09/29/2026
🐾 Extremely Important Update 🐾
We wanted to take a moment to share an important update with our Groom Shack family—and explain a little more about how we got here.
When we began offering walk-ins, the goal was simple: convenience for our clients. It gave families the flexibility to bring their pets in without having to plan weeks in advance, and for quite some time, we were happy to be able to offer that.
As The Groom Shack has grown, however, so has the number of pets utilizing our walk-in program. What started as an added convenience has gradually become one of the most difficult parts of managing our daily schedule.
Less than a week ago, we announced that beginning October 1st, walk-in services would include a 20% fee. That change was actually our attempt to KEEP the walk-in program available. We hoped it would encourage more clients to schedule ahead while still allowing us to offer walk-ins for those who needed the convenience.
The response to that announcement was overwhelming.
Our phones, texts and messages were immediately flooded with appointment requests from clients who would normally only use the walk-in service. While we are incredibly grateful that so many people want to trust us with their pets, the response also showed us something we really needed to recognize:
The walk-in program has become much more of a convenience for our clients than it is manageable for our shop.
And we don't mean that negatively at all. ❤️ The entire reason we offered walk-ins was to make grooming easier and more convenient for you. But the sheer number of families relying on that option has grown beyond what we're realistically able to accommodate while still providing the experience we want for every pet.
Because we don't know how many walk-ins will arrive each day, we intentionally leave openings in our appointment schedule to make room for them. Some days we may have only a few walk-ins. Other days, we're suddenly trying to accommodate far more dogs than anticipated.
That unpredictability has created increasingly stressful days for our team and can make the shop feel much busier than we ever want it to feel.
We don't want to run The Groom Shack by simply asking, “How many more dogs can we fit in today?”
We want every pet who comes through our doors to have the time, attention and care they deserve. 🐶💕 We want our groomers focused on the pets they're caring for—not worrying about how many additional dogs may walk through the door.
After seeing the response to our scheduling announcement and giving this a lot of consideration, we feel the best decision is to pause our walk-in program for the remainder of 2026.
Because walk-ins will be paused, the fee scheduled to begin October 1st will no longer be implemented at this time.
🐾 For the remainder of the year, all grooming services will be by appointment only.
There is a positive side to this change: because we will no longer need to hold portions of our daily schedule open for potential walk-ins, we'll be able to turn some of that time into additional scheduled appointments. Please note, this won't create unlimited availability, as our calendar is already very busy, but it will allow us to make better use of the time we have and know exactly how many pets we're caring for each day.
We know some of you have relied on walk-ins for a long time, and we genuinely hate taking away something that has been so convenient for our clients. We wanted to find a way to keep it—which is why we tried the fee change first—but at the volume we're currently experiencing, it simply isn't sustainable.
This doesn't necessarily mean goodbye to walk-ins forever. We plan to reevaluate things in 2027 and determine whether there's a way to bring the program back in a format that works for our clients, our groomers, and the pets in our care.
In the meantime, we strongly encourage everyone to schedule your next appointment before leaving the shop and consider setting up recurring appointments if your pet is groomed regularly. Advance scheduling will be the best way to keep your pet on the schedule and maintain the grooming routine you're accustomed to.
And finally, we ask for a little patience with us over the next few weeks. ❤️ We're working through a very large number of calls, texts and messages while also continuing to care for the pets already on our schedule.
We are incredibly grateful for the growth and support The Groom Shack has received. Sometimes growth means recognizing when something that once worked simply doesn't work anymore—and making a change before it begins affecting the quality of care we provide.
That's ultimately what this decision is about.
Thank you for trusting us with your pets, for supporting our little shop, and for growing right alongside us. 🐾💗
— The Groom Shack
