Starbarks Dog Grooming - Brantham Suffolk Essex - Italian Spinone Specialists

We offer a professional, friendly and affordable grooming service to cater for every type of dog, whether they are a pretty pedigree or a cute crossbreed.
Regular grooming is an important part of your dog's routine to maintain their health and well being.

We use only the highest quality professional dog shampoos & products..
Our brand of choice produce an amazing range of natural grooming products which are dedicated to helping your tail-waggers coat remain strong and healthy.
Vegan friendly, all products are proudly cruelty free and are tested on humans - never animals. Developed with no nasty chemicals, petrochemicals, parabens or alcohol. Made by hand with the finest natural and ethical ingredients.
(We are of course always happy to use your own shampoo or one prescribed from your vet if that is preferred)

To help with the oldies or any dog suffering from an injury or disability we exclusively use an ultra low electric hydraulic table meaning no dog has to be lifted and can step on/off at floor level. We also only use a specialist non slip canine bath with a side door opening and non slip ramp allowing for easy access.

Every breed of dog is most welcome here, there is something to suit them all. Please feel free to speak to us about your dog's individual needs and what would suit your and your dog's lifestyle. We are happy to welcome all ages, breeds and abilities.

Here are a few examples of packages we can offer, although all services can be altered to suit.

Please note we are only offering hand stripping until our salon build is complete - apologies for the inconvenience.

Full Groom - see price list (link below) • Bath • Hand dry • Brush out/de-shed • Clipping/Scissoring • Nails trimmed • Spritz of doggy cologne Our most popular package, suited to most adult dogs.	Bath & Brush - see price list (link below) • Bath • Hand dry • Brush out/de-shed • Eyes & feet trimmed • Nails trimmed • Spritz of doggy cologne For all dogs that are not clipped or scissored, ie short coated or double coated breeds. Also great for any clipped or scissored dog who needs a freshen up in between full grooms.	Puppy Pamper - from £35 • Bath • Hand dry • Brush out • Eyes & feet trimmed • Nails trimmed • Spritz of doggy cologne Puppies are welcome after all vaccinations are complete. Our main priority is to keep your puppy as happy and as stress free as possible. Your new puppy will benefit from new sights, sounds and smells of the grooming environment from an early age and become used to being handled. Puppy pampers are available up to 6 months of age.
Moisturising Paw Balm - £3.00 additional charge We gently massage in a bespoke, luxury paw balm containing shea butter, coconut oil, sunflower oil and natural bees wax to leave your dogs paws feeling soft and refreshed.	Ear Cleanse - £5.00 additional charge Cleaning of ear leather & removal of wax build up using a gentle cleaner that is made with natural botanical ingredients that are pH balanced. Packed with witch hazel, tea tree, aloe and soothing cucumber extract to help provide relief from irritation.	Nail Clipping - £10.00 Nail clipping, if needed is always included free with all grooms (only if dog is co-operative). However, you can book at any time to have this done on it's own whilst you wait. Please contact us for an appointment.

SPECIALIST HAND STRIPPING SERVICE - see price list (link below)
Here at Starbarks we specialise in hand stripping (hand stripping diploma qualified), We strip multiple wire coated breeds for the show ring (including Show Champions & Crufts winners) and understand the more complex methods involved in achieving the correct coat presentation.
This method of grooming is now extremely rare in grooming salons usually due to time constraints or a lack of good training. Finding a groomer who can do it correctly is even rarer! We frequently have dogs in to fix who have been incorrectly stripped or even clipped without the owners consent by their previous groomer. Hand stripping is a specialist skill that is sadly being offered by some groomers who have no understanding of the techniques required. When this is the case it leads to a very uncomfortable experience for your pet and can often mean they are spending way longer than needs be at their groomers. For example, I have a client whose previous groomer took 7 hours on the poor dog whereas I take under 2. If your groomer takes longer than 2-3 hours then that is a strong indication that you should look elsewhere.
I often get asked if I can strip dogs who have been neutered/spayed. The short answer is yes. Most groomers tell their clients that you can't hand strip after neutering/spaying or if they've previously been clipped, this is nonsense in most cases, so please don't be afraid to ask for this service if this applies to your dog.

Wire coats are hand stripped for three reasons; to maintain the harsh correct texture, to keep a rich colour and to maintain the dogs skin.
The technique for hand stripping involves pulling out the dead top coat using finger and thumb only to leave a more natural look than clipping. We do not cheat by using Coat Kings or Furminators like many other groomers do.
Dogs should be stripped every 6-16 weeks, depending on their coat.

To note: If we are hand stripping your dog we will not be bathing them. This is because of the risk of causing post-grooming furunculosis as stripping will open the pores. The dogs wellbeing is our main priority here so there will be no exceptions.

CLIPPING DOUBLE COATED BREEDS
Starbarks will never clip a double coated breed (unless severely matted). Any groomer who does this is putting an owners vanity before the dogs welfare and that is something we will never do. Clipping double coated breeds is not beneficial for the dog as it removes their protection from both sun and rain and impedes their ability to regulate their own body temperature. Clipping also permanently ruins the texture of the coat which in turn makes it much harder to maintain and much more prone to matting. A de-shed, brush out and neatening of feet/feathers is all that is needed. Double coated breeds include Golden Retrievers, Border Collies, Huskies, Malamutes, German Shepherds, Newfoundlands, Pomeranians etc.

BREEDS WE DO NOT ACCEPT
Unfortunately we are unable to groom the following breeds due to their unpredictable nature. These breeds are better suited to a multi groomer establishment.
Chow Chow, Shar Pei, Malinois, Cane Corso, American Bulldogs, XL Bullies, Turkish Kangal, Dutch Herder, Anatolian Shepherd, Caucasian Shepherd (Ovcharka), Romanian Mioritic Shepherd, Tibetian Mastiff, Bully Kutta, Central Asian Shepherd (Alabai Shepherd), Akbash Shepherd, Aksaray Malaklisi, Boz Shepherd, Sarplaninac (Yugoslavian Shepherd), Bucovina Shepherd, Greek Shepherd, Tornjak, Presa Canario, Gull Dong, Boerboel, Pit Bull Terrier, Japanese Tosa (Tosa Inu), Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro and any Wolf Dog hybrids.
Any and all crosses of the breeds listed are also included.
Please note, if you bring in one of these breeds (or similar) we reserve the right to refuse the groom but the full price will still be payable.

PRICE LIST
All prices are subject to change without notice or explanation. List prices are a guide only and extra charges may be applied as per our Terms & Conditions.
Please click the link below to download our price list
CLICK HERE

PAYMENT
Payments are accepted by bank transfer only at least 24 hours in advance (non-refundable).
(This is temporary until my new salon build is complete, other methods will be available in due course)

ADDITIONAL CHARGES
BY BOOKING AN APPOINTMENT YOU AGREE TO THESE CHARGES

Fleas
If your dog is found to have fleas during the grooming session you will be charged an additional £20 to cover the cost of treating the premises (£10 for a flea bomb & £10 for a can of Indorex flea spray).

De-matting
If your dog is matted in any area of the coat, you will be charged an extra £20. However, we will only allow a maximum of 30 minutes de-matting time before we feel that it becomes unnecessarily cruel to continue and then we either clip the matts off or you have the option to continue the de-matting at home.

Cancellations
If you are unable to keep your appointment it is your responsibility to let us know as soon as possible. If you give less than 48 hours notice a cancellation fee of 50% of the full groom cost must be paid. If you give less than 24 hours notice or no show on the day then the full amount of the groom must be paid. Both these fees must be paid within 24 hours of the original appointment day/time.

Collection
Please ensure you collect your pet at the arranged time, please call immediately if you are running late. Whilst we do allow reasonable leeway, a late sitting fee of £5 per 15 minutes will be added to the cost of the groom.