Demo siteFor any inquiries, email claymanholdings617@gmail.com
Bramble & Bark 41 Green Street, Newburyport, Mass.

Tue to Sat, 8 to 5, or when the last coat is dry. (978) 555-0142

Dog grooming in Newburyport, priced by size and coat

Press the key at or above your dog's weight. The figure that stands up in the window is the figure on the bill: one price for one size and one coat, weighed at the door.

Engraved portrait of a curly-coated dog sitting up, ears falling either side of the face.
Book size 31 to 50 lb coat wavy or curly service full groom price $98
Weight. Press the key at or above.
Coat
Service

How nervous dogs are handled

Four things, in order: the hand, the paw, the eye, the nose. You can stay on the stool at the back window for the whole visit.

Call (978) 555-0142

What the first ten minutes are, for a nervous dog

Nothing runs and nothing touches the dog until the dog has decided that the room is safe. Then four things happen, always in this order.

White-line drawing on black, seen from above. A dog has lowered its head until its nose is just over the fingertips of a hand held out low, back up. One of the dog's paws lies on the back of the hand. Four numbered lines point to the hand, the paw, the eye and the nose.
Fig. 1. Seen from above: the hand held low, back up, the dog's nose over the fingertips and one paw laid on the back of the hand.
  1. The hand. We start in the back room by the window, with your lead still in your hand and the clippers off. The groomer crouches side-on and holds out one hand, low and loose with the back of it up, until the dog has smelled it. That takes two minutes for some dogs and the whole ten for others.
  2. The paw. After that we touch in the same order every time: shoulder, then chest, then back, with the legs next and the paws last. No hand goes over a dog's head. A dog that lays a paw on the back of the hand, as the dog in Fig. 1 has, has given us a yes.
  3. The eye. We watch the eye and the ears, not the clock. A lip lick, a yawn or a look away means a stop, a breath and some water. There is also a break every twenty minutes, whether the dog asked for one or not.
  4. The nose. A dog learns a room by smell before anything else. The clippers are handed over switched off and the towel is held out to be sniffed. The dryer is switched on across the room before it comes near the dog.
  1. The dryer. It is a stand dryer on its low setting, held at arm's length and aimed along the coat, never at the face. It runs five minutes at a time. The shop has no cage dryer, so no dog sits in a cage while one runs.
  1. The card. Each nervous dog gets an index card in the recipe box at the front desk, with what frightened it and what helped. Whoever takes the lead reads the card first.
  2. Staying. You can stay for the whole visit on the stool at the back window, which looks into the grooming room.

Price list.

One figure for one size and one coat. The dog is weighed on the scale by the door. The figure you were shown is the figure you pay.

Full groom.

Bath, brush-out, a cut to the pattern of the coat, ears, nails, feet and face. Two to three hours, drop-off to pick-up.

Engraved portrait of a small, long-haired dog sitting with its head tilted to one side.

Up to 15 lb.

Small silky coats: Maltese, Yorkshire terriers, shih tzu and their crosses.

Smooth
$58
Double
$66
Wavy or curly
$72
Engraved portrait of a spaniel seen from behind, sitting with its head raised in profile.

16 to 30 lb.

Spaniels, beagles, Boston terriers and small terrier crosses.

Smooth
$66
Double
$76
Wavy or curly
$84
Engraved portrait of a curly-coated dog sitting up, ears falling either side of the face.

31 to 50 lb.

Doodles and poodle crosses, large spaniels, wheaten terriers.

Smooth
$78
Double
$90
Wavy or curly
$98
Engraved portrait of a short-coated retriever type in three-quarter view, head turned to the left.

51 to 70 lb.

Retrievers, labs, boxers, standard poodles.

Smooth
$92
Double
$106
Wavy or curly
$116
Engraved portrait of a shepherd sitting upright with its ears up and its tail along the ground.

71 to 90 lb.

Shepherds, setters, large doodles.

Smooth
$108
Double
$122
Wavy or curly
$134
Engraved portrait of a very large black-coated dog in profile, facing left, a Newfoundland type.

91 to 130 lb.

Newfoundlands, Great Pyrenees, Saint Bernards. Our limit is 130 lb.

Smooth
$124
Double
$138
Wavy or curly
$150

Bath and brush.

Wash, conditioner, blow-dry, brush-out, ears and nails. No clipping. About an hour and a half.

WeightSmoothDoubleWavy or curly
Up to 15 lb$38$44$48
16 to 30 lb$44$52$58
31 to 50 lb$54$62$68
51 to 70 lb$64$74$80
71 to 90 lb$76$86$94
91 to 130 lb$88$98$106

By the job.

These are priced by the job, not by the dog.

  • Nail trim alone$18
  • Puppy first groom$48Under six months and up to 25 lb: a bath, a face tidy and nails. The clippers do not run.
  • De-shedding for a double coat$28Added to a bath and brush or a full groom.
  • De-matting$20For each quarter hour after the first.
  • A longer appointment for a nervous dogNo charge

Six blades hang on a pegboard by the tub, in number order.

The number is the length left on the dog. Between dogs each blade is checked against the back of a hand, because a blade that is warm to us is too warm for the dog. A double coat is brushed out and thinned, never shaved.

  • No. 101/16 in. (1.5 mm)Paw pads, under the chin, the sanitary trim. Fine teeth, used on every coat.
  • No. T-101/16 in. (1.5 mm)Faces and feet. The T is narrow so it can go round an eye without touching it.
  • No. 7 skip1/8 in. (3.2 mm)Belly and chest of smooth and short double coats. Every other tooth is short.
  • No. 5 skip1/4 in. (6.3 mm)Wavy and curly coats kept short for summer.
  • No. 4 skip3/8 in. (9.5 mm)The usual body cut for doodles. The curl is cut, never pulled.
  • No. 3¾ skip1/2 in. (13 mm)Long curls and wavy coats kept for winter.

Book a Saturday

Open drop-off times can be pressed and taken times cannot. Pick one and the lines below fill in the rest. Nothing is sent from this page, because it is a demo of how booking would work.

This Saturday.

  • Open
  • Taken
  • Open
  • Taken
  • Open
  • Open

Next Saturday.

  • Taken
  • Open
  • Taken
  • Open
  • Open
  • Open

Describe your dog

Weight, coat and service come from the price window above. Change them here if they are wrong.

TimePress an open time above

This is a demo. Pressing the key checks the lines and shows the slip. Nothing is sent or booked.

N.B.

  1. Vaccines. Rabies must be current. Bring the certificate, or give us your vet's name and number at drop-off.
  2. Weight. Every dog is weighed on the scale by the door. A dog of exactly 50 lb is in the 31 to 50 bracket and 51 lb is in the next. We cannot take a dog over 130 lb.
  3. Late pick-up. The chalk board by the door shows each dog's name and pick-up time. Past thirty minutes after it, $10 for each further quarter hour.
  4. Cancelling. Telephone by 5 the day before and there is nothing to pay. After that the booking is charged at half.
  5. Matted coats. A coat matted to the skin is shaved only with your consent, asked for before the clippers come on. De-matting is $20 for each quarter hour after the first.
  6. A dog who cannot finish. We stop, call you and charge only for the work done.

About the shop

We opened in March 2014 in the back half of a bicycle shop on Green Street, with one tub, one table and a chalk board by the door. The chalk board is still there. A dog's name goes on it when the dog comes in, with the time to pick up. The name is wiped off as the dog leaves.

The towels live on three shelves sorted by weight: under 30 pounds, 30 to 70, and over 70. A wet dog is wrapped in a towel that fits before a dryer is anywhere near.

More about the shop

The board by the door, drawn from memory. The times are pick-up times.