How much to charge for dog grooming (2026 pricing guide)
How to price dog grooming by size, coat, and time. Typical price ranges, what to charge for add-ons, and how to raise prices without losing clients.
On this page
- Price by size, coat, and condition, not a flat rate, so a Chihuahua and a matted Golden Retriever aren't the same ticket.
- A typical full groom runs $40-$75 small, $65-$95 medium, and $90-$150+ large, adjusted for your market and the time a dog actually takes.
- Add-ons like de-matting, de-shedding, and teeth cleaning should be priced separately, not folded quietly into the base price.
- Deposits taken at booking cut no-shows, and a price increase sticks when you give notice and apply it to everyone.
If you're guessing at prices or copying whatever the salon down the street charges, you're probably underpricing the hard jobs and overpricing the easy ones. As a starting point, a full groom typically runs $40–$75 for a small dog, $65–$95 for a medium dog, and $90–$150+ for a large or heavy-coated dog. The figures below are in US dollars as a reference point, the way you set prices works the same in pounds, euros, or dollars. The right number for your shop depends on your market, your costs, and how long a groom actually takes you.
The single biggest pricing mistake in dog grooming is a flat rate. A Chihuahua and a matted Golden Retriever are not the same job, so they shouldn't be the same price. Price by size, coat, and condition, and your menu finally reflects the work you actually do.
Typical full-groom price ranges
Use this table as a starting point, then adjust for your local market and your own costs.
| Dog size | Typical full groom | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Small (Yorkie, Shih Tzu, Chihuahua) | $40–$75 | Time climbs fast on matted or long coats |
| Medium (Cocker Spaniel, Border Collie) | $65–$95 | Double coats add real de-shedding time |
| Large (Golden Retriever, Standard Poodle, Doodle) | $90–$150+ | Size and heavy coats push both time and price up |
These are guides, not gospel. A groomer in a major metro can charge more than one in a small town, and a two-hour de-matting job is worth more than a fifteen-minute tidy-up, even on the same size dog.
Price on the things that actually drive your time
Four factors determine how long a groom takes, and your price should follow them.
Size
Bigger dogs mean more coat to work through, more bathing and drying time, and more physical effort. This is the baseline your other adjustments sit on top of.
Coat type
A short-haired dog might take 45 minutes. A curly or double coat that needs brushing out, de-shedding, and careful drying can take twice that. Poodles, Doodles, and Huskies are not priced like a Beagle for a reason.
Condition
Matting is the wildcard. A dog that's overdue and badly matted can add 30 to 90 minutes of careful, often uncomfortable de-matting work. Charge for it separately rather than absorbing it into your base price, or you'll quietly train clients to skip appointments and show up matted every time.
Add-ons
Teeth brushing, de-shedding treatments, nail grinding, ear cleaning, and specialty shampoos are real services with real time attached. List them on your menu with their own prices instead of throwing them in "as a favor." Favors don't pay rent.
Two worked examples
A 12-pound Shih Tzu, groomed every 6 weeks, mild coat, no matting: base price for a small dog, say $55, plus a nail grind add-on at $10. Total $65, and the groom takes about an hour.
A 60-pound Doodle, groomed every 10 weeks because the owner skipped a cycle, moderately matted, double coat: base price for a large dog at $110, plus a de-matting fee of $30 for the extra 45 minutes, plus a de-shedding treatment at $20. Total $160, and the groom takes closer to two and a half hours.
A 35-pound Border Collie on a strict 6-week schedule, clean and unmatted, but the owner wants nails, ears, and a light de-shed on top: base price for a medium dog at $80, plus a $15 de-shed add-on. Total $95, and the whole appointment fits in about 75 minutes.
Same "full groom" line on your menu, very different jobs, very different prices. That's the whole point of pricing by size, coat, and condition instead of one flat number. If you write out three or four scenarios like these for your own client base, you'll usually spot which of your current prices are too low for the time involved, long before a client ever complains.
Charge a deposit and stop eating no-shows
A no-show on a two-hour slot is one of the most expensive things that can happen in a grooming business: lost revenue, plus a slot you can't refill on short notice. Take a deposit when the appointment is booked. It removes most no-shows and protects the time you've set aside for that dog. Read more in how to reduce no-shows at your grooming salon.
Raising prices without the drama
Prices should rise as your skill, your costs, and your booking volume do. Most groomers wait too long because they dread the conversation. Three things make it go smoothly.
Give notice. A month's heads-up, posted at the desk and mentioned at checkout, beats a surprise on someone's next visit.
Apply it to everyone. Grandfathering existing clients into old prices forever just means you're working for less than new clients pay, indefinitely.
Anchor it to value clients already feel. Reliability, on-time appointments, a gentle hand with a nervous dog: name what they're actually paying for, not just the number.
Most loyal clients accept a reasonable increase without complaint. The ones who leave over a couple of dollars a visit were rarely your most profitable clients to begin with.
A booking system that collects deposits and takes payment online makes all of this feel routine rather than awkward, since the pricing is just part of how a client books rather than an uncomfortable conversation at pickup. That's part of what Growth Onward sets up for grooming salons, alongside real online booking and rebooking reminders so clients come back on schedule.
For more on building a grooming business that runs on solid pricing and repeat clients, see how to run and grow a dog grooming business and, if you're just getting started, how to start a dog grooming business.
The takeaway
Stop guessing and stop using one flat number. Price by size, coat, and condition, charge separately for the add-ons and the messy jobs, take a deposit so a no-show doesn't cost you a slot, and raise your prices on a schedule instead of avoiding the conversation for two years. That's a menu that pays you fairly, whether the dog on the table is a quick trim or a two-hour rescue job.