Quoting Prices

How much will it cost to groom my dog please?

This is a question that we get asked regularly and one that doesn't have a simple answer!

How do you quote for a dog you haven't seen? These are questions I ask myself when contemplating this request:
1. What size is the dog? Even within a breed it can vary by plus or minus 10kg and that's for breeds which have a standard, let alone cross breeds.
2. What's the coat condition like? Is it thin/fine hair that is well maintained or is it thick coarse hair that is dirty, compacted, flea ridden, matted?
3. Whats the length of the coat now and what will it be when finished?
4. How efficient is the owner at maintaining the coat in between professional grooms? Is the coat combed through right to the skin or just 'brushed' on the surface leaving the underside matted?
5. When was the dog last professionally groomed? Is it on a recommended schedule for the coat/breed type or is it well overdue?
6. When was it last bathed? Am I going to need to do several washes using more shampoo, water, electric, time?
7. The temperament of the dog. Does the dog enjoy being groomed or does it roll like a crocodile in a death roll if it doesn't like being groomed, potentially injuring itself, injuring me, damaging equipment. Will I need to muzzle the dog, have an extra pair of hands at the ready?
8. What is the age, capabilities, disabilities and weight of the dog? Sometimes it just as difficult to clip a dog that is very underweight and skeletal as it is to groom a dog that is very overweight with extra rolls of fat and unable to stand for any length of time.
9. Will I need use specialist products to complete the groom, coat specific shampoos/conditioners, veterinary supplied shampoos/treatments for skin conditions, de-tanglers, anti-static coat sprays, spray in conditioners, flea shampoos, skin soothing treatments, ear cleaning products? These all cost extra money, extra time and skill to use effectively.
10. How long will it take to wash and dry? Some doodle type dogs can take the best part of 2 hours just to wash and condition thoroughly and to dry the coat straight so as a professional groom can be achieved. That's without any trimming of the coat. 
11. Does the owner want the dog to be clipped or hand scissored all over? These two techniques are vastly different in the time and skill it takes to complete. 
12. What style is the dog in? Has it grown out, will I have to re-sytle from scratch or can I follow the existing pattern?
13. Is it worth my time investing in training this dog to be groomed? Is the dog likely to come back regularly to benefit from my training? 

Finally, under the Animal Welfare Act 2007, we are not allowed to cause unnecessary suffering to an animal. For us this means that if there is more than 5% of a dog that is matted, which equates to approx a 50p sized area (perhaps a mat behind an ear or in arm pitts or groin), we are unable to de-matt this and the coat must be clipped off short so as to get rid of the matting and let the skin breathe again. 

So you see, we aren't trying to be elusive when owners ask for an accurate quote for their dog, we don't want to quote for unnecessary services that wont be required there for making the groom more expensive than it should be and equally if we give you a price that is too low and it takes longer/more skill/more time to complete the groom then we haven't covered our costs. 
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When we give an approximate price, it will be a 'from' price meaning the lowest possible cost it will be, with the final price being given on completion of the groom once all the above factors have been taken in to consideration.