Pet Grooming/Cost Question

[Peppergirl]

Hey all,

My mom has a very long haired Sheltie that she takes to a specific shop, to a specific girl to get groomed.

Mom has been ill, so I took her today and picked her up. Mom went with me. The bill was $68.00 US and mom gave the groomer a $20.00 tip.

I come from a fairly well tipping family, but is that a little high? The groomer is great and Shelties are a long haired, pain-in-the-ass breed to groom..but it still seems high.

Any opinions? I'm in the south now (pretty small-ish town), if that matters.

I'm asking because Im thinking of taking my dog to her and I hope she doesn't expect 20.00 tips from me, being the same family. I'm a good tipper, but my dog is very short haired.

Also, some of you may find this amusing: My dad helps out with errands too, but he's banned from *this* particular errand because my mom thinks he'd have a stroke when he saw the bill and (I'd also assume) how much she tips. This made me pretty hard, but I do understand it.

[AmbrosiaWriter]

It honestly depends on what your mom is having the groomer do to the dog. (That sounds dirty...)

Do you mean the bill looks too high or the tip? Because for the bill it looks to fall within the average of what I see. (Again, it really depends on what kind of "package" your mom is purchasing for the dog.)

The high tip might be because her dog is not just a pain in the ass to groom due to hair length/quality, but also because her dog might just be a little tart when its being groomed.

I wouldn't tip $20 for either of my dogs (because I know both of them are very easy to groom and have easy coats to groom) but if I had to pay for someone to groom one particular dog I know from the daycare I work at, $20 would be right on the spot.

[Evil Queen]

I tip pretty well when it comes to grooming my dog Carmen. She's a Pitbull/Chowchow mix and while she is a short hair dog she's NERVOUS about baths. LOVES the aftermath. Hates the actual bath itself. I don't think I've tipped more than $10 though.

[Pixilated]

Agree with AmbrosiaWriter and Evil Queen: it depends on what's being done and the dog's temperament while it's being done. The front desk person at the vet-I-almost-used said they did groom cats but if the cat needed a sedative, that would cost $133. (I almost needed a sedative after that ...)

But yeah, if I had a longhaired pet that needed a fair amount of work (which I assume your Mom's dog does, as you've characterized it as a PITA to groom ...) I would definitely tip higher. With your shorthair, no, I wouldn't feel compelled to tip as much, especially if yours is also placid and takes well to being groomed.

[Peppergirl]

Thanks for the replies, all.

Mom's dog is a weirdo in addition to be a long-haired PITA to groom. Im sure that reflects in the really high tip.

I'll make an appointment for my short-haired, who is also a sweetie.

What's a proper tip for groomers? 20 percent?

[AmbrosiaWriter]

20% is what I see the most in terms of groomers who do good jobs. Near the holidays it's tends to bloat a little bit, or if it was a short term notice thing that occurred.

[Aethian]

When I would take mine in for a coat blow out I would tip close to 50% because of the amount of work.

Normal grooms were only 20%.