Why did you pre-pay? Last week we didn't pre-pay for the VET visit for all 4 dogs at once.

I have never pre-paid for our dogs' grooming. Or any of our own personal haircuts.

I've observed the grooming area at our local PetSmart. I wouldn't leave any of our dogs there for a basic wash.

Look around at people walking their dogs in your neighborhood. Go to the dog park and look at great cuts on dogs there--all the better if they're an Airedale or a dog should be groomed in a similar manner. Look for dogs wearing the "I've-just-been groomed" bandanna.

Talk to their owners. I've had these conversations at the dog park: "Oh, looks like somebody just got a haircut! How cute! What a pretty girl/handsome boy you are!" and then "Where do you go?"

"Oh, is that the one on XYZ Street?" Or, if it happens to be PetSmart, ask "Which groomer did you use?" Because PetSmart probably *does* have good groomers.

It's even acceptable to ask how much a grooming cost, and what that includes. For example, our Miniature Schnauzers are $28 each; that includes bath, clipping, ear plucking, nail trimming and anal glands. (Those are the two big important words: Anal glands.) We don't get the fancy Schnauzer cut, because we don't show the dogs.

Ask around at work. My employer allows us to use the e-mail server to sell things and to ask for recommendations(on break or lunch, or during prep, or before/after hours). Just last week someone asked about dog groomers, good or bad. I replied with a recommendation for our groomer.