Frequently Asked Questions

We cater to clients that keep their pets on a regular schedule with pre-booked appointments, without exceeding 12 weeks.

Our salon had to put this policy in place in order to protect our longevity in this career. From the advice of our leading industry experts and our own experience, the more often a dog is groomed the easier it is on the mental + physical well-being of your pet and their stylist.

Our schedule fills up fast and unfortunately we cannot groom every single client that wants to get in. We needed to set limits so all our clients can stay on a reasonable schedule.

When pets are only groomed 1-3 times a year it means our stylists have to either deal with overgrown/matted coats and/or difficult pets who fight the grooming process because they're not used to being groomed.

We just can't justify the extra physical labour and stress it puts on our bodies.

Let's work together to build a healthy relationship between your pet and grooming!

We recommend professional pet styling every 4-6 weeks.

Every pet’s coat has different needs and there are several factors that come into play when deciding a grooming schedule: 

• Maintenance at home - brushing + combing should be done 1-3 times a week
• Type of haircut - longer coats require more grooming to stay tangle free (this includes more home maintenance and professional grooming)
• Your pets coat type; thick and plush, wirey, or fine + fragile

Talk with one of our Stylists so they can help decide a grooming schedule based on your pets individual needs. 

In our salon the pet styling appointments are 4 hours.

Morning options are: 8:00am-12:00pm, 8:30am-12:30pm and 9:00am-1:00pm.

Afternoon options are: 12:00pm-4:00pm, 12:30pm-4:30pm and 1:00pm-5:00pm.

*Understanding our 4 hours:

• Our team at Vada’s Club K9 strive to make your pets whole grooming experience a positive one. We want to ensure your pet is not overwhelmed (mentally and/or physically) and leave in a relaxed state. Through our extensive experience we know that most dogs do best when given breaks from the different forms of stimulation that occurs during their grooming. We have found this especially benefits the pets who are younger, older or anxious/nervous.  
• It is also a safety precaution. Since there are several Pet Stylists here at Vada’s Club K9, if all appointments were 1.5-2 hours then we would have non-stop interruptions all day. We need to be able to focus on the dogs on our tables and getting interrupted disrupts this.

We would prefer not to and recommend against doing so, but if it’s really something you want done then we will. We just have to inform you about exactly what you’re asking for. 

Double coats are not meant to be touched, so any cutting of the hair will cause some amount of damage. 

The coat provides insulation from the cold, heat and sun. Dogs don’t sweat all over like humans do, so to help stay cool they regulate their body temperature by panting and their paws sweat. When we shave a double coated dog we are taking away their protection from all the elements, insects, sunburn and so on. It’s like taking the insulation out of your house in the summer.

The undercoat grows at least twice as fast than the primary coat. This will make the hair grow in thicker and patchy, if it even grows back at all. Their coat will lose any softness they have, it will feel dry, prickly, and wirey . Shaving a double coated dog can also interrupt the natural shedding process and the dog may in fact shed more.

A well groomed pet that has the excess/dead undercoat removed will do a good job at protecting your pet from overheating in the summer.

If you do choose to go ahead with clipping your double coat dog, we recommend pushing the haircuts to the 12 week mark and getting frequent Bath+Brush's in-between groomings to help combat the adverse effects of clipping their coat.

We recommend checking out the 'Double Coated Pets' page, under the Pet Care tab in our menu above.

Yes, each pet is housed individually while in our care. This is the safest place for your pet while they are here. We can’t have them all running around the grooming room with us while we’re working because we can’t fully supervise all the dogs and still be able to pay attention to the dog on the table, while using our sharp equipment. 

After the grooming most dogs prefer to have their own personal space to relax and unwind until home time.

Some dogs shake when they are excited and some shake when they’re a little nervous. 

Dogs do not like to be separated from their owners (pack leaders). So the worst part of the groom is the initial separation. 

Often the second the owner leaves and the door shuts the dogs turn around as if to say  ‘ok’ to follow us back.

It’s like dropping kids off at daycare, they are sad for the first few minutes but then they adjust.

Due to the nature of our business we seldom answer our phone. The pets in our care take priority. We need to stay focused on the pets on our table and the clients dropping off/picking up their pets.

But please leave us a message when you call, or email us at vadasclubk9@gmail.com and we will get back to you by the end of our day. 

This way we can give whoever calls the salon our full attention. Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding :)

We require 24 hours notice for cancelling or rescheduling your pet’s grooming appointment. Failure to do so will result in a fee if we're unable to re-fill the spot. 

*We do suggest trying to figure out if a family member or friend can drop off and/or pick up before calling us to cancel the appointment.

It is also important that you arrive on time as we schedule our day specifically so that we can be most efficient. We DO NOT accept clients over 15 minutes late. You will be marked as a No Show as it states below. 

If you miss an appointment, you will need to pay the No Show fee before we are able to schedule another appointment. If it happens again, we reserve the right to remove you from our client list.

*Please understand these are not meant as punitive policies, but of restoration to compensate lost wages for our hard working Stylists*

Unfortunately it sounds like we're not the right fit for each other.

But the good news is that every salon and groomer runs their business differently. There are plenty of great groomers in St Vital so I know you and your pet will find the perfect place!