Dear all, a little message from Natasha x

Dear all,

Firstly, I'd like to thank everyone for their continued support of our small business, times are hard with ever growing costs and expenses but we want to continue to offer the best level of service for you and your doggy, without compromise. I don't often get to see you all face to face so wanted to reach out to you via the blog to say hello, how are you all and thank you for entrusting me and my team with your very special babies. How has it been 7.5 years since we opened? The saying is really true, time flies when you're having fun!

We pride ourselves on the service we offer from having the best team, using the best products, and even having a full CCTV system in all rooms ensuring you have peace of mind that we offer a transparent service at all times (I always say dog groomers should be looked at the same way as child care, but they can't talk to you so it's even more crucial), you can also watch our Stylists work their magic through our huge open glass spaces at each salon.

We work on a one to one basis and do not use cages at any time, all doggies are kept safely with us in the salon and not locked away.

We're proud to have been acknowledged for our top customer service and business management by receiving 15 prestigious business awards since our opening 7.5 years ago. Our Stylists have a joint experience of over 55+ years dog grooming. I'm very proud, and it means the world to me as I've put my all in to being my best to offer and deliver you the best, that I'm the only Internationally Certified Master Groomer in the whole of Bucks and one of four in Middlesex, with over 16 years experience, I'm here for you, my team and your doggies.

You may or may not know but we also offer young people employment opportunities and career paths with our Apprenticeship schemes, it's the most rewarding feeling watching individuals start from the beginning, learn and develop their skills, build their confidence and grow their passion for doggies, in the best way possible with the best core values and work ethics. I have been grooming for 16 years now, I am actually self taught, and the way I groom and handle the doggies is compassionate, caring and holistic and this is what I teach my team. Therefore, through word of mouth, we started seeing more and more extra special doggies who struggle with anxieties around the salon environment and groom many doggies who without us would have to be sedated and groomed at the vets (because of their grooming history before we met them) as no one can get near them, but when you watch through our window you would have no idea of their history or background... we often get lovely comments about how well behaved and calm the doggies all are, it's such a rewarding feeling, helping the doggies and their parents.

If you haven't yet booked your doggies next appointment or would like to take up the offer of block booking until May 2024 do get in touch to secure your doggies space with us...

Either call your local salon or email us at info@spoiltrottendog.com with your doggies preferred day of the week/ preferred time of day and frequency and we'll get back to you with a list of bookings...

We are super busy, the phones ring off the hook (100+ calls a day) if you have issues getting through it's usually because there are so many people ringing at the same time the line can't handle it and you go in to a que. Please leave a message and we will get back to you (or pop us an email).

There can be a bit of a wait for an appointment and during the summer months everyone wants to do what they can to help their doggy be as cool as possible and to stay safe. You can also request to be added to our cancellation list for the chance of a sooner appointment.

Book in advance to avoid disappointment 😘 please don't leave it to the last minute...

We are doing our best to increase our availability and capacity, we have expanded our team and with top level in-house training, will have more availability very soon. Only wanting to offer the best level of service to you and your doggies naturally we are very selective on who we allow in to the salon to join our team, so this process takes time and careful consideration. Please rest assured we're working on this, watch this space. A few people have tried new salons due to our availability and many returned to us, this is perfectly fine and we welcome back absolutely everyone at any time, you're all welcome.

We have the highest level of experienced and qualified Stylists and strive to maintain our multi-award winning customer service, at all times.

Due to the rising costs of wages (we only want the best and happy team and with 20 members of the team we offer the highest rate of employment opportunity within our industry anywhere around), electric (some months £1000 per shop!), products (we only use the best), rent increases, rates, general higher overheads of being on the High Street and VAT etc we have no choice but to increase our prices to ensure we can continue to offer a high level of service without compromise on quality for many years to come.

We could lower our costs by lowering our quality and use cheaper shampoos (but that could cause irritations, you get what you pay for and we use only the best, all natural products available), we could have less staff as the wages is our biggest expense (meaning less cuddles and attention for the doggies), use cabinet dryers (no way, we would never use those on a doggy!), squeeze more dogs in meaning less time for each doggy (not what we want to do) or even take away the high electric cost running air con… but that’s not what we want to do, we only want to offer the highest level of care for your doggies and in order to be able to continue offering this we are forced to pass on some of the increases. We appreciate times are tough for everyone and we are really grateful for your continued support of our small, independent business.

Please bear in mind bigger dogs take longer, use more resources, more water, more electric, more shampoo, sometimes need an extra pair of hands.

We employ extra staff to support the Stylists at all times so that every doggy with us receives the care and attention they deserve throughout their experience with us, so no one is left waiting unattended at any time. We work on a one to one basis and do not use cages at any time, all doggies are kept safely with us in the salon and not locked away. This results in happy doggies, wagging tails and a lovely calm environment, at times we may get an uber excited spaniel who wants to talk to us during their visit, but being so experienced with all different breeds and understanding their needs our team is equipped with the skills to ensure even the uber excited doggies are given the feeling of confidence and security. We specialise working with nervous doggies particularly, rehabilitating doggies who have come from a troubled past in the grooming salon- we can help!

It's lovely to reach out and share with you all about Spoilt Rotten, I could talk all day about doggies, as you can tell I'm very passionate about the well-being of all doggies, the well-being of my team and ensuring Spoilt Rotten is always delivering the best for you all.

Thanks to all our lovely supportive and wonderful clients and their gorgeous doggies for your continued support through this challenging time 😘 we do everything we can to help you and your doggies have the best grooming experience and treasure every single one of them when they're in our care.`

Natasha, Dave and all the team 🐾 x