No-show policy for dog groomers

A no-show policy template written for dog groomers.

Copy the policy, the message that tells your regulars, and the reply for the day someone doesn’t show. Fill in the brackets, and change anything that doesn’t sound like you. The numbers and notice window below are starting points, not rules.

How no-shows work for a dog groomer

A groom blocks a table and a long stretch of your day, and the client isn't present for it: they drop the dog off and leave. That changes the no-show. The person who forgets is often busy rather than dismissive, and the cost is the same as any other empty block. Pickup time also matters, since a late pickup has a cost of its own.

Groomers also deal with a mix of one-off clients and clients on a regular cycle, every four, six or eight weeks. A missed groom for a dog on a cycle isn't only a lost appointment, the coat keeps growing and the next groom gets harder. That is the strongest reason to rebook quickly.

What a missed groom costs you

Put in what you charge and how many people miss in a normal month. This is plain multiplication on your own numbers, not a statistic about dog groomers. The starting price is only an example.

For example, if one groom is $65 and four people miss in a month, that is $260 a month, or $3,120 over a year, for time you set aside and couldn’t give to anyone else. Enter an average groom price. Large or matted dogs can take far longer than a small one, so if your no-shows skew toward bigger jobs, use that average. The calculator doesn't count add-ons like de-shedding or teeth brushing.

The policy

This version suggests 24 hours of notice, which is a common place to start for this kind of work. Make it longer or shorter based on how quickly you can refill a slot. Paste it on your booking page, in your bio, and in the confirmation text.

Anything in [brackets] is yours to fill in. If you charge a fee or take a deposit, you collect it yourself. Pick a number you would actually enforce, because a policy you don’t follow teaches people to ignore it.

Regulars and new clients get different rules

Give a regular on a steady cycle one free miss and a quick rebook. For a new client who missed the first groom, ask for the hold amount before booking again.

This split matches what many solo pros already do by hand: grace for people who have shown up before, and a firmer line for strangers. Writing it down just means you aren’t deciding it again in the moment, annoyed.

Telling the clients you already have

Most dog groomers stall on this part. The rule feels like picking a fight with people who have been coming to you for years. Send this one message to everyone at once, before the policy applies to anybody.

Want to adjust the wording?

The no-show policy generator lets you switch between a gentle and a firm tone, change the notice window, and download the policy as an image you can post or print. For what the reminder text itself should say, see reminder texts for dog groomers. For why reminders matter more than a fee, the research write-up goes through what the published studies do and don’t show.