Tipping a groomer
 

My husband and I are hopefully trying out a new groomer this weekend (waiting to hear back about appointment times, they are closed on Mondays) because we are tired of paying the price at Petsmart and never getting her hair done the way we want it. I also think something happened to her there last time she was groomed because she won't even go near the door to go in the grooming place and she used to love going in there.

Anyway, we never tipped Petsmart because we were never happy with what we got for the money we paid (we constantly had to take her back in and have her nails trimmed, face hair evened out etc). The place we are hoping to take her doesn't charge as much and she has 15 years experience with a different place, but decided to branch out and open her own place.

I feel like we will probably end up tipping her but I am not really sure how you determine how much to tip a groomer. The cost for a yorkie is $30, so how much would we tip her on that? I don't want to seem extremely cheap. My husband and I were thinking that a 5 or 6 dollar tip would be fine, but I want to make sure that we aren't giving too much or too little.

My groomer is awesome and she charges $20 for each dog, a peke and a yorkie,,I give her a $10 tip since she truly seems to love the dogs and we talk often about puppy breath, like we said a new car smell doesn't even compete with puppy breath. She does exactly what I say and she has regular customers that come every 4-6 weeks and she can't take anymore..I have mine done every 4 weeks and I sure don't want anyone getting our spot.

I tip $5. Geno ends up being about $42 which is pretty crazy for a groomer but it seemed to be about the average price around here.

We always tip 10 dollars and that's for Callie and Sammy.

Myself i would wait until 2nd or 3rd visit to see if your furbabys hair looked good. And how groomer intereacts with your baby also how your baby responds.:)

I tip the lady who does Katie Scarlett $10 each time.

I don't use a groomer....never have, but for my hair I tip 20% if I am really happy. So, your amount of 5-6 dollars seems fair. :)

With my groomer, I take the girl's every week for a bath and brush out, also anything else that needs to be done nails, ears and saintary area. I tip $10.00.

I have been going to my groomer for 10 years and I love her.

Alot of people have made comments to me because I take them weekly and why can't I just give them the bath. I have a hard time leaning over the tub and my back hurts real bad. If it was an emergency of course I would have to bathe them.

I tip $5 for each dog so $10.

I go with what's about normal here $5.00

But it is a service, so if your not satisfied with the service...

Sophie's groomer charges $33.00 and I tip $5 (or $7 if I only have two twenties on me. I would feel funny asking for $2.00 in change.:rolleyes:)

I have a mobile groomer who charges $55 and I always give her a $10 tip. Maybe it's too much but I love the way she takes care of him and makes him look so I feel it's worth it.

I pretty much do all of Jack's grooming now myself, but when I was taking him to the groomers I would tip them $10 because I loved how he looked (and smelled) when they were done with him. And they always did a great job on his nails, etc., so I felt $10 was appropriate. The place I was taking him charged me $35. But like the OP have said, this is a service... if you are happy with the outcome, tip and you are not happy with the service, don't tip. If it were me, I wouldn't wait 2 or 3 times. I feel like this, if I go get my hair done and I love the way the beautician cut/styled my hair, she is going to know and if my hair comes out icky, she's gonna know that too. I also think that if you tip better, they remember you and will go out of their way to assist you in the future. Good luck!

Well, the appointment is booked for Friday at 11am.

I am so nervous because last time we trusted new groomer we ended up with a completely shaved yorkie in the middle of winter (her head and tail were included...she was a chihuahua for a couple of months). We don't want to use Petsmart anymore though, so it is time to try someone new.

Turns out that since she just opened the place this month she has a $10 off your first groom right now, so it will only cost us $20 on Friday. Assuming we like the work she does and how she is with Sophie, we will likely give her $5 for now, but once we get to know her better and the price is up to $30 plus tax we will likely just give her $40.

I am so excited and so nervous.

I tip around 20% of the total bill. Levi's grooming has cost anywhere from $35 to $50, pre-tip.

I am not sure about the rules at your groomers, but I use the owner of a small shop and have often been there while she cuts so I can have input. With my new dog, I like bathing and grooming her myself, but am not so good on the paws and nails, so I call her on a weekday and she tells me a good time to come in, I then take my freshly bathed dog in and she clips and trims only the parts I ask her to. I don't really tip but she charges so little, she will say it's $10 and I say that's not enough, here is $15 so I guess that could be thought of as a tip. I don't know if your schedule would make it possible but if so ask, or tell them not to take to much off but if it is not enough will they trim a little bit more when you get there. If you have any photos of yorkies cut the way you like, bring that along, a picture can speak 1,000 words. Also see of you can meet the groomer who will be doing your dog, this way you can explain it directly to them, not to a receptionist or another groomer, it that is not possible, bring typed instructions, or watch as they write it down. In my area there are about 20 groomers in a 15 min drive so they need to to be accommodating.

I also don't like bending down over a tub so I take my dog in the shower with me, I find it much easy and does not make a mess. I brush their teeth in their as well.

just reread your last post, I see she is new, so I bet she is accomodating. Can you bathe and brush your dog yourself?, if so, why not try this, tell her you have had some bad experiences so you now like to do a mini trial run before leaving your dog there for hours for a complete grooming. Ask her if your dog is freshly bathed and brushed what she would charge for a trim and tell her you would like to be there during the process but that after this first time if you are happy you will be back for regular full groomings. If she is trying to build a business I bet she would be open to this idea

I tip $20 she is amazing!

My groomer charges 38.50 and I usually tip her $5...

I have had the same groomer for 13 years!!! I tip $10.00 we love her and so does Louie.

What would you tip the groomer if she were the owner of the shop?? She charges $76.00 to groom Trixie, but that includes free nails and ears in between groomings. I tipped her $50.00 at Christmas for the holidays. Most people around town feel that since she is the owner of the shop and charges alot that she should not be tipped......also, would you tip each time you went for the free nail clipping?

Hmmm, it will be a long while before I take CoCo to a groomer because I want her hair to grow out a decent length (just to see it) before I take her for a cut. I guess I could start researching groomers now though.

I think I would do like a previous poster suggested and tip after I had gone a few times. I tip the lady who does my nails because she dones a fantastic job. I tip her between 5 - 10 just for my hands, so if the groomer was doing a good job with my baby, I would have no problem doing the same for her.

WOW $76.00 even for NY that seems like a lot, where on the island is she located, I am from there and my sister has a yorkie

I have always tips at least the 20% around 5.oo for each pup.

Now for the last 6 months I have going to a groomer school, in Winter Park Fl,
and they are wonderful.
The problem is I tip the first time and than found out the poor trainee, won't get any of the tip money . I was told it go to the Teachers and the cashier girl.

So I don't tip them any more I want the money to go the person that grooms my pups. It's only 20-25 per pet. This last time I took my son's pup and they told me , Oh you now get a disc for 3 or more pups , it was 5.00 dollars off on each pup. So I broke down and just left that different in tips.

I take them a pic of what I want and they are so nice , and I always get a happy cute pup.

Wow! that is more than someone would paid In IL
 

If she is the owner at that price , NO I will not tip her. If someone else in the shop groom my pup 20%.

For Christmas I would just tip 40% for the holidays.

I don't bring mine to the groomers anymore, I just do it myself after some grooming horror. I used to tip 15%-20% out of the bill depending on how happy I am with the way they treat my dog. One groomer charged like $60 which is a high price and I only tipped $5 because I wasn't happy with the groom. I save so much from doing my own grooming and I don't have to worry about how they treat my dog while I am not there, if they are being gentle, if they accidentally nicked him etc etc. From the money I save, I buy high quality shampoo, conditioner for him :)

But, the bugger won't let me cut his nails so I do bring him to a groomer about 25mins away every 2-3 weeks and they are good with him. She does his nails and express his anal glands. Tip included I pay $10. I would trust this particular groomer with my dog because she is so nice and her skills are good but if I can do it myself and enjoy spending that time bathing, grooming him, I'd rather do it myself and the best is, I know little bugger prefers me doing it.

She is the owner of the grooming place. I gave her a nice Christmas bonus because she is just wonderful with Trixie. I usually don't tip her because she is the owner. I tip the girl who cuts her nails $5.00

Peyton goes to Petsmart to be groomed. i brush her regularly so there are never any mats in her hair. she gets bathed, nails cut and feet trimmed, and sanitary cut. thats it . no other cut, i'm growing out her hair. they only charge me 18 dollars and i tip 5. i hope i'm tipping enough.

( peyton is a really good girl at the groomers , she never gives anyone a hard time )

Just had my boys, Max and Marley, groomed today. I use a mobile groomer. They come to my house or my office, depending on where I am on grooming day. We set the appointments a year ahead. She charges $45 for each boy and I tip $10, so it's $100 a month for grooming. She does such a wonderful job, and it takes only about 45 minutes for both dogs. They come back smelling wonderful; with shiny coats and well trimmed nails, and little kerchiefs around their necks. If you have a good groomer, consider yourself extremely fortunuate and treat him/her very well.