Grooming savings
How can I save on dog grooming?
Grooming is a repeat purchase, so small savings add up over a year. Here is every published way to spend less at Dogtown in Gloucester, which household each one suits, and the one habit that saves more than any discount.
Rebook at pick-up
Booking the next groom before you leave takes $5 off it and holds your dog's rhythm
The $5 saving is the one every grooming client can use. Our grooming menu says it plainly: book your next appointment at pickup and save $5 off your next service. Because it applies to the next visit, the habit pays again each time you repeat it. A doodle groomed every six weeks visits eight or nine times a year, so a household that rebooks at the counter every time collects the saving on almost every groom.
The bigger value is the date itself. A booking made at pick-up is set while the groomer can still tell you how the coat looked, so the interval comes from the dog in front of you rather than from memory weeks later. Ask the groomer at the counter how many weeks this coat should go, take the slot that matches, and put it in your calendar before you reach the car. If your plans change later, move it with notice rather than dropping it.
- Ask the groomer how many weeks the coat should go
- Book the slot at the counter, before you leave
- The $5 comes off that next service
- Move it with notice if your plans change
Cadence
A regular cadence is the biggest saving, because it keeps dematting off the bill
Dematting is the line that turns an ordinary groom into an expensive one. It is billed at $15 per 20 minutes on top of the bath or full service, and a dog that struggles through a long dematting session may also need the $20 behavior or handling surcharge. VCA's grooming guide says dogs with long, silky or curly coats need daily brushing to keep the hair from tangling and matting, and that tangles form most often around the ears, the armpits and the backs of the legs.
Here is how the arithmetic works. A medium dog on an $85 full service, booked on time, pays $85 before any discount. The same dog arriving a month late with mats behind the ears and under the legs might need 40 minutes of dematting, which adds $30 before the haircut can begin, and some coats are too far gone to save and are clipped short instead. Keeping the interval costs nothing. Missing it costs money and a longer, harder day on the table for your dog.
Discounts
Members save 15 percent and bundle guests 10 or 15 percent, and each discount comes with a service you pay for
Two discounts come from the rest of the building. The unlimited daycare membership, $700 a month, includes 15 percent off grooming, alongside daycare Monday to Saturday and two enrichment sessions a month. Overnight guests can add the Dogtown Classic at $10 a night, which carries 10 percent off grooming services, or Dogtown Deluxe at $15 a night, which carries 15 percent. On a $110 full service for a large dog, 15 percent comes to $16.50.
None of these is a reason to buy the service on its own. The membership makes sense for a dog that already comes to daycare most days, and a bundle makes sense for a stay you were booking anyway. Whether a discount combines with the $5 rebooking saving, and how a bundle discount applies to a groom booked alongside the stay, are questions for the front desk. Ask before you book, so the total holds no surprises at pick-up.
| Route | What it saves | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Rebook at pick-up | $5 off the next service | Every grooming client |
| Keep the interval | Dematting at $15 per 20 minutes | Curly, long and double coats |
| Bath only where the coat allows | $20 to $35 against a full service | Coats that are not cut |
| Unlimited daycare membership | 15 percent off grooming | Dogs at daycare most days |
| Dogtown Classic or Deluxe | 10 or 15 percent off grooming services | Overnight guests |
| Cancel or move with notice | The $10 cancellation fee | Anyone whose plans change |
Home care
Ten minutes with a comb between visits keeps every groom closer to the base price
The home work that saves money is combing, not bathing. For a curly or long coat, work a metal comb through to the skin every day or two, paying attention to the places VCA names for tangles: behind the ears, under the front legs and the backs of the legs. If the comb catches, ease the knot apart with your fingers and a brush. Never cut a mat out with scissors; VCA warns how easily skin is cut and says to use only clippers on mats.
Skip the home bath on a tangled coat, because VCA notes that tangles can become impossible to remove after a bath. After an off-season walk at Good Harbor or Wingaersheek, rinse the salt and sand out with fresh water, dry the coat fully and comb it once it is dry. A double-coated dog blowing its coat in spring or fall can have Shed Release, the $10 de-shedding treatment and brush-out, added to its bath.
- 01
Comb to the skin every day or two on a curly or long coat
- 02
Check behind the ears, under the front legs and the backs of the legs
- 03
Ease small knots apart with fingers and a brush, never scissors
- 04
Rinse salt and sand out after a beach day, then dry fully
- 05
Note any mat you cannot shift and mention it when you book
False savings
Some savings cost more later: a stretched interval, the wrong service and a groom booked in a rush
Not every cut in spending is a saving. Stretching a curly coat's interval to skip one visit often means paying for dematting at the next. Booking a bath for a coat that really needs cutting only delays the haircut, and the coat is longer and harder to manage when it finally happens. And a groom booked at the last minute, when the coat is already overdue, leaves you taking whatever slot exists rather than the one that suits your week.
The cheapest groom is the one that goes to plan. Choose the right service for your dog's weight band, use the booking notes to warn us about mats, nerves or a recent swim so the groomer plans enough time, and arrive on time. Grooming needs no evaluation, so a new dog can start straight away online, in the Dogtown app or by phone at 978 491-5922. If your dog comes to daycare, adding the groom to a daycare day saves a separate trip to Eastern Ave.
- Do not stretch a curly coat's interval to skip a visit
- Do not book a bath for a coat that needs cutting
- Do not bathe a tangled coat at home
- Do cancel or move with notice, so the $10 fee never applies
At Dogtown
Where the grooming savings come from
Grooming itself, the unlimited daycare membership with 15 percent off, and overnight bundles with 10 or 15 percent.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this
Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.
Does Dogtown offer grooming packages?
Can I combine the $5 rebooking saving with the membership discount?
Is a bath cheaper than a full groom?
Is it cheaper to groom my dog at home?
Do you charge more for matted dogs?
More questions? Read the full FAQ
Sources
Rules and dates change. We re-check every beach, licensing and ordinance page each spring and fall; the source above is the current word.
Keep reading
Next step
Save on the next groom.
Book by your dog's weight online or in the Dogtown app, ask the groomer how many weeks the coat should go, and rebook at pick-up for $5 off.
- 01Free evaluationWeekdays 6:30 – 9:30 AM
- 02Book a dayOnline, in the app or by phone
- 03Play, rest, repeatReport card at pick-up
