Doggy Midi20 Grooms

Twenty sessions covers two medium dogs at about a groom a month each — which for two Collies, two Spaniels or a pair of assorted crosses is exactly the rhythm you want, and considerably cheaper than buying two ten-packs.

It's also, for a single dog, a doodle pack. Medium poodle crosses are the reason a tier this size exists. A Labradoodle or a Goldendoodle in a proper coat is one of the most demanding grooming jobs there is: the hair doesn't shed out, it holds onto everything it touches, and it mats from the skin outwards where you can't see it happening. Owners are often told these dogs are low-maintenance because they don't leave hair on the sofa. The hair is still growing — it's just staying on the dog.

For a coat like that, a groom every two to three weeks is maintenance rather than luxury, and it's the difference between keeping the coat and having to take it off. Twenty sessions covers a year of that properly.

It also suits a working or outdoor dog in this size — a farm Collie, a dog who swims, a dog who finds mud as a hobby — where the issue isn't coat growth but constant re-dirtying.

One smooth-coated medium dog doesn't need twenty. A single Labrador or Staffie is a ten-pack, and we'd rather sell you ten. Two of them, though, and twenty is right.

R400 a groom, twenty of them.

Before we come

The package covers your household, not one dog. Two dogs, three dogs — draw on the same pot for all of them. Tell us which dogs it's for when you book and we'll keep separate notes for each: what clip, what shampoo, what they object to, what your vet has said. From the second groom onwards that makes a real difference. Book the sessions as you need them. A package isn't a schedule, it's a pot of grooms to draw on. Most owners settle into a rhythm after the first two or three; if you'd rather we just remind you when one's about due, say so and we will. Tell us what you want each time, and expect it to change. "Trim and/or shave" means the decision is yours session by session — shorter for December, left longer through winter, tidy for a wedding. A package doesn't lock you into one look. Tell us how she is about being handled, honestly. Nail trims, ear cleaning and anal glands are the parts dogs object to most, and a dog who's had a bad experience somewhere else will tell us by objecting early. That's useful information, not a problem — but we'd rather know before than discover it. Anything your vet has flagged, we need to know: skin conditions, allergies, arthritis, a heart murmur, a healing wound, or her age if she's elderly. Older dogs tire faster and we work shorter and gentler. A groom is not a health check, but it's often where something gets noticed. Working over a whole dog with hands and clippers, we sometimes find lumps, sore patches, ear infections or fleas before an owner does. We'll always tell you. We won't ever diagnose it — that's your vet's job. Between grooms, brushing is the thing that matters. Five minutes a few times a week on a long or double coat prevents most of the matting we'd otherwise have to cut out. Learn the line brushing technique, or accept shorter clips. A doodle coat kept long needs proper brushing to the skin several times a week between grooms. If that's not going to happen — and for most households it honestly isn't — a shorter clip is the kinder choice, and we'll show you what it looks like. Tell us which dogs the pack is for. Two Collies want quite different grooms from a Collie and a doodle, and we keep notes per dog. Watch the skin if it's one dog on a short interval. Every 18 days is fine for most coats, but tell us about flaking or scratching and we'll change shampoo and stretch the gap.