For those of you who do Housecall....

[Moonpiepoodlz]

I know this isn't in the right section but I really need some answers.

How many appointments do you guys take in a day and do you charge a convenience charge. If so, does it depend on the size of the dog or is it a flat rate.
I was thinking about offering Housecall one day a week and before I do would like some feedback.

[Smart-n-Pretty]

Charge by the hour. The clock starts at the time you get all your stuff unloaded and are ready to begin. It stops when you collect for the groom and are ready to load up your tools into your vehicle. The "travel fee" covers gas & a few minutes of loading/unloading tools.

[RudyRoo]

The number of appointments depends on the breed and number of pets in a household. It takes me about 2 hrs to do a shih or maltese type dog. But if there are 2 in the same house I can do both in 3 hrs. It also depends on drive time between appointments. I charge by the breed, not hourly. I only charge a trip fee if the customer is outside my service area. I have 5 scheduled for this Sat, 2 at one house in the am, 3 at the next house for the afternoon. It will be a full day for me. Good luck.

[Moonpiepoodlz]

do you guys use a pitcher for bathing or what???
That would be my next major concern but everything else I've got figured out.

[Smart-n-Pretty]

I carry my recirculating bather ( I made it myself) in a couple of 18 quart plastic dish basins. Put one under the faucet & run clean water into it for rinsing. If you don't block the drain you can have the water filling the basin slowly as you rinse.

[RudyRoo]

do you guys use a pitcher for bathing or what???
That would be my next major concern but everything else I've got figured out.

75% of my customers have a shower sprayer attachment. I fold my towels and use them as knee pads and put most of my weight on the side of the tub. I'm only 5'4" and is easy me to "hang" over the tub. Not sure if this would work for a taller person. If they don't have a attachment, I fill up the tub with a few inches of water while wetting the dog, using a big plastic cup, (using a pitcher would take too long.) Once I get the dog wet, I mix shampoo in the cup with water, pour it over the dog & work up a good lather. Keeping water in the tub helps keep the shampoo fron going down the drain, I pour the the soapy water over the dog for several minutes. I call it my manual hydro,,,lol. Drain the tub, repeat with clean water, rinse, rinse, rinse, drain again and final rinse with running water. This sounds like it would take forever , but it really dosen't! My biggest prob is not haveing anywhere to connect a grooming lead. I usually use a slip lead, and keep it wraped around one wrist. Most dogs hold still, but I do have a few that try to make a run for it. If it's ok with the owners, you can also bathe small dogs in the kitchen sink. Just use a paper towel for any butt squeezing you may have to do,,,,lmao

[petgroomaustralia]

The few I do are all little dogs and I bath them in the laundry tub. I just manouver them around under the tap...lolol...its a bit of a pain but not too bad and better than taking extra stuff with me. One of my clients has installed one of those hand held shower things on hers for me. On most new style faucets the end screws off to reveal a thread that you can screw one of these onto.

[OntarioMama]

I do in-home grooming 2 days a week and groom from my home the other 3 and it works out well. I only do certain areas of the city on certain days, so I'm not travelling all over on any one day. I charge my "normal" grooming fee plus $20 for travelling and the customer has to pay for parking if there are any fees associated with parking lots or whatever.

I only do small dogs that I can fit into a laundry tub or lift comfortably into a bathtub. Customer has to have a shower massage unit with the hose to assist in bathing. Customer supplies all the towels and I supply everything else. I don't do clean-up either. All the hair gets left on the floor of the room where I'm grooming and they know that ahead of time.

One major drawback of in-home grooming is that I can't bring my huge dryer with me as it'll blow the customer's fuse, so I have to make-do with a smaller dryer. I'm also usually grooming in some weird little out-of-the-way place like a laundry room or ensuite bathroom where space is tight and lighting may not be the best.

I also don't travel during rush hour. We have one main expressway in my city and it is H**L to be on during rush hour. So, I plan my grooms around rush hour - I either arrive at a customer's house before rush hour or leave after rush hour to avoid heavy traffic.

On the plus side, the customers REALLY appreciate having their dog groomed in their own home - some of my customers just leave me their key hidden away on their patio, so I can let myself in to do their dog while they're at work. They come home to a beautiful dog.

A lot of my in-home grooming customers are in old-age faclities where they are allowed to keep their (small) dogs. I can usually do 3 or 4 of those in one day without moving my vehicle. However, you do end up "talking" to these clients a lot because, I guess, they are lonely and appreciate having somebody to talk to. That chews up a bit of time but the clients think I'm "wonderful". LOL

[Moonpiepoodlz]

I only do small dogs that I can fit into a laundry tub or lift comfortably into a bathtub. Customer has to have a shower massage unit with the hose to assist in bathing.

I was thinking about making that a "requirement": small dogs only and a utility tub or a shower massage.


Thank you everybody for your help: you've helped me out more than you'll ever know

[Arrooh]

I usually do 3 a day but it can depend on multiple dog or not homes.

I charge flat rate mostly because my services include quite a bit of chatting with the owners. We like that, the owners and I. Some people are gone or wander off. But hourly would make me nervous to be chatting. I charge about $15 more than local salons but get extra almost always. I use the Hanvey Bathing Beauty. About 1/2 had sprayers. I have done a big cup before filling in for a buddy, but the ease and less bending is appreciated by me for the B B. I also use the towel for my knees if it's a bath tub. I groom any size, but use the housecall as an excuse not to do Chows or Akitas for instance telling them it wouldn't be appropriate for housecall. Yet I'll still do a Golden, Aussie and have even done a Newfie.

I clean up super. I state that it will be as clean or cleaner when I leave then when I arrived.

I had so much fun with a super customer yesterday and her two terriers that I almost was surprised when I realized the dogs were done. I even put off drying or the TaxiVac a couple of times because our conversations were so energetic. She pays me big too ;o), it comes to a $40 tip.

[Dog Daze]

Oh poo I took my first housecall for tomorrow but didn't charge the convenience fee. It is only 2 miles from my house but I am just trying to build customers. I don't have a BB yet so am using a big plastic measuring cup and hoping they have a sprayer on the sink I will be using.

They did say wow that's cheap when I quoted them a beginning price of what a salon would charge which made me believe next time I'm gonna up it at least $10.00.

I intend to clean up my mess though especially when they are in the elderly communities.

My big thing now is bringing extra stuff cause for the first time I'm not sure what to expect.

The dog is a one year old Maltese that has never been groomed. So I stressed the price starts at $$ and can go up based on matting, behavior temperment etc.