Tipping a groomer

[Doodle Grooming]

I am getting Max groomed for the first time this week. He is our first dog so I don't have any experience with groomers. Do people generally tip groomers.

Thanks

[ginny]

Can anyone tell me what the going rate is for tipping a groomer?

[Stacy]

I always tip 20% rounded up. I honestly feel like it's excessive, this last trip my tip was $30, (two dogs) but really it's a kind of unspoken bribe. I will pay you well. Please be good to my dogs. Every once in a while you hear grooming horror stories of dogs who are injured or killed and my hope is that it's incentive to make sure nothing happens to them. 

[ginny]

Thanks, I'm thinking her first grooming will be around $50--yikes!!

[Stacy]

Grooming is the price we pay for having dogs that don't shed! I try not to think about what I spend at the groomer too much. But I can't do it myself and it has to be done. They're worth it though. They're my hobby and where all of my disposable income goes!

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

That seems pretty reasonable.  Around here for a large doodle it can be $80-200...hence why I'm just grooming Riley myself lol.

[ginny]

Thnaks.  I'm thinking I'll get charged around $50.00.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

This is an old post but the question is appropriate because it always comes up. IMO--  Of course you tip - you tip for your hair, your nails, your waitress - we tip for service.  I adore my groomer and I know she doesn't charge me enough for my boys.  I tip her, my manicurist and beautician at least 20%. I really appreciate their services. (Stacy, If you think of a tip as a bribe then I hope my hair stylist enjoys my bribes cuz I have terrible hair.LOL)

[Stacy]

Oh, I think of it more as a bribe to my hair stylist than anyone else! I'm sad when the dogs get a bad haircut, but please don't butcher my hair. I don't have fabulous hair either, but it can definitely be made worse. There are people I tip out of obligation, but the groomer and the hair stylist I tip out of genuine gratitude for what they do.

[ginny]

Well I got her clipped, took pictures, wrote notes, and described EXACTLY what I wanted and she still looks shaved, poodley (sp. ?), and not at all what I wanted--grrr...  And I tipped but in hindsight, do you tip as well as you would otherwise and if it's not what I asked for?

[Stacy]

Sometimes it takes a few tries to find the right groomer. I've had good luck asking the Goldendoodle facebook group for my area for recommendations. Did they give you any explanation why she wasn't groomed the way you asked? I know sometimes they are matted and we don't realize that they are. Or the puppy isn't super cooperative. And some groomers really don't know how to groom doodles, or like grooming doodles. I specifically asked the groomer we are going to if they enjoyed doodles. And I'm still thinking of trying another one because I'm not 100% happy with the way I've seen them handle the dogs. I got there to pick up my girls and they left another dog sitting on the table with the noose around its neck while she helped me. If that dog jumped off it would have been strangled. I don't want them doing that to my dogs! 

In general I would probably only reduce my tip for a bad haircut if I didn't plan to go back to that groomer. At the end of the day I'm still really more concerned with how they treat my dogs than how their hair comes out. We've lived through bad cuts. Sometimes those accidental short do's are a blessing in disguise. Maintenance is really easy for a while. 

[ginny]

I'm not sure what the problem was besides the fact that she lives in a remote town close to the larger city I live in and doesn't do doodles that often.  She commented that she didn't have any mats and that she was very calm and easy to groom.  The lady that told me about this groomer has a poodle so probably likes the way hers is done.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Ginny, IF I was unhappy with a groomer because of a lack of her concern; she didn't try to do what I wanted, she just shaved without calling me or showing me = even in texted photos why she couldn't do what I wanted, I would not only not tip, I'd be hard pressed to even pay. I think the tip is for appreciation and providing you the service you requested.  If my groomer shaved or "poodlified" my dog because of laziness, I would not go back and I probably would not pay unless I couldn't get out of the salon without doing so. If other customers were present, I would in a clear and loud enough voice for others to hear (not yelling) tell the groomer what I was unhappy with;  that she hadn't contacted me and give me the chance to pick up the dog, and that this dog wasn't a poodle and therefore shouldn't look like one.

If the grooming was done in good faith - they did let you know the dog was matted enough to need shaving, that they tried but didn't get the cut quite right - I'd stick with them and I would tip - perhaps less than I usually tip.

If, like you said she appeared to groom the dog like a poodle when you expressly showed her what I wanted and your doodle was not matted,  I would not tip, I would let her know that this was NOT what I had asked for.  Depending upon her response, I'd go back or not. And I'd perhaps not pay....