First visit
What actually happens, start to finish
First grooms go better when nobody is guessing — you, us, or the pet. Here's the whole visit, the paperwork we genuinely require, and the one hard conversation we promise to have by phone, not at pick-up.
The visit, step by step
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Five minutes early
Arrival & sniffing time
We greet at nose height, not clipboard height. You'll confirm the service and price you built online, flag anything new (sore spots, hot spots, a rough week), and hand over vaccine proof if we don't have it on file.
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First fifteen minutes
The once-over
Your groomer checks the coat with their hands before any water: mats, skin, ears, nails. If anything changes the plan — or the price — this is when we tell you, not at the till. Then you leave. Truly. Dogs settle faster without their person hovering.
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The middle
Bath, hand dry, work
Two shampoos, conditioner if the coat needs it, and a hand blow-dry — never a heat cage. Nervous pets get breaks. First-timers get introduced to each tool before it turns on. Nobody is ever strapped down and 'gotten through.'
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Twenty minutes out
The text
You get a message when we're twenty minutes from done, so your pet isn't waiting in a kennel and you aren't circling the block. Leslieville has enough coffee to make this the easy part.
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Pick-up
Report card & the same bill
Coat notes, nail notes, what to brush and how often, and an honest suggestion for the next visit — by coat calendar, not by sales target. The bill is the one the website showed you unless we called you mid-groom.
Puppies & kittens
Start with a Bath & Tidy, not a haircut — shorter, gentler, and it teaches the table before scissors appear. Earliest booking: two weeks after the second vaccine round.
Required, not suggested
Vaccinations
Dogs
- Rabies — required. Current, with proof.
- Bordetella — recommended, especially for social dogs.
Cats
- Rabies — required. Current, with proof.
- Indoor-only cats too — it's an Ontario requirement, not our whim.
Proof
A photo of the vet record emailed to hello@thecoppercomb.example ahead of time, or paper at drop-off. We keep it on file so it's a one-time chore.
No current rabies vaccine means we genuinely can't groom that day — it protects every pet in the room, including yours. We'd rather reschedule than make an exception we wouldn't want made for you.
The honest part
Matting, and the phone call we promise
Light matting we brush out — up to about fifteen minutes of extra work is simply included. Beyond that, forcing a brush through a pelted coat hurts, and we won't hurt a pet to save a hairstyle.
- Severe matting may mean a shave-down. It's the humane option, not the lazy one.
- We'll always call you first — before the clippers touch the coat, with what we found and what it costs.
- The coat grows back in weeks. We'll set up a brushing routine so round two never happens.
The full policy — including dematting fees — is on the policies page.
The bring-list
- Vaccine proof (first visit only)
- A collar or harness that fits — we supply the rest
- A photo of the cut you liked, if there was one
- Cats: a hard-sided carrier, towel over the top
- Nothing else — no food two hours before is kinder on nervous bellies
- Your phone, switched on — for the twenty-minute text (and the matting call we hope not to make)
The Copper Comb
Ready for a calm first visit?
Build the groom online first — price and duration up front, and extra time booked automatically for first-timers who need it.