Discrimination

[spacy colors]

I was just woundering if it is concidered discrimination to not take dogs over a certain size? I don't want any law suites.
And what about prices? Could I get in trouble for charging differn't prices to to differn't clients that have the same breed or if I wanted to charge extra depending on the location I was driving to.
I'm really new at this and would appreciate any advice you all have.

Thank you.

[Boxerfan]

I don't see how it would be discrimination especially if you can't physically handle an oversized dog. We've recently made the decision not to take in new dogs over 60lbs. There's either an OES, st. bernard or golden on the book every day for the next month. It really wears you out and it's hard to charge enough to make up for the 3 little dogs you could have done in place of the large one. We started really pricing the big dogs high and that didn't deter enough people so now we just say we're not doing them anymore.

We don't do cats, is that discrimination? Nope.
Only do what feels comfortable for you.

[spacy colors]

thank you

Thank you so much Boxerfan!
That makes me feel so much better. Are there any larger dogs you would recommend taking that is really good for the business and money?

[SpikeyTheYorkie]

No, that is not discrimination. Now, if you told the OWNER that they are too big, you might have trouble there, lol.

Tammy in Utah

[sheilabgroomer]

[QUOTE=SpikeyTheYorkie;45340]No, that is not discrimination. Now, if you told the OWNER that they are too big, you might have trouble there, lol.

Haha Spikey, I was going to say the exact same thing! Great minds think alike ;-P

[Gracy Rose]

No, that is not discrimination. Now, if you told the OWNER that they are too big, you might have trouble there, lol.

Tammy in Utah

"I'm sorry but you have eaten one too many milk bones and will not fit through the door of my grooming van".

[Maggy]

[QUOTE=sheilabgroomer;45368]

No, that is not discrimination. Now, if you told the OWNER that they are too big, you might have trouble there, lol.

Haha Spikey, I was going to say the exact same thing! Great minds think alike ;-P

haha That was my first thought, too!

It would be tempting to ban overweight dogs though. I did a 35 lb mini schnauzer the other day. When she wags her little nub of a tail, it makes her whole back end jiggle because a layer of skin/fat hangs over the actual tail!

[Fur Elite]

Discrimination laws only apply to humans, not animals. You can refuse to service any breed or size of dog you want. Heck you can refuse to service white dogs with brown circles around their eyes if you want to. You can especially refuse to service cats.

You can charge two people living right next door to each other different rates if you want to. Just be sure to have a plausible reason when you have to soothe the irate client with the higher price. Even if the dogs are the same size, weight, coat condition...you can charge different rates if you want to. Maybe one of them sits and makes it harder to groom them. Maybe one of them pulls its feet and you have to take an extra 10 minutes. All good reasons. Maybe one of the owners is a pain in the gluteous maximus. All chargeable offenses.

So travel distance is a REALLY good reason. Another good reason to charge someone more money is because they have no showed you or canceled with insufficient notice. No worries!

[Jennwoo]

As I am new to mobile grooming, Ill take the large dogs for now for the money. If they get on my table and into the tub easy, I dont see a reason not to do them in the future. If they are difficult, Ill just explain that I cant physically do the anymore. In way of pricing, I took the advice of a friend of mine and just charge a flat hourly rate. The first hour is more, then the 2nd hour is $20 cheaper and can be billed in 1/2 increments. For example: $60 for the first hour, then $40 the second hour. So an 1 1/2 hrs would be $60 + $20 for a total of $80. I tell people that it averages out to about the same as trying to individually price everyone. If your really new to grooming and dont have the speed, the hourly may not be a good choice. We tell people that most little dogs are done in a hour unless they are really hard to handle or matted. I do 3 little dogs, daschund, & 2 bostons all in under an hour and the client actually saves money by using my services lol. Hope this helps you some!

[Doggone]

Just for giggles.but along the same principle here there are manny different service's that post signs stating "We have the right to refuse service at any time" is that discrimination?I think not,lol if you act like an a-- hole,no service,so for what ever reason,you have the right to , lol "just say no" Shoot,I know of doctors,lawyers,ect. that refuse services.It's your biz,run it the way you want!

[bubble&woof]

I think you are safe to put a weight limit on dogs. It's such a common practice in the industry. Just present it as a limitation on your part, nothing on their dog.