Q. How much does it cost to groom my pet?

Mobile groomers typically charge a little more than you would pay at a grooming shop. We make it look easy, but it is a challenge to put a grooming shop on wheels and drag it all over town. You can click the prices tab at the top of the page to find out the average prices we charge for most breeds. If your dog is a mixed breed, we go by which breed the dog most resembles. We stay informed of the prices other groomers in town charge and based on that information we find our service to be an excellent value.

Q. What forms of payments do you accept?

We accept Cash, Credit Cards (Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express), and PayPal. At this time we are still accepting checks, but it involves extra work to take a check to the bank and fill out deposit forms. In the near future we will start asking for cash or credit card payments only.

Q. How long does it take to groom?

We have a checklist that we follow and we perform the tasks as fast as your dog will let us. Some dogs don’t mind if we work fast, other dogs need us to be slow and patient. Most dogs take about an hour to groom. Some take longer, some are quicker.

Q. Do you sedate pets who may be difficult to groom?

No. We are very good at handling all types of dogs. This is our business. We get to know each dog as an individual. We are able to read their personalities and establish a trusting relationship with them. Most of the time, sedation will interfere with our ability to establish trust with your dog.

Q. How long should my pet go in-between grooming?

The frequency of grooming depends on the coat type and length, lifestyle and how much brushing and detangling you do at home between grooming appointments. Dogs with longer hair styles or easily matted coat should be professionally groomed every 3 to 4 weeks. A dog with a short hair style or short coat can be groomed every 6 to 7 weeks.

Q. When should my puppy get his 1st grooming?

Professional grooming should start at 10 weeks of age (after second vaccination), to let the puppy become acquainted with the grooming process. Grooming in general, such as brushing at home, should start as early as possible. Starting early will imprint good behavior on your puppy that your groomer will surely appreciate!

Q. How do I know if my pet’s fur is matted?

If you cannot comb through your pet’s hair by the roots, your pet is matted. If you can pull the mats out with your fingers, your pet can be dematted. If there are knots that are tightly webbed, these mats won’t come out and your pet may have to be shaved in order for new hair to grow back. Shaving doesn’t have to mean bare-naked and ugly- we will attempt to make your pet look stylish by saving as much hair as possible.

Q. Do you use muzzles?

No. We do not use muzzles. Much like sedation, muzzles interfere with our ability to establish a trusting relationship with your dog. Dogs go through several levels of escalation before they bite. We are trained to recognize these warnings. Putting a muzzle on a dog that is already afraid or angry will create a situation that will probably spin out of control. We are able to calm your dog down and work without any scary muzzles. The dogs we have groomed number in the thousands there have only ever been 5 dogs that were too aggressive for us to groom. I bet we can make friends with your dog even if it has tried to bite other groomers or the vet before. If your dog has a history of biting, please tell us and we will do our best to work with you.

Q. My dog has fleas. Can you give him a flea bath?

Because of popular demand, we will do this for you. However, we do not believe this is an effective solution to your problem. A problem with fleas or ticks can not be solved by a trip to the groomer. Your dog got the fleas and ticks from somewhere. Your groomer can remove every flea and tick from your dog, but as soon as he goes back to your house, yard, or wherever he got them from in the first place they will jump on him again. Within hours you will be right back where you started. At Dog Gone Clean, our family’s personal dog is a Doberman named Sporty. We use a product called Advantix on Sporty and we never see any parasites on him.
You should speak to your veterinarian about the most effective solution to your flea and tick problem.

Q. Can you groom my Mastiff, Saint Bernard, Newfoundland, Great Dane, etc.?

Yes! We like big dogs. Some of the dogs we groom weigh over 200 pounds.

Q. My appointment was for 2:00. It is now 2:30 and no one showed up. What happened? Why hasn’t anybody even called me?

This is something we struggle with. Please be patient with us. We are on our way. We are working with animals and we never know how long it will take. Some dogs need more work than others and we get behind schedule. We believe in doing the very best job we can on every dog and will not quit working on a dog just because it is time to go to the next appointment. The reason nobody called to let you know we are running late is because we have our hands full grooming a dog that needed extra work. Adding to the difficulty, we usually have noisy equipment running in the background so phone calls would not be practical anyway. We schedule most appointments in 2 hour increments. Even if we do not arrive on time, we usually finish the work within that 2 hour window. If we are running late and you want to check in with us, you can send us an email. We can respond very quickly to email and of course, we can send email even when there is noise in the background.

Q. Why don’t you have your phone number on your website?

Email is our primary form of communication with our clients. There are a few reasons. We are a small, family owned business and we don’t have the resources to handle a constant flow of phone calls. We have our hands full working with dogs. It would be easy to talk on the phone while sitting at a desk, but in our case it is not so easy to talk on the phone while you have a big, wet dog in the tub. Also, it is not practical to make phone calls while noisy equipment is running in the background. We are eager to communicate with you though. Send us an email and we will respond to you promptly.

Q. This is my first time doing business with Dog Gone Clean. What can I expect?

When you schedule an appointment on our website you will receive an automated email confirming that your appointment was added to our calendar and you are on the schedule. We may send you another message asking for additional information, like what is your dog’s name or how did you hear about our company. We add this to our records so we don’t have to ask again. The day before your appointment you will receive another automated email reminding you that we will be coming to groom your dog tomorrow. When we arrive for your appointment we park our service vehicle in the street in front of your house or in your driveway, as appropriate for the situation. We plug our power cord into your nearest electrical outlet and we are ready for business. The groomer will talk to you about what we can do for your dog and ask you if you have any special requests. We take the dog into our trailer and work our magic. We only work on your dog so he will be the center of attention from start to finish. Your dog will never be put in a cage--we do not have any cages. The groomer will knock on your door after about an hour to return your clean dog.

Q. What is included in your services?

We provide full grooming services which include: Clip the nails, clean the ears, shave the pads of the feet and sanitary areas, comb out shedding hair (if appropriate), haircut (if appropriate), bath, and dry.