Good dog groomer? (Austin, Round Rock, Pflugerville: how much, home, prices)

[readymade]

Can anyone suggest a good (i.e. inexpensive) dog groomer in central or south Austin?

I called a bunch (shampooch, pet smart, etc...) and I've been given a range of $40 - $50 for a bath & haircut for my little 14 pound well-behaved dog.

That seems REALLY expensive to me. I was hoping to pay around $30.

I might end up going to Dirty Dog and giving this self-serve haircut thing a go for $25 (it's not like my dog will be embarrassed if I do a terrible job), but I thought I'd see if anyone here could recommend someone.

[BlueBear1]

I don't have any recommendations for that side of town, but $40-$50 for that size dog is pretty much the going rate. I have two dogs that size that I get groomed every few months. I'm in NW Austin, and of the five or so places I've called, that is what every single one charged except for one, and they started at $55.

[faithr]

Let me add that the prices here are much lower than they are in Virginia.
We get our girl groomed at Groomingdales and her cost is $58. She is 68 pounds and a briard (not easy to groom). We have paid double that in Virginia.

[tourbound129]

We pay about $40 for our 7lb Maltipoo every couple of months in Round Rock. It is about the going rate. I think we could have it done about $5 cheaper at a vet in Pflugerville but we would have to drive farther so its not really worth it.

[readymade]

My god, that's expensive! I pay $50 for MY haircut every 3-5 months! And I think THAT'S expensive!! I also don't like that most of them are closed on Sundays. I think I'm just going to invest in a nice pair of dog hair clippers and figure it out for myself. Thanks for the replies, everyone.

[tourbound129]

How often does your dog need a haircut that the difference of 10 bucks from $30 to $40 makes it that big of a deal? Just curious. Our dog goes every couple of months. I'm sure somewhere in there I can give up something to save the extra 10 bucks.

[readymade]

Originally Posted by tourbound129

How often does your dog need a haircut that the difference of 10 bucks from $30 to $40 makes it that big of a deal? Just curious. Our dog goes every couple of months. I'm sure somewhere in there I can give up something to save the extra 10 bucks.

I guess it's just the principle. I don't feel like my dog's haircut should be as expensive as MY expensive haircut. And there was only one place that said it STARTED at $40. All the other ones STARTED at $50, which could mean the cut would be $60, $80, $1000 (heh).

[BlueBear1]

You can definitely do it yourself at home. We used to do it all the time for our shih tzus, but eventually got tired of how much time and effort it takes, and now we gladly pay the money. Plus, the groomers do some stuff that we can't do or don't do well - they remove the ear plugs, do a good nail trim (which mine hate at home), and do the anal gland express. Anyway, for your size dog, the going rate is about $45 plus tax. If your dog will be perfectly well behaved at home for you to do all the grooming, that would definitely be cheaper.

[readymade]

Originally Posted by BlueBear1

You can definitely do it yourself at home. We used to do it all the time for our shih tzus, but eventually got tired of how much time and effort it takes, and now we gladly pay the money. Plus, the groomers do some stuff that we can't do or don't do well - they remove the ear plugs, do a good nail trim (which mine hate at home), and do the anal gland express. Anyway, for your size dog, the going rate is about $45 plus tax. If your dog will be perfectly well behaved at home for you to do all the grooming, that would definitely be cheaper.

What are ear plugs? I forgot about the anal gland thing, heh. Maybe it IS worth the $45 - $1000 to have someone else do it!

[BlueBear1]

Ear plugs are this mass of hair that grows out of the inside of most dogs' ears. It pulls out pretty easily - it's not rooted into their skin the same way normal fur is. It collects wax and debris and crud in their ears, but if you don't clean it out or remove the hair every so often, too much crud can build up in there. You can pull the hair out yourself - it doesn't really hurt them, but is probably slightly uncomfortable. I've noticed that the groomers can get it much more completely cleaned out than I can - I think they have a special method where they remove it all at once.

I can do a decent job on mine at home, but like I said, they don't get all of what a groomer would do, and it's very time consuming for me. I also can't get the fur out of their feet pads as well as a groomer can. You have to bathe them before using the clippers, or the clippers won't slide through properly. So then you have to wait for them to dry. Then the shaving. My dogs are normally very well-behaved, but when it comes to grooming, they're fidgety and squirmy and less than enthusiastic. At the groomer's, they sit perfectly still like angels though, I guess because it's not us doing it.