suggestions on "bath dog days" ??

[resident_hector]

Hey All,

I just wanted your thoughts on this. I wanted to set up a "bath dog day" schedule... or a weekend thing. I know a shop I use to work at had this once a month or something.

Just wondering if anyone knows how to go about this? Obviously I would be giving discounts of some sort. Oh, and what about weight classes and dollar values? I have quite a few people interested in this and I'd like to get something going. Know bath dogs can be pumped out quickly. I get 99% of my grooms as, well, groom dogs... NOT bath dogs ( which I so WISH I would get more bath dogs... know what I mean? )

Thoughts?
Ideas?

I'm in New Jersey so that might factor in one way or another.

Thanks all in advance !!!

Michelle

[Arrooh]

I would

be afraid of all the hairy double coated tedious brush out dogs. But if there would be a way to elimate them, then it would be great. Consider bath and towel, perhaps light water chasing HV, but not total dry, and charge something small, like $10 or $20 off. You might be able to have it for dogs except ones with poorly kept double coated dogs or curly coated, needing straightening hand drying dogs.

[Gracy Rose]

I try and add bath dogs into my groom schedule that way my days are a little less stressful (I know the day that I have 7 bichons and a Newfie shavedown is a nightmare day and that once a month comes WAY TO FAST).

[Woof_x_2]

Well I get alot of bath dogs. My prices are good, not cheap or expensive. I guess because we advertise that any customer that gets groomed or bathed gets free nail clipping all year long as just a nice thing to do for our customers. So I get Boxers, Labs, all kinds of short hairs. But still 80% of my customers are for grooming.

[Chicken]

Do you mean one day designated to ONLY do bath dogs?
Or for people to do self-serve bathing?

Sorry, I'm confused!

[CountryCanines]

My luck I would get 10 Malamutes........lol.

[Wisconsin]

Are you talking about 1 designated day every once in a while?????

What if you did a day designated to short haired breeds and listed the breeds you were interested in at a special price? (labs, beagles, boxers, bassets, goldens if you don't mind throwing those in if in good shape... whatever).

Obviously look at your client list and see what you have the most of and cater to those bath dogs already on the books. I would personally invite current client bath dogs and try to fill a day that way and if you can't fill a day up, an all out ad if you're looking for new customers. Kind of like a certain color car wash special. lol

It's up to you, don't know your personal situation. I've thought about doing this myself but never pulled the trigger. We have so many labs, I was thinking about lab day.

[amysue2638]

Well I get alot of bath dogs. My prices are good, not cheap or expensive. I guess because we advertise that any customer that gets groomed or bathed gets free nail clipping all year long as just a nice thing to do for our customers. So I get Boxers, Labs, all kinds of short hairs. But still 80% of my customers are for grooming.

How often do they need to get bathed/groomed to get the free nail trims? Like if they only bring their dog in once for a bath do they get the nail deal all year, or do they have to bring the dog monthly, or more often, to get the deal? If so, don't they just get the nail trim when they get groomed? Just want to understand your policy because I would LOVE to get more bath dogs.

[Helly]

We have bath only day every Monday. That's when the boarding dogs go home. I usually wouldn't have time to do a groom if I wanted to.

I guess I'd pick a day, advertise it as such, and only fill in with groom dogs if you don't get enough bath dogs to keep you busy. And I wouldn't discount anything. Charge your normal bath price. Putting them all on one day doesn't make it any less work, nor does it decrease the amount of overhead you have for that day.

[Woof_x_2]

How often do they need to get bathed/groomed to get the free nail trims? Like if they only bring their dog in once for a bath do they get the nail deal all year, or do they have to bring the dog monthly, or more often, to get the deal? If so, don't they just get the nail trim when they get groomed? Just want to understand your policy because I would LOVE to get more bath dogs.

My short hair dogs come in minimal 3 times a year for a bath to get the free nail trim. Also, I deshed them and keep the little undercoat hairs in a ziplok for their parents to see it. The parents are impressed and bring them back regardless of the free nail deal.

[Dawn125]

I guess I don't really see the point in this. The easy bath dogs just get squeezed in our schedule whenever. I find it hard to imagine a day that is too busy to squeeze in a lab. Maybe we just don't have enough of them to warrant having their own day.

[dogma]

I knew a guy that did this and it was a big hit with his clients.
He called it "Wednesday, Washday"...

On that day, he catered to the people that just wanted a clean dog,,,not a groomed dog...so the dogs were given a bath, had their nails done, got a blast with the HV dryer and out they went! Price was low enough, and volumne high enough that it all paid for it's self. The clients loved it, he loved it...everyone is happy.

The big hairy dogs, that need combing out, are groom dogs..they don't get to come in on "Wednesday, Washday".
That day was set aside for the hunting type dogs, and people that had dogs in good shape, but just didn't want to dirty up their bathroom that day.

Give it a try...if you hate it, or it doesn't work for you, no big deal...there is no law that says once you start a service you have to keep doing it forever.

have fun and namaste...dogma

[Chicken]

The only advantage I see would be from a marketing perspective - just to inform people that you do these easy washes & that they're affordable. But I think you can achieve that without assigning only one day a week.

I do easy bath dogs all week long, and we price them really pretty low. We advertise them extensively because it's fast, easy money and doesn't affect the grooming schedule (providing you have someone else to bathe). We have a TON of dogs who used to get hosed in the backyard coming once a month now, because for say $20, who's going to bother with it at home? Good for the dogs, good for us.