For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for November 12, 2018

Why should a dog groomer get paid any less than a people groomer? It’s a hell of a lot more work! ESPECIALLY on a big baby like Farley!!!

Rip-off artist! {kicks groomer in shin} (Blooregard Q. Kazoo in “Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends”)

Farley’s expression in the final panel is like “I’m a dog??!!”

Why is she surprised. Surely she asked the price before buying the service.

Rent utilities insurance license employees taxesShe want this woman to work for free she has overhead

As Hiram Lodge (father of Veronica) once said, “If you want a job done right… hire a professional to do it.”

Ah-ha! Farley was her special baby until she found out he cost her—-now he’s just a dog!

Chia shampoo for dogs can be expensive

A very realistic strip today.

Just wreck your car on the way home; gotta keep that lucky streak going, El!

I pay $55 for my dog. He’s a little Schnoodle and larger dogs are more expensive than that. Very accurate rate in this strip.

She coulda’ have just done it herself … Err … no, wait …

Glad to see the receptionist has recovered from her ‘shock’ of ‘Farley’ showing up ! ! ! !

Uh, Elly, I would guess that he got a bath, not just brushing. Where we take our dog, a bath includes clipping the claws.

What happened to the 11/10 panels “a bath and a brushing”?

It’s worth it! Sheepdogs have 2 layers of coat as does my Berner but need to be combed several times a week if you don’t want extensive mats. We used to take ours to the vet school and just pay a donation but for a professional to do it, $60 is not out of line.

One thing to keep in mind is that this comic strip is from the 1980’s. $60 then is the equivalent of about $180 today, so when Lynn Johnston originally wrote this, $60 would have been a bit outrageous for a dog grooming. You’re talking a week’s worth of groceries, at least. A cost of $15 – $20 would have been considered more reasonable.

Don’t know when this was drawn but that’s what it costs for a small dog now days

I’m thinking $60 was reasonable for a large sheepdog even back when this was written.

Washing and brushing a sheepdog is not like do the same with, say, a beagle. She’s done it. She knows it’s hard work.

Farley sez, “Mud puddle, here I come!”.

Plus Tip!

I get my 85 lb dog shampooed and groomed for $25. Even given that her hair is way shorter than Farley’s, it must be a lot more expensive in her part of Canada than it is in west central Missouri.

brushed, cut, washed and dried. And a big dog with burrs. I think she got a bargain.

Remember these are Canadian dollars.

She forgot why she took him to the groomers in the first place, he was full of burrs and tangles she couldn’t get out.

My former groomer charged $60 for bathe, shave, trim nails, brush teeth. My current groomer charges $45 for the same services.

This is one strip in which Lynn didn’t update the price. The original dialogue said “$60.”

https://www.gocomics.com/forbetterorforworse/1989/11/13

According to

https://www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/related/inflation-calculator/

that would be $106.11 in today’s dollars.

I own a dog wash and grooming shop, for a wash and trim (not a full groom) for a medium sized sheepdog would be $100 (US) and we are considered reasonable and I’m raising prices a bit in the new year . It takes 45 min just to dry that dog after the wash.

dog? What happened to "woofie’ fuzzy puppy and pretty baby?

The dog is like that $150 car detailing you just had done…it won’t stay clean for long.

Farley always looks good!

As I tell people, nobody works for a dollar an hour anymore.

My mom would take her little poodle/terrier mix, Candy, to a groomer who didn’t just cut and wash Candy’s hair. She would put a little bow in the middle of Candy’s forehead, and then paint her toenails the the same color as the bow, usually red or pink. Candy knew she look cute, and would show off to everybody.

In the November 10 comic, Elly does tell Farley that he’s going to have a “bath and a brushing”. Seems like $60, even in Canadian money, is a good deal.

$40 each for my two Scotties, and a $20 tip. WORTH EVERY PENNY…they are wooly worms, but they come home looking (and smelling) so nice!!!