How to Set Up Online Booking for a Dog Grooming Business

A note on the examples. The services, prices and times below are made up. Use your own. Written November 2026.

Most groomers start with bookings by phone, text and Instagram DM. It works until it doesn't. A client messages at 10 pm, you answer at 7 am, and by then they've booked somewhere that let them pick a time on the spot.

Online booking fixes that, but only if you set it up properly. A booking page that offers the wrong service, the wrong length or no deposit creates more work than it saves. This is the checklist we'd use, whatever booking system you choose.

1. Decide what clients can book themselves

Not everything belongs online. Start with the services that are predictable:

• Full grooms and bath-and-tidies for regulars and new clients.
• Nail trims and small add-ons, if you can fit them in short gaps.

Keep these by phone, at least at first:

• Severely matted coats, where the time depends on what you find.
• Dogs with a bite or handling history, where you want to talk first.
• Anything you price after seeing the dog.

You can always open more up later. It's harder to take something back once clients are used to booking it.

2. Price and time by size and coat

The biggest complaint about online grooming bookings is the price changing at the door. "The website said $70, but the doodle was $110." Avoid it by pricing the way you actually work:

• Split each service by size (small, medium, large) and, where it matters, by coat (smooth, double, curly).
• Give every option a realistic time. A large double-coated full groom isn't the same slot as a small smooth one.
• Write what's included in a line: wash, dry, clip, nails, ears.

If you're setting prices for the first time, what to charge for dog grooming in Australia goes through it.

3. Choose where you groom

A booking page should only offer what you really do:

• At your salon or home studio.
• At the client's home, if you run a van or travel.
• Pick-up and drop-off, if you collect pets.

If you travel, the client needs to see the travel fee before they choose a time, not on the invoice. How to price travel fees has a way to set it.

4. Set your deposit rule

A deposit is what makes an online booking real. Decide:

• Who pays one: new clients only, or everyone.
• How much: a set amount, a percentage, or the full price.
• When it's paid: at the moment of booking is simplest, before the slot is held.

Write down what happens to the deposit if someone cancels, and show it before they pay. That one sentence settles most arguments later.

5. Set a cancellation window and reminders

Pick how much notice you need to reschedule or cancel without losing the deposit (24 or 48 hours is common). Then make sure every client is reminded before that window closes, so they still have time to change. A reminder after the window has closed can only tell them they're too late.

6. Ask what you need to know before the groom

Online booking means you might meet the dog for the first time at the door. Ask, in the booking:

• Breed and weight, so the right price and time apply.
• Temperament and health notes: nervous, reactive, skin conditions, allergies.
• For home visits: access, parking, water and power.

Keep these on the pet's profile, so you don't ask again next time.

7. Keep one diary

If you take bookings online but keep a paper diary or a phone calendar too, two clients will eventually get the same slot. Pick one diary, and make everything else feed into it: your personal appointments, school pick-ups, the vet.

8. Tell people it exists

A booking page nobody can find doesn't book anyone. Put the link:

• in your Instagram and Facebook bio, and on your Google Business Profile;
• on your van or shopfront, as a short web address or QR code;
• in your reply to every DM: "You can pick a time here."

9. Book yourself first

Before you share it, make a test booking as a client would: on your phone, with a made-up dog, at a time you'd normally be busy. Check the price, the time, the deposit and the confirmation. Then cancel it.

Where My Pet Groomer fits

My Pet Groomer was built for exactly this list:

• A booking page: your own booking page, open around the clock, plus a listing on our public directory.
• Honest prices: clients pick the breed and weight and see only the services and prices that apply to their dog.
• Deposits: a deposit or full payment is taken when they book, and unpaid bookings can cancel themselves.
• Visit types: at your salon, at the client's home, or pick-up and drop-off, with the travel fee shown before they choose a time. For home visits, the booking can ask about water, power and parking.
• Reminders: text confirmations and email reminders. The reminder email arrives a day before your cancellation window closes, so clients can still change online.
• A full day: clients can join the waitlist instead of going elsewhere.
• Google Calendar: each groomer can connect their own Google Calendar. Bookings go to it, and busy times there block your diary. Only busy times come in, never what they are.

See everything in My Pet Groomer. Your first 30 days are free: get started and make your first test booking today.