treated year round for lice and fleas.

If we do end up finding fleas or lice we stop the groom immediately and ask you to pick your dog up as soon as possible. 

We will charge for the time up until pickup for work completed and add a $60 clean up fee to your bill. 

Finding lice or fleas disrupts the day and requires intensive disinfecting and cleaning before the next dog comes in. Sometimes we may have to cancel appointments.

We use veterinary grade cleaners as well as preventative sprays regularly that kill fleas and eggs. 

We recommend speaking to your vet about preventative options such as topical ointments or medications. We personally use Nexguard & Advantage II.

Cancellations can leave a gap in a groomers day that may not be able to be filled without notice resulting in a loss of income.

As such we ask for a minimum of 24 hours notice. 

Frequent last minute cancellations or no-shows may result in a refusal of future services or a requirement for pre-payment for the groom. 

Less than 12 hours notice will require that 50% of the groom be paid before another appointment can be made. 

This is the same for no shows. 

We require that your dog has his/her rabies vaccine up to date.

We also require flea/tick treatment year round. Natural options are accepted.

 We recommend that your puppy starts their grooming journey as soon as they have their second set of vaccines. We do an introductory "Puppy Bath & Tidy" for your dogs first groom. This service is suitable for puppies up to 6 months of age. For all our puppy's first grooms we do a one hour bath & tidy to introduce them to the grooming process slowly. We do this for two reasons. Your puppy is wiggly and curious about everything so very rarely they can be nicked or try lick/chew the clippers or scissors resulting in an injury . We've found that keeping the groom to just a bath and tidy eliminates this risk. 

The second reason is that all the different aspects of the groom from standing on the table, to the bath to the dryer and nail clippers can be scary and overwhelming. We take our time to desensitize your pup to each part of grooming slowly and at their pace with LOTS of treats and praise!! 

This makes for a safe and easy first groom that you pup won't be exhausted or traumatized from.
 

Unless specified by you, the last thing we want to do is shave your dog! Sometimes, however, a dog’s fur can get so tangled that mats form close to the skin. This is both uncomfortable for your dog and will limit the skin’s ability to breathe, but is also very painful, if not impossible, to remove by brushing. Imagine having someone pull at your hair for hours on end—it’s not fair to expect your dog to go through that! In these cases where a dog’s coat is too matted to brush out, we recommend shaving as the last resort. At this point, the length of the coat will depend on on how close the mats are to the skin: the closer they are to the skin, the shorter the cut will be. 

From then we can arrange more frequent grooming visits for better coat maintenance or offer resources for regular grooming at home. 

But don't worry, we will always consult with you first before deciding on anything, and will never shave your dog without your consent!

 If your dog is severely tangled or matted and you opt to shave them, they are unfortunately at a greater risk of injury and may show signs of stress or trauma. Matted fur does not allow for air circulation to the skin, causing hot spots, bacterial and fungal infections. Matted fur also pulls and binds, causing pain to your pet when they move or lay down, and the skin underneath those mats can be raw and inflamed. Because of this, there is a chance that your dog’s skin will become irritated during the process of removing the mats. As careful as we are, nicks can occur due to having to work so closely to the sensitive skin, along with ear bruising due to excessive head shaking after the mats have been removed. We cannot emphasize enough the important of maintaining a healthy coat through regular grooming!

 

No, mainly because we find it makes your dog more anxious. Your dog will be much calmer when they cannot see or smell you, and will get very fidgety and distracted if you are in the room. For their own safety and peace of mind, our groomers need their full attention when grooming them. However, there are always exceptions especially for service animals. Covid-19 safety measures must be followed if you are to stay. 

Just your dog! 

You can also bring some of your dogs favourite treats. 

We will send you our waivers and policies to sign before the appointment so that everything is contactless on the day.

You can leave your dogs leash and collar with us as well as any pet carriers you may be using for smaller pets. 

We do occasionally groom cats but only a basic shave with no bath. Please contact us for more information. 

We may ask you to stay to help hold your cat during the groom. 

We will send you a text to the number you provided on file. We allow one hour after the groom is finished for pickup. After 1 hour we may charge a day care fee especially after hours. 

If you are concerned about your dog or have any questions or instructions during the groom, you can always text us. 

Please do not show up to pick up your dog if you haven't been notified that they are ready. Your dog will be excited to see you which may mean the groom may not be completed for safety reason

If you’re not happy with your dog’s groom,  for any reason please let us know! 

We always appreciate your feedback. We take as much information as we can about your dog and about what you want, and keep detailed records of what has been done so if something is not to your liking we will know what to change.

If something doesn’t come out the way you want, we’re always happy to offer a complimentary touch-up within the following week and figure out a way to make things right. 

That's great news!

If you're comfortable, you can leave us a review on our Facebook page or our Google account and tell us what you liked about your experience. If you loved a particular cut and want it done exactly the same way in the future, let us know so that we can make note of it and refer back to it later.