Frequently Asked Questions

All breeds should be regularly groomed by a professional dog groomer every 4 weeks. If your dog is more accustomed to an indoor lifestyle or has a coat that requires high maintenance, you may prefer more frequent visits.

Bacteria will grow and thrive on an unkempt coat, putting you and your dog’s health at risk. Effects such as Flaky and itchy skin, shedding of hair and hair loss, parasites such as ticks and fleas, dull and smelly un nourished coat can occur.

With regular grooming your pet will feel better, be more confident and happy and will be more of a pleasure to stroke, play with and allow to sleep on the bed.

Dependant on breed, service required and the behaviour of your dog, your pet will be with us for approximately 30 minutes to an hour.

If additional services, like the de shedding solution are required, this will add to the grooming time.

If there is more than 1 dog, we will groom 2 at a time.

Brushing and combing a matted dog is very uncomfortable and extremely painful. Should a dog be severely matted, it is HotDogs policy to not hurt your pet. We will contact you to discuss alternatives, such as cutting mats out or to shave the matted hair and start the restyling process from there. Matting not only causes discomfort to your dog but can also hide open sores or painful skin disorders like hotspots, caused by the hair tightening so much that it tears the skin and damp skin cannot dry under a matted coat. Once your dog is shaved and the matted hair removed regular grooming will ensure severe matting will not occur again. A matted coat does not do what the coat is meant to do which is to regulate the body temperature to keep cool in summer and warm in winter.

We do groom aggressive dogs, however we might need to use a muzzle. This will not hurt your pet. It protects your pet and the groomers from any injury. Please let us know if you are concerned that your pet might be aggressive. Only under extreme conditions would we be unable to groom your pet.

We groom through all weather conditions. When it rains or when it’s cold. We will make it our first priority to make sure your pet is cosy and comfy in the back of our van. Doors will be closed, warm water geysers turned on and warm air dryers used. They will then be carried under an umbrella to be put inside your home or garage to not get wet.

No we don’t.

Unfortunately we cannot groom your pet until the vet has given you the go ahead for your groomers to return. Even though we sanitise our vans after every appointment the risk factor it too great to pass a contagious skin disorder from one household to the next.

Long nails will cause strain on your dog’s foot muscle and bones. The toes will begin to splay over time. If ignored, your dog’s toes, feet and legs will become affected, as will the shoulders, back and neck.

When the nails grow, the quick (vain in the nail) grows as well. Therefore to maintain your dog’s health it is highly recommended the nails are checked and trimmed every 4 weeks.

Absolutely not. Each owner is requested to provide a towel for each of their dogs to eliminate the risk of parasite transfer. HotDogs also disinfect and sanitise the salon van throughout the day and an extensive jet hose wash down is conducted regularly. Our Mobile Salon is therefore not a conducive environment for fleas, larvae, bacteria or other viruses to survive.

Generally you would need to book a week in advance, but not always. We do offer a forward booking program, where we can put your pet onto a regular grooming cycle. Thus making your life easy by leaving your grooming and booking responsibilities up to us.

Yes we groom all breeds and sizes.

You can pay by cash on the day or by EFT. My groomers will leave an invoice with HotDogs banking details on. If you decide to pay by EFT, please do so within 24HRS.

We are professionals at what we do. HotDogs groomers have all attended the “Tellington touch” course on handling scared, aggressive and nervous dogs. Our staff love what they do and will respect and handle your best friend as though they were one of their own.

We do the route planning the evening before. Depending where on route you are will dictate the time. We will always try and accommodate special time requests where we can. If you need an ETA, please send us a sms on the day and we will gladly send it to you. Weekends we will always send you a sms on the morning of the groom day with our ETA so that you can plan your day.

Your dogs, 1 towel per dog to hand dry before we blow dry. Garden tap so we can plug our hose in for water. Electrical plug point in garage or close by so we can plug our extension in for dryers or grooming clippers.

After its first vaccinations, which should be around 10 weeks. HotDogs will introduce your puppy to the grooming process with a “first timer’s puppy groom”.

A bad first experience will make your puppy fearful of grooming for life. HotDogs ensure that soothing gentle care is taken to make their first groom a pleasurable memory for your growing puppy.

If your dog has ticks or fleas we will use a very good product called Bayopet Bacdip plus, this can be used on pregnant, lactating and young animals, even week old puppies. It is a pour over tick eliminator. I would suggest using a preventative such as Frontline, once we have got rid of them.

You should not groom less in winter. It’s even more important to keep your pets coat groomed in winter as an unkempt coat will not do what it is meant to do which is to regulate the body temperature to stay cool in summer and warm in winter and insulate the body from the cold. If the coat is matted or unkempt, it will not be able to achieve this. All vans are fitted with warm water geysers and warm air dryers. So it’s actually more “cosy’’ in the van than out.

HotDogs do supply a shampoo for sensitive skin, which are all natural ingredients proven to be gentle on the skin. If you have a medicated or vet prescribed shampoo that you want us to use, we will gladly do so.

Yes we do.

99 % of the time your dog will play up when you are in the van. This is natural instinct for them as they will automatically want to protect their owner and property. This will make grooming a lot more difficult for the groomers. You are welcome to try. If your pet does not play up, then enjoy the time with them. Remember we are professionals and know how to handle your pet and to settle them down.

In busy seasons the phones are constantly busy. Please leave us a message and we will call you back. The offices are closed on weekends even though the vans do work.