★ 4.9 from local dogs (and their humans)No cages, everTreats: yes
Full grooms🐾Puppy intros🐾Breed styling🐾De-shedding🐾Nail trims🐾Full grooms🐾Puppy intros🐾Breed styling🐾De-shedding🐾Nail trims🐾
What we do
Grooming, minus the drama
Every appointment is one-on-one: your dog gets the whole studio, the whole groomer, and none of the barking chaos of a busy salon floor.
The Full Groom
Warm bath, blow-dry, full clip or scissor finish, nails, ears, sanitary trim — and a cologne spritz nobody asked for but everybody loves. Home smelling like wet dog? Not on our watch.
Under 6 months
Puppy Intro Session
A gentle first visit: splashy bath, light tidy, dryer desensitising, mountains of praise. We build happy salon manners now, so the teenage-doodle phase doesn't become a wrestling match later.
Breed Styling
Schnauzer eyebrows, poodle rounds, westie skirts, spaniel feathering — styled to breed standard, or to your dog's own personal brand. Bring a photo; we love a reference brief.
Double coats
De-shedding Treatment
For huskies, labs, shepherds and other professional shedders. Undercoat wash, conditioning, high-velocity blow-out and rake-through — we remove the fluff so your couch doesn't have to wear it.
Recent work
Fresh grooms, calm dogs, real texture.
The playful brand stays, but the proof now looks like an actual grooming studio with real dogs and bath-day detail.
Bath photo for the full-groom service promise.Personality close-up for the honour-roll gallery.Happy-dog lifestyle photo for pickup-day energy.
beforeafter
Before/after placeholder uses the same source photo so the comparison stays visually coherent. Real client sites use true matched project photos from the same angle.
Royalty-free demo photography shown here as filler. A real client build swaps in their own jobs, team and premises. Photo credits & licensing.
Prices by size
Fair dinkum, size-based pricing
Full groom prices below. Every quote is confirmed before the clippers come out — no surprises at pick-up.
Small
Under 10 kgfrom
$85
Chihuahuas, mini dachshunds, and other pocket-sized personalities.
Most booked
Medium
10–25 kgfrom
$105
Cavoodles, spoodles, staffies — the Northcote starting eleven.
Large
25–40 kgfrom
$130
Goldens, labs, groodles. More dog, more fluff, more towels.
Extra Large
40 kg +from
$160
Newfies, malamutes, "he's still growing". We have a ramp and big towels.
Add-ons & quick visits
Puppy intro session (under 6 months) $45
De-shedding treatment (add to any groom) +$30–45
Nail trim & file, walk-in $20
Teeth brush & breath freshen +$12
Flea & medicated bath upgrade +$18
Matting surcharge (severe coats, quoted first) from +$25
Prices are a genuine "from" — final quote depends on coat condition, behaviour and styling requests, and we confirm it with you at drop-off before we start. Nervous or senior dogs are never rushed; extra time is built in, not billed as a penalty.
Fresh out of the tub
This week's dapper graduates
A rotating honour roll of good dogs. All haircuts real, all tails wagging at pick-up.
The dogs can't leave reviews (we've asked). Their people can.
★★★★★
"Ziggy is a nervous rescue who used to shake at the word 'bath'. Tash took him for a solo session, sent me photo updates, and he trotted out looking like a show dog. He now drags me toward the shop."
G
Georgia M.Thornbury · schnauzer mum
★★★★★
"Booked the puppy intro for our cavoodle. They spent half the session just letting her sniff the dryer and eat treats. Three visits later she falls asleep during her blow-dry. Worth every cent."
L
Lauren K.Clifton Hill · cavoodle wrangler
★★★★★
"Took our husky in for the de-shed before summer. They showed me the pile of undercoat afterwards — it was the size of a second husky. House has been fur-free for weeks. Genuinely life-changing."
D
Dave R.Preston · husky survivor
★★★★☆
"Beautiful scissor work on our spoodle and they actually listened to what I wanted instead of giving him the standard teddy cut. One star off only because parking on High St is a mission — not their fault, but be warned."
M
Mei L.Fairfield · spoodle person
★ 4.9 average · 87 Google reviews · zero grudges held (by us)
Who's holding the clippers
Hi, we're Tash & Marco
Tash has been grooming Melbourne's dogs for eleven years — from show-ring poodles to backyard bitzas — and opened The Dapper Dog on High St in 2019 because she was tired of salons that treated grooming like a car wash.
Marco handles the front desk, the bookings, and the emotional-support duties for humans who find drop-off harder than their dogs do. (It's usually the humans. We have tissues and good coffee.)
We groom one dog at a time, in a calm, cage-free studio. Anxious dogs, seniors, first-timers and "he's never let anyone touch his feet" cases are our bread and butter — we just book more time and go at your dog's pace.
✓Certificate III in Pet Grooming (Tash, 2014)
✓Pet first aid trained & fully insured studio
✓Force-free, fear-free handling — always
✓Photo updates for long appointments, on request
Where & when
Northcote & the north side
Dogs travel from…
Northcote
Thornbury
Fairfield
Alphington
Clifton Hill
Brunswick East
Preston
Fitzroy North
We're at 486 High Street, Northcote — two doors from the plaza, on the 86 tram line. Street parking is honest-to-goodness High St parking (allow five minutes and a small prayer), or use the plaza car park and walk two minutes.
Studio hours
Monday
Closed (dogs need rest days too)
Tuesday – Friday
8:00 am – 4:30 pm
Saturday
8:30 am – 3:00 pm
Sunday
Closed
Book a groom
Let's get that scruff sorted
Call us, or send the form and Marco will ring you back within one business day with times.
