Full service in my van means one appointment that covers the bath, the dry, the brush-out, the haircut, nails, ears, the sanitary trim, the paw pads, the teeth and the finish, with nothing sold as an add-on. Owners in Leander and Cedar Park ask me about the teeth most, usually because "teeth cleaning" means one thing on a grooming list and something quite different at the vet. So this is the whole appointment, step by step, with an honest section on what teeth brushing in a groom is and what it is not.
What "full service" means, and why there is only one package
Full service means every step is in every appointment, and the price varies by the size of the dog and the state of the coat rather than by what you tick. The list on the full-service groom page is the list I work from: double shampoo bath and deep coat cleansing, blow-dry and full brush-out, haircut to breed standard or your preference, nail trim and filing, ear cleaning and inspection, sanitary trim and paw pad grooming, teeth cleaning, optional gland expression, and a finishing spray with a bow or bandana.
That matches how the American Kennel Club describes a professional groom: the dog is brushed, bathed and dried, then trimmed or clipped with sanitized tools, with the ears cleaned, the nails trimmed to a comfortable length, and most dogs trimmed over the eyes, at the ear tips and on the bottoms of the feet. The AKC also notes a groomer can brush a dog's teeth with a dog-specific toothpaste, which is exactly what the teeth line on my list means.
The appointment runs two to three hours depending on breed and coat, one dog at a time, in a van that carries its own water and power. If you want the reasons it takes that long, I wrote them up in how long a full groom really takes.
The bath, the dry and the brush-out
The bath is two shampoos and a thorough rinse, and it is deliberately not something I would do every week. The AKC warns that overbathing a thick-coated dog can strip too much oil from the skin, and says brushing, combing and conditioning matter more to the coat than bath time does. A regular groom with a real brush-out beats frequent baths.
The dry is air, not heat. The AKC's guidance is that high-velocity dryers work through airflow rather than heat, and that a towel should be pressed into the coat rather than rubbed, because rubbing makes tangles. The brush-out that follows is the part that takes the coat from clean to manageable, and the AKC's plain reason for it is that detangling keeps a coat from matting and pulling painfully.
The haircut, nails, ears and feet
The haircut is to breed standard or to whatever you prefer, and blade lengths are exact. Andis rates its UltraEdge size 10 blade at one sixth of an inch, or 1.5 mm, which is the kind of specificity a "short all over" request turns into.
Nails are trimmed and then filed smooth. The AKC's rule is to trim only the part of the nail beyond the quick, the blood vessel inside it, and its simple test is that nails you can hear clicking on the floor are likely too long. Ears are cleaned and looked at, which the AKC puts at about once a month for most dogs. The feet get the hair between the toes trimmed, which the AKC notes mats easily and often needs a professional's hand, plus the sanitary trim underneath. Gland expression is optional and only done if you ask.
What teeth brushing in a groom is
Teeth cleaning on my list means brushing, with a dog toothpaste, at the end of the appointment. The AKC is specific that human toothpaste is never used because it contains ingredients like xylitol and fluoride that are toxic to dogs; dog toothpaste comes in flavours like peanut butter, beef and chicken, on a soft, angled brush. I work the way the AKC describes for owners at home: let the dog taste the paste, then the top front teeth, then back, then the bottom, with praise at each step. A dog who has never had it done gets a shorter, gentler version the first time.
If you want to keep it up between appointments, the American Veterinary Medical Association says regular brushing is the single most effective thing an owner can do between dental cleanings, daily if possible and several times a week if not. That is the same brush and paste I use in the van.
What it is not
Brushing in a groom is not a dental cleaning, and I will not describe it as one. The AVMA explains that because most dental disease sits below the gumline where nobody can see it, a proper dental cleaning and evaluation is done by a veterinarian under anesthesia, with scaling and polishing. The AKC says the same: the vet removes plaque below the gum line, where a toothbrush cannot reach. If your dog's breath, gums or teeth are worrying you, that is a conversation with your vet, and I will always say so rather than let a grooming step stand in for it.
How to book it
You book the one package and tell me about your dog. If nails are the hard part, or the face is touchy, or you want the ears left long, say so and the appointment is planned around it. Leander is a short drive for the van and Cedar Park is on the route most weeks. Everything on the list happens in your driveway, and your dog comes back to you with a bandana and every box ticked, because there were never any boxes to tick.