Holistic Grooming takes into account the dog as a whole, rather than soley focusing on styling/appearane.  

Holistic Grooming involves assessing the dog's needs both at the skin level, as well as anatomically and behaviorally.  At the core, a dog needs to feel safe and cared for in order to trust being handled for the grooming process.

Grooming can be a scary scenario for a dog.  How a dog is spoken to, how they are touched, how they are moved around, how they are protected: a dog knows, based on how they're perceived and treated, whether they can trust the human handling them or not.  Are they treated like an object?  Or are they treated with connection, compassion, and care?  

Understanding and protecting the canine anatomy is foundational, but so important throughout the grooming process.  It involves everything from maintaining neutral body positions and avoiding hyper-extension of the joints, to recognizing when a dog has luxating patellas, to understanding the needs of brachycephalic breeds.

Canine dermatology, also foundational for dog grooming, involves not only understanding a dog's unique skin needs, but also how the skin plays a role in the function and appearance of the coat, as well as the general health of the dog.  Maintaing the proper pH, maintainging a healthy sebum layer, avoiding allergens that cause sensitivities: these are just a few of the elements we focus on.

Our total price includes services other salons might charge extra for, but which we feel should be a part of the standard grooming.

Nail dremeling/filing is included with every bath/groom.  We use premium professional diamond bits to gently round, smooth, and buff the nails, rather than sandpaper bits or simply clipping the nails blunt.  Our diamond bits allow for smooth, low-vibration, quiet filing that most dogs enjoy over getting the nails clipped. This type of bit, although considerably more expensive than sandpaper bits, helps to prevent the health issues associated with sandpaper bits such as debris in the eyes or inhalant issues (for both the dog and the groomer).

Luxury shampoo and coat conditioning is included in every bath/groom.  We use pH balanced top of the line products formulated for dogs' unique skin/coat requirements, made with high quality ingredients.

We offer 3 TYPES OF GROOMS:

• Baths/Nails Groom
• Sanitary Groom (includes clearing hair away from eyes, paw pads, pee/poo areas)
• Full Groom (includes breed standard haircut/styling or haircut/styling to pet owner's specifications)

All 3 types of GROOMS INCLUDE:

• Coat/Skin Evaluation & Prep of Coat for Bath
• Blueberry Facial
• Thorough Shampooing
• Thorough Conditioning
• Thorough Blow Drying
• Ear Cleaning
• Gentle & Minimal Ear Canal Hair Plucking (if needed to allow for good air flow)
• Nails Filed/Dremeled
• Grooming Report Card

INTENSIVE WORK: The following types of manual work incur extra surcharges that typically range between $15-$60 depending on the time and intensity

• Coat Restoration - Additional intensive work to remedy or remove issues such as: tangled coat, matted coat, impacted undercoat, significant shedding, significant sticker bur removal, etc

• Residue Removal - Additional manual work to solve or remove residue such as: significant crusted over eye corner residue, or residue from gum, tar, sap, etc.
• Physical - Additional time, staff assistance, or special methods used to accommodate issues related to age, size, mobility, etc.
• Additional time to provide for trust/positive reinforcement training to alleviate anxiety, fear, mistrust, or other behavioral issues.

Pricing is according to the time involved, the size of the dog, and the difficulty level.  General price ranges are listed below to give you an idea.  These prices are based on the dogs we currently groom on a MONTHLY basis.  If your dog isn't already used to be groomed monthly, has overgrown nails, requires 2nd person assistance, or is overweight, the price can be higher due to the extended time and effort needed.

EXAMPLES OF DOGS WITH SMOOTH COATS AND MINIMAL BLOW DRYING TIME

• $40-$50 Chihuahua, Boston Terrier, Dachshund
• $50-$70 Boxer, Greyhound, French Pointer
• $70-$90 Doberman, Weimeraner
• $90-$120 Great Dane

EXAMPLES OF DOGS WITH DOUBLE OR DENSE COATS REQUIRING IN-DEPTH BLOW OUTS

• $50-$65 Double Coat Chihuahua, Beagle
• $65-$85 Corgi, Shiba Inu, Heeler
• $85-$115 Rottweiler, Labrador, Husky
• $115-$155 German Shepherd, Malamute
• $155-$195 Akita, St. Bernard

EXAMPLES OF DOGS REQUIRING HAIRCUTS, STYLING, & TECHNICAL BLOW OUTS

• $60-$70 Long Haired Chihuahua, Papillon
• $70-$80 Yorkie, Japanese Chin, Maltese
• $80-$90 Shih Tzu, Toy Poodle, Miniature Schnauzer
• $90-$115 Bichon, Cocker Spaniel, Border Collie
• $115-$145 Airdale, Wheaten Terrier, Golden Retriever
• $145-$175 Standard Poodle, Giant Schnauzer
• $175-$225 Great Pyrenees, Newfoundland

DOODLE PRICING AND SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS

EXAMPLES OF SMALL POODLE HYBRIDS - These prices are based on the poodle hybrids we currently groom on a 4 week schedule .

• $75-$95 Malti-Poo, Shih-Poo, Schnoodle
• $95-$125 Cocka-Poo, Cava-Poo, Mini Aussie-Doodle
• $125-$155 Mini Golden-Doodle, Mini Labra-Doodle, Mini Berne-Doodle

EXAMPLES OF LARGE POODLE HYBRIDS - These prices are based on the poodle hybrids we currently groom on a 2-4 week schedule .

• $145-$195 Golden-Doodle, Labra-Doodle, Berne-Doodle
• $170-$225 Sheepa-Doodle, Pyre-Doodle

Poodle hybrids make for one of the most challenging coat types to work with.  This is because of the poodle's soft corkscrew coat mixed with the primary (coarser) and secondary (downy undercoat) coat types of other breeds. Mixing these 3 coat types together creates the perfect condition for tangling/matting to occur rapidly, especially with high fricton areas such as the neck, behind the ears, at the rump, the rear legs, and the tail.   

Doodles are advertised as "Non-Shedding" and while true to the extent that shed coat in the house and on the furniture is greatly reduced, the coat still sheds.  The problem is that the shed coat is released from the hair follicle, but remains nestled in with the surrounding coat, trapped.  The shed (but trapped) coat, needs to be frequently removed by combing it out before it begins to ravel and form tangles/matting.

Maintaining length for these types of coats takes frequent and diligent combing (not brushing) 2-3 times per week.  Most of the large doodles we groom come in every 2 weeks.  Some of them alternate getting just a good comb out, bath and blow dry at 2 wks, and then they come back in 2 wks for their full groom with haircut.  

A small percentage of the large doodles we groom come in once a month - these are the ones getting frequent, thorough comb outs at home religiously.  A monthly schedule is the longest frequency we are able to accomodate with these coat types.  

If a doodle is going a couple of months or more in between grooming, it usually means having to get shaved down to bare skin and that's not fun for the dog, the groomer, or the pet owner!  It's not something our salon normally does unless it's for a recently rescued/adopted Doodle.

No!  We safely hand dry each dog.  It takes considerably longer and requires more effort, but it's the only way to get a dog's coat completely dry to the skin.  Our grooming process is hands on, from beginning to end.

We work by appointment and notify you as soon as your dog is done.

Most of the time it takes 1-2 hours for small breeds, 2-3 hours for medium breeds, and 4-5 hours for large breeds.

If you would like to drop your dog off in the morning and pick up by closing that is fine too.  Drink and potty breaks are included at no extra charge.  All dogs rest on comfortable bedding in a private cage until pick up.

Keep in mind, that sometimes the appointment before yours goes longer than expected.  This can be due to the coat condition, a temperament issue, or some other area of the grooming process that took longer than we anticipated.  We try our best to manage our appointment schedule well and time things out accordingly, but sometimes the best laid plans go awry!

An example of this is when someone brings a dog in for their appointment but we weren't informed ahead of time that the dog was recently skunked!  It takes a lot longer to "de-skunk" the coat and skin than it does to give a typical bath.  

YES, absolutely!  You are welcome to tour our entire grooming wing anytime and even see where your dog comfortably waits for you!  We're proud of our cleanliness and love to show off our facility anytime we are open, no appointent necessary!

Let us know what you think!  How does our facility smell?  How does it sound?  Is it clean?  What is the general energy/vibe?  Do the dogs in our facility seem comfortable and happy?

Don't just take our word for it.  We believe that seeing is believing!

• If you would like us to be your dog's grooming "home" and have guaranteed appointments, we recommend getting set up on a standing appointment schedule or always booking your next appointment at check out within 6 weeks.
• We have over 500 clients with monthly standing appointments.  Some clients have standing appointments that are every 2 weeks and some even have a standing appointment weekly.  Our grooming business has been built on maintaining the happiness, health, and well being of the dogs we serve.
• Because of this, we only provide guaranteed appointments for clients who want their dogs groomed every 6 weeks or less.  This allows our groomers to have trusting, familiar relationships with the dogs they work with - it produces a positive experience for both the dog, and the groomer.
• If you're really only interested in getting your dog in for grooming every couple of months or more, we do keep a wait list for last minute spots that open up due to cancelations.  However, priority is always given to clients on the wait list who are waiting to be able to get into the rotation for a regular schedule of 6 weeks or less.

The sooner you can let us know you have a conflict with your next appointment, the more time we will have to be able to contact other clients to see about swapping your day/time with them.

Most of our regular clients are happy to do this since they've also had to swap their day/time before when they were going to be out of town.

The more notice we have, the more time we have to get it worked out and it's usually not a big deal at all!

However, we do ask for 48 hours notice of cancelation so we have time to be able to get that spot filled for the groomer. Clients who cancel several times without giving us 48 hrs notice may be required to pay a non-refundable deposit for all future bookings

If you cancel same day, or no show, we require payment for the missed appointment in order to re-book or keep your next standing appointment.  This is so the groomer can still receive compensation.  Our groomers' schedules are booked up 4-6 weeks in advance and we run a tight ship with our scheduling.  If one of their appointments no shows, they get a cut in their commissioned pay for the day.

We work hard to be sure our amazing, talented, dependable groomers receive a steady paycheck in order to support their families!  Thank you for understanding!

We want you (and your pet) to be happy! If you're unsatisfied with any haircut, please inform us within 48 hrs so we may schedule a no charge correction within 3 business days. Any corrections beyond that point will incur additional charges.

We also ask that you inform us right away if you have any questions we can answer, or if there is something important we need to know about your pet's grooming service, so that we may address any issues in a timely manner.