Dog Grooming Cost NSW 2026 - Complete Pricing Guide

Dog Grooming Costs in New South Wales for 2026

A full dog groom in New South Wales in 2026 commonly costs $65 to $95 for a small dog, $85 to $125 for a medium dog and $110 to $160 for a large dog. Giant breeds and heavy double coats reach $140 to $220. A wash and dry with no clip sits below those figures. Mobile grooming usually adds $15 to $40 because the van, the water and the power travel with the groomer. Treat those figures as a guide for a cooperative dog with a brushed coat. A matted, filthy or frightened dog will cost more.

Owners often budget as if every Labrador costs the same and every poodle costs the same. Salons do not work that way. Two twelve kilogram Cavoodles can differ by forty dollars because one is on a five week cycle and the other has not been brushed since January. Time is what you pay for. Shampoo, blades and dryer heat are the running costs. Rent in Surry Hills is not the same as rent in Dubbo, and that shows on the card, but it is rarely the whole story.

There is no state licence that says a person may call themselves a dog groomer. That surprises people who assume every animal service sits under a board. Veterinary treatment does. Grooming does not. What does sit over the work is animal welfare law, workplace safety for the people holding the dog, consumer law for the service you pay for, and local planning rules if someone is running a home salon from a garage. No licence does not mean no standards. It means you have to check the standards yourself.

This page sets out what each common service costs, how coat type changes the price, when a mobile van is worth the extra money, what NSW law expects of a grooming premises, how coastal tick country changes a visit, and what to put in writing before the first appointment. For the wider set of animal services around a groom, start with pet care services in NSW.

A useful way to read NSW prices is to think in minutes and in weeks, not in breed posters. A small cooperative Maltese on a six week cycle in Penrith is often done in an hour and stays near $70 to $90. A twelve kilogram Cavoodle in Newtown on the same cycle, with a teddy face, is often an hour and a half to two hours and sits near $100 to $130. A Golden Retriever on the Northern Beaches in October, when the undercoat is coming out in handfuls, can take three hours and land at $140 to $190 before any mobile extra. Those three dogs are all called a groom. They are not the same job.

The other local split is how the dog lives. A house dog in Campbelltown with a backyard and a hose is easier to present clean than a unit dog in Waterloo that only gets washed at the salon. Sand from Bondi, Bronte and Cronulla works into the legs and stays there. Burrs and grass seeds from paddocks around Tamworth, Dubbo and the Southern Highlands hide in armpits and between toes. Coastal dogs pick up ticks. Inland working dogs pick up fox tails and bindii. Tell the groomer which of those applies or the first quote is for a different animal than the one that walks in.

First-time bookings in this state also run into salon policy that has nothing to do with the clip. Many salons will not take an unvaccinated puppy onto a floor where adult dogs have been. That is a health rule, not a price rule. Ask what they want to see: a current C5, or at least the first two puppy shots plus a vet note. Kennels are stricter again. If you plan to board the dog later in the year, get the vaccination timing right before you build a grooming diary around Christmas.

Why two quotes on the same breed can be so far apart

Two quotes on the same breed can still be for two different jobs. One groomer priced a clean, recently clipped dog that stands on the table. The other priced the dog you actually have, which may be eight weeks overdue, damp under the armpits and unhappy about nail clippers. If you only send a breed name and a suburb, that gap is likely.

Drying often takes longer than the bath, and that time is in the price. A strong salon dryer on a double coat can run longer than the wash. A doodle with a dense undercoat holds a lot of water. A short coated Kelpie is towelled and done. That is why a twenty five kilogram Labrador in winter undercoat can cost more than a thirty kilogram Greyhound. Size ranges are published because they are easy to list. Drying and clipping time set the real number.

Behaviour changes the price as well. A dog that needs two people, a muzzle, or long breaks between clipper passes occupies a table that could have taken a second cooperative dog. Some salons publish a handling fee for that extra time. Others decline the booking, which they are entitled to do if they cannot keep the dog and the staff safe. A dog that cannot be dried safely should not be booked as a cheap full groom. That is how clipper burn and half finished coats happen.

Location still matters. Inner Sydney rent, parking and wages push salon prices up. A street in Paddington with no loading zone makes mobile work slower as well. Western Sydney and the Central Coast usually sit closer to the middle of the state range. Regional cities can be cheaper on the groom and slower to book, because there may be one good groomer with a three week wait. Rural properties add travel, and travel on a van is charged because water, waste and time all move with the vehicle.

Season changes demand more than it changes the printed menu. Spring coat blow on shepherds and retrievers fills books. December fills them again because people want the dog clean before guests arrive. A last minute pre Christmas booking on a large coated dog is a poor time to hunt the cheapest number in a Facebook group. Book a cycle you can keep. That costs less over a year than two emergency de-mat visits.

Saturday is the most expensive day in Greater Sydney in a practical sense, even when the menu price does not change. Inner city and eastern suburbs books fill first. If you can do a Tuesday or Wednesday drop off, you are more likely to get the groomer you want and less likely to be offered a junior on a packed floor. Regional cities run the other way. The shortage is weekdays when the one qualified groomer is already full, and Saturday may be the only slot left. Ask which day the experienced person is actually on the tools.

Heat changes the day more than the printed price. A mobile van on a 38 degree afternoon in Penrith, Blacktown or Liverpool still has to dry a dense coat in a small space. A good operator will say no, or will book early morning only, rather than finish a wet double coat in a hot cabin. Coastal humidity around Newcastle, Wollongong and the mid north coast makes drying slower as well. If your dog is elderly or short-nosed, say so when you book. Pugs, French Bulldogs and British Bulldogs overheat faster under a dryer. The extra time is cheaper than a vet visit on the way home.

What you are paying for on one appointment

A published groom price is a bundle. If you do not know what sits inside it, you cannot tell whether a $90 quote is complete or thin. Most NSW full grooms include a bath with a suitable shampoo, a thorough dry and brush out, a body clip or tidy, a face and feet tidy, nails, and an ear check. Some include a sanitary clip as standard. Some list it as an extra. Ask which.

Product choice is not decoration. A dog with a yeasty smell needs a different shampoo from a dog that has been rolling in a dusty yard. Medicated washes prescribed by a vet are a vet product conversation, not a salon upsell, and a groomer should not invent a skin diagnosis. They can wash what a vet has already named. Brands you will actually see on benches include Wahl and Andis clippers, Furminator style de-shed tools on double coats, and salon lines such as Isle of Dogs, Yuup and White Sands. The label on the bottle matters less than whether it suits the skin in front of them.

Time on the table is the largest cost. A small cooperative Maltese may be done in an hour. A matted Standard Poodle can take a morning. Mobile vans often look expensive until you count the hour you would have spent driving across Sydney with a wet dog on the back seat. For nervous dogs that hate waiting in a salon crate, that extra $15 to $40 is often the calmer option. Van pricing is set out in the mobile dog grooming cost guide.

Add ons look minor until you add them across a year. Nails every three weeks on a dog that does not wear them down on concrete can cost more than the extra on a six week full groom that already includes nails. Anal glands should not be a default extra on every visit. Expressing them without need can irritate the area. Ask why that line is on the invoice.

Transport is a separate cost when you cannot move the dog yourself. Local grooming drop offs through a pet courier in Greater Sydney usually sit in the same band as other short animal trips. Price that as well as the groom so the day has one number. See pet transport costs in NSW.

People argue about blade numbers as if they were paint colours. In most NSW salons a short summer clip on a doodle body is often a number 5 or number 7. A longer teddy body is often a number 4 or a guard comb. The face is scissored separately. Write the number down after the first visit you like. "A bit shorter than last time" is how two grooms in a row look nothing like each other. If you do not know the number, take a photo in daylight of the body, the face and the feet before the bath, then again at collection, and keep both.

Nails are the add on that turns into a fight. Black nails are harder to read. A grind is slower and usually safer than a hard clip into the quick. If the dog has not had nails done for months, expect bleeding risk and a shorter session on the feet rather than a perfect show finish. Dew claws on the inside of the front legs are easy to miss at home and easy to snag on jumpers. Ask for those specifically. Anal glands belong on the invoice only when the dog scoots, smells strongly at the base of the tail, or your vet has asked for it.

Ear work needs a similar line. Poodles and many spaniels grow hair in the canal. Some groomers still pluck that hair. Some vets now prefer it left and cleaned, because plucking can inflame the canal. If your dog already sees a vet for ear infections, take that instruction to the salon. Do not let a routine ears-included line override a vet plan. Floppy ears that stay wet after a beach swim in summer are a separate problem from a tidy face.

Coat type, popular crosses and how often to book

The groomer is charging for the coat in front of them, not the breed name on the booking form. A Cavoodle, Labradoodle, Groodle and Sheepadoodle are sold as low shed family dogs. Many of them carry a dense coat that keeps growing and mats at the collar, behind the ears and in the armpits if it is not brushed through to the skin. That coat is closer to a poodle than to a Labrador, and it needs a regular booking.

Short coated dogs such as Staffies, Boxers, Kelpies and many Bull Terriers are mostly a wash, a dry, nails and a tidy. They still benefit from a professional bath when they roll in something foul, and they still need nails kept short. They do not need a six week teddy clip. Paying full clip prices for a short coat usually means the quote was copied from a doodle menu.

Double coated dogs are the group owners most often ask to shave in November. A husky, Malamute, Samoyed, Golden Retriever or German Shepherd drops undercoat. Shaving a healthy double coat is a decision to talk through with a groomer who knows the breed, not a decision made on a hot afternoon with kitchen scissors. A proper dry and de-shed is the usual professional answer. It costs more in spring because it takes longer. It is still the right job for most of those dogs.

Poodle coats and most designer mixes that inherited the curl need a cycle. Four to six weeks keeps a teddy clip looking like the photo you saved. Eight to ten weeks is possible if you brush properly at home. Twelve weeks is how mats form under the ear, and the groomer then has to go shorter than you wanted. That shorter clip is so the comb can get through without hurting the skin.

Puppies need a different first appointment. The aim is that the dryer is noisy and still manageable, the table is not a wrestling match, and you see how the dog behaves away from home. Pair that early visit with training so handling is not a shock later. Puppy class pricing and timing are in the puppy training cost guide.

Older dogs change the brief again. A stiff twelve year old should not stand on a table for three hours because someone wants a show clip. Shorter sessions, a simpler length, and a groomer willing to stop are the point. Extra time is part of why senior care costs more in general, including when you also need help at home. See senior and special needs pet care costs.

What the dog does between grooms changes the coat you present. A dog that walks daily on coastal paths picks up sand and seeds. A dog that lives on a couch mats in different places, usually at the collar and armpit. Regular walking does not replace brushing. An under walked coated dog is often an under brushed coated dog as well. Walking rates sit separately in the dog walking cost guide.

NSW has a working dog population that suburb menus forget. Kelpies, Border Collies, Heelers and Huntaways in the Hunter, Central West and Riverina often need a wash, a seed check and nails, not a scissored face. Grass seeds around the eyes, in the ears and between the toes are the real risk after spring and early summer. A groomer who works those coats will feel for seeds while they dry. That extra ten minutes is worth more than a teddy clip you will never maintain on a farm dog.

Adopted greyhounds from the racing industry are common in Sydney, Newcastle and the Illawarra. Thin skin, old racing scars and a low body fat mean they chill under a long dryer and bruise if they are held too hard on a table. Ask for a gentle wash, a light dry and nails, and say if the dog is still learning house life. A full salon noise floor is a poor first outing for a dog that has only known kennels.

Designer crosses sold through western Sydney and the Central Coast puppy market are the coats that generate most of the matting invoices. If you bought a doodle because someone said it would not shed, budget for a slicker brush, a metal comb and a six week salon cycle anyway. The coat still grows. The shed is just trapped in the curl until it felts.

Salon, mobile van and a bath at daycare

A salon is cheaper for most small, cooperative dogs because one premises can run two or three tables and spread the rent. You drop the dog off, you collect the dog, and in between there may be a crate or a wait area. Nervous dogs often hate that wait. It is also how a busy Newtown Saturday gets several dogs through the door.

A mobile van costs more per dog and less of your day. The dog stays home until the van arrives. There is no row of crates. There is also no second groomer standing by to hold a large, frightened dog while someone clips a sanitary area, which is why some vans decline big, strong, scared dogs. Driveway slope, strata visitor rules and access to water all decide whether mobile is even possible. Inner city apartment blocks with no visitor parking are the usual sticking point.

Some doggy daycare centres sell a bath or a tidy while the dog is already on site. That can be handy. It is not automatically a full groom. Ask whether a groomer is doing the clip or whether it is a hose and a brush in the yard. Daycare pricing itself is a different product. See the doggy daycare cost guide.

Holiday weeks scramble both salon and mobile diaries. If the dog is going into kennels, ask whether the facility washes on arrival or whether you should book a tidy first. Boarding and grooming are different skills. A kennel that offers a bath is not the same as a groomer who can scissor a face. Boarding rates are in the dog kennel and boarding cost guide. If you would rather keep the dog at home while you are away, compare that path through pet sitting costs and holiday pet care costs.

Strata buildings across inner Sydney, Parramatta and Wollongong often ban washing dogs in common laundries and on balconies. That is why mobile demand is high in those postcodes, and why the same buildings then refuse the van a visitor space. Read the by-laws before you book. If the only legal park is a timed loading zone, the groomer cannot run a two hour appointment there. A house with a driveway in Penrith or the Hills is a simpler mobile job and is less likely to carry a parking argument on top of the groom.

Water access matters more than owners expect. Many vans carry a tank. Some still want a tap. A third-floor walk-up in Surry Hills with no outdoor tap is a different brief from a single storey house in Gosford. Say how many stairs, whether there is a hose, and whether the dog can be handed over at the front door. Those details change whether the quoted mobile extra is enough.

Handling, first visits and when the groomer should stop

A good first appointment is slow. The groomer looks at the mouth, the ears, the skin, the nails and the coat down to the skin, not only the top fluff. They should tell you if they can feel mats before the bath, because mats tighten when they get wet. They should also tell you if they will not finish a clip rather than hold down a panicked dog for two hours. Stopping is the right call in that case.

A muzzle is a tool. Many salons muzzle for nail work on dogs that have snapped before. That is safer for the dog and the person. If a groomer will not take a known biter and has no plan for it, they can refuse the booking. You then have a training problem, not a discount problem. Behaviour work is priced separately because it is a different skill. See pet behaviour training costs.

Sedation is not a grooming extra. Only a registered veterinary practitioner can assess a dog and supply a sedative. A groomer offering a tablet from a private kit is crossing a line NSW veterinary law exists to hold. If the dog cannot be groomed while awake, that conversation belongs with a vet, and sometimes with a vet and a groomer working in sequence.

What you do at home between visits is what keeps the quoted price. A slicker brush and a metal comb, used through to the skin three times a week on a doodle coat, prevents a $60 de-mat. A dog that has its feet touched every evening is easier on nail day. That is how owners stay inside the range they were given.

Rescue dogs from NSW pounds and rehoming groups often arrive with unknown salon history. Book a short first visit and say the dog is new to the household. A full two hour clip on week one is how you teach the dog that the table is a trap. Split the work: wash and nails first, clip on the second visit if the dog copes. Pay for two shorter appointments rather than one fight.

Children in the salon are a NSW reality on Saturday mornings and they slow the floor. If your dog is sound sensitive, ask whether you can drop off at opening rather than at 11am when the dryer row and the waiting room are both loud. That is not a special price. It is a better slot.

Skin, parasites, ticks and what a groomer must not do

Groomers see skin before many owners do. Hot spots, flea dirt, ear yeast, lumps and bare patches are reasons to pause the clip and send you to a clinic. They are not reasons for the groomer to sell you an unnamed cream. Diagnosing illness and prescribing treatment stay with vets. That limit exists to protect the dog.

Fleas on the dog are a grooming problem and a house problem at the same time. Washing the dog without treating the carpet and the bedding brings the fleas back. If the home is already hopping, pair the groom with treatment of the premises. Licensed pest work and pet-safe timing are covered in flea control in NSW.

Paralysis ticks are a fact of coastal NSW life from the Illawarra through Sydney and the Central Coast into the Hunter and up the North Coast. A groomer who finds an attached tick should tell you immediately. Removal and treatment decisions sit with a veterinarian, especially if the dog is already weak or wobbly. Daily searches still matter in tick season even when the coat has just been clipped. Public health information for people sits with NSW Health. Animal welfare duties sit under state law published through NSW legislation.

Yard mess is not a grooming issue until the coat is stained and smelling of it. Long coated dogs that lie in a neglected backyard arrive as a longer, dearer wash. If the yard is the real problem, price yard cleanup separately rather than expecting a salon to fix a property issue. See pet waste cleanup costs.

Bushland suburbs from Hornsby through the Blue Mountains to the South Coast also mean leeches after rain and seed heads in late spring. Ask the groomer to check armpits, groin and ear flaps, not only the show coat. A seed left in an ear becomes a vet bill. A leech left in a long skirt of coat becomes a stain and a smell two days later.

Do not ask a groomer to clip over a lump "to tidy it". Photograph the lump, take it to a vet, and only then decide whether a clip around it is safe. The same rule applies to raw hot spots, stitch lines and skin that is already bleeding. A salon dryer on inflamed skin makes the next week worse.

Dog grooming costs across New South Wales

Sydney is not one market. A salon on a high street in Bondi Junction is pricing rent, parking and Saturday demand. A home salon in Campbelltown is pricing a different overhead. The dog can be identical. The invoice will not be. Expect inner Sydney and the lower north shore to sit 15 to 25 percent above western Sydney on the same full groom.

The Central Coast, Newcastle and Wollongong have enough salons and vans that you can compare three quotes on the same brief. Those markets also take weekend overflow from Sydney, which is why a Saturday mobile slot in Newcastle can look closer to a Sydney price than you expect. Ask where the van is based. Travel is not free because the suburb name is coastal.

Regional cities such as Wagga Wagga, Orange, Tamworth, Dubbo, Bathurst and Albury often price below Sydney and book further ahead. One groomer off sick can move the whole town's diary. If you have a coated dog, do not wait until the coat has collapsed and then find the next free morning is a fortnight away.

Rural and acreage properties add time before the clippers start. A long driveway, poor mobile reception, and a dog that lives outside in burrs is a different brief from a unit in Zetland. Tell the groomer about burrs, grass seeds and ticks before they quote, or the quote will not match the dog they meet.

North Coast towns from Port Macquarie through Coffs Harbour to Ballina combine coastal tick pressure with holiday booking spikes. School holidays and the mid-year tourist run fill vans the same way Christmas fills Sydney salons. If you live there and own a coated dog, lock the next two visits before December rather than ringing around on 22 December.

Far west and New England runs are limited by distance. Broken Hill, Cobar and some New England towns may have one salon and no regular van. Owners there either travel to the next regional city or book a visiting groomer who batches several dogs on one day. Batching is how you avoid paying a full rural travel fee on a single small dog. Ask whether neighbours can share the visit.

Two patterns cut against what people expect. Regional cities can be slower than Sydney even when they are cheaper, because the limit is people, not price. Rural jobs can land above a regional town because travel applies to a service that already takes two hours on the dog. The wait column matters if you own one coated dog and no spare weekend.

Apartment buildings add extra steps that houses do not. Lifts, visitor parking and rules about washing dogs in common laundries all push owners toward mobile vans, then the same buildings refuse the van a park. Check the by-laws before you book a driveway service you cannot actually receive.

NSW rules that sit around a groom

Dog grooming is not a licensed occupation in New South Wales. Anyone can advertise. That is why insurance, training and a premises that can actually hold a wet, frightened animal matter more than a logo. Veterinary practice is the opposite. Diagnosing, prescribing and sedating are reserved. If you want the split between those worlds in one place, use pet care services NSW.

Animal welfare duties apply to whoever is in charge of the dog on the day. The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1979 and associated codes set expectations for heat, water, handling and shelter. There is also an Animal Welfare Code of Practice for grooming establishments. You do not need to recite the code. You do need a groomer who will not leave a wet dog in a hot car or a dryer crate with no airflow. State law is published at legislation.nsw.gov.au. Broader government services, including pet registration pathways, sit at Service NSW and the state homepage at nsw.gov.au.

Companion animal registration and microchipping are owner duties, not groomer duties, but a groomer may scan a chip if a dog arrives without a clear owner. Dogs in NSW must be microchipped by twelve weeks or before transfer, and registration now sits at that same early point rather than the old six month habit. Arguments over deposits and unfinished grooms are consumer matters handled through NSW Fair Trading.

Workplace safety still applies inside a salon. Wet floors, bite injuries, bleach and dryer noise are real hazards for staff. Safe systems of work are the employer's problem, not yours, but a premises that looks chaotic is more likely to rush your dog. Guidance for workplaces sits with SafeWork NSW.

Consumer guarantees apply to the service. The groom must be carried out with due care and skill and be fit for the purpose described. A coat left patchy because the groomer ran out of time is an unfinished job, not a breed interpretation. National consumer law is administered by the ACCC. Disputes that do not resolve can proceed to NCAT.

Products used on skin and parasites sit in different rules. Veterinary medicines and some parasite treatments are regulated at national level. Veterinary chemicals sit with the APVMA. You are expected to ask what is going on the dog.

Home based salons can be perfectly good and can also be an unapproved business in a residential street. Planning and local approval questions belong with the planning framework at NSW Planning and with your council. Dryer noise from a semi on a Saturday morning is how neighbours get involved. That is not a reason to avoid home salons. It is a reason to notice whether the set up looks thought through.

Deposits on a groom are usually small. Ten to twenty dollars to hold a Saturday slot is common in busy Sydney books. A demand for the full groom price a week in advance, paid to a personal account with no receipt, is not normal. Keep the text thread. If the groomer cancels and will not refund a holding fee, Fair Trading is the first call, not a public pile-on.

What to look out for when getting dog grooming quotes

Send the same brief to every groomer. Breed or mix, weight, age, last groom date, photos of the coat including armpits and behind the ears, the clip you want, whether the dog has bitten or frozen on a table before, and whether you need mobile. A quote given on "medium Cavoodle, Newtown" is a guess, not a quote.

Ask what the headline price includes. Bath, dry, clip, nails, ears, sanitary, and whether a de-shed is extra. Ask the cancellation rule. Many NSW salons charge a fee if you cancel inside twenty four hours because that slot cannot be filled again. That is reasonable if it was written down before you booked.

Ask what happens if the coat is worse than the photo. The honest answer is an extra fee or a shorter clip, confirmed before they start, not a surprise when you collect the dog. If a groomer says they can comb out a solid mat cheaply, they are risking the skin. Mats next to the skin are clipped out.

Look at how dogs are dried. A dog left half wet because the book ran long will mat faster than it arrived. A groomer who talks about the coat after the dryer, not only before the bath, has done this job before. Ask whether dogs are stacked in crates in a hot corner. You can leave a premises that smells of urine and fear.

Insurance is the check this unlicensed trade still needs. Public liability that covers animals in care, custody and control is the phrase to hear. A home contents policy is not that. Training certificates from known grooming schools help. They are not a licence, and they are not a substitute for watching the first five minutes of handling.

Be careful of sedation offers, promised breed standard clips on a badly matted dog, and prices far below the local range with no photos of finished work. Low prices are not automatically a problem. A very low price on a large coated dog, with no explanation, usually means something has been left out. Check how payment works. Card on collection is normal. A large cash deposit to a personal account with no ABN is not a grooming standard.

If you also need the dog walked or trained, do not bundle three services into one vague message. A walker, a trainer and a groomer price different days. Keep the groom brief about the coat. Put walking in its own conversation using the dog walking cost page if you are comparing that market as well.

Ask who will actually hold the clippers. In a busy inner Sydney salon the person who took the booking may not be the person on the table. If you want the senior groomer, say so and accept that the wait may be longer. A junior on a doodle face is how you get an uneven head and a free tidy-up argument later.

Practical tips for getting dog grooming quotes in NSW

Brush the dog the night before and say that you did. A groomer who can get a comb to the skin will quote the menu price. A groomer who cannot will add time or go shorter. A photo of the brush and the hair it removed is useful if you want to show the coat has been kept up.

Book the next visit before you leave. Coated breeds depend on the diary. Six weeks in summer for a teddy clip is a plan. "We will call when he looks shaggy" is how you arrive in December with a coat that can only be clipped very short.

Tell the groomer about lumps, stitches, sore ears, heart conditions and heat intolerance before the dog is lifted onto the table. Bring the vet's instruction if a medicated wash was prescribed.

For mobile bookings, say how the van will park, where the tap is, whether the hose will reach, and whether strata allows the work. A van that cannot legally stand on the street is not a confirmed booking. Have water access ready. Have the dog toileted. Have a towel for the walk back inside.

Do not push a groomer to finish if they want to stop. Pay for the time used if that was the agreement, take the dog, and make a vet or trainer appointment if needed. Forcing a full clip on a distressed dog makes the next visit harder, not cheaper.

Keep a short written note of the clip: blade length on the body, how short the face was, nails done or not, any skin note. Text that note back. The next person, or the same person six weeks later, can repeat it. That stops you paying to re-explain a teddy clip every time.

If the result is genuinely poor, say so on the day with photos in daylight. Fair Trading and NCAT exist for services that were not delivered with due care. Most problems resolve with a tidy up if you speak before you post online. Take the photos anyway. You will not remember the wet coat clearly later.

Think about the year, not one Saturday. A $95 six week cycle on a Cavoodle is about $800 to $850 a year. A $70 visit twice a year plus two emergency de-mats and a very short clip is not cheaper, and the dog is uncomfortable for months. If you chose a coated breed, budget for regular grooms.

If you are comparing three salons, hand each of them the same photo set and the same sentence: weight, last groom, clip, dryer yes or no, mats yes or no. Then compare the inclusions, not only the headline. The cheapest number that leaves nails and ears off the ticket is not the cheapest day.